by Brook Wilder
The terrible sound seemed to go on for an eternity and all Lori could do was sit there listening, paralyzed with shock and rage and, more than anything else, fear.
She was so focused on the sound of her friend’s agonized screams that she didn’t hear the footsteps drawing closer to the phone or the scraping sound as the other line was picked up.
“Hi there, Shortcake.”
Lori’s vision went black around the edges at the terrible, familiar voice. No. No, this couldn’t be happening. She was panting, her breath was coming so fast it felt like it wasn’t filling her lungs.
“I knew you would call her eventually,” Gears said calmly from the other end of the call. “Me and Carrie here have just been having some fun while we waited.”
“No! No, don’t you touch her. Don’t you dare hurt her!” Lori screamed, her hands white knuckled on the old plastic landline.
“You don’t get to order me around, you bitch,.” Gears sneered the words and Lori shivered at the ragged edged rage she heard in his voice. “I’m giving the orders now. You are going to do exactly what I say. If you don’t, I’ll kill Carrie, and every person you ever cared about.”
It was the oddly casual way that Gears spoke the threat that made Lori believe he would do exactly what he said he would.
“No, please. Don’t… don’t hurt her,” Lori begged, her own voice broken as she listened to Carrie whimper in pain in the background.
“Don’t worry, Shortcake. Your friend will be fine, as long as you do what I want?”
“Wh-what’s that?”
“Come back.”
Lori gasped.
“I can’t.”
“Come back, or your friend dies.”
Before Lori could think of anything to say, any way to convince him to let Carrie go, Gears had already hung up the phone.
Lori was left clutching the phone receiver to her ear, listening to the empty sounding dial tone just as Tex walked back into the motel room.
“I hope you had a nice nap, sweetheart.” There was a hard, angry edge to his voice as he shrugged out of his leather jacket. “I was able to get the bike fixed. They had some tools down at the front desk. We’ll be able to get on the road again as soon as… Lori? Lori, what happened?”
For the first time since storming in, he had glanced over at her. It was impossible for him to miss the tears gleaming in her eyes or the horror on her face.
Tex was by her side in an instant. Gently, he took the phone from her, prying it from her clenched fingers, and replaced it on the base before kneeling in front of her.
“Lori, tell me what the fuck happened?”
There was worry in his green eyes as he looked up at her, but she didn’t know what to say. She was terrified that, if she said it out loud, it would somehow make it real. But he wouldn’t let her off that easy.
“Lori, you have to tell me. Something obviously happened.”
“I… I was watching the news,” she said, stumbling over the words. It was easier to start there. Less painful. “There was another murder. Somebody got shot in the alley behind the Reaper.”
“Shit. I’m sorry,” Tex said, mistakenly thinking that the news story was the cause of her distress, when it was just a drop in the ocean.
Lori shook her head, making herself go on.
“I couldn’t sleep without you, so I pulled out a snack and found that.” She pointed to the bag of drugs, still sitting were she’d left it on the nightstand. “It was from Robbie. He said it was for the baby, but I didn’t know what was in there. I didn’t know it was cocaine.”
“Cocaine?” Tex’s expression grew more concerned and more confused with every word she spoke, but she couldn’t stop now. Even as he leaned over to grab the bag, Lori kept talking.
“I didn’t know what to do. I couldn’t call you, so I thought… I thought I would call Carrie. See if she could… I don’t know. I know she couldn’t help me but I needed to talk to her. After the fight and everything you said I just… I needed a friend. But when I called, she didn’t answer. I mean, she didn’t answer the phone, but someone else did. She was screaming, Tex. In the background, I could hear her. She was screaming. He was torturing her. Gears was hurting her.”
Tex was just then opening the bag from Robbie and his reaction was almost identical to hers.
“Holy shit! Robbie gave you this? For the baby?”
Tex looked at the drugs again, obviously tallying up what the brick was worth. A lot, to the right buyer. But they didn’t have any buyers at the moment. They didn’t have anyone but each other.
“Shit, this is a lot of cocaine. If I take it to the border…” Tex muttered to himself, “…maybe I could sell it at San Lucas, but…” He froze mid-sentence, staring at her with his laser-like green eyes. “Wait a minute, what did you say? About Carrie? And Gears?”
“She was screaming, Tex.” Lori said, the dam finally breaking apart inside her. “He was hurting her because of me. He said if I didn’t come back he would kill her, and then he would kill everyone that I’ve ever cared about.”
Tears slid down her face, but she didn’t care. It was all too much. Everything that had happened, everything that she’d been through, and now this threat to her friend. She thought Carrie would be safe if she stayed away from her. She’d been so, so wrong.
“You can’t go back, sweetheart,” Tex said, wrapping her in his arms and letting her sob against his shoulder. “They’ll kill you and our baby. The only thing we can do is go through with the meeting with Solomon’s contact and hope that we can talk to the king-pin himself. He has a lot of control with the Devil Martyrs and the Grim Riders. Neither gang want to go against their supplier. It’s our best chance.”
“But what about Carrie?” Lori whispered brokenly. “What’s her best chance.”
“You can’t help anyone if you’re dead,” Tex answered solemnly.
But the hard words were little comfort. Lori let herself sink into his arms as the tears fell.
What the hell was she going to do? What the hell could she do?
Chapter 17
Tex didn’t know how long he’d been sitting on the edge of the motel bed, staring at the wall in front of him. He’d lost track of time as his mind wandered, listening to the sound of the shower coming from the bathroom. He was holding the brick of cocaine that Robbie had given Lori the day before.
He shook his head, wondering what in the hell the other man had been thinking. He was grateful and worried. If he was smart enough, he could turn this into cash. Maybe even enough for them to get the fuck out of town.
The worry made its way back to the forefront of his mind. Too bad all his contacts wanted to murder him and his child at the moment. And Lori, of course.
He snorted to himself, but there wasn’t any humor in the sound. After a moment during which his mind chased itself in circles, he glanced at the wall again. He knew Lori was on the other side, wet and naked, standing in the shower as the water slid over her sweet curves. It was all too easy for him to picture her glistening and all slippery with soap.
His body tightened painfully at the image that appeared in his head, but he clamped down on his desire. Tex had a feeling Lori wouldn’t exactly appreciate it at the moment. Things were still tense between them from the night before.
He remembered the fight, the words they’d said to each other, the reckless way she’d gone off by herself in the night, and his anger flared all over again. She really was damned infuriating sometimes.
It had been a stroke of luck, finding the tool box down in the lobby. The kid working at the front desk was so scared of him he was pretty sure he would have given Tex the motel if he’d asked, but at least he hadn’t tried to stop him from using the tools.
Tex had been able to fix his bike but was still pulsing with anger when he’d stomped back up to the room. He remembered walking in and seeing her face go ghostly pale. For a moment, he’d been afraid she would pass out on him. He remembered the fear in
her eyes as she told him about the murdered man at the club, the cocaine, and finally what Gears had done. His threat to Carrie if Lori didn’t go back to the man.
Anger filled him again, but it wasn’t directed at Lori this time. No, it was all for Gears. Tex had decided last night. The man was going to die. One way or the other, he was already dead. He just didn’t know it yet.
Tex drew in a deep breath and had to force his fingers to unclench around the bag that held the drugs. Slowly, he wrapped it back up and placed it back on the nightstand, just as Lori walked out from the bathroom. She was already dressed in a pair of tight-fitting jeans and a soft cotton t-shirt, even though her hair was still damp from the shower.
Everything inside Tex froze at the sight of her. She was just so god damned beautiful and, at the moment, she looked so fragile that a stiff wind would have been enough to blow her away. He wanted to go to her, to throw his arms around her and tell her that it would be alright, but he could still see an edge of anger in her eyes. It was the same edge of anger that burned in him.
“You ready?” Tex asked gruffly, trying not to stare at her as he packed up the rest of their meager items and put them back into the saddlebags. It was still early yet. The sun had barely begun to tint the sky a lighter shade of indigo outside the motel room window, but it would be a long drive to where they were supposed to meet Solomon’s man. And then after… well, they would just have to deal with that when the time came.
Lori looked at him with those big, worried eyes of hers and Tex could tell she was still thinking about what had happened the night before, with Gears and with Carrie. He could tell she was terrified for her friend.
It tore at him, too. But he also knew that it wouldn’t do anyone any good if they were dead. And if they went back to either gang, they would end up hurt, or worse. And then where would Carrie be?
No, this was the only hope they had. Solomon was their only hope to get out from between the Grim Riders and the Devil’s Martyrs before they were crushed between them.
And what if things don’t go as you hope with Solomon? What then?
The sly little voice whispered in the back of Tex’s head, but he refused to give in to the doubts that plagued him. Because the truth was, he had no fucking clue.
“I’m ready.” Lori said softly from where she was standing next to the bed. And, again, that broken edge to her voice had him weakening, but he knew they didn’t have any time to waste.
“Alright,” Tex said roughly, still aware of the razor-sharp tension that clung to the space between them. “Let’s go.”
They walked out of the room in silence, heading towards Tex’s newly-fixed bike, and he let out a sigh of relief when he turned the throttle and the engine spluttered to life.
A few moments later, they were on the road, pulling out of the empty motel parking lot and heading for the edge of town to meet Marco.
The whole ride was tense. No matter what Tex did, or told himself, as the pavement disappeared underneath them, he just couldn’t seem to make the knots in his shoulder blades disappear.
And it sure as hell didn’t help to feel Lori trembling like a leaf behind him on the back of the motorcycle. Every time they made a turn or had to come to a stop, he could feel her stiffen behind him as if she was expecting Gears or one of the gang members to leap out from behind the nearest shrub.
Every single time he felt her stiff as a board at his back, it spurred his anger on even hotter. His anger at Gears, his anger at the Grim Riders and the Devils. And anger at himself.
He should have been able to stop all this. To prevent it somehow. He should have been able to protect Lori and his baby. But, instead, all three of them were sitting in a vise with his gang on one side and Lori’s on the other. And it was drawing tighter and tighter with every hour that passed. Every moment, the situation grew more and more dire.
Just as the sun was beginning to kiss the horizon, they reached the lonely corner where Marco had told Tex to meet him. He slowed the bike to a stop, looking around in concern when no one appeared.
“Is this the right spot, Tex? Are we at the right address?” Lori asked nervously behind him.
He understood her fear. They were running out of options. Hell, they had run out of options a long time ago. They were grasping at straws, hoping that Solomon could, or would, help them. But straws were still better than nothing.
He looked around, shaking his head.
“I’m not sure…”
His own words were cut off at the sudden sound of a bike driving cautiously down the street.
The rider was wearing head-to-toe black leather and a helmet with a visor that obscured his face. But, even still, Tex could recognize the man from the few times they’d met before.
Marco braked to a stop beside him, not using any names. Neither did Tex.
“Follow me. I’ll take you where you need to go,” the man said cryptically.
Tex just nodded before revving the engine once more and pulling onto the road behind him.
He could feel Lori clinging even tighter behind him and all he could do was pray that everything would go smoothly once they’d got to Solomon’s. Tex honestly had no idea what to expect from the famous, and elusive, king-pin drug dealer in the area.
Tex had to shake off his thoughts as Marco made a sharp turn in front of them. The long drive had been obscured by the tall tree-line, but as they drove further over a small rise he could see the heavy wrought-iron gate standing closed in front of them. Beyond it, an enormous mansion seemed to rise out of the Texas landscape.
Marco pulled to a stop beside the gate, pressed a series of numbers into a keypad, and then had to verify himself as well as Tex and Lori through the speaker, before the thing finally swung open, activated by someone else hidden within the mansion.
Tex drew in a deep breath, following Marco as he made his way up the long circle drive.
Chapter 18
All Lori could do was cling tighter to Tex’s waist as they drove past the gates to stop in front of the biggest mansion she’d ever seen in her entire life. Not that she’d seen a lot of mansions to compare it to, going from living in a trailer park to living on the streets. There hadn’t been a lot of opportunities for her to hob-nob with the rich and famous. Or infamous, as it were.
After Tex had parked his motorcycle, they both climbed off and she couldn’t help but stare at awe at the massive building in front of her. It was all gleaming white with glossy black trim around the hundred or so windows that she could see just from where she was standing.
The front was wrapped in a large porch that stretched out on either side of her, with columns that spanned at least two stories, holding up the dark painted roof overhead. Lori was so enraptured by the place that she didn’t realize Tex and Marco were headed inside until they were already at the large double-door entrance.
Hurriedly, she grabbed her bag from the back of the bike and hastened in after them. She and Tex followed Marco in complete silence, apart from the echo of their footfalls on the marble floor as he led them inside.
He still hadn’t said a single word and it was making Lori feel even more nervous than she already was. Were they doing the right thing? She wrapped her arms around her middle as they walked, thinking about her child. The truth was that they didn’t have a choice. And she knew she would do anything she had to do, to protect her baby.
Lori entered the cavernous entrance and gaped in shock as she stared around the foyer. She was astounded by the sheer amount of wealth that dripped off every single place that she looked.
The pristine white walls were covered in artwork that looked incredibly expensive, and there were statues scattered down the hallway to her left. To her right was another room covered with golden birds that looked like they were about to take flight right in front of her eyes.
This world was so far away from the world that she knew, it was like she might as well have been walking on a completely different a planet. Hell, in a completely d
ifferent universe! It was so far beyond any realm that she understood. There was marble and gold everywhere. Even the floors looked expensive.
“Follow me,” Marco said, his voice echoing faintly in the giant foyer.
The sound was so sudden that it made Lori jump. She took a deep breath, calling herself ten types of fool, as she forced her legs to work again.
Marco had taken off the helmet that obscured his face, but his square-jawed, blunt-nosed face gave just as little away. All she could see of him as he turned away was the back of his short cropped dark hair and shoulders that looked like they could lift four hundred pounds easy. The muscles in his arms backed up that impression.
Lori tried to look at everything around her as Marco led them up a short set of winding stairs edged with a gilded hand rail, and on through another large open room with even more artwork. Finally, he was pushing open a set of French doors that led to a balcony.