“We’ll see. Darlin’, can I get my order to go, please?” I ask the waitress. “I want to keep my appetite and I won’t if I stay here.”
The man retakes his seat and the two men begin talking again. They’re both involved with the mafia if their suits and the way they handle themselves are anything to go by. I can tell they aren’t high ranking members of the family. They’re trying to prove something to their boss and they’re taking advantage of this town and the people in it to accomplish that. I’m going to make sure it doesn’t happen more than it already has.
Grabbing my takeout container, I head out to my bike and stash it in the saddlebag before heading back to the motel. Once I’m in my room, I pull out my phone and debate calling Slim now. I’m not sure if I should call him or go home and talk to him in person, but I think this needs to be handled sooner rather than later. So, maybe a call is in order for now. Then, I can go home to get my things and talk to Slim and the guys further about the situation. Plus, it gives me time to find out more information.
10
Annabell
I’VE HEARD VAULT is on his way home. I’m not sure if he’s leaving again, but I do know I’m not ready to see him. He’s been gone almost two weeks now and I haven’t stopped missing him or crying when I’m home. I put on a façade when I’m at school, practice, a game, or when Slim’s home. And I still haven’t stepped foot in the clubhouse since the day he left.
Shy is worried about me. I can see it written in her eyes as she looks at me. She’s been trying to keep me company, but I usually tell her I’m studying or that I have a headache. Shy isn’t buying my excuses and I know it’s just a matter of time before she calls me out on my shit. But I miss Vault and there’s nothing I can do about the way I feel. I want to have him here and wrap my arms around him longer. Kiss him and plead with him not to leave me. I can’t do it though. It’s not fair to either one of us.
Hunter has been trying to take me out. I know I said I’d go to dinner with him, but after talking to Slim, I know it’s not fair to him. And I refuse to lead him on this way, so I’ve been avoiding him as much as possible. Instead, I need to talk to him and be completely honest with the man. Maybe I should do that now. I know he’s sitting outside because Slim and Shy are gone for the day with the girls.
Getting out of bed, I make my way downstairs and out to the porch. Hunter is sitting in his usual seat on the steps as he looks up at me. I offer him a sad smile and I know it doesn’t reach my eyes. Nothing does anymore because nothing can take away the sadness and pain of knowing Vault is out there alone.
“Hey,” I say, once I sit on the swing.
“Hey, Annabell. How have you been?” he asks, turning to face me.
“I’ve been better for sure, but I think we need to talk,” I tell him.
“Yeah, I think we do.”
“I like you, Hunter, but you know I love Vault. I’ve loved him for months now and I can’t give up on him. I won’t lead you on and pretend to feel something for you I don’t. You deserve someone who can give you her heart,” I tell him.
“I don’t know about all that,” he tells me. “I appreciate you bein’ honest with me though. And I do know you love Vault just like he loves you. It killed him to tell me he was leavin’ and to watch over you. That I could take a shot with you because you deserve more than the man he’s become.”
“I wish I didn’t love him the way I do, but Vault took my entire heart with him and I don’t know when I’m going to get it back. I want to like you more than what I do and give you the chance you want from me. Slim told me you said you were willing to leave the club for me and I’ve never had that before. Not even from Vault. You’re gonna make some woman so lucky and you don’t know the kind of life you’ll give her once she shows you you’re it for her,” I tell him. “I want us to remain friends at the very least, Hunter. I can’t take you not wanting to spend time with me anymore either.”
“I’m not goin’ anywhere,” he says.
I nod my head and let the sun warm me from the inside out. I’ve been so cold since Vault left. Nothing has been able to warm me up like knowing if I wanted to see Vault all I had to do was walk to the clubhouse and I’d find him there at one point or another. Or knowing he wants to see me and spend time with me. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt any of that from him and I miss it more than I thought possible.
“Well, I’m gonna go back inside and lay down. I really do have a headache now and I want to get rid of it before it gets too bad,” I tell Hunter.
“Okay. Go rest and we’ll talk later on,” he says.
Heading inside, I climb back in bed and pull the covers over my head after I close my blinds and curtains to keep the sunshine out. The sooner I get rid of this, the sooner I can get to studying or reading my book. I’ve gotten into a new to me author named Keira. I’m not sure of her last name right now, but I’ll look it up. She writes MC and I love seeing how it compares to the life I see lived here. The life I’m a part of.
Waking up, I sit up in bed and instantly feel relief from my headache being gone. It’s all the stress I’ve been putting on myself since Vault left. And the crying. I hate crying and I’ve done more of it in the last two weeks than maybe my entire life combined. It sucks and I’m ready to be over this part of missing him.
Grabbing my phone, I head back outside to the swing on the porch. I’m settled in my seat when I hear someone walking up close to the house. Since we’re behind closed gates at the front of the clubhouse, I’m not nervous or scared about it being anyone else but a club member.
Looking up, I see Valor walking up to the house. He comes up and sits next to me on the swing. For a few minutes, we just sit in silence together. I lean my head on his shoulder and wait for him to say what’s on his mind. It’s not the first time in the last two weeks he’s come to see me, but it’s the first time he’s sat with me on the swing. Maybe because he knows this is my spot with Vault. We were always sitting on the swing together.
“How you doin’?” he finally asks.
“Still missing him like crazy,” I tell him honestly.
“Me too. He’ll be home tonight or tomorrow mornin’. I’m not sure what’s goin’ on though. I still haven’t talked to him,” Valor tells me.
“I know you haven’t. I’m sorry you guys have drifted so far apart,” I say.
“We’ll get our shit back. I’m not worried about it. I’m worried about him though. He’s been gone two weeks and I’m not sure what his comin’ home is gonna be like. Or if he’s even stayin’ here. He’s been talkin’ about goin’ Nomad since Dad was killed,” Valor tells me.
I don’t say anything to him. It’s not a surprise to hear Vault wants to get out of here. He can’t stand to be around so many memories of his dad. I really can’t blame him. I didn’t want to be in a house surrounded by my parents’ things when they were killed, so I know where he’s coming from. But this is his home, where the rest of his family lives. I wasn’t lucky enough to have that.
“Are you gonna see him?” Valor asks me.
“If he wants to see me, then I will. I’ll never shut him out,” I answer.
“But do you want to see him?” he questions again.
“Yeah. But I can’t forget the woman on the back of his bike when he left here. He told me that spot was reserved for his ol’ lady, so I guess he told me how he feels without saying a word,” I tell him.
“You know he just gave her a ride home, don’t you?” Valor asks me.
“I thought she left with him to go with him,” I say meekly.
“No. She was talkin’ about headin’ home because she didn’t want to be a house bunny anymore. So, she asked him for a ride and he couldn’t exactly refuse because there wasn’t a good enough reason to,” Valor tells me.
“Oh, well, I mean, I’m not gonna force him to see me, Valor.”
“He wants to see you. I know it’s been killin’ him not to see you or talk to you. Alex really does lo
ve you in a way I’ve never seen him care about another person. Yeah, he loved Dad and he loves me, but the love he has for you is one of magic. It’s ones you read about in stories and never think you’re gonna find for yourself,” Valor tells me.
“What about you and Savannah?” I ask him.
“I care about Savannah and I know she cares about me too. But it’s nothin’ compared to what my brother feels for you. He’s spent every second with you since you came back here. He never spent more time with a female than it took to fuck them and then get rid of them. Not tryin’ to be an ass, but that’s how he’s always been. Vault never wanted to settle down and take the chance the woman wasn’t cut out for the life we lead,” Valor says.
“Oh.”
There’s not much I can say about it. I know that’s how Vault was before I got here. Enough of the women have talked about it when I’ve been at the clubhouse. They like to rub it in my face about fucking him.
“Just promise me you’ll give him a chance. He wants you too much and just needs to get his head back on right. Goin’ through Dad’s things before he left tore him up even more and made it final for him. More so than buryin’ him.”
“I’ll always give him a chance. Your brother is it for me and I feel it deep down to my soul, but right now it’s time for me to move on with my life. I’m leaving soon for college and won’t be here to see him every day. If we’re meant to be together, it will happen one day. Just not right now,” I tell him.
“Yeah, your birthday is comin’ up in a few days too. Hopefully, Vault will be here for it. I’ll let you get back to what you’re doin’. If you need me, just message or call and I’m here. Savannah sends her love and wants you to know she misses you,” Valor says, hugging me before standing from the swing.
“Thank you, Valor.”
“Anytime. I’ll make sure you know when he gets in. I’m sure he’s gonna want to sleep for a while, but I’ll message you. Or have Savannah do it,” he says, walking off the porch and heading back to the clubhouse.
I know Valor enough to know he’s going to park his ass in the common room and won’t move until he lays eyes on his brother. He’s missed him and wants to see him. I do too, but I’m not going to go straight over to see him. I’ll let him get some rest and make sure he’s had time with the guys before I go see him.
Picking my phone back up, I let Keira’s words pull me into another world so I can forget about Vault coming home. It’s the break I need right now and I’m going to take it so I don’t run over there and join Valor in waiting for the man we both love and miss with everything in us.
Book
Lost Creek MC Book 1
Nia Farrell
Prologue
In 1955, Dwight D. Eisenhower was the visionary President from Abilene, Kansas, who created the interstate highway system. A hundred years later, the Great State of Kansas has become the Land of Oz, the breadbasket of the American Federation of States formed ten years earlier following the collapse of the world economy and the dissolution of the former United States of America.
In 2055, Kansas is divided into eleven districts, ruled primarily by land barons who sit on the governing council. John Kerrigan controls the Flint Hills District with the help of his cousin’s Lost Creek MC. Armed bikers guard his crops and cattle, escort grain and cattle trucks to market, and— equally important— make certain that no one steals water. Not his. Not theirs.
In the Flint Hills District, if you steal, you die.
1
1 May 2055
Flint Hills District, The Great State of Kansas
“Hey, Book! Get in here and tell us what you think!”
Hailed in the hallway, the Lost Creek MC Vice-President ducked into their lodge’s communications center to see what the hell was going on. Normally, he’d be picking up something by now, but there was nothing.
Nothing.
He honestly couldn’t remember the last time that had happened, if ever.
For a pure telepath, it was beyond strange.
The club’s President, Deacon, was standing behind Spider, whose web of drones, cameras, and computers provided eyes on the outside world. One monitor showed a vintage full-size van with a Washington State license plate parked on the side of the road. Another monitor showed a casually dressed, lithely-built woman with blonde plaits standing by the cattle trough in Lot 29.
She was filling a bucket with water from the pumping station, clueless of how much danger she was in. The lot was leased to Deacon’s cousin, John Kerrigan, the land baron who controlled the Flint Hills District. Kerrigan hadn’t survived The Fall and emerged in a position of power by showing mercy. Presented with proof of her crime, he would order her killed without batting an eye.
You steal, you die.
The threat of vigilante justice served to protect those who couldn’t defend themselves, but it was a terrible, two-edged sword.
Deacon looked at him expectantly. “What do you think?”
Book projected his energy into the image, seeking to touch her mind and discern her thoughts. He was always reading people. Always.
Except he couldn’t read her.
Huh.
He offered the only answer he had to give. “She’s a thief.”
Deacon rolled his eyes at the obvious. “Besides that?” he drawled.
Book tugged his beard and rubbed his chin. “Sorry. I got nothing.”
“Nothing?” Spider whipped his head around and stared at him, gape-jawed. “Are you serious?”
As gifted as Spider was with electronics, it was Book’s psychic abilities that gave them an advantage in everything the club did. Even the deepest buried secrets were certain to be brought to light once he tapped in.
Considering who they dealt with, his telepathic abilities were the reason they were still here, alive, and prospering.
“Afraid so.”
Inhaling sharply, he narrowed his focus and tried again.
Tried and failed.
Who the fuck was she?
He watched her top off the bucket and carry it away. The fine mist on her skin glistened like the sheen of sweat in the mid-morning sun.
Not being able to read her was disturbing. He wondered if this was how normal people felt. Clueless. Hopeless. Frustratingly helpless and desperate to know more.
He didn’t like it. Didn’t like it one bit.
Not that he liked being bombarded by thoughts and assaulted by thought-forms twenty-four/seven, but he’d learned to live with his gifts. Descended from a long line of shamans bearing Kaskaskia Indian blood, he had honed his psychic abilities when he’d trained with a Lakota Sioux holy man. When he spoke, his club listened. He might only be the Vice-President, but everyone here went “by the Book” or wished like hell that they had.
“Nothing,” he repeated, painfully aware of the sudden silence, wishing he knew why it was happening now, with her.
Just as he was pulling out, he felt Kerrigan’s energy pushing in. “I’ll go,” he told them. “It’s our water. Not his. When he calls, tell him she’s our problem and we’re dealing with it.”
Book hoped like hell she could pay. If she couldn’t, well, he’d cross that bridge when he came to it. Right now, he needed to get on his bike and ride out, headed for the one person on the planet he couldn’t read.
“Spider, run her plates. I’m gone.”
* * *
The Lost Creek MC lodge and garage had been built into the crest of a hill overlooking the four-square miles they owned. Blasting into the rocky ground and building beneath the surface allowed them to live off the grid and let them sleep soundly during tornado season. Except for a parcel here and there, their land was only good for grazing and hunting.
They kept dogs to help with both.
Their club had almost as many canines as members, used for hunting, herding, companionship, and protection. Book’s black wolf hybrid was good for three of the four. At a hundred twenty pounds, Loki tended to take up three-four
ths of the bed when he was allowed on it. He loved Book, tolerated his club brothers, and scared the bejesus out of anyone else, including land baron John Kerrigan.
The club President Deacon raised and trained horses at an old farmstead down the road. Most of the club’s remaining ground was rented to Deacon’s cousin but the water and mineral rights remained theirs. In the brutal heat of the Kansas summer, when the rivers ran low and the small creek the club was named for dried up, water pumped from deep underground kept John Kerrigan’s livestock and nearby crops alive.
And Little Miss Sunshine had just stolen a bucketful.
Strapping on his helmet, he pushed his bike outside to start it, ordered Loki to stay, and headed for the stranded van, expecting her to be there by the time he reached it.
She had the hood popped and was filling the radiator when he pulled to a stop behind her. He cut his engine and glanced at the drone that had followed him. Waving at Spider, he hung his helmet on his handlebar and walked toward their trespasser, boots crunching on the gravel, alerting her to his approach along the driver’s side.
Book reached out, still trying to read her. Still picking up nothing except the erratic aura of a person fraught with worry.
And fear.
It made sense. A lone woman. A rural road with no help in sight. Fear was natural. He expected apprehension. What he didn’t expect was the continuing mystery of her. He’d thought being here would change things, but it hadn’t. Her mind was closed to him.
It was more than a little unsettling.
Rounding the front fender, he got his first good look at her. She was plenty old enough to be legal but much younger than his thirty-seven years. Mid-twenties, he’d guess, although he was far better at judging the ages of souls than of bodies. She was dressed in a short leather skirt that barely covered her ass. Her long, toned legs disappeared into black thigh-highs and faux leather gaiters that nearly covered her shoes. From what he saw, she was trim, fit, and braless beneath her sleeveless shirt. Her dark knit top was edged in black studded leather and banded by matching straps that framed her small, firm breasts. A fingerless black leather glove protected her right hand, a bracelet cuffed the other wrist, and a stopwatch dangled from her left hip. Unusual earrings and dramatic makeup completed her don’t fuck with me look.
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