“Mike! Oh, I’m so glad to see you!” she said, as she began sobbing in my arms. “Is Rosie okay?”
“Yes, are you okay? Did he hurt you?”
“No, but we have to hurry, this thing is about to —,”
The pain was like a white, searing heat in my back. My breath left me, and I gasped as I stumbled away from her. Her eyes grew wide and I fell to the ground.
When the light left my eyes, the only thing I was aware of was the slow, incessant ticking of the bomb.
CHAPTER THIRTY
DAISY
I’ll never forget the way the smell of gunfire lingered on my hands. It seemed like days had passed before it finally faded. It haunted me, a constant reminder. As if I needed any more reminders of everything that had happened, everything that had gone so horribly wrong.
The other thing I’ll never forget is the power of the explosion. It felt like an earthquake as it knocked me off my feet, sending me and everyone else flying into the air before depositing us back onto the ground as gravity won out.
When Todd stabbed Mike, I saw the gun lying next to my feet, and I picked it up, pointed it and shot, without a second thought. It was simple, really. A quick, skillful draw of my finger, and in an instant, Todd was dead.
The flurry that happened after remained a blur in my mind. The room filled with people. Someone pulled an unconscious Mike out as I screamed his name. Most of them left as quickly as they came in. One tall redheaded woman stayed with me, holding my hand and trying to comfort me as three men armed in heavy protective gear pushed me onto the bed and surrounded me. They inspected the bomb for several excruciating moments, the damned thing ticking loudly to what I was sure would be my coming death.
I was sobbing in fear, when with only ten seconds left on the clock, they gave up, and cut the bomb from my chest. We ran out of the room full speed, trying to get as far away as we could, leaving Todd’s lifeless body behind.
The explosion was spectacular, I’ll give Todd that much. He knew what he was doing, which came as a surprise to me. He had never even mentioned bombs to me, but I wasn’t surprised he had done his research.
I wasn’t even sad he was gone. In fact, I was happy to be done with him. I was just sad it had all happened.
So much blood had been shed, and it was all my fault. No, wait, scratch that. It wasn’t all my fault. It was Todd’s fault, mostly. But I was still plagued with the guilt of having brought my ghosts into Mike’s life, and I was constantly reminding myself that I didn’t start the violence.
I was just trying to end it.
My thoughts drifted to Lady Sylvia often in the next few days. Her premonitions from the tarot cards. And my own premonition that first day I had met Mike Montgomery. I knew something life-changing was about to happen, even then. I never could have imagined it would have ended like this, though.
When Todd stabbed Mike in the back, with his own knife even, the same knife he had left there because I had stopped him from killing Todd, I felt terrible. What was I thinking? I should have let him sink that blade deep into Todd’s evil heart. I should have waited just one more minute before calling his name.
Maybe then, things would have turned out differently.
Maybe then, I wouldn’t be sitting in this hospital room, holding Mike’s hand as he lay unconscious beside me, the machines hooked to his body, beeping beeping beeping, constantly reminding me of the horror of the last few hours.
I looked over at Mike and sighed.
He had to be okay. He just had to.
The sunlight was streaming in through his windows, surprising me with its brightness. Had it really only been six or seven hours ago that I was trapped in that room with Todd?
The door to Mike’s room opened and the redheaded cop, whose name I now knew was Kelly, walked in.
“How’s he doing?” she whispered.
“He’s okay. The doctor’s think he’s going to pull through. It’s just going to take some time. They think he might wake up pretty soon, though. I’m just sitting here waiting. Obviously,” I said.
“That’s good to hear. How are you holding up?” she asked.
“I’m okay. I’m just worried about him. And Rosie.”
“I went by the clubhouse earlier to update the boys, and tell Rosie what happened. They’ll be on their way here soon.”
“Thank you,” I whispered.
“Daisy, I’m going to need you to come down to the station to make a statement as soon as possible. At least stop by at the end of the day, okay?”
“Okay, sure, thanks again,” I said.
She was nice, but I just wished she would leave. I wanted to be alone with Mike. I wanted to be alone with him if he woke up. When he woke up, I reminded myself.
As if reading my mind, she excused herself.
“Hey,” she said, turning before walking out the door. “When Mike wakes up, tell him I said we’re even, okay?”
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
MIKE
“Rose, I’ve missed you so much,” I said, smiling at her. The mist flowed all around us like clouds, concealing her face before clearing again.
I could see her soft smile and my heart soared with happiness. It felt so good to be with her, to see her again after all of these years. The mist thickened, making it harder and harder to see her.
“I’ve missed you,” I said. “I wish you could see Rosie.”
“She’s just like you, Rose! She’s so funny and strong, and smart as whip!” I reached out to try to touch her, the mist swirling and cold around my hand.
“Every time I look at her, I see you, Rose,” I whispered.
“I miss you so much, Rose.”
All I wanted was to be with Rose and Rosie in some peaceful, happy place where nothing bad in the world could touch us.
Rose appeared again in the mist, shaking her head and waving before she turned and walked away.
Her image began to fade and soon there was nothing left but a faint fog where she was standing, and suddenly I felt waves of pain begin washing over me.
“Rose, come back,” I called, desperate to have her near me again, desperate for the pain to go away again. “Rose!”
I struggled to breathe, my muscles tensed up as I gasped for air, the world spinning around me before I was overcome by the darkness. The vast emptiness. The complete nothingness that filled my mind.
And then suddenly there was light. Such a small, tiny pinprick of light that I almost ignored it, almost batting it away as if it were a nuisance. Slowly it grew, floating in my head like a firefly until it began swirling and changing colors. I moved closer to it, swimming through the darkness faster and faster, hungry for it, whatever it was.
Finally, I burst through it, and my eyes opened. I blinked, adjusting to the bright light of the room. My eyes tried to focus on the bright bobs of color floating in the room, and my ears heard nothing but a constant beeping.
But then I heard her voice. Her pure, innocent, sweet, candy-laced voice. And I knew this was heaven.
“Daddy! You’re awake! You’re awake!” she cried. “Daisy, he’s awake!”
I felt Rosie throw her arms around me as much as she could, the railing of the bed and all the tubes I was hooked up to getting in her way.
I mumbled incoherently, the words impossible to form. It took me a second to realize I had tubes sticking out of my mouth. I blinked at Rosie, hoping she could see the smile in my eyes. She was beautiful. Her smile warmed me, and filled me with joy. My girl was safe. She was happy.
All was right in the world.
And then I saw Daisy. I moaned to her, wanting to say so much. I wanted to tell her I loved her. I wanted to tell her we were both free. I wanted to thank her for keeping Rosie safe, in spite of such awful circumstances. I wanted to kiss her and hold her and make love to her for the rest of my life. I wanted to show her how amazing I thought she was.
But I couldn’t say a word.
“Hey you,” she said, leaning over me
and smiling into my eyes.
“I’m so glad you’re back,” she said, her eyes filling with tears. She smiled through them, grabbing my hand and squeezing. I squeezed hers back as hard as I could, hoping there was some way she could understand how much she meant to me.
“I love you, Mike,” she whispered.
Her kiss on my forehead felt like I had finally made it home, and I closed my eyes again and drifted back to sleep, knowing that when I woke up again, everything was going to be just fine.
THE END
☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼
“I'm convinced we all are voyeurs.
We want to know secrets,
and we want to know what goes on
behind those windows.”
~David Lynch
CHAPTER ONE
My name is Dixie and I have a problem. I can admit that. I admit it to myself everyday. But I tell myself it's harmless, and so I don't do much to change it. Some people might think it's wrong, sure. But that doesn't matter to me.
I would never share my problem with anyone, I keep it to myself, so I don't have to worry about what other people think.
It keeps me entertained, that's for sure. It passes the time and even provides me with even more entertainment when I'm done. Sometimes I worry a little, that I might get caught. But I haven't yet, not in any serious way. Occasionally, I'll get an odd look when I'm out and about, but it's easy to chalk it up to coincidence or imagination. Unless someone was watching me all the time, they would never know. And there's the irony.
I'm a voyeur. Not in the sexual sense of the word, it's not like I'm a pervert or anything. I just have a tendency to fixate on a person, so I watch them. Maybe I'll follow them a few times, just to see what they are up to. They're always strangers. I never talk to them, I just watch. And then I go home and I write about them. I write stories about what I see, and keep them all to myself. A big file on my laptop is filled with the accounts of other people's days.
Maybe you are thinking that's creepy, but really, isn't that what most writers do? We write stories about other people. Some writers just make up the characters in their head, but some authors say the best characters are the ones that bare a resemblance to someone they've met in real life.
So, I didn't feel so bad about it, you know? I was a writer. A writer with an incredibly boring life off the page, and since I didn't have a lot of real life inspiration to draw from, I went out and found some. So what if I pushed the boundary between watching and stalking every now and then? There was no harm intended.
It was fascinating. People tend to do the strangest things when they think nobody is watching.
Like right now, here I am sitting in my car watching a couple make out in a red Mustang on the corner of 3rd and Broadway downtown. I can't see them very well. It's way past midnight and the street lights are faint and flickering overhead and most likely about to go out and ruin my show before we get to the good stuff.
I followed this couple out of the bar I stopped in after work, and instead of starting my car, I sat here and watched them approach the Mustang. I wasn't surprised when they started making out before they even got the doors open. The tall dark-haired man isn't all that handsome, but he exudes confidence with every step. He pushed the petite blonde against the car. She giggled and sighed before wrapping a leg around him and pressing her huge breasts against his barrel-chest.
After making out like teenagers for a few minutes, they got in the car and drove off. How could I not follow? I didn't have anything better to do, and it was Friday night. Sure, I had to work tomorrow morning, but the best things to watch happened on the weekends.
I was surprised when they ended up at a park instead of a house. You only go to the park to make out late at night if you can't go home. I wondered which one of them was married?
They weren't discreet by any means. After turning off the lights, they stumbled out of the car and into the park. Once again, the man took charge and pushed her up against a tree. Hiking her leg up once again, I watched as his meaty hands grabbed her thighs firmly and pressed into her. He pulled back just enough to unzip his pants and take out his cock before plunging into her swiftly.
Their silhouettes swayed back and forth, their passion back lit by the faint lights in the park. Blonde hair tangled in the man's fingers as he pulled her head back and kissed her neck. I rolled down my window, listening as her soft moans drifted into the trees. He thrust into her wildly, his roughness met with the blonde's surprising impassioned rawness. Their movements were focused and precise, yet their chemistry was undeniable. Their hands clutched and clawed at their clothed flesh as they kissed passionately, his thrusts becoming harder and faster as he pounded into her. Her cries filled the park as he thrust deeply and held her against him. I watched, my heart pounding, as he kissed her searchingly and she fell against him. The light fell on her face, allowing me a faint view of her sweet smile of satisfaction. It was delightfully lovely.
After a moment, they parted, adjusting their clothes. The man grabbed the woman's hand, kissed her on her forehead sweetly, and led her back to his car.
I followed slowly as the man drove the woman back to the bar, gently kissing her again before he tucked her in and she drove off. He returned to his car and drove off into the night. Keeping a fair distance between us, I continued to follow him several miles until he turned off into the driveway of a low-slung brick ranch-style house. I quietly pulled over on the side of the road and watched.
The immaculate lawn framed the house handsomely, and a trail of red petunias lined the curved sidewalk leading to a large porch. As soon as the man pulled his tall body out of the car, the porch light came on and the front door opened.
I was stricken by his smile at first. The short slim man that strolled out of the front door had a smile that could light up the sky. His eyes sparkled as he rushed down the sidewalk to greet the tall man I had been following. They met halfway and as I glanced at the tall man, I saw the tenderness that crossed his face. Just as the two men came together in a passionate kiss, I recognized the look as the same look he had given to the blonde just moments before.
I watched in awe and curiosity as the two men lovingly greeted one another and turned to walk inside of the house.
That was not what I expected to happen. And that was why I loved watching people so much. Just when you think you have them figured out, when you think everyone has become predictable and that everything that could possibly happen has already happened – bang! It throws you for a loop. Someone looks normal and boring? Oh, no. Just when you least expect it – a big ol' curve ball is coming your way!
That was the beauty of life, if you asked me. You could be anyone, do anything, go anywhere.
And the thing is, most people kept some very interesting secrets. Which brings us back to my problem. I wanted to know what people's secrets were. I was a curious cat, if you will.
Beyond satisfied with my decision to follow the couple, I turned my car around and headed home, mentally replaying the events of the night with the hopes of memorizing every detail of what I had witnessed. Tonight was a good one.
I managed to write it all down before I was overtaken by pure lust. I spent the next hour with my hand buried in my pussy frantically pushing my body over the edge again and again as images of the tall man burying his cock in the blonde flashed in my head. I would have loved to have been the blonde. But then I thought of the other man waiting for him at home, and the thought of him bending him over and burying his cock inside of him, his smile still firmly plastered on his face as he was drilled roughly turned me on like nothing had before. It was hours before I finally fell asleep, blissfully dreaming of a huge bed large enough to hold the tangled limbs of all four of us.
CHAPTER TWO
I woke up an hour late. I had forgotten to set my alarm, but it didn't really matter. I own my own hair salon, which sounds fancy, but isn't. I rent a small little storefront in our sleepy little downtown area and I'm the o
nly person who works there. At least I'm the boss, right? I didn't have any appointments this morning, so being late isn't an issue.
I took my time getting ready, feeling a little frisky after last night, almost as if I had had sex with someone other than myself! I spent a little extra time on my appearance, even though the only people that were going to see me would be whoever happened to be at the grocery store on my way home later. My business was failing, and I was pretty sure I wouldn't have any walk-ins today.
I was in for a whole lot of boredom, just like every other day. Well, unless I found something extra special to watch today. Visions of the tall man and the blonde's moans filled my head throughout the morning as I ate breakfast and slowly made my way out of the house.
I pulled up in front of Dixie's Cut and Curl and looked around the almost abandoned street. A few cars were in front of the old post office, but that was it. I pulled down my rear view mirror to check my lipstick before I got out of the car. Really, I was just procrastinating going inside my depressing, failing business. But I had to keep up appearances, I guess. My long, black curls cascaded down my back and my lipstick was perfect and boring, just like it was when I left my house ten minutes ago.
I sighed as I walked up to the dark door of my salon. Just as I put the key in the lock, the plate glass window in front of my shop began vibrating violently. I turned around, knowing exactly what I would see. Harleys. Big, loud, earth-shatteringly loud motorcycles. Several of them.
I watched as the four leather-clad men rode past me and turned into their motorcycle repair shop at the end of the block. This was a daily occurrence – luckily my window hadn't broken yet. I was sure that was going to happen some day, though. I never understood why their bikes had to be so damned loud. But I wasn't about to ask them, let alone dare to complain to anyone.
RAW: THE ULTIMATE MC COLLECTION Page 54