Barney waved his hand. “Eh, I’ve already had run-ins with aliens. We’ve got an agreement. I don’t rat on them, and they keep it quiet about the pot I’ve got growing in the backyard.”
I stared at him in surprise. “Barney, you’re growing marijuana?”
He chuckled. “It’s for my wife. She uses it for medicinal purpose. She has Crohn’s Disease and says it helps with inflammation and pain.”
“Aren’t you afraid of getting arrested for growing it, though?” I asked.
His eyes sparkled. “Growing what? I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
I smile and looked at Jordan, who I noticed was staring at me.
“We should get going,” he said, looking away quickly. He checked his watch. “It’s almost seven.”
“Yeah. We’d better get a move on,” agreed Barney.
“I’m just happy that you were still in Iowa,” said Jordan, as we began walking toward the gates.
“To be honest, I took my time today. I didn’t feel like rushing back home to an empty house.”
“So, where do you live, Barney?” I asked him.
“Alaska. Just like Jim,” he replied.
And there it was. We were going to Alaska.
I glanced over at Jordan. “Aren’t there a lot of bears in Alaska? Like Grizzlies?”
Before he could answer, Barney snorted. “Honey, there are much scarier things in Iowa then there are in Alaska. Mark my words.”
I believed him.
Chapter Eighteen
When Jordan said the plane ride would take a few hours, he wasn’t kidding. We flew for just over six and by the time we landed in Anchorage, I was through with flying. I’d never been a fan of it myself, and after hitting a number of turbulent areas on the flight to Anchorage, I was happy to be back on solid ground.
“Here,” said Jordan, when we were out of the plane. He handed him a thick brown envelope.
“You don’t have to pay me,” said Barney. “I was coming back anyway. Give it to your cousin. She’s probably going to need it more than anyone.”
Jordan opened up the envelope and took out five one-hundred dollar bills. “Here. Take this and don’t give me any shit about it.”
Barney smiled. “Fine. I’ve learned there’s no use arguing with you.”
“Exactly,” he replied, shoving the envelope into his jacket pocket. “That’s another reason why I enjoy working with you. You’re a smart man and know when to cut your losses.”
Barney chuckled and turned to me. “It was nice meeting you, Jessica. I hope everything works out for the best,” he said, holding out his hand.
I shook it. “Thank you Barney.”
He looked back at Jordan. “When Sophie gets back into town, we should have you both over for dinner. She’d love to meet you, Jim. Lord knows she’s heard enough about you.”
“I’d love to meet her, as well,” he replied. “Unfortunately, I’ll be heading back out again in a few days. For more audit work.”
Barney nodded. “Sure. Call me. I’ll see if I’m free.”
“I will definitely. Thanks again, man. You’ve been a life-saver.”
“You’re welcome. Glad I could come through again.”
“Go home and get some rest. That flight was pretty rough. I’m sure you’re exhausted,” said Jordan, patting him on the back.
“Yeah, those were some strong winds. I’m glad to be home, that’s for sure,” he replied.
“I don’t know how you do it,” I said. “Flying scares the hell out of me.”
“I normally enjoy it,” said Barney. “But those winds… I tell you what - when you hit that kind of turbulence with a smaller jet, you have to really know what you’re doing.”
“Thank God you do,” I replied.
He chuckled. “Oh, I was thanking him when we landed. Believe me.”
The fact that he’d been a little frightened, made me feel even less confident about flying again. “Goodbye Barney.”
He waved and then we watched him walk away, carrying his duffel bag.
“He was a nice man,” I said, as we began walking in the opposite direction.
“Yep,” he replied, becoming quiet again.
“So, now what?” I asked, trying to keep up with him as he walked. His strides were long and I guessed that he wasn’t used to walking with anyone, especially a woman.
“We’ll take a cab to my cabin,” he replied, slowing down when he noticed that I was struggling to keep up.
I stared at his blonde hair. “Are you leaving your disguise on?”
“Yes. Just in case we run into Barney again. Why?”
“I kind of like it,” I joked. “You remind me of Ken.”
He frowned. “Ken?”
“Yeah, as in ‘Ken and Barbie’.”
“Huh. Wasn’t really going for the plastic yuppie type.”
“You pretty much hit it out of the ballpark. Hell, if I would have known that you were dressing up, I could have worn the long, platinum blonde wig I had in the back of my closet.”
He smirked. “Okay, why do you have one of those?”
“I used it for Halloween, once. Didn’t have the heart to throw it out, yet,” I replied, as he pulled out his cell phone. “Just thing -we could have been Ken and Barbie. That would have been entertaining.”
“You think so, huh?” He chuckled. “You really enjoyed yourself back there, didn’t you?”
“You mean pretending to be your cousin?”
“Yeah. I thought you were finished at the airport, but then to hear you tell stories of our childhood together when we were on the plane. You just kept going on and on. Hell, even I was starting to believe the stuff coming out of your mouth.”
I laughed, remembering the look on Jordan’s face when I told Barney about the time we went skinny-dipping, as kids, and how ‘Jim’ had thought a fish had nibbled on his privates. Then how he’d run home crying. “Sorry. I just couldn’t help myself. I was having so much fun, I had a hard time stopping.”
“You’re just lucky that he didn’t know too much about me or those stories wouldn’t have made a lot of sense.”
“Yeah. I suppose. Sorry.”
“It’s okay. I could tell that you were enjoying yourself.” He gave me a side-ways look. “You’re quite the story teller.”
“I’ve always had a wild imagination, I guess. Plus, I used to star in some of our high school plays.”
“Really? Did you enjoy doing them?”
“Yes. Very much. I even considered going into acting. But then I realized that I wanted to save people more than I wanted to perform in front of them.”
“Don’t you have to do a little of that when you’re a nurse, anyway? Put on a fake smile when you know they’re not doing too well?”
I nodded. “Yeah, but I don’t get any joy from that kind of acting, obviously.”
“I suppose not,” he said, dialing a number on his cell. “I’m going to call us a cab and then afterward, we’ll send word to your mother that we arrived to our destination, safely. Remember, if I let you talk to her, don’t tell her our location.”
“I understand.”
I listened as he set up our taxi ride and wondered what his cabin would be like. If it was anything like the man, it would be private and very secluded. As nice as he’d been, he was a man with secrets. I just hoped that one of them wasn’t a torture room in his basement…
Chapter Nineteen
Jessica was quiet during the cab ride to the cabin and I was too tired to make conversation. When we arrived, thirty minutes later, she seemed to perk up.
“This is really nice,” she said, after I paid the driver and we were on the porch, surrounded by the familiar chirp of crickets. It was a sound that some found annoying. For me, it was more of a ‘welcome home’ to the one and only place that I could truly relax in.
“Thanks,” I replied, surprised at the sudden relief I felt that she approved. “It’s not anything too fancy, but I alway
s look forward to getting back here.”
“I bet. It’s bigger than I thought it would be.”
“Oh really?”
It wasn’t extremely large, about twenty-two hundred square feet, but it had a deck that wrapped around to the back, a small boathouse, and a long dock with a built-in bench at the end.
“I don’t know. I guess I pictured a two-room cabin with one bedroom and an outhouse,” she said, laughing.
I pushed in the alarm code and turned on the light. “They have those in Anchorage, too. Personally, I need space to move around,” I said, thinking back to the times Acid had locked me in my small bedroom for punishment. Sometimes he kept me in for days, only feeding me when he wasn’t too fucked up to forget. After a while, I learned how to crawl out of my bedroom window and get back into the house, while he was away.
“Wow, it’s beautiful,” said Jessica as she looked around the Great Room, which also opened up into the newly renovated kitchen.
I looked around, remembering my first glimpse of the place. Hardwood floors, vaulted ceilings, and large windows overlooking the lake had sold me on the cabin before I’d even viewed the three bedrooms. “Thank you,” I replied, as she walked over to the stone fireplace and picked up a photo that I had of Sammy.
“How long have you lived here for?” she asked, putting it back down.
“I bought it a couple of years ago.”
She turned around and looked at me. “Thank you, Jordan.”
“For what?”
“For letting me stay here. I know it couldn’t have been an easy decision.”
It hadn’t but now that she was here, it didn’t feel quite as bad as I’d imagined.
“You’re safe. That’s what matters.”
“I have to admit, I feel like nobody could find us out here.”
“That’s what I was going for when I bought the cabin.”
“Another mission accomplished.”
I smiled. “I’m going to take a quick shower and then make something to eat. Feel free to watch television or make yourself comfortable.”
“Which room am I staying in?” she asked.
“There are two guestrooms, down the hallway and to the left of the linen closet. Pick whichever one you want. Oh, and you’ll find clean linen in the closet.”
“Okay. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,” I replied, heading toward my bedroom.
***
When I was finished with my shower, I slipped on a pair of sweat pants and a white T-shirt, and then headed into the kitchen, where I found Jessica, watching the news.
“Anything new going on in the world that we should be worried about?” I asked, opening up the refrigerator.
“Just the same-old-crap,” she said, turning off the television. “Arms-talks, hurricanes, and fugitives on the run. I can see why you like being so far up north.”
“This place doesn’t come without its own problems, believe me. Would you like a beer?”
“Sure,” she replied.
I grabbed two bottles out of the refrigerator and uncapped them. “You hungry?”
“Very.”
“Do you like eggs? I’m in the mood for an omelet, myself.”
She smiled. “An omelet sounds wonderful. Would you like any help?”
I took a swig of my beer and went back to the refrigerator. “No, I can actually hold my own in the kitchen.”
She laughed. “Adriana says that Trevor loves to cook, too.”
“I didn’t say that I ‘loved’ to cook, but I can certainly handle an omelet,” I said, pulling out a carton of eggs, ham, cheddar cheese, and a green pepper. “What about you? Do you like to cook?”
“Sometimes. My mother does most of the cooking at home, but once in a while, I make dinner.”
“So, how do you get along with Slammer?” I asked, grabbing a pan from the cupboard.
“He’s nice enough. It took me a while to get used to him.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, his lifestyle. The way he views women and,” she smiled grimly, “the constant swearing. Sometimes I don’t think he knows any other word but ‘fuck’.”
“It’s an easy way out.”
“What do you mean?”
“Most people that swear all the time are lacking in communication skills or just too lazy to come up with anything more colorful. But then, there are those situations where no other word can replace the bad ones. Sometimes, you just have to say ‘fuck’.”
Jessica snorted. “Yeah, like when I was abducted.”
“Exactly.”
“I said that word a few times that night. No other one can best describe those fuckers.”
I laughed and nodded toward the bangle, she was staring at on her wrist. “That’s nice. Someone special give you that?”
“My mom. It was a graduation present. I was just thinking that it was a surprise that Reaper’s crew didn’t try and steal it.”
“Maybe they didn’t even notice it. Your mom has great taste, by the way.”
“Thanks.” She stared up at me. “I’m sorry about your mom.”
My eye twitched. “No need to be sorry.”
“I heard what she did. Leaving you with your dad, who was obviously disturbed.”
“Yeah, well as far as I’m concerned, they were just sperm and egg donors,” I said tightly. “Anyway, I try not to think about them.”
“Oh, my God. I’m Sorry,” she replied quickly, looking embarrassed. “I shouldn’t have brought them up. I feel like such an idiot.”
“You’re not an idiot,” I said, feeling like an ass myself making her uncomfortable. She didn’t know. “I just don’t like talking about them.”
“I get it.”
“So, what about your old man? Where is he?”
“My real father?”
“Yeah.”
“He died a few years ago. Car accident.”
I looked up from cutting the green pepper. “Oh. Sorry to hear that.”
“Thanks.”
“What was he like?”
Her eyes shined as she talked about him. “He was such a good man. Used to take me to the park all the time when I was little. Gave me piggy-back rides. Laughed a lot.”
“The perfect father, huh?” I asked, happy for her.
She nodded. “Yes. I mean, we didn’t have a lot of money and never went on any expensive vacations, but he made sure that I went camping and fishing in the summers and that we built snow-forts and went ice-skating together in the winters.”
“So, you know how to fish?”
“Yes. I love to fish. I can even fillet them.”
“That’s great. Your dad teach you that, too?”
“Yes, but to be honest, I haven’t done either in a long time. I kind of miss it.”
“Well, since I have a boat and this lake is swimming with fish, we’re going to have to fix that,” I said, mixing the eggs in a bowl.
“Really?”
“Sure. I have a boat we can use, too. Just have to acquire a license and get some bait. How about tomorrow morning?”
“Sounds great,” she said, looking excited.
For some reason, I was a little excited about it myself.
Chapter Twenty
I couldn’t help but stare at Jordan as we sat down together and ate. Not only did he look relaxed and happy, but whenever he smiled, I felt like it wasn’t something he was used to doing. Something told me that he spent a lot of time alone.
“Do you date very much?” I asked, shocking both of us.
His eyebrows shot up. “Date?”
I blushed. “I’m sorry. I’m being nosy.”
“It’s okay.”
He didn’t answer but I figured since I’d thrown it out there, I’d ask again. “So, you don’t or you do?”
His lip curled up. “I don’t have a lot of time for dating. Not with all my traveling and-”
“Terminating?” I asked lightly.
His eyes wi
dened and then he smiled grimly. “Pretty much.”
“Then, it must get pretty lonely up here?”
“Yeah, but I don’t mind. I’ve always been a loner. I enjoy the privacy. What about you?” he asked, changing the subject. “You date much?”
“No,” I said and then smiled humorlessly. “Not that I’ve been trying.”
“I’m sure if you gave it any effort at all, there’d be a line outside of your door.”
I smiled at him in surprise. “I don’t know about that.”
“You’re a beautiful girl. You must know that.”
“Um, well thank you. You’re not so bad yourself,” I replied, feeling a little giddy that he thought I was beautiful.
“Right. You’ve seen my hands,” he said, looking down at his food.
“Yeah. So? They’re nothing to be embarrassed about, Jordan.”
“I’m not embarrassed about them.”
“So, you just think they’re ugly?”
He held up his left hand. “They’re certainly not pretty.”
I’m not sure if it was the beer that made me do it, but I grabbed it and rubbed my thumb over the scarred skin. “I don’t think they’re ugly, Jordan. I really don’t.”
Our eyes met. “You’re just saying that.”
My heart was pounding in my chest. I hadn’t touched a man, other than Slammer and Tank, for so long, because of my fears. Yet, looking into Jordan’s eyes, I could see that he was more frightened of what I was doing than I was. “Why would I need to?”
“I don’t know,” he said softly. “Because, you’re a nice girl?”
“Being honest is part of being a nice girl,” I told him. I stared down at his hand, still rubbing the skin with my fingers. “Obviously, they’re scarred, but what I see are the hands of a survivor. To me, that makes them beautiful.”
He didn’t say anything.
I licked my lips. “I have scars, too,” I said softly. “From Breaker.”
His eyes hardened but he didn’t ask where.
“On my upper thighs,” I said, looking down at my shorts. “So, I guess we both have nice little reminders of the shit we’ve been through.”
Fearing The Biker Page 11