OUR UNLIKELY BABY

by Paula Cox

  I was still getting our breakfast together when he joined me in the kitchen as he made his goodbyes. I ignored him as I finished pouring up my bowl of Raisin Bran until I heard his phone beep.

  He pulled me forcibly around, staring into my eyes. “That wasn’t very nice,” he growled, his voice low and threatening.

  “Well, what did you expect, you sitting there talking business in the nude like that?” I replied, not buying his tough guy act one bit. “Can’t a girl have a little fun?”

  He leaned down and gave me a quick kiss. “I think you need to kiss it to make it better,” he suggested.

  “Mmmm,” I purred. “Maybe I should put some Icy Hot on it to make it feel better.”

  He looked stricken at the thought. “No, no, I think a kiss will do it.”

  I pressed my lips firmly to my fingers then touched his flaccid member. “How’s that?”

  “Well, that wasn’t exactly what I had in mind, but I guess that will do, if that is all I can get.”

  “If it still needs it, perhaps I can kiss it tonight. How’s that?”

  “I hope I can hang on until then,” he replied with grin.

  “I think you are hung just fine,” I teased as I gave him a slow caress.

  “You tease,” he snickered as he leaned in for another kiss.

  ***

  We rolled into the clubhouse about ten. The entire club, about twenty guys, was meeting to discuss the Bulls problem. As the men talked tactics, I sat in one of the big comfortable arm chairs and fretted, staring into space as my mind conjured up all kinds of ghastly scenarios.

  “You okay?” Eva asked as she sat down beside me.

  “Worried.”

  She smiled. “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.” I looked at her like she was crazy, and she burst into laughter. “No, really.”

  “How can you say that?”

  “Because most of the times, these are about who has the biggest dicks. The Hounds will meet the Bulls somewhere and they will lay the law down. The Bulls will back down, and it will be over.”

  “I don’t know if that is what is going to happen this time.”

  “No. Probably not. Someone is going to have to pay for the killing of Sessions, John, and Boss. But if the Bulls are smart, they will give up the killer.”

  “And if they don’t?”

  “Then it will get ugly. But the Hounds are the baddest of the badasses. They have stomped on the Bulls so often over years that the Bulls’ old ladies give birth to babies with the Hounds boot print already imprinted on their ass.”

  I smiled. “You seem to have a lot of confidence.”

  “I do. It is the way of things. It has been this way for as long as anyone remembers. It’s about respect. The Hounds have earned that respect and they are going to remind the Bulls of that.”

  “You seem to know a lot about it.”

  Eva grinned. “I’ve been in the club almost my entire life. Thad’s old lady? She’s my mom. I grew up in this club.”

  “And you’re a club girl?”

  “Nothing but!” she said proudly. “Someday, one of the Hounds will make me his old lady. I was hoping it would be Cain, but…oh well,” she finished.

  “Is Thad your father?”

  Eva smiled. “No. My father was a drunken bastard that used to beat my mom. Thad… explained… to him how that wasn’t nice and it would be in his best interest to disappear. He has taken care of me and Mom since.”

  “Are Thad and Lilly married?”

  “No. I don’t think Mom will ever marry again, but Thad has been good to us. I love him like he was my own Dad, and I would do anything to protect this club.”

  “And you’re not worried that someone will get hurt?”

  “Hurt? Maybe. Sometimes the other guys won’t back down and then the Hounds have to give them a beat-down. But the guys know how to take care of themselves.”

  “But this is more than a beat-down, right?” I asked, trying to get my head around why Eva didn’t seem worried.

  “Yeah. We’re going to fuck them up. We’re twice the size of the Bulls, plus we have the other clubs to back us up. The Bulls are in a corner. They are going to have to give up the killer or the Hounds will pull their colors.”

  “Pull their colors?”

  “Disband their club, whatever you want to call it.”

  “Will the Bulls let them do that?”

  “Let them? No. But if Thad decides that is what he is going to do, they won’t be able to stop him. To let someone take your colors is a mark of shame. They will cease to function as a club. Then they will be rogue. No place to go with no brothers to protect them.

  “And if they do give up the killer?”

  “Then we will take care of him.”

  “And the deal with the guns?”

  “I don’t know. If they give up the killer, I would guess we will take the money and probably beat the shit out of a few of them for taking us on, just to drive the point home.”

  Eva wasn’t around when Castellino and Thad reached their agreement, but I didn’t say anything. “I hope you’re right.”

  She smiled at me. “Don’t worry about Cain. He’s a sweetheart, but he’s a complete badass when he wants to be. He’ll be fine. And when he gets back…” she trailed off, but fanned her face.

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s about respect. The Hounds are the top dogs in Dallas. We control all the other clubs in the area. We set the limits, and all the other clubs defer to us. When they get back from putting another club that is getting uppity back into place, they are all walking ten-feet tall. Be ready because Cain is going to fuck you like you have never been fucked before. They all are going to be like that. For the next few days, we’re all, club girls and old ladies alike, going to be exhausted and sore as hell, but goddamn is the fucking going to be good!”

  I looked at her, trying to believe my ears. “You’re looking forward to this because of the sex?” I tried to keep the incredulity out of my voice, but I wasn’t sure I succeeded. “How old are you?”

  “Twenty-three and, no, I am looking forward to it for some payback. The Bulls have been a pain in the ass for as long as anyone can remember. Now, finally, they are going to get what is coming to them. They’ve gone too far this time. It has nothing to do with the sex and everything to do with who we are. The Hounds are respected because we deal squarely with everyone. We don’t start shit and, on occasion, other clubs have even asked us to intervene, to arbitrate, a dispute. But the Bulls? They are just a bunch of thugs and lowlifes. Everyone will be better off with them gone. And I’m glad it’s going to be us that take them down. We owe Boss, Sessions, and John that much.”

  “And who will take over from Bulls?” I asked.

  “Not us. The Bulls run whores. We don’t do that.”

  “I hope you’re right, Eva. I hope you’re right.”

  “Don’t worry,” she said brightly. “I’ve seen this three times before. A few of the guys may come back a little beat up, but nothing much worse than that.” She grinned at me. “Then it’s the job of the women to help make them feel better.”

  “And if the Bulls don’t play by the rules?”

  “We’re not stupid, Alex. There’ll be guys watching. If they start something, they had better be ready to finish it.”

  ***

  Eva and I were still talking when Cain appeared. I didn’t know what to make of Eva, but she was very open about the club and how it worked. Her apparent total disregard for the safety of the Hounds bothered me a little, but she mostly reinforced my opinion that the Hounds, and the rest of the clubs with the exception of the Bulls, had a certain honor among thieves mentality and they worked together to police themselves and maintain the peace between the clubs and the general population.

  “Hey, Eva,” Cain said as he appeared. “You ready for some lunch?” he asked me.

  “Sure. Eva was just telling me how the Hellhounds are the baddest of the badasses. You
don’t seem like such a badass to me,” I teased as I rose and kissed him softly.

  “Nah. We’re just a bunch of big ol’ teddy bears.”

  “With teeth,” Eva interjected with a grin.

  Cain made a bear face, all teeth and hands held up with fingers crooked like claws.

  “Come on, Ted,” I said as I started walking toward the door.

  “Yes, dear,” he said in a whiny nasally voice that made me giggle.

  “Eva was telling me what was going to happen with the Bulls. She doesn’t seem to be worried, but I don’t think she knows about the deal you made with New Jersey.”

  “She probably doesn’t. You’re probably the only woman that does. You didn’t say anything, did you?”

  “No.”

  “Good. Keep it that way,” he said as he started the truck.

  “Okay. What are you going to do? Can you tell me?”

  “I’m not supposed to…but we are going to pull their colors.”

  “Eva was telling me about that. She said you would only do that if they didn’t give up the killers of the Hounds.”

  “I would say that normally she would be right. But the Bulls have gone too far this time. The deal with New Jersey, killing of our brothers, the constant stirring of the shit. Thad has had it. We all have. Thad is going to check with the other clubs and see if anyone objects. Then we are going to end this, once and for all.”

  “If the other clubs do?”

  “Object? We’re going to do it anyway, but it’s good to know where you stand, and whose fences you may have to mend later.”

  “And what of the women?”

  “What women?”

  “The hookers.”

  “We’re going to cut them loose. They will be free to go. If they decide to stay, I assume they will join up with the Triple-Ds if they are young and pretty, and possibly Cuernos del Diablos if they are skanky.”

  “You treat them like property to be traded.”

  “No we don’t. I told you, they are free to go. Nobody will try to stop them if they want to leave the trade and they will have our protection for a while. But we can’t control what they do of their own free will. I’m sure some of them have nothing else.”

  “I still don’t like all of this.”

  “Neither do I, but it’s something that has be done. We owe them and we made an agreement with New Jersey. If it makes you feel any better, if they give up the killer and their colors, all but the killer or killers can walk away unharmed. New Jersey wouldn’t give them that option.”

  “Do you think they will do it?”

  “No.”

  “Then what?”

  “Then we take their colors...by whatever means necessary.”

  “Even killing them?”

  He paused, clearly not wanting to tell me. That was answer enough and I wondered if he would tell me the truth. “Yes,” he finally said.

  “Thank you for telling me the truth.”

  “I told you, Alex. I would never lie to you.”

  ***

  I changed the subject to something less frightening and we spent the rest of the drive, and most of the meal, discussing our future. I could tell he didn’t want to give up the Hounds, and I didn’t press him. I decided to wait and see how the Hounds handled the Bulls. If it appeared they turned the confrontation into a bloodbath for no reason, then that would weigh heavily in my pressuring him to leave the club. But if they held back and didn’t kill the Bulls for no reason, then perhaps I could be persuaded that maybe the Hounds weren’t as I feared they were. But I kept that to myself, not wanting to influence the events so that I could see how they would play out.

  Our lunch was almost over, and I had all but forgotten about the Bulls, when the check arrived. “I have to go,” I whispered across the table.

  “Again?” he asked, his voice lilting up in mock surprise and annoyance.

  “Just you wait. It’s going to get a lot worse. You try having a six pound weight sitting on your bladder, then talk to me,” I teased as I rose.

  “You don’t have a six pound weight on your bladder,” he objected.

  “Not yet. But I will. Then I will be going every ten minutes. So quit your complaining.” I gave him a quick smooch on the way by to let him know I didn’t mind his teasing.

  As I walked toward the bathrooms, I noticed another woman headed the same way. I increased my speed a bit to make sure I got there first in case there was only one stall.

  As I entered I could see there were three, all unoccupied, and I relaxed a little. Cain was right, though. This having to pee all the time was damned annoying. The door hadn’t even closed before the other woman entered behind me.

  I took care of business and was washing my hands when she emerged from another stall. There were two sinks and, as she stepped up to hers, I turned to the towel dispenser to dry my hands. When I turned back, she was holding a folded piece of paper out to me.

  “Here is something I think you should know, Alex.”

  “I’m sorry, but do I know you?” I asked as finished drying my hands.

  “No, but I know you.”

  She continued to hold the paper out, and the moment I took it, she turned and walked out, not bothering to wash her hands. I unfolded the note.

  The Hellhounds killed your parents. We have the proof. 214-555-0178

  I stared at the note a moment before I tucked the paper into my purse and opened the restroom door. The woman was walking quickly away and was nearly out of the restaurant.

  Chapter 29

  During the trip back to the clubhouse I fretted over the note and whether to tell Cain. I finally decide to keep to myself what had happened in the bathroom. One nice thing about being pregnant, you can blame almost anything on your condition, and when he questioned my sudden change in my mood, I blamed it on hormones. He seemed to accept my excuse without question.

  When we arrived at the clubhouse, I excused myself and retired to one of the guest rooms, claiming I was tired and was going to lie down for a while. Cain expressed some minor concern but I shooed him away to attend business.

  In the room I pulled the paper from my purse and stared at it. I started to tear it into shreds and flush it down the toilet but then folded it and put it back in my purse and lay down on the bed. What can it hurt to call? They already know my name. But what if it is some kind of trap? I wondered. I tried to think of how calling the number could possibly lead me into danger, and finally decided that it couldn’t. I had to know!

  I got up and plucked the paper from my bag and dialed the number.

  “Hello?” a woman’s voice answered. The phone distorted the voice some but I recognized it as the blond that gave me the note in the bathroom.

  “This is Alex. You have proof?”

  “I do.”

  “How?”

  “My father knows who was working with your father to bring down the Hellhounds.”

  “You father was a cop?”

  “No. A Hellhound.”

  That rocked me back on my heels. “Your father was a Hellhound, and he was working with my dad? That doesn’t make any sense. I don’t believe you.”

  “Suit yourself,” the voice said. “But like I said, I have proof.”

  “What kind of proof?”

  “Can we meet somewhere? I will bring it and show it to you.”

  I thought it over a moment. “I don’t think that is a good idea.”

  “We can do it in a public place. I have no interest in hurting you, Alex. You have my word that nothing will happen to you. We show up, I show you my proof, and we leave. Then you can decide what you want to do.”

  “What do you get out of this?”

  “Justice.”

  “What kind of justice?”

  “The kind of justice that is best served cold. My father was tossed out of the Hounds for doing what he was told. For twenty years, he has had to bear the shame of that, of being thought that he had turned on his brothers. And it has e
aten him alive.”

  “Who is your father?”

  “That’s not important now. What is important is that you know who you are involved with. How the Hellhounds, with their high-handed tactics, run the rest of the motorcycle clubs in Dallas like their own little kingdom. But they are not all they seem.”