by K. Renee
“You don’t think Seb would dress nice for you?” I ask, a hint of amusement in my voice.
“If he dressed nice, I might have a heart attack,” she giggles. “He just doesn’t do dress pants and button ups. Plus he hates me half the time.” Her sigh is loud over the phone. Maybe I can get Seb to stand in for me Friday night.
“Eli don’t you dare trick your brother into showing up in your place.” I laugh silently and wait for her to continue. I’m sure she’s not done bitching at me yet. “I mean it. He isn’t invited and I’ll already have enough drama with that guy my parents invited, I don’t need his sexy ass pissing me off too.”
“So you pretty much want me there to scare the fucker off.” I get up from my stool and start to make my way to my room. My one track mind is now focused on showering and heading to bed.
“Yes,” she chirps.
“Well that I can do. Just keep your damn mouth off of me this time. We don’t need more people thinking that we are together.” She starts to laugh into the phone and I roll my eyes. She loves to fuck with people for God knows what reason. Everyone that sees us together thinks that we are together and as good as it is to keep my cover, she does nothing for me sexually. On the plus side, she is my best friend.
“Sweetheart, everyone already thinks we are together. Just go with the damn flow.” I sigh and run my hand through my long hair. I need to get this shit cut off soon.
“Do I need to shave too?” I ask. When I make it into my room, I head straight for the bathroom and start the shower. While the water warms up, I look at myself in the mirror. I wonder if Spencer likes baby faces or beards. Shit, I seriously need to get my mind off of him.
“Uh, since when do you ask me that? Are you feeling okay or is that new guy messing with your head already?” See, that is why I don’t tell her shit. She’s always got something stupid to say to me that will more than likely piss me off.
“Fuck off.” I say lightly. She starts to giggle and I curse under my breath.
“He so is!” she squeals. “Oh my God! This is the best thing ever! You’ve never been hooked on anyone like this before! I want to meet him.”
“No. I don’t...” I pause. Shit, me and him aren’t even together. There is no way I’m subjecting anyone to her crazy ass if I don’t have to. “We aren’t together, so no.” I finally get out.
“Oh boo. You’re such a bore. Fine. Friday, don’t be late.”
“You know I will be.” I respond quickly. I hear her huff out, but I end the call before she can start bitching at me. She knows I’m always late, I don’t know why she’d even try to tell me to be there on time.
Stripping down and stepping into the shower, I stand under the stream and let the water loosen my tense shoulders. After the prospect found that woman at the clubhouse, we’ve been under heavy scrutiny. Prez and my old man are both pissed as hell, the only reprieve I was able to have was going on that damn run last night. At least I didn’t have to listen to their bitchin’ about whoever dumped that whore on our steps.
The cops think we have something to do with that shit, but we don’t. The word almost came down to deal with her when she skipped town on her bail, but Dom said no. He didn’t want to bring unnecessary heat on us for her death. So we dropped that shit with her and have just been keeping our eyes and ears open in case she came around again. There is no way in hell any of us would let her get close to Axle again.
As soon as I wash my greasy hair and wash my body, I shut the water off and make my way out of the shower. Barely toweling off before making my way to bed, not bothering to put anything on, I slip under my covers and lay my head against the pillows. My whole body is exhausted and it doesn’t take me long until I’m out.
My phone beeps and I groggily reach for it. When I hit a button and put it to my ear, I don’t expect the voice on the other end of the line. “Yeah?” I ask. I cover my eyes with my arm and wait for whoever the fuck it is to say something.
“Hey Hun. I was wondering if you were free tonight.” I roll over to my side and grin.
“Yeah Mom. I’m free as long as your old man doesn’t demand I do another run.” I can picture her standing at the stove, making dinner or some sort of cookie that the twins will be demolishing before the rest of us even get a chance to try one.
“Great, can you come by in an hour?” I roll back over to look at the clock and see that it’s almost seven. I’ve slept pretty much the whole damn day away.
“Yeah. Let me wake up a little before I make my way to you.” I can practically hear her grin through the phone when she tells me to take my time and that she can’t wait to see me.
I don’t spend nearly enough time seeing my mom. You would think I did, since I live at the clubhouse and grew up not too far from it. But ever since I decided to stop lying to myself about who I was, I slowly pushed everyone else out of my personal life. The only constant has been River and that’s because she refuses to let me kick her ass to the curb. Trust me, I’ve tried.
My mom was always my rock and I hate that I’ve treated her pretty shitty the last few years. Even when everyone is at family barbeques, I tend to keep to myself. She tries to get to me talk to her, but part of me doesn’t know how to be me anymore. Especially with the secret I carry.
Once I get dressed and make my way over to my parent’s house, I feel like I’m transported into my sixteen-year-old body. Walking up their steps, I stare at the door and will myself to get out of my own head. I’m not a kid anymore. I’m a grown ass man and my decisions are my own.
Before I can even put my hand on the doorknob, it opens and I see my old man’s face. “Hey son,” he says eyeing me.
“Hey Pop. I’m here to see mom. She inside?” He nods and moves so I can walk past him.
“You coming by the clubhouse later?” He asks, making his way towards his bike. I nod my head and watch him as he gets on the bike and starts the engine. There must be something going on tonight, I am just not privy to the damn information yet.
Closing the door behind me, I make my way towards the kitchen where my mom is standing, doing the dishes. “Hey mom,” I greet. I walk over to her and press a kiss on her cheek.
“My baby boy,” she grins. I lean against the counter and watch her as she cleans a few more dishes before she rinses her hands and dries them on the towel at her thigh on the cabinet. “So how are things going? I feel like I never see you anymore or you’re ignoring me when I do see you.” She frowns at me and I look down at the ground.
“Sweetheart, I’m not trying to give you a hard time, I just want to know what’s got you…” She trails off thinking of the right words to say. “I don’t know distant maybe? You and I used to be close, but now I see your brothers more than you.”
I sigh. I hate hurting my mom’s feelings. She’s always been the one on my side through everything and over the last few years, I’ve cut her out completely. “You know it’s nothing like that.” I say. She leans against the counter too and watches me. Sometimes I feel like she knows. Maybe if she knew, it would be a little less of a burden that I carry on my shoulders every day. “I just… I don’t know. Half the time I don’t feel like I belong.” I shake my head as I think of the words that just came out of my mouth.
“What do you mean? Why don’t you feel like you belong?” Her question isn’t hard to answer; it’s just hard to get the words out. How do you tell your mom that you’re gay? That everything she’s known about me for years is a lie to keep people from asking too many questions.
“I don’t know. You remember when I was younger and I rather hang with you than my brothers?” She nods her head and her eyes soften.
“Elijah, I don’t want you to ever think you can’t tell me whatever it is your keeping secret. I love you no matter what. You’re my son and that will never change.”
“Sometimes it’s not that easy.” I reply. I feel my phone go off in my pocket, but I don’t reach for it. Spending my time here with my mom is right where I need
to be right now.
“I won’t judge you sweetheart.” Her eyes beg me to tell her my secret. She wants me to trust her enough to tell her, and I want that too. I’m afraid I’ll just crush her instead. Ah fuck, here goes nothing.
“You know how everyone thinks River and I are together?” She nods her head, but doesn’t interrupt or say anything to keep me from talking. “Well we aren’t. We’ve never been together. We are purely friends.” She nods again and I blow out a breath before continuing. “Everyone thinks we are together because they never see me with another woman other than her, but they don’t see me with women because I’m gay.” My eyes meet hers and I see the tears pooling in them. Her hand goes to her mouth and she reaches for me.
“My sweet boy.” She murmurs before pulling me into her embrace. “I’ve had a feeling for a long time, but I didn’t want to say anything in front of your brothers if I was wrong.” I wrap my arms around her small frame and close my eyes. “Don’t ever let one of your brothers make you feel less because you don’t have the same tastes as them.” I smile against her hair and her grip on me tightens.
When she pulls away, she gives me a glaring look that she used to give us as kids. “Does that mean you’ll finally let Seb and River have a shot? They would sure make beautiful babies together.” I laugh at her. Of course that is what she’s thinking about.
“Mom, I’ve been trying to get Seb to date her for years. He thinks he is stepping on my toes or some shit. So unless I come clean to them, I don’t see it happening.” She sighs and puts her head on my shoulder.
“I know you think they’ll judge you, but I know my boys. They will love you no matter what. We are your family and we will always stand behind you one hundred percent.” She doesn’t know the shit they say half the time when it’s just us hanging around bullshitting. Them finding out isn’t something I’m really looking forward to. I might need to be drunk to handle that shit.
I’ve heard horror stories about the beatings some members of other clubs took when they came out to their brothers. Although I don’t think Prez would bring down that ruling, I have a feeling that words will be exchanged and fists will fly.
Chapter Eight
After we spent the whole day tracking down the boyfriends, we finally got them into interview rooms. Although my suspicion about them being the same person was wrong, I got part of it right. They all share the same tattoo. After interviewing them, we learned that they were all part of the same frat back in college.
As I start to connect the dots the best I can, the fact that they know each other stands out to me. What are the chances that three frat brothers lose their girlfriends in almost the same manner within weeks of each other?
“What are you thinking Hart?” Dixon asks from behind me. I’m currently staring at the big white board with all of our timelines and suspects. My eyes trail between all the men and all their alibis. None of them help the other and they are all weak to say the least.
“What if this is some sort of pact?” I ask, looking over my shoulder at him. He walks closer and I hear footsteps behind us, alerting me that Canaan and Fox are probably coming to stand behind me too.
I point to the first murder victim and her boyfriend. “If you look at this boyfriend, you see that he doesn’t have an alibi for this murder, but he has one for his girlfriend and the other victim, and vice versa. I point to the ones in the order that they don’t make sense.
“So you think that they killed each other’s girlfriends? But for what reason?” My phone starts to ring and when I see the screen, I see Milli’s name pop up. I’ve been waiting on her call. Putting her on speaker phone, I greet her and let her know we are all there with her.
“Hey guys! I just wanted to let you know about the life insurance policies on each of the women. Spence you are a genius.” I ignore her comment and continue listening. “Each woman had a five hundred thousand dollar policy purchased on them three months before their murders.”
“And who are the beneficiaries?” Fox asks.
“The boyfriends. Each woman’s boyfriend bought the policy on their girlfriend and named themselves as the beneficiary. Not very sneaky if you ask me,” she giggles. This is what I like about Milli, she brings a little bit of happiness to this line of work that is the typical morbid and depressing life we live while on cases.
“Are they still in the interview rooms?” Dixon asks. Canaan nods his head in affirmative.
“Thanks Milli. We will see you soon.” She says her goodbye before I end the call and pocket my phone. I follow the guys towards the interview rooms and we split up. A detective from the station we are at walks into a room with Dixon, while Canaan and I walk into another room. He tosses the file folder with the life insurance policy for his girlfriend on the table and we both take a seat in front of the guy.
“Joshua Michelson.” Canaan says flipping open the file and looking down at it. “I see you took a life insurance policy out on your girlfriend, Sofie Vargas, three months before her death.” I watch the way he sits there in the chair. His eyes move around the small interview room, never looking at us.
“What does that matter? I just wanted her to be protected in case of something.” He finally says, not making eye contact with anyone.
“How the fuck does it help her if the policy only pays out if she dies?” Canaan growls. He slams his hands down on the table in front of us and I watch Joshua’s body tighten. He looks over at me, but doesn’t say anything. I continue to watch his body language and see that he’s starting to sweat. I know he’s guilty, but I need to prove it.
“You didn’t kill her.” I state calmly. Canaan’s head snaps in my direction, but I don’t look at him. I can feel his anger bouncing around the room. Joshua shakes his head no, but doesn’t say the words. He can’t.
“But you did kill one of the other girls.” I finally add in. He pales before he pushes out of his chair.
“I would never kill her. I loved her.” He finally says. His face turns dark when he continues. “But that stupid bitch cheated on me. I had to make her pay. They all needed to pay.” I look over at Canaan and he raises an eyebrow at me.
“Why did the others need to pay?” I ask.
“Those bitches weren’t any better than Sofie. They were all whores. We did it to teach those stupid bitches a lesson.” I feel the anger in me flare up. How the fuck could he have his girlfriend killed over cheating on him. Why not just break up with her if she wasn’t faithful?
“I’m going to need you to write down your confession and sign it.” I push a pad of paper that I walked in with and a pen in front of him.
“They fucking deserved it.” He spits again. It’s almost like he’s trying to convince himself that what they did was okay. That shit will never be okay.
As he starts to write, Canaan looks over at me and I shrug. I feel my phone beep in my pocket. Pulling it out, I see a message from Dixon.
Dixon: You get anything?
Me: He’s writing out a confession.
His response is immediate. I’m sure he’s going to tell the other boyfriend that Joshua is currently writing a confession, putting the blame on the others in order to get them to confess too.
Dixon: Good job guys.
I don’t bother writing him back. I close out of the message and see that I have another one in my inbox. Clicking the new message, I see his name show up.
My Sexy Biker: Please tell me you’re coming home soon.
I stare at his message a little too long because Canaan nudges me with his arm. I look up from the screen just as Joshua is pushing the pad of paper back to me. I pocket my phone, ignoring the words that are now burned into my head.
Good thing we are heading home tonight. Now that we have confessions, we can hand the cases back over to the local leo’s and they can close them up. After reading over the confession and how the three old frat buddies decided on coming together to kill each other’s girlfriends, I tell him to get up and slap a pair of cuffs on h
is wrists.
An officer comes into the room and leads him towards booking. As we exit the room, I see the other two boyfriends being led out as well. Fox and Dixon look over at us and Dixon nods his head. He knows that we don’t do this shit for the recognition; we do it because we want to find the answers. Personally, I like to give the victims a voice. In most cases, they didn’t deserve to die. They were helpless victims and deserve to have their killers brought to justice.
We spend the next hour filling out the final paperwork, I finally get a chance to write my sexy biker back.
Me: We fly out in a few hours. Thank God.
He doesn’t respond right away and it gives me time to finish up the report I’m writing. I hand it over to Dixon before I pack my shit up and make my way out of the police station. I need some fresh air. My mind is swimming and part of me just thinks that it’s because I want to go home. The other part is because I’m dying to get home so I can see Elijah.
Damn he even has a sexy as fuck name. God, I’m so screwed. As I lean up against the building, my phone starts to buzz in my pocket. When I pull it out, I see his name on the screen. My Sexy Biker.
“Hey.” I answer after a few rings.
“Hey back at ya. I got your message. Sorry I didn’t write you back, I’ve been on a ride.” My mind instantly goes to thoughts of him on his bike. I think about the tight muscles in his arms and thighs as he straddles his bike. I feel my dick harden just at the thought of him.
“Spencer.” He growls into the phone. I swallow and then finally choke out some words.
“Sorry, I was just thinking about what you’d look like on that bike of yours.” I say quietly. I look around me and don’t see anyone around.
I hear his chuckle come over the line, it shoots straight to my dick. Fuck, I need him to fuck me already. Getting home is the only thing really on my mind. “When you get home, I want you to meet me at the bar. Same place we met.” He murmurs into the other line.