by Evelyn Glass
She heard the low muttering rumble of the mail truck as it stopped at her box, the carrier slipping several items into the box. She opened the door, took a quick peek around and then hurried to the box for the mail. Jules would probably fuss when he found out, but he would just have to get over it.
Back inside she quickly flipped through the mail, flashing hot as she saw the official looking envelope from the City of Vallecito de Grande. She smiled as she tore the envelope open and pulled out the fire inspection report. It was clean, as she knew it would be. The fire chief was an old friend of the family and had called her the next day and apologized for the inspection. It was an official request that he couldn’t ignore, but he had expedited the report, and she was open again in just four days, not the ten days it could have taken. He had even mailed it to her home address so she would get it without having to go to the post office. Charlie was going to get a beer on the house the next time he was in.
She did a quick happy dance in the living room then sent Jules a text, telling him they were opening the bar again tonight. It took only moments before her phone announced a text and she grinned in anticipation of his good natured bitching about having to work two jobs. But the text wasn’t from Jules. She didn’t recognize the number as she tapped the message.
It was a message from a woman that called herself Exotic. Liv had given her Rachel’s number and she wanted to meet, but had to be during the day, when her man was at work. Rachel chewed on her lip. She knew it was a risk, but she finally sent a message back, giving her the address for her house and asking if she could meet now.
Exotic responded almost immediately, informing Rachel she would be there in less than thirty minutes. Twenty minutes later a BMW rolled to a stop in her driveway. Rachel held her pistol as she watched, but only a woman stepped out of the car and walked purposefully to her door where she rang the bell.
Rachel opened the door, the pistol held in plain sight. “Exotic?”
“That’s right. You Rachel?”
“Come in.”
Exotic stepped into the house and pushed her sunglasses up onto her head as she looked around before returning her gaze to Rachel’s pistol. “You planning on shooting me?”
“No. But I have never seen you before and I have to be careful.”
Exotic nods once as if she understood. “You know why I’m here?”
“I have a guess. Come in and sit down.”
“Yesterday I went to the same place that has been cutting my hair for fifteen years, since I was going with my mom. They had been a little bitchy with me lately, but this time, after they cut my hair, but told me not to come back. Said they ‘didn’t want my kind’ in there anymore. It’s Forsaken 99. Because I’m Eric’s old lady, suddenly I’m nothing but shit for them to scrape off their shoe?”
Rachel felt an evil pleasure for the woman’s annoyance. “Well, Exotic, what do you expect? Forsaken 99 isn’t exactly popular with the townsfolk right now.”
“That’s not my fucking fault! I’m just an old lady!”
“You sleep with the dogs, and all that.”
“Yeah, well, this shit isn’t going to fly. Liv told me that Jules and Marsh are going to clean up the club. Eric is going to help.”
“He is?”
“You’re damn straight he is.”
Rachel snickered. “Does Eric know this yet?”
Exotic smiled. “Not yet. But he’s going to find out tonight.”
“You realize, Exotic, this isn’t a game right? That people have been killed for doing what we are talking about doing. Fish, my brother, all the others, they were all trying to take the club back. You can’t make Eric do this and you shouldn’t try. It could get us all killed.”
“He isn’t happy, Rachel. He’s been pissing and moaning ever since Jules was kicked out that the club was heading in the wrong direction. He knows something isn’t right. He used to go on the intercepts. He felt like he was doing something good. But now, he’s on the outside. I don’t like seeing him like this. Before, he would come back from an intercept and we would fuck like wild animals. Now, it seems like all the life has gone out of him. He has no fire anymore. To be honest, if something doesn’t change, I’m out of there. If I wanted a nice steady relationship I would have hooked up with a rancher, or a farmer, or something. I like the passion and the fire of a biker. I liked him coming back from an intercept and throwing me around the bedroom as he fucked the shit out of me. Maybe Eric needs the danger to make him feel alive. I don’t know. But I need him to feel alive to make me feel alive.”
“I understand, but this can’t be about you.”
“I know, and it’s not. Not really. It’s about Eric and how he feels.”
“What do you know? Or a better question, what does Eric know?”
“Nothing. Only what Liv told me. But I know that Eric would have never signed on with Forsaken 99 if it were involved in drugs. His sister died from an overdose while he was still in the Navy.”
“He doesn’t know Forsaken 99 is muling?”
“No. Liv says you have proof?”
“Wait here.” Rachel went to her purse and pulled the photos out. She has been carrying them with her to prevent them from accidentally falling into the wrong hands. She hands them to Exotic. Exotic began to flip through them.
“That’s Todd, Gigolo and Lloyd. Who are the other two?”
“Cartel.”
“That’s the dairy bar out on 118?”
“Yeah.”
“Where’s this?” Exotic asked as she showed Rachel a picture of Lloyd and Gigolo in Odessa.
“Odessa. They ran the drugs all the way there.”
“Son of a bitch. Eric is going to fucking hit the roof.”
“There’s more.”
“More than this?”
“Yeah. Remember the cartel hit a couple of months ago? The one where all the members were killed?”
“Yes.”
“Todd set that up.”
“You’re shitting me!” Exotic squawked. “Do you have proof of that too?”
“Only circumstantial.”
Exotic sat quietly a moment, staring at Rachel. “When can Jules meet with Eric?”
“How about tonight, after the bar closes?”
“You’re open again? What happened?”
“The DEA is leaning on me, trying to get Jules to give up the club.”
“So Jules didn’t go to the DEA either? Has Todd told the truth about anything?”
“Not lately, no.”
“We’ll be there. Can I take these with me?” Exotic asked as she flapped the pictures back and forth.
“No. Too much risk. But they will be at the meeting if you can get Eric there.”
“Oh, trust me, he’ll be there, if I have to drag him there by his balls.”
Rachel snickered again. “You’re just the kind of person we need on our team to make this work.”
“I have lived in this town my entire life. The best thing that ever happened to me was getting married to Eric. I’m not giving him up, and I’m not going to be treated like some dime store hooker by people I grew up with either. Eric, Marsh and Jules are taking the club back and I’m getting my life back, or I’m going to cut Todd’s nuts off with a butter knife.”
“I’m sorry, Exotic. You are going to have to stand in line behind me for that.”
***
Just before the bar closed, Eric and Exotic walked in, and neither looked happy to be there. Rachel had told Jules about the visit as he washed the sweat and dirt off before they left for the bar, so he was expecting them. As they sat down at a table he meandered over to them.
“Eric, Kelly. Or should I call you Exotic now? How are you?”
“Just fucking great,” Eric sneered.
“Eric! You promised me,” Exotic hissed.
“Well, maybe I’ve changed my mind.”
“Perhaps another time,” Jules said as he began to move away.
“No!” Exotic sa
id, holding out one hand toward Jules. “Jules, wait. Don’t go.”
“Kelly, if he doesn’t want to hear, I’m not going to try to make him listen.”
“Fine,” Eric said as he stood up.
“If you walk out,” Exotic hissed, “you had better just keep walking.”
“Don’t you threaten me!”
“It’s not a threat. It’s a fucking promise!”
Eric’s jaw worked, but he sat back down. “Just say what you have to say.”
“Are you sure you want to know?”
“I promised her I would listen.”
Jules pulled out a chair and sat down. He laid it all out for Eric, showing him the pictures. He explained that he had tried to take back the club once before and the terrible cost of that failed attempt. Through it all Eric sat, stone faced and unmoved.
“Are you done?” Eric asked as Jules fell silent.
“Yes,” Jules said. He knew he had failed, and once again Todd would know that he was plotting against him. At least he had kept Marsh and Spence out of it, and if Exotic hadn’t told him, at least they would be safe.
“Let’s go,” Eric said as he rose.
“What are you going to do?” Exotic asked as she stood.
“I’m going home. I’ve listened as you asked. Now let’s get the hell out of here.”
Exotic stared at Eric a moment then rose. “Sorry,” she mouthed to Jules as she followed Eric out.
***
“We’re fucked,” Jules said as he held Rachel tight. After Eric and Exotic left the bar, he had tried to convince himself that Eric would keep his secret, but he knew he was deluding himself. Now, in the quiet of their bedroom, he had finally given voice to his fears.
“Maybe not,” Rachel whispered, though as she had watched Eric’s body language, she knew he was probably right.
He snorted. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Todd knows already.”
“I’m sorry,” she whispered again and she felt Jules’s embrace tighten around her slightly before relaxing again.
“Nothing to be sorry for. I knew what we are doing is risky. Any one of the members could sell us out at any time. Maybe it is better it happened now, before too many brothers are involved.”
“What are we going to do?”
“Nothing. There is nothing we can do. But this may bring it all to a head. They may move on us in the next few days, or as soon as they can get it set up.”
She lay quietly in his arms, enjoying his warmth against her back. It was all happening again, and this time Jules may not be so lucky. He had dodged two assassination attempts by the narrowest of margins. She tried to fight off the tears, but she couldn’t stop them, the thought of losing him, as she lost her brother, overwhelming her. She gasped softly, but once started she couldn’t stop her tears of pain, loss, and potential loss.
“Shhh, babe. Don’t cry. It’s going to be okay,” Jules murmured as he kissed her gently on the neck and shoulder.
“I don’t know what I will do if something were to happen to you! First Will, and now you! I don’t think I could stand it.”
“I still here,” he reminded her.
“I know. But if the club tries to kill you…”
“They’ve tried before.”
She gasped. “I know, but how many times before they succeed?” She sniffed and swallowed hard as she tried to gather herself.
“Not this time.”
“How can you say that? You don’t know! You can’t know!”
“I’ve told you before, I’m not that easy to kill.” He scooted away from her and rolled her to her back so he could look into her eyes. “I can’t die now. I have this thing I need to do.”
She gasped out a laugh and sniffed again before wiping her eyes. “What’s that?”
“This,” he smiled as he leaned down and kissed her gently.
“But what about tomorrow. And the next day?” she asked softly as their lips parted. “I worry.”
He kissed her again. “I’ll need to do this again tomorrow. And the next day. And the day after that.”
She stared at him a moment then sniffed again. “I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
He leaned down to kiss her again but she pushed up against him. “Stop. Just stop. This isn’t funny, Jules. This isn’t a game. You could be killed.”
“No, it’s not. I’ve lost too many friends already. But if Todd comes for me, he had better bring his A-game because next time I won’t stop at just kicking his face in. I will fucking rip off his head and shit down his neck.” He could feel the anger welling up in him again as he thought of all the good men, and their families, killed at Todd’s behest. Todd may not have pulled the trigger, but he was just as guilty.
She watched as Jules’s face grew dark with barely contained rage. The pain was back, if not the darkness. She pulled him to her, holding him tight as he gathered her into his arms, moving over her. She wrapped her legs around him and pulled him down. He didn’t enter her, but settled lightly onto her, his weight making her feel safe and protected.
“I’m sorry Jules. I’m sorry for all you have had to endure. But I know you can do this one last thing.”
“Yes,” he murmured into her shoulder. “For Will, and Fish. For Bell, Wade, Boggs, Blake, Roger, Slick, Tater, Marco, Rudy, Marlin, Riggs, and all the others. I will see they get their justice and that they didn’t die for nothing.” He paused and she could sense his pain. “I’m so, so, sorry I couldn’t protect Will. I—”
“Shhh…” she murmured as she pulled him tighter into her. “I don’t blame you. It wasn’t your fault.” Her tears threatened again and she fought them off, knowing that if she broke down now, she would pull him into her grief. She needed him to be strong for her, to be her strength for when she weakened. She loosened her grip and gently nudged him so he would look her in the eyes.
“You did all you could,” she whispered as she kissed him softly. “You couldn’t have known.”
“I should have expected it.”
“No. No one would have guessed that fucker would have stooped so low as to kill members of his own club, his brothers. No one.” Rachel could feel her own rage beginning to surge again and her tears vanished. She and Jules, they were going to make Todd pay for his treachery, and nothing was going to stop them. She wanted to rip and tear, she wanted to kill Todd with her bare hands for what he had taken from her. She began to burn with a potent rage, her wrath coiling inside of her, preparing to strike at the first target that presented itself. But it was only her and Jules in the room and she couldn’t release the fury that was twisting her tighter and tighter. She heard Jules gasp as he twisted, her fingernails digging hard into his back as she churned, choking on her rage. Todd was not going to escape her and Jules’s righteous vengeance. Not this time!
He grimaced as her fingernail bit even deeper. “Oww! Easy!”
“That fucking Todd isn’t going to get away! Not again!”
“No. We’ll get him,” he promised as he tried to extract himself from her grasp.
She let him go, suddenly aware that she was hurting him, but the knowledge did nothing to cool her fury. “That fucker!” she shrieked as she pushed hard at Jules, her rage spiraling out of control, all the pain and fury she had kept inside being released in a torrent. “I’ll fucking kill him!”
“Rachel! What’s wrong?” he cried as he grabbed her, trying to understand what was happening.
Her rage found a target, Jules. As he held her she jerked away convulsively, her face twisting into an ugly sneer. She wanted to hit him, and go on hitting him until she was exhausted, but she couldn’t. Not Jules. He was her rock, her harbor of safety. She could never hurt him. As her fury took her, she flung herself at him, kissing him savagely, her anger converting into lust unlike she had ever felt before. She couldn’t beat the shit out of him, but she could fuck the shit out of him. She drove at him, powering him to his back with her legs, her lips never leaving his as she rode him t
o the bed. She grabbed roughly at his cock and tried to insert it into her, but he wasn’t even semi-erect.
He was still trying to adjust to what Rachel was doing as she manhandled him roughly. With one particularly hard jerk he cried out softly in pain. “Shit! Rachel! What the fuck?” he cried as he tried to hold her down and break whatever spell had come over her. But that seemed only to inflame her more and she struggled violently, pushing furiously at him with arm and leg. He let her go but rather than break free, she turned on him again.