by Eden Rose
I lock every bolt on the door and start walking around the apartment to make sure all of the windows are still locked, too. I know they are locked because I checked them earlier. I check them all the time to make sure.
My body is tense and I have too much adrenaline going through me to function. All I have to do now is wait for Howie to call me back.
Shit.
24
Hawk
“What do you want, Mike?” I grunt out. I don’t want to have to owe him a favor. He’s a fuckin’ asshole and loves the control.
I know he wants to take over my club but I’m not giving it up. I worked hard to be president and I worked hard for my club.
“Hawk, you wanna know how I got that photo? I want to use your fence here,” he points to the woods in the back of my clubhouse.
With us being in close counties, each of our areas have different set up. Mine has the woods and he’s closer to the next state.
“What are you wantin’ to run?”
He shrugs. “Haven’t decided. We’ll talk.”
Fuck. “Fine. We’ll talk. Why do you have that picture?”
“Some suit brought it over and offered us fifty large to find your girl and kill her kid.”
My jaw about falls to the ground. “What did he look like?”
Michelangelo smirks, he knows he has me where he wants me. “He looked Italian. Something about her runnin’ away from some dude in Chicago. He wants her back. He wants her back really bad he will do anything to get her.”
“Are you fuckin’ kiddin’ me?” I rake my hand over my face and try to cool the red hot anger bubbling inside of me. “Do you still have cameras in your clubhouse?”
“What the fuck? Do we have cameras?” Gear snips with anger.
I want to punch him in the throat. “You become prez, and I’ll fill you in on all the dirty details. But I will tell you to wear pants more, you fucker. I keep seein’ you swing dick all the time.”
Capone chuckles in the back of his throat. “Next chick I’m gonna bang, I’ll bring her by and let you watch. Now that you’re all wifed up, it’s gonna be a long time before you get your dick sucked.”
“Can we stick to the subject?” Michelangelo demands. Since he was in prison for his bid, he’s all about keeping time. Everything has a time limit and he likes it that way.
Frankly, it bothers the fuck out of me. I hate feeling as if I’m on a time limit.
“What did you tell him?”
“Well, I actually told him I’m gonna send it to my boy, Maucho, and Maucho said something about comin’ here because you might be interested in the info. Is that right?”
He’s baiting me and as he hooks me, he takes a gulp of his beer.
“That’s my woman. I want my woman to be looked after. Gear, go sit on Gina’s place. That’s where she lives.”
He grumbles under his breath. “You gotta get over it! We pedal that shit all the time!”
“Fuck off, prez,” he mumbles and hops in his truck to take off.
“Would love to stay here and watch your man disrespect you, but I’d love to hit some strange here,” Michelangelo retorts and pulls at the belt on his pants.
“You’re a sick bastard.”
My phone rings in my back pocket. “Hello?”
“Hawk, it’s Kaylie,” Kaylie yells in the phone line.
I can’t handle anymore surprises right now. All of this shit has got to end. “What?”
She groans. “I just wanted to let you know I let your girl go today. She called off work and I told her to not bother coming in.”
“Why would you fire her?” I blurt. Fuck, even I would have fired her. She called off work on the first week? That’s not a good sign.
“I’m only gonna say this once, this girl is afraid of something. Whatever she is afraid of, you need to find it. That’s the only reason why she called off work.”
“How do you know that?” I’m standing in the middle of the courtyard with Capone smoking a blunt happily.
Nothing phases this man. I swear.
“A woman just knows. Watch your girl.” She hangs up the phone.
“That didn’t sound good,” Capone gripes with a smile.
“Why are all the hot bitches in trouble?”
He shrugs. “Because the hot bitches are the ones we want and they want us to work for it. That’s the only reason why.”
“Jesus,” Michelangelo groans and looks towards the door where Tasha strolls out.
Tasha is one of the club bunnies that all the new guys love. She’s down to fuck and will do just about anything to have a good time. The one thing you gotta know about Tasha is the fact that she’s connected to the mob or some shit.
At least that is what she tells everyone. No one knows anything about her.
“Good luck!” I call out to him and hop on my bike to go the tattoo shop. I gotta get some work in.
With Gear watching Maci, I feel as if she’s going to be protected. I want to bring her ass to the tattoo shop, but I don’t know if she will come willingly.
ME: yo, bro
GEAR: I just got here. Nothing out of the ordinary. How long I gotta be here?
ME: I want you to go the apt across from Gina and knock on the door. Maci will answer. I need you to get her and her daughter to the tattoo place
GEAR: you know what you’re doin?
I rub my hand down my face and start up my bike. I have no idea what I’m doing. I know for one thing, now that I’ve had a taste for Maci, I’m never letting her go.
The woman consumes me after one fuckin’ day of knowing her.
I’m screwed beyond belief. There is nothing more I can do than try to protect her.
The thought of this moving so fast should scare me. Should make me want to run the other way, but all I want is to be with her. I can’t explain it at all.
I pull into the parking lot of my tattoo place and open the doors to George, my customer.
25
Maci
“Maci, I don’t have good news for you. This shit is getting bad and we’re looking at moving you to another location,” Howie informs me.
I’m draining my coffee pot and listening to him as he explains what is going on with my situation. I knew things were getting bad when I woke up to seven missed phone calls from Howie.
“What happened now?” I ask him and look over at Riley who is doing her homework at the kitchen table. I say that she is doing it, but she’s really watching stupid videos of people dancing online. They are the dumbest videos I have ever seen in my life.
“Savros has found you.”
“Does this have anything to do with that man who was in the parking lot?”
“What fucking man are you talking about?” He seethes over the phone line.
He always does this bull shit and acts as if I didn’t tell him what happened earlier. “You know exactly what I’m talking about, Howie.”
“We are looking at getting you a safety net in case this goes south.”
I take a deep breath. The thought of moving my daughter again and having her be the new kid again makes me sad. The kid already has it bad with everything that is going on… I don’t want to add to it.
“Has there been any more chatter?” I question.
“I will play you the newest recording. Let me get the audio together. Gimme a second.”
I’m looking around my apartment constantly to make sure everything is locked and secure like it is supposed to be. I don’t want Savros or his men to break into my apartment and hurt us.
These are the type of people who blow up a whole building to kill one person. The quality of life thing doesn’t mean anything to them. Nothing besides money and power mean anything to them.
And I’m the lucky person who put him away.
“You ready?” He questions.
I nod. “Yeah. Give it to me.” I’m not ready. I’m not ready to hear what he has to say to me. I’m not ready to hear any of this shit!
>
“An inmate from Cook County Jail is trying to contact you. Do you accept the call?”
“Yes.”
“Billy,” Savros greets.
“How’s it going?” Billy says.
“Did you take care of that problem I had?” Savros asks.
“I visited your girlfriend’s place. Unfortunately, there was a nasty fire,” Billy informs him.
“How nasty?”
“The whole house is gone.”
“That’s terrible,” Savros says monotoned. “Have you found my girlfriend?”
“Yes. She is living in New Mexico now. Your girlfriend is looking really pretty with your daughter.”
“Have you made contact with her?”
“We’re working on it. Things are slow motion but I will take care of your girlfriend for you.”
“Fifty large for whoever takes care of my girlfriend for me.”
Billy sucks in a breath. “Yeah. Sure. Anything else?”
“I want her to be treated real nice.”
“I’ll take her out to a romantic restaurant for you.”
“Take pictures of the date for me. You know I want to live through you.”
“Sure thing, boss!”
My heart is beating faster than it ever has in my life. I’m hyperventilating and I can’t seem to calm myself down. I try to sit on the chair in the kitchen and I miss it. I fall straight to the floor with a big thud.
“Mom, are you okay?” Riley asks.
She has to see the panic on my face. I know it’s there. I know I’m petrified beyond belief. We’re out in New Mexico all by ourselves and there is nothing anyone can do.
“Yes, Riles,” I answer trying to be as fake as I can be at the moment. All I want to do is scream and pack us up.
She looks at me cautiously and then goes back to her homework. I guess I’m more convincing than I thought.
“What am I going to do, Howie?” I whisper.
“You’re going to do what we say. This has gotten bigger than what we thought. They want you dead and they will stop at nothing until you are.”
“What are you saying?” I whisper again. I need to make sure I’m fully understanding what he is saying to me. Right now, everything is a big blur. Everything is a big fucking mess and I’m drowning in it. “I need to know. I need to know right now what I’m supposed to do.”
“I’m going to call you right back.”
He hangs up on me again and I swallow my scream. This is some bull shit!
Right when my whole world is falling apart again, there is a knock on the door. I don’t answer it. I can’t. I know exactly who it is and it’s that man who’s come to murder us.
My fear is choking me and I can’t get enough air in my lungs.
“Maci! Answer the door! It’s Gear!”
I don’t budge.
“Who is Gear, mom?”
Fuck my life. If things didn’t turn shitty on me, I wouldn’t have any luck.
I fought my way through law school with a child! I worked many jobs to be able to give my daughter the life she deserves and this is what has become of me.
I’m sitting on the floor in my kitchen afraid to answer the door. I have hit rock bottom.
There is knocking again. This time it is louder. I still don’t answer.
“Mom! Are you deaf? Someone is at the door!”
“Shush!” I whisper yell at Riley to get her to be quiet. I don’t need her broadcasting that we are in here.
“What’s with you?”
She obviously has no clue about anything and I want to keep it that way. I don’t need her to be freaked out like I am.
I hear my phone ringing and I look at the caller identification. I don’t recognize the number but I know it is local.
When I don’t answer, I get a text right away.
UNKNOWN: baby, it’s Hawk. Answer the door!
ME: stop bothering me!
UNKNOWN: IMG
The image that pops up is a picture of Hawk holding a piece of paper with the date and time. I feel better that he is showing this to me. I don’t know who to trust. I don’t know which way is up and which way is down.
There is a knock on the door again. This time I jump up to answer it.
Gear is standing in front of me and he is looking around the apartment. “I need you and your daughter to come with me.”
I shake my head. “Are you serious?”
He must be joking. There is no way I’m going anywhere with him.
Gear grabs me by the elbow and leads me to the back of the apartment where my room is. He shuts the door and I’m suddenly very afraid. I back up until I reach the nightstand with my gun in it.
“I’m here to take you to Hawk. I don’t wanna hurt you, Maci.”
“Why isn’t he here then?” I ask stubbornly.
“I wanna know the same question. Judgin’ by the scared look in your eye, I can see you don’t want me here. If it means anything to you, all I wanna do is get you to Hawk.”
Hawk calls me again, but this time it is over video chat. I click on the answer button and he takes over my screen.
“Baby, listen to Gear. You’re in danger,” he informs me as if I already didn’t know.
“I know that!” I hiss.
He throws up a hand in mock surrender. “I want you and your daughter at my shop so I can keep an eye on you.”
“I can’t do this to my kid again!” I argue stupidly.
I already know I lost the fight.
26
Hawk
GEAR: we’re on our way but she is pissed!
ME: thank you brother
GEAR: you owe me. She almost cut my balls off
ME: that’s my woman
GEAR: you sure about this?
ME: never been more sure in my life
GEAR: all right. On our way
It takes them about fifteen minutes to get to my tattoo shop. I’m doing the outline for my customer and the tattoo is looking really good.
“Jesus, fuck! You have heavy hands tonight!” He gripes.
I chuckle. “If your skin wasn’t made’a leather, it woulda been easier, asshole!”
The front door to the tattoo parlor opens and I smell the sweet smelling woman who has taken over all rational thinking. I know what I’m about to do is crazy as fuck, but it has to be done. If I wanted to keep the safety of Maci and her daughter, they need to stay under my watch.
I just have to get Maci on board.
This is going to be a mother fucking nightmare.
I’m to a good place where I can stop and I nudge my customer to look at me. “How about you go smoke.” I gave him an order and he immediately took it.
I love it when people follow directions.
Maci is looking around the parlor with her eyes wide open. I have only just met her, but my infatuation with her is way too strong to ignore. She’s mine and I protect what’s mine.
“Why am I here?”
I look behind her to see a young girl who is about the same height as Maci but is skinnier than needed. Her jeans barely hang on her hips and she has the same beauty as her mom.
“Who’s this?” She asks to her mom.
“My name is Hawk. This is my parlor.”
“What kinda name is Hawk?” She blurts.
Maci giggles and raises her foot to kick her in the butt. “I said the same thing. I guess it is a biker thing.”
Her daughter looks over at me with disdain and confusion. I’m thinking she is mad at me for interrupting her night. What she doesn’t know is she’s going to be even more mad.
I reach into my back pocket and fish out my wallet. My hand lands on two twenties and I hand them over to her kid. “Why don’t you get us a couple of burgers and fries.”
“Can I keep the change?”
Maci’s eyes widen. “Rude much?”
The kid has spunk. I will give her that.
“Yeah, you can have the change.”
“I like this
dude,” she murmurs and walks across the street.
“Why am I here?” Maci asks the second the door closes.
“You’re here because the guy you are running from has contacted my cousin’s club. The fucker has widened his hit on you.”
Her eyes look over at Gear who shrugs. He is here in case I need back up.
“You and your kid are staying with me at my house.”
“You have got to be kidding me!” She scoffs.
Gear chuckles and looks across the street. I know he’s looking out for Gina who should be just about coming in for her shift.
“He’s not kiddin’, sweetheart.”
He doesn’t usually talk a lot, but you can tell he cares about the women we protect in our club. You can tell they are the ones he cares about. The man is a fuckin’ asshole, though.
“We can’t just move in with you,” Maci explains.
I place my hands on her waist and bring her closer to me. “Remember earlier? I meant what I said. You’re mine. I protect what’s mine.”
Her eyes blink really fast and I can see she is trying to process everything that I’m saying. “Isn’t this moving a little fast?” She whispers.
“That’s Hawk. He moves fast and he doesn’t care.”
“He’s right,” I agree with my brother. “Baby, I protect my club and I protect what’s mine. There is nothing you can do or say about it. You got me?”
Gear answers the phone and he raises an eyebrow at me. “You know anything about a man followin’ Maci?”
“What man followed you?” I ask her quickly.
“I didn’t get the chance to tell you,” she murmurs. I can see she’s uneasy about the whole thing, but I’m trying to protect her. I’m trying to make sure she is safe. “Some man was sitting in the parking lot when I got back from picking up Riley from school. He took a picture of Riley and then of me. He drove off really quickly and then my handler got in touch with me.”
“What did you handler say?”
“Basically, he knows where I’m living and he has someone out to come find me.”
“Gear, how’d you find out?”
“I found out because Capone has him in holdin’ right now. I guess he won’t talk until he talks to the big man.”
Maci starts to cry a little and I wrap her tighter in my arms. I need to keep touching her to make sure she is feeling safe. I know it’s silly, but I need her to know I’m there for her.