I already know I’m right, and her nod confirms it. I feel sick and hope the worst I’m thinking isn’t the truth. That I’m not the only one thinking it is confirmed when Niran again speaks into my ear, so quietly, she wouldn’t be able to hear it.
“Eva might be needed.”
Eva’s a nurse. He’s right, she might. She’ll come running if we ask her.
“Come on.” I encourage her forward with my arm. “Get on the bike, darlin’. I’ll go slow. No need to be afraid. You just hang onto me.”
She’s like putty now, obeying when I tell her what to do. It’s going to be hell for me getting on with a passenger already sitting and taking up part of my seat, but she’s upset and inexperienced, so I’ll have to manage it. I pull out the rear pegs and put her feet on them. “Just keep them there, okay? And hang onto me. Mind the exhaust, it’s hot and you could burn yourself.”
When she’s situated where I want her, I try to ease my uncooperative leg over the seat, thankful to Niran steadying the bike for me. I raise my chin to him when I’ve got it upright and balanced, and kick up the stand. Alicia’s so slight, I barely notice the extra weight there.
Then, knowing I owe it to Mary to take care of my passenger, I ease out, doing a U-turn over the meridian, and head back the short distance to the clubhouse.
Alicia’s hands clutch at me as though holding a lifeline. At first, I think it’s because she’s scared of the bike, but when we reach our destination, she’s still holding tightly onto me. Niran comes over.
“Alicia, isn’t it?” he queries in his deep voice. “Slide off the bike, honey, so Grumbler can park it.”
Gently, I try to loosen the death grip she’s got around my waist. “Just stay with Niran for a moment, baby,” I encourage her.
It takes a minute, but then her hands loosen. Sensing she doesn’t want him to touch her, Niran steps back, and lets her slide off. Once I’m alone on the bike, I paddle walk it backwards, park, and dismount.
As soon as I’m off the bike, she flings herself into my arms, sobs coming again.
“Come on, let’s go find you some tissues and mop those tears up. Then you can tell me what happened.”
She’s pliant as I move her around so I can put my arm around her and lead her into the clubhouse.
“Why’s Wrangler so worried about losing his patch… oh.” Salem’s voice cuts off abruptly.
“Here are tissues.” Niran presents me with a box.
A bit uncertain what to do next, I take one, then a couple more and hand them to her. Walking her over to a couch, hoping it’d dried off from being in use last night, I press on her shoulders. When she sits, I crouch in front of her.
“I’ll call your mom.”
“No. Please, no.” She looks horrified and scared.
My eyes flick to Niran, then Salem for help, but they’ve not yet procreated, and clearly, like me, have no idea how to handle her.
“I’ll call Eva,” Niran suggests.
Well, that’s a start. Get a woman here to talk to her. In the meantime, what do I do? Eva lives in Escondido and will take a while to get here.
“She want a soda or something?” Salem suggests, trying to be helpful, but Alicia shakes her head.
I reach up my hand and catch a tear that’s escaping. “Who hurt you, sweetheart?” That’s the information I need—someone to focus my suppressed rage on.
“Man put his hands where he shouldn’t?” Salem growls loudly, making her jump and me to shush him.
Alicia sobs, and just when I think she’s not going to confirm anything, she gives a little nod.
“Who?” the enforcer snarls just as I’m about to ask the question.
“It wasn’t what you’re thinking,” she cries out. “It was my fault.”
“No.” Now it’s me who’s growling. “If a man has done something you didn’t want, there’s no way you’re to blame.”
Her red eyes come to meet mine, then she looks away. “I’ve been so stupid, Grumbler.”
My eyes narrow, but I try to keep my anger in check. “Why don’t you tell me what happened, Alicia, and let me be the judge of that?”
Her head drops again, and I don’t think she’s going to say anything. Niran and Salem take places behind the couch, and I don’t think she knows they’re still listening.
Wrangler appears, his footsteps hesitant. As if trying to make up for his error of judgement earlier, he holds a bottle of water at arm’s length. I take it, shooting him a look that tells him it will take a whole lot more before I even think of forgiving him. The jerk of my head tells him to make himself scarce. As he does, I unscrew the top, and hold it out to her.
Discarding another used tissue on top of the growing pile beside her, she takes a much-needed drink of water to rehydrate.
“I was supposed to be a Marisa’s last night,” she starts, in a soft, quivering voice. “I left my phone there, so that’s where Mom would think I was.”
That explains why Mary’s not blowing up my phone trying to find her. While she should be grounded for trying to deceive her mother, that discussion’s for later.
“Where were you?” It’s a battle to keep my voice level.
“With Owen.”
That motherfucker. I should have fucking guessed. Swallowing rapidly in an attempt to remain calm, I ask the question to which I believe I already have the answer. “He the one who hurt you?”
“Yes, no.”
Salem makes a cutting motion across his throat. It tells me two things. One, Owen is soon going to be six feet under, and secondly, to go easy on her.
“Tell me everything, Alicia. You went to his place?” If yes, we know where to find him.
“No.” Her lips press together. “I didn’t tell Mom, but I’ve been talking to him for weeks—ever since the day of the shoot, with your bike, Grumbler.”
I nod, showing I remember. It’s another thing she’s been lying to her mom about. Oh, I know Mary knew they’d been in contact, but not that they seem to have become more than friends.
“Last weekend. You thought I was in bed when you were talking to Mom, but I wasn’t. I was listening. I heard you planning to trick him, so I told him all about it. How Dusty wasn’t really a model, and you were setting him up.”
Jesus. Closing my eyes, I roll back my head. We knew she wouldn’t go along with it had we admitted what we were doing, hence we thought we’d been clever. I’d never dreamed she’d been eavesdropping.
Swallowing a couple of times, I look back down. “What was his reaction?”
“He told me what a wonderful person I was to tell him. He said I was beautiful inside and out. He told me he was falling in love with me and wanted to take our relationship further.”
“You met him again before last night?”
She sniffs, then nods. “Marisa’s been covering for me.”
Perhaps Marisa should have a visit from us—another thing to leave until later. I don’t tell Alicia how stupid she’s been, that’s a job for her mom. But judging by her condition, she’s already regretting it enough herself.
“So, last night?” I prompt her, while mentally sitting on my hands to stop myself from shaking the truth out of her. I have to remember, right now, I’m not the sergeant-at-arms.
“I was going to… I’d decided…” She goes bright red and buys herself time while noisily blowing her nose. “Owen rented a hotel room. It was a lovely place. Upscale, better than where Mom and I had stayed before.”
“Where?”
She names the hotel. From behind her, Salem nods, either to show he’s heard of it, or has just noted it.
“He was amazing, Grumbler. He’d laid out stuff to eat, all my favourite food—buffalo wings, fries. He had beer, I had soda. There were flowers too. Flowers for his special girl. For my first time, it couldn’t have been better.”
“But you changed your mind? Said no and he ignored you?”
She adamantly shakes her head. “No. He couldn’t have been more consi
derate. He… took his time. He made sure I enjoyed it. It wasn’t like being with a fumbling boy my age. He knew what to do.” She bites her lip.
“Sweetheart. I don’t understand.” I open my palms, shrugging my hands in confusion. Then it dawns on me. “He dumped you and said goodbye?”
“Huh,” she scoffs. “I wish he had. That would have been better.”
“Alicia. Help me out here, please? What did he do? Or didn’t. Did he use a condom?”
Her eyes go wide, and she flushes red. “Of course. But Grumbler…” She throws herself forward and into my arms. “I didn’t know.” Her voice weakens and trails off. “I didn’t know.” The tone of her voice again becomes stronger and rises. “This morning he told me. He filmed it. He filmed everything, Grumbler. He called it Deflowering of a Virgin. He said if I led you to him, then he’d show it to my mom. He’d make sure everyone at school saw it. I was to give you a message. Leave him and Devon alone.”
“Motherfucker!” Niran roars.
“How did he film it? On his phone?” Salem fires the question at her while I just hold the girl who’s sobbing again.
“He had proper cameras set up, but I hadn’t seen them. He’d disguised them.”
“He showed you?”
“Yes, to prove he could carry out his threat.”
Salem’s jaw clenches.
I struggle, barely able to suppress my rage. “But you came to me, anyway, sweetheart?”
“He also said, he’d kill you if he saw you again, and I couldn’t have him do that.”
An idle threat, that kid couldn’t better me. But she’d come straight to warn me. I didn’t realise I meant anything to Alicia. “Why do you care about me, Alicia? And you shouldn’t worry, I’m more than capable of looking after myself.”
“I don’t have a dad. Mom’s dated, I know that, but she’s only brought one person home to meet me, and he was horrible. Now you’re coming to the house, and I thought…”
“Hey, sweetheart. There’s nothing between me and your mom. I’m no father figure. I’m old enough to be your grandfather. You can knock that idea on the head. Your mom’s much too young for me.”
“Mom? Young? She’s old. She was thirty when she had me.”
My head shouldn’t automatically start doing the arithmetic. I shouldn’t be working out whether a surprisingly short, as it turns out, ten-year age difference was too much. Women, I decide, must grow old far more gracefully than men do. I’d never have taken her for that old. Still, I’ve got ten extra years of living under my belt, an extra one hundred and twenty months. Nope, can’t consider it. I’m still too old and too jaded.
“Alicia, there’s nothing between your mom and me, other than we’ve hit it off as friends. I’m ten years older.”
“So? Owen’s seven years older than me.”
I still. “Owen’s twenty-one.”
“That’s what he told me at first, but then he told me his real age. He just looks young.”
“And fuckin’ plays on it.” Salem is incensed.
“Hey, Grumbler. You need me?” A female voice sounds by my shoulder. Glancing up, I see Eva.
“Yeah.” Once again, I have to peel Alicia away from me. “Alicia, this is Eva. Eva, this is Alicia. Alicia’s had a hard time of it. Could you take her under your wing for a while? You hungry, sweetheart?” I say the last to the girl in my arms, hopeful, but not optimistic.
“You going to help me, Grumbler? I’m so scared. What if he shows that video to everyone?”
That’s an easy question to answer. “Yes.”
“And not tell my mom?” This one is far harder.
That I can’t promise. Mary’s got to know everything. “She has to be told, Alicia. But one thing I promise you, she won’t be angry, okay? I’ll be there when you speak to her.”
“I’ve ruined my life,” she wails. “Just like she told me.”
“Listen to me, Alicia. I know you feel fuckin’ bad right now, and there’s not much I can say to help you, but I promise you this—Owen won’t be sharing that video with anyone. I’ll make sure of it.”
Alicia stares at me for a moment, and I wonder what she’s seeing. I’m a rough around the edges biker, yet she’s come to me. That means something. Now I’ll do all that I can to protect her, and I wonder how she knows that.
“I’m hungry,” she admits, finally. “I didn’t want breakfast, but I could eat now.” My reassurance that I’ll help her seems to have taken some of the burden from her. She eyes up Eva, seeing not the club girl we’re used to, but the proficient nurse who gives patients confidence all the time. She starts to stand, then looks back down toward me. “I wish you’d reconsider dating Mom.”
With one eyebrow arched in my direction, Eva puts a friendly arm around Alicia and leads her away in the direction of the kitchen.
I’m still crouched on the ground. Niran, friend that he is, comes around the sofa and reaches down a hand, helping me to my feet. I nod my thanks at him.
Salem jerks his head toward a table in the corner of the clubhouse. He, Niran and I make our way over.
Chapter Sixteen
Grumbler
“Leaving aside you’ve been seeing a woman and not told us,” Salem starts, “this fucker is dead.”
“Token might be able to find out details about him from the database at the hotel. It’s not a cheap place, and I doubt he’d have used cash to buy the room. He’d have had to have left an address at least.”
Hopefully Owen won’t think Alicia’s got friends with database hacking skills. But a thought occurs to me. “He’ll have been careful. There’s always a chance she’d have gone to the cops.”
“After that threat?” Salem’s eyes have hardened. “Who’d want a porn video of themselves being circulated around?”
Niran taps his chin. “I can’t see how he’d have gone to all that trouble just to ensure he’s got a hold over the Satan’s Devils MC. Not when surely it’s easier to give Grumbler the money he’s owed.”
Salem’s eyes flick toward him. “That’s my feeling too. Sure, he got his rocks off, used a poor kid, but I think he was more intent on making a fuckin’ porn movie, and she’s got the starring role.”
I’d been so disgusted listening to Alicia’s ordeal, that I hadn’t realised the implications. “You think he’s going to sell it?” My brothers’ expressions show me that’s exactly what they think.
“We’ve got to get hold of the video and destroy it.”
“No doubt about that. We’ve got to get Token onto it.”
I nod. Jeez. I’ve no responsibility for that kid, she’s nothing to me. I don’t have a relationship with her mother beyond friendship. Yet, her story is hers and should remain private. But unless I bring more of my brothers in and share details she won’t want sharing, I won’t be able to do shit to get this situation right. I feel for the poor girl. The most I can do is ensure this isn’t a mistake that will haunt her forever.
There’s something else I need to do as well. “I’ll need to speak to Mary, her mother. I better go see her.” It’s not something to drop on her over the phone.
“Want to leave it to me to update Token, while you have that conversation with the mom?”
It’s going to take me a moment to decide how to approach it. Maybe I should take Alicia home and have it out there. But Niran can definitely get started on the technical side of things. Now it’s not just finding Owen and Devon because I’ve been cheated, the stakes have become sky high. Who knows who’ll get access to that film of Alicia? Her future could lie in the balance as it could be a school friend, or a potential employer.
“You think Owen’s working alone, or with Devon?”
“I don’t know what to fuckin’ think.” I wipe my hands over my face. “Who does this, Niran? Who fuckin’ does this? Who takes advantage of an underage kid and fuckin’ films it?” I pause for a beat, but don’t expect an answer. “There’s more to it, I feel it. Devon doesn’t want to be found, that’s for c
ertain. And it’s not just because he owes me a few dollars. What if he’s into something far more lucrative? Porn. He used Alicia to kill two birds with one stone. He gets a film that some twisted fuckers would pay to watch and gets what he believes is a hold over us to stop us from locating him.”
“I think you’re right. I hate to say it, but it’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“He’s fuckin’ dead. He just doesn’t know it.”
“Be careful, Brother. There’s one hell of a lot of money in the porn business. They might even have eyes on the kid’s house. She was supposed to keep us out of it, remember?”
The enforcer has got a good point. Maybe rushing to Mary’s place the morning after would signal Alicia had come running to me.
I’m still reeling from how she trusts me. I hadn’t expected that.
I am trustworthy, well, my brothers have faith both in my ability to protect them and my desire to do so. But it’s not the first thing civilians think when they see me. All they see is my cut and think criminal.
Niran’s not one to waste time. Having a purpose, he stands and goes off to find Token. Salem stays for a moment, his eyes resting on me.
“That was hard hearing, Brother.”
I grimace. “I’m still trying to process it. How the fuck do I tell Mary?”
Pursing his lips, he tells me, “I’m still not sure if it was rape or consensual.”
“She was raped, even if the sex was consensual. She didn’t consent to being filmed, or to be used in that way.”
“We should film cutting his dick off.” Salem gives a chilling grin.
I like that idea. “Put that on the dark web to put off would-be rapists.”
But pleasurable thoughts of what we’ll be doing to Owen once we get our hands on him must be put on the back burner for now. I can’t put off contacting Mary any longer.
Pushing my hands on the table, I ease myself up. “I’ve got a call to make.” Having excused myself, I go outside.
The sun is shining, the air warm but not unbearable as it would be in the heat of summer. It’s too bright and cheery for the conversation I’m about to have.
Grumbler's Ride: Satan's Devils MC San Diego #2 Page 13