“It’s the least I can do,” I said to him and stood up from my couch. I could sense that he was getting ready to leave and my heart was sinking. I didn’t want him to go, but he had a life out there and I didn’t want to stand in the way of that.
“You know how to use the locks now?” he asked, walking over to the door and I nodded my head.
“Yes, thank you,” I replied.
“You should be staying indoors as much as possible. Do you have anywhere to be tonight?” Rodeo asked, as he pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
“I have a late night shift at Mac’s Diner, but that’s only a five minute walk from here,” I told him and he nodded his head.
“I’m not sure how I feel about that, but I guess you have to do what you have to do. You have to move on with your life. I’m going to keep an eye on this place, maybe I’ll ask some of my brothers to do drive-bys through the night. Just don’t open the door for anybody you don’t know, but you probably know that already,” he continued and I smiled at him gratefully.
“Thank you, Rodeo, that is very nice of you,” I said. He looked like he was going to say something to that, but he didn’t. He nodded his head and then picked his tools up from the floor.
“Take care of yourself, Jordan,” he said at the door.
“I’m a big girl,” I replied, forcing myself to laugh a little. Rodeo wasn’t smiling, he understood the seriousness of the situation. But there was only so much he could do. I didn’t want to disrupt his life.
“You have my phone number now, I’ve written it down on a piece of paper in your bathroom. You can call me whenever you need to,” he said and with that, he was out of the door.
I gulped as I watched him leave. After he had shut the door behind him, I walked over and pulled the locks. Through the peephole, I saw him walking down the stairs; taking it two at a time as he descended. I waited and watched till the last second, till I couldn’t see him anymore.
Then I whipped around and eyed my apartment. It was deathly quiet in here now. With Rodeo gone, it seemed frightfully alone. More alone than it had seemed before I met him.
I rushed into the bathroom and saw the phone number he’d left for me on the counter. I stuffed that into my purse in the bedroom and then sat down on my bed.
How had I got myself into so much trouble? All of this could have been avoided if only I hadn’t been standing at the window in the morning. If I hadn’t woken up that early to study!
When was I going to study? I had an important test coming up in two weeks and I hadn’t even started studying for it. If I didn’t pass this one, I would have to repeat several classes; I would lose so much time!
I couldn’t get that nagging feeling out of my head that none of this would matter if the Hell’s Drifters got to me first. If they broke into my house and killed me, none of this would make sense.
I was jittery again. I wished Rodeo was here to take me into his arms and hold me while I cried. I wished he was here to calm me down. I hadn’t realized how deeply I would miss him till he was actually gone.
Now, I had no other choice but to move on with my life. That would have to start with me getting ready for my shift.
* * *
I was walking to the diner later, and the whole time; I felt like I was being watched. It was only a five minute walk from my apartment, but I took hurried steps and my eyes kept darting around to see if anybody was looking at me.
The streets were busy enough and well lit, so technically, I didn’t have much to worry about but I couldn’t stop thinking that I was being followed.
At times, I stopped in my tracks and looked back. There were people there of course, but they were all just minding their own business and they walked past me. When I turned and started walking again, I thought I could hear footsteps directly behind me, I thought I was going to be dragged into a dark alleyway.
I hurried into the diner and the place was full and bustling with people. I put on my apron and got ready to start my shift. There were several familiar faces at the booths—the regulars, but every unknown face that walked in through the doors gave me a jolt.
I couldn’t stop eyeing all the customers, I couldn’t stop imagining that they were all looking at me.
“You look a little jumpy today, girl,” Flora, one of the other waitresses at the diner, had come up to me while I was clearing a table. I whipped around to her, and she saw the gobsmacked expression on my face and started laughing.
“Exactly what I’m talking about! What’s gotten into you, hun?” she asked, following me back to the kitchens where I dumped all the plates and cutlery.
“Nothing. I’m just tired I guess,” I told Flora as I wiped my hands on the apron.
“Take a break, come out with me. I’m going for a smoke,” Flora said, pulling her packet of cigarettes out of the pocket of her apron. I looked around the kitchen, sighed and then followed Flora out through the back door into the alleyway.
The moment we stepped out, I knew it was a bad idea. Being alone in a dark place was just the kind of situation I wanted to avoid. Flora lit her cigarette and I took in a lungful of the cool night air. I could hardly stop tapping my feet. Flora was watching me as she took puffs of her cigarette, and there was an amused expression on her face.
“Robbed a bank or something?” she asked, when I looked over my shoulder. We were alone right now but that could change in a matter of seconds.
“I’m just tired,” I said again and she crossed her brows.
“No, this isn’t just being tired…something’s going on. You know you can talk to me, right?” she said and I bit down on my lip. Flora and I had been working at this diner together for two years. We weren’t exactly the best of friends, but we had each other’s backs at work. She loved complaining about the latest asshole she was sleeping with, and I was a good listener.
At this point in my life, I didn’t have anybody other than Flora who I could realistically talk to.
“You know the shooting that happened this morning?” I said and Flora took a drag of her cigarette.
“Oh Shit! That happened outside your apartment, right?” she said and I hushed her, my eyes darting around us again.
“What’s going on? Why are you hushing me?” she asked and I stepped closer to her.
“I saw it happen. It was a guy on a bike, he belongs to some MC called Hell’s Drifters,” I told her and Flora stepped away from me with a jerk.
“Why the hell would you tell me that, Jordan? I don’t need to know that! I don’t need that kind of information!” she gasped and clamped a hand over her mouth. Flora was talking in a hushed voice too now.
I chewed on my lip with nervousness, staring at her for some kind of support. Flora pressed her eyes close and took in a deep breath.
“Okay, nobody except me knows that right? That you saw something?” she asked, but she saw the way the color had drained from my face.
“No! They know? They saw you?” she asked and threw her lit cigarette to the ground and stomped on it with her shoes.
“Shit, girl, you need to stay low. You need to be in your apartment or leave the city or something. Do you even know what those people are like? They are fucking insane!” Flora was hissing now, and looking about us the same way I was doing just minutes ago.
“I never heard of them before, but I’m getting the idea that they’re dangerous,” I squeaked. Flora grabbed me by my arm and started dragging me back into the kitchen again.
“Just stay inside, and don’t tell anybody what you saw. You hear me?” she hissed in my ears. She pushed me forward with her hands and then smiled at one of our co-workers casually.
With my heart beating rapidly in my chest, I walked back towards the swinging doors. I turned to look at Flora, and she was shaking her head at me. Her eyes were wide and rounded, like she had just seen a ghost.
I pushed the doors open with my body and walked back on to the diner floor. It was as busy as before. There were a few more
unknown faces, mostly men and some of them looked over at me as I walked past.
Working in a diner on the night shift, around rough men like truckers and drunks meant that I got a lot of stares. I thought I had gotten used to that, but now, every man who looked at me could be a potential assassin.
My hands were shaking as I walked over to a table to take an order. It was a single man at a corner booth, following my every movement with his eyes. My heart had dropped right down to my stomach, but I had no other choice—I had to do my job.
9
Rodeo
I was back at T Bone again and needed a distraction from every confusing thought I was having about Jordan. She had occupied my mind completely, and the fact that I had left her alone tonight was bothering me.
She had told me that she was a big girl, that she could handle herself and I knew she was right, but that didn’t stop me from worrying.
This was a new emotion—worrying for someone. I couldn’t remember the last time I was worried for someone other than me, for something other than my own pleasures.
“How is the girl?” Abe slapped my shoulder, snapping me out of my thoughts. I had found my way to the bar, and had been drinking by myself for some time. Now when I turned around, I saw that most of my brothers had arrived at the bar. Lila was there with Girth too.
“I’ve fixed her door if that’s what you’re asking,” I snapped at Abe, who made a funny face at me and then exchanged smiling looks with the others. I could sense that they had been talking about Jordan and me behind my back. This was bound to cause a stir. None of them had actually seen me with a woman before, not while I wasn’t trying to get into somebody’s pants.
“What else have you fixed of hers?” Lewis asked with a laugh and his voice boomed. He was the President, so I couldn’t exactly say anything to him, even though we were all friendly and open with each other.
“Oh, leave him alone!” Lila interrupted, as she took a stool beside me. Girth was standing next to her, grinning.
“Yeah, we kind of have bigger fish to fry here,” I snarled, emptying the can of beer down my throat. Lewis sighed loudly.
“I’ve put some boys to work on the streets. We need to figure out what the Hell’s Drifters have against us suddenly,” he said. I shook my head, I had been thinking about this and I still hadn’t been able to come up with anything.
“We’ve always stayed out of their business,” I said.
“Unless we’ve stepped on their shoes somehow?” Marcus had joined the group too now. Lewis shook his head.
“Maybe they’re working with the Dark Legion? Maybe they wanted to pay us back for encroaching on Dark Legion’s territory?” Abe suggested. I wasn’t buying that explanation, even though that thought had crossed my mind too.
“The Dark Legion and Hell’s Drifters will never work together, and if they do—we will definitely find out about it. There is no way that shooting Fred was payback for us encroaching on DL’s territory,” I said.
I heard Lila sigh deeply. She was thinking about Fred. I hadn’t stopped thinking about Fred since I’d heard the news either. I couldn’t believe he was gone. It was strange to not have him in our group right now. I clenched my fist and banged it on the counter, making all the glasses and bottles shake.
“Fuck this! We need to find out what they want from us. But they know the position Fred held in our MC. There is no way that they just knocked him dead and don’t expect retaliation!” I growled.
“Why Fred? Why him?” it was Lila who was breaking apart now. The Dark Legion had made attempts on her life earlier, for which Girth had been employed to protect her. That was how they had gotten together and fallen in love, and even though Girth followed her everywhere she went now, and even though Lila knew that she was safe—it was understandable that she couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that it could have been her instead of Fred.
“I feel like we’re under attack!” she continued and Lewis reached for his daughter’s hand and squeezed it. “First me and now Fred…and they got him. They got Fred!” she cried.
Girth drew her into his arms and she remained on his chest, sobbing miserably.
“We are under attack, and we have always been the underdogs here. The Dark Legion knows that as much as The Hell’s Drifters do. They know that we don’t have the power in numbers to launch a counter attack that could threaten their MCs,” Lewis said.
“I can’t think of anything we could have done to offend them. Do they just want to destroy us? We have always maintained a peaceful coexistence with them before. Why pick a fight with us now?” Marcus said.
The rest of us stayed silent, thinking. The shooting down of Fred had affected us all in a big way. He had been a major figure in the MC—he was like a brother to Lewis, like a father figure to the rest of us, like an uncle to Lila. He had been the word of wisdom for all of us and now he was dead and none of us had even been there. His body was lying in a morgue somewhere, waiting to be claimed. None of us could go forward to claim it either, because that was all the excuse that the cops would need to come after us. Even Hugh wouldn’t be able to rescue us from that shitstorm.
“Whatever their problem with us is, all I know is that I’m going to kill the motherfucker who pulled the trigger,” I said.
“Rodeo, there are other ways to avenge Fred’s death. You’ll be putting your life in danger if you go after him,” Lila said in a strained voice.
“I don’t give a fuck. This is what he would have done for me,” I snapped.
“We need to figure out what they want from us,” Abe interrupted and I crushed the beer can in my hand.
“Whatever they want from us, Fred wasn’t the problem—that’s all I know. He was just collateral damage,” I said.
* * *
Girth hadn’t really spoken till now. He was the new guy in the MC. His primary task had been to act as bodyguard for Lila when her life was under threat from the Dark Legion, but Lewis was impressed with his work and asked him to join as prospect in our MC. Now that he and Lila were together, it seemed like a natural step to take for him.
However, he had some experience in bigger MCs. The one he used to be a part of in LA was a much bigger one than ours.
Some of the others in the bar were looking at Girth now, as though he might have the answers. I was eager to hear what he had to say too.
“Girth? Do you have an opinion on this? I know you don’t know any of these MCs too well,” it was Lewis who asked him directly. He was standing with Lila still clinging to his arms and took in a deep breath. He wasn’t exactly a big talker.
“The only thing I can think of right now is that maybe it was personal,” Girth said. His gaze drifted towards me for a reaction, because he had sensed that I was the one who was closest to Fred.
My brows crossed, I was confused.
“Personal? What are you talking about, man?” I snapped and Girth looked at Lewis again before he spoke.
“Maybe…and this is just a suggestion to look into—maybe Fred did something on his own to piss them off somehow,” he continued and I stood up from the stool. It fell back on the floor and I hurled myself towards Girth.
“You’re saying that Fred had some kind of secret life that we didn’t know about? That he was some kind of turncoat?” I was hissing at Girth through gritted teeth. He was a big man, taller than me and everyone else in the bar. He stared back at me with empty eyes, and I glared at him. His height wasn’t going to back me off him. Nobody spoke about Fred like that!
“I didn’t say that Fred had a secret life, and I’m not saying he was spying on us—all I’m saying is that maybe this doesn’t have anything to do with our MC. Maybe it was between them,” Girth continued and I snarled at him with rage.
“Rodeo, just hear him out!” Lila yelled from beside Girth because she could see the rage boiling on my face.
“What makes you say that, Girth?” Abe asked from behind me. I was still glaring at him. I couldn’t believe that t
his man had just made a suggestion like this.
“The nature of the shooting seemed personal. Just like attempting to shoot Lila was a personal attack on Lewis. If the wanted to target us as an MC, they would have raided the bar, they would have targeted a bunch of us instead of one single guy,” Girth explained and I was shaking my head. No way was I falling for this shit.
There was no way that Fred had a secret life that I didn’t know about.
“You are crazy. Get the fuck out of here!” I barked at Girth and Lila slammed her hand into my chest, not that it hurt at all.
“Stop it, Rodeo! Stop it! Just hear him out! I don’t want you two fighting, please!” she was screaming at me.
“You know nothing about us, nothing about Fred. You just fucking got here and now you’re making accusations about a dead guy!” I growled.
“I am not accusing anyone. I’m just making a suggestion that maybe we should look into Fred’s past, his personal life—and see if there’s some connection there with the Hell’s Drifters. Maybe it isn’t even that large scale. Maybe Fred had a beef with just that bald guy from the MC,” Girth continued and I charged at him.
I was about to strangle him, grab him by the neck but Lila had blocked the path. She was standing between Girth and me now.
“Step out of the way, woman. Let him fucking come at me,” Girth growled as I glared at him.
“You two are going to stop this right now! Girth, just stop talking and Rodeo, just take a fucking walk,” Lila yelled at both of us. Girth and I were still glaring at each other.
“Rodeo, listen to what Lila is saying. Take a walk. Clear your head and get back here,” Lewis said from behind us and I had no other choice. I couldn’t start a fight with Girth right here.
“We need to fucking stop fighting amongst ourselves,” Lewis continued as I stuffed my hands into the pockets of my jeans.
“No, what we need to do is stop doubting Fred’s integrity!” I barked.
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