Fifteen minutes later, we turned off the highway, bumping over an almost nonexistent trail through the woods. “They stayed out of the town limits,” Cord noted and I nodded, not really having any idea since my eyes were squeezed shut. “You can open your eyes now. We’re here.” The Blazer cut off and my eyes popped open. I tore the seatbelt off, almost falling out of the vehicle in my rush.
Solid ground beneath my feet distracted me from the three people standing in front of a box truck, but Cord didn’t miss a beat.
“Cord Hayes, Tori, and Clutch,” he introduced and they nodded. A red headed chick stepped forward and said, “I’m Ginger.”
I snorted, “Really?” She cast me a dark glance but didn’t comment.
“This is Howell and the Professor,” she continued and I snapped.
“No.” I stomped toward her, my crowbar kissing her cheek. “I want your real names.”
She lifted her chin, gesturing for the two guys with her to back off. “Like Clutch is his real name?” She argued, nodding toward him. “We don’t know you.”
“But you want us to break the law for you.”
“And you want us to risk our lives for you against the Vipers,” she retorted angrily. “Trust is earned.”
“How do we know you’re not setting us up?”
“You don’t,” the other guy, Powell, spoke up. “But you came to us, so prove you really want our help.”
“Tori,” Cord called and I lowered the crowbar. “We’re here. What do you need from us?”
“Drive the truck to this warehouse. Someone will meet you there, they’ll unload the cargo. You’ll drive back,” Ginger replied, like it was the simplest thing ever. “Don’t get caught.”
“This is across state lines,” Cord replied, eyeing them. “That makes this a federal crime if I’m right about what’s in the truck.”
“You’re right, on both counts. So don’t get caught,” the Professor answered, a smirk on his face.
“How do you know we won’t just take it and disappear?” I questioned and they smiled.
“So glad you asked. One of you will be staying with us. Leverage, I guess you could say. To make sure the other two do what they say they will.” Ginger glanced at each of us. “So, which one will it be? We’ll let you decide.”
“Give us a minute,” Cord demanded, motioning at the two of us. “I don’t like this,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s too risky.”
“Hate to break it to you, but we knew that,” I retorted, crossing my arms. “They’re not going to make this easy.”
“This isn’t your fight, Tori. You were right. I shouldn’t have pushed for you to come.” I rolled my eyes at Cord’s earnestness.
“Look, I didn’t have to come, but here I am. I’m in it now. Hell, I even got in a vehicle to get here,” I grumbled. I eyed them. “Whoever stays has an opportunity to build a relationship with them. A connection.”
“The trip is going to take at least eight hours,” Cord mentioned. “It’s a perfect opportunity to learn more about the Aces.” I glanced at Cord and then we both looked at Clutch. He groaned.
“Me? Really?”
“Just think of it, you could be the Skipper by the time we get back.”
“Not funny, Tori.” Clutch eyed me. “Are you telling me you’re gonna hop in that truck and be cool with an eight hour trip?” I glanced away and he snorted, “That’s what I thought. Cord practically had to throw you in the car.”
“You’re our best bet, Clutch,” Cord shook his head. “I’m not going to make friends with them.” It was my turn to snort and he added, “Tori either. You’re the diplomat, Clutch.”
“Yeah, yeah, but you two are taking the biggest risk. You get pulled over, you’re going to jail,” Clutch reminded us and we glanced at one another.
“I’m good with it,” I replied, shrugging.
“It was my call. I take the risk,” Cord answered.
“We’re agreed then?” Clutch asked and we nodded. “Be careful, you too. Try not to kill each other.”
“Come to a decision?” Ginger asked as we walked back. “Who’s it going to be?” She rubbed her hands together. “I vote for the burly one.”
“Well, its your lucky day, darling,” Clutch drawled. “I get to keep you company while my friends do the dirty work.”
“Anything we need to know?” Cord asked and they shook their heads.
“Don’t get caught,” the Professor advised and I rolled my eyes.
“Punch him for me,” I said to Clutch and he gave me a tiny nod. “Let’s get this show on the road.” I hopped into the truck, sliding over to the passenger seat, as I pretended like I wasn’t petrified out of my mind.
Sweat beaded on my upper lip and I swallowed hard, trying to keep the bile in my stomach. Cord swung himself in, closing the door. “You alright?”
“I’ve had better days.”
He started the truck and I moaned, gripping the door handle. “Talking about it might help,” he suggested and I sent him a dirty look. He glanced over at me. “I could knock you out.” I tilted my head, actually considering that one. “That was a joke, Tori.”
“But a good idea.”
“I’m not knocking you out. I need you alert.”
“I guess it’s too late to change my mind? Maybe swap with Clutch.”
“Too late,” he murmured, smiling.
***
Eight hours later, my anxiety was at an all-time high as I rocked, flinching each time headlights illuminated the cab. “Tori?” I heard the concern in Cord’s voice, but couldn’t respond. We’d dropped the cargo off without a hitch, whatever it was had been boxed up, leaving us with no idea of what we’d transported.
“You were doing good. What happened?” Cord’s voice penetrated the fear and I wrapped my arms tighter around myself. “It’s the headlights, isn’t it?”
I managed to nod and he sighed. “Can you tell me what happened?”
“A car accident,” I stated shortly.
“Talking about it might help,” he mentioned and I shook my head. “You’re not going to jump out of the truck, are you?”
“No, maybe, is that an option?” I questioned, pulling my legs up as another set of headlights blinded me. “How can you see?”
“They don’t bother me,” he replied, and I could feel his gaze. “You were in an accident at night. What happened?”
“I don’t know,” I burst out, picking my head up. “There were headlights coming right at us and then….”
“And then?”
“Silence.”
“You said us? A friend?”
I didn’t speak.
“Your family?”
My muscles jerked involuntarily.
“Did something happen to them?”
“Why are you asking? You don’t care.”
“You’re here because of me. You’re terrified right now because of me. The least I can do is try and understand why."
“So, you’re just not being incredibly nosy?”
“That too.”
I closed my eyes, but it didn’t make the flashes of light go away. I buried my head against my knees, the seatbelt locking me in place as I finally mumbled, “My sister.”
“Your sister was with you.”
“Yeah, I had picked her up from a track meet.” I bit my lip, tasting blood. “I was high.”
“What happened?”
“We were laughing, singing along to the radio, then,” I swallowed, fighting back nausea.
“It’s okay,” he said, and I shook my head.
“No, it wasn’t remotely okay,” I replied, my eyes burning. “There were headlights coming straight at us. I don’t even know how it happened. There was a crash. I mean, there had to be a crash, but I just remember the headlights and then the silence afterwards.”
“What happened to your sister?”
“It was a head on collision. They said I was lucky to be alive.” I licked my lips. “My mom always said
I had the devil’s own luck.”
“What’s your sister’s name?”
“Vivian. She was a track star like me. But better. She was so much better than me.”
“She died,” Cord stated, resting his hand on mine.
“No, what I did to her was so much worse than death,” I whispered, my voice aching. “I destroyed her life. I took every single one of her dreams away.”
“Tori.”
“She was paralyzed. One of the best track stars in the country. She wanted to…she wanted….so many things she wanted to do, and then poof, they’re gone.”
“It was a tragic accident,” Cord said thickly and I turned my head, seeing his profile as I sucked snot through my nose.
“Did you miss the part where I said I was high?” He flinched, but I kept going. “It wasn’t the first time. But it was the last time. That night, when I didn’t know if she was alive, while I laid trapped in that car, I found rock bottom.”
I laughed, the sound bitter even to me. “Too little, too late though. My family, my parents and my older brother, Vaughn, the way they looked at me? I will never forget that. Hearing the doctor tell us Vivian would never walk again. I wished it was me, but that’s not how it works.”
“Why is there a grave with your name on it?”
“Because that’s the night I died,” I answered, my feet slowly sinking back to the floorboard. “My rock bottom was my family’s breaking point. They brought me to a rehab clinic, told me they were done, and what happened to me was up to me.” I chewed on the corner of my nail as he darted glances at me. “I got clean, I listened to the lectures about accountability, about making amends, and I took that shit to heart.” I swiped at my cheek, hiding the evidence of my tears. “After rehab, I spent three months in a halfway house. It’s supposed to help you acclimate to the real world.” There was no missing the bitterness in my voice. “I did it, for my family. I wanted to go home.”
I stared out into the darkness as the truck rumbled along the highway, the occasional flash of a headlight through the cab causing me to flinch.
“Tori,” I turned my head toward him and he met my eyes for a second before looking back at the road. “What happened when you came home?”
“I knocked on the front door, and a really nice lady who wasn’t my mom answered the door.” He made a noise, but I didn’t stop. “She told me my family had moved after their daughter died in a car accident. I ran….I ran all the way to the cemetery. Up and down the rows until I found it.”
“Tor –”
“It was a relief when I saw my name. You see I thought it was Vivian. That she’d died while I was in rehab and nobody had told me because I might – I might relapse.”
“They shouldn’t have,” Cord stopped, exhaling heavily. “No one should have to,” he shook his head. “What they did was fucked up.”
I chuckled bitterly. “The thing is I don’t blame them. I put them through hell. I wasn’t the daughter they wanted. Not in the end.”
“Doesn’t matter. You don’t abandon family,” Cord said strongly and I glanced at him.
“Don’t take this the wrong way, Cord, but isn’t that what you did?”
He didn’t answer and a few minutes later we were bumping off the highway and back to the clearing where we’d left Clutch.
“And so they return,” Ginger raised a beer can to us. “Good work.”
Cord didn’t smile. “I trust we can depend on you if the situation calls for it?”
She glanced at the other two and then nodded. “We’ll take it up with Gilligan, but yes.”
“I’ve got dibs on Mary Ann,” I commented, heading for the Blazer, not even hesitating as I pulled myself in. I didn’t like being in the vehicle but it was the lesser of two evils at the moment.
Cord spoke with Clutch for a minute outside the car then climbed in, wincing slightly.
“You okay?” The words came out before I could stop them and he gave me a short nod.
“Just stiff.”
We drove to the house in silence and when he parked I immediately went to get out. He grabbed my arm, and I glanced at him. “Clutch had a thought while he was waiting for us to come back.” I lifted an eyebrow when he hesitated. “He thinks Ronnie might know where Rob is and the drugs.”
“Ronnie?”
“Rob’s girlfriend. She owns the salon, where the barber shop is,” he explained and I released the door, settling back in my seat.
“Let’s go.” I told him, ready to get this finished so I could move on. Get away from him, his family, the memories being around them stirred up.
“It’s late,” Cord answered. “We’ll go in the morning.”
“And what if he’s using this time to move the entire operation? We already lost a day playing errand boy for the Aces.”
“And if get a lead on where the drugs are, the Aces will help us,” Cord reminded me and I rolled my neck, hearing it crack. “We need to get some sleep.”
“Fine.” I shoved the door open and hopped out, stalking toward the dark house. He followed more slowly, lingering at the door as I bent over to remove my boots.
“You want to take a shower?” He walked over to a dresser and pulled out a pair of men’s sleep pants and a t-shirt. “These should fit you.”
I took them with a muttered, “Thanks,” and went across the hall to the tiny bathroom. Steam filled the bathroom as I stripped my clothes, trying to remember how many days I’d been wearing them, and smelling the smoke on them. I folded them carefully since they were all I had at the moment, when there was a knock on the door.
I cracked the door to see Cord on the other side. “You want me to wash your clothes with mine?” He held up a bundle of dirty clothes and I finally nodded reluctantly. I passed him my clothes through the crack and he went back down the hall as I shut the door.
I stepped under the hot water, the pulsing stream washing away a shitty day and even shittier week. I braced my hands against the walls, the space practically claustrophobic. My eyes burned but no tears came. I felt empty after telling Cord my story. There was no relief or closure. It was just blank. After a minute, I soaped myself up and washed my hair, getting the scent of smoke and chemicals off me.
I toweled off quickly and braided my still wet hair before going to the bedroom. Cord sat on the edge of the bed, head propped on his hands, his bad leg stretched out in front of him.
“All yours,” I muttered, climbing to the top bunk. He got up and left, the silence between us deafening. I laid on my stomach, facing the wall as I heard the shower turn back on and my mind formed a picture of his hard body under the spray. Each ridged muscle, his back inked with the Rebel emblem, and I shook my head, muttering, “No. You’re the last thing he wants in his life and he’s the last thing you need.”
After a few minutes, he came back, flipping the light off as he said, “Night.” I didn’t say anything, as he settled with a sigh on the bed.
I attempted to sleep, but closing my eyes meant seeing the glare of headlights headed straight for me. Cord shifted restlessly underneath me, cursing as he tried to get comfortable. Finally, he sat up and I swung myself over the edge of the bed, my feet landing on the mattress next to him.
“Can’t sleep?” He asked, his face drawn tight in the moonlight streaming through the window.
“No, you?”
“I think my leg finally had enough,” he grumbled. “Too much one day and nothing the next.”
I lowered myself next to him, my hand resting on his thigh. “Tell me what happened.” It wasn’t a request and as I started to knead the tight muscle he laid back with a groan.
“Flying a mission in a place we really had no business being,” he sighed, “That feels good.” I poked his leg, urging him to continue. “We got shot down. I managed to eject, the other plane though…it was a direct hit.” He laid quietly for a minute. “He was a good guy.”
“You lived, he died.”
“Seems like a running them in
my life,” Cord replied bitterly. “Too many die and there’s no damn reason for it.”
“Will you tell me about Ashley?” I hit a knot and he grunted.
“Is this your version of an interrogation?”
“I don’t know. Is it working?”
He sighed. “Ashely was bright, happy, confident, and nothing ever seemed to phase her. She was Johnny’s only child and he raised her by himself, so everything she wanted, she got.”
I glanced at his face, and saw him staring sightlessly up at the slats of my bed.
“Some would call her spoiled and she was. She just didn’t understand consequences.”
“How long were you together?”
“We knew each other our whole lives. Lived in the same house together since we were twelve and my dad died. I guess you could say we were together from then on. There was never anybody else for me.” He shook his head. “Even when she started to use. I kept trying to help her, but she didn’t see anything wrong with what she was doing.”
I kept massaging his leg, feeling some of the tightness leave the muscles as I listened. “When I found out she was pregnant, I put my foot down. Told her she had to stop. For the baby. She swore to me she wouldn’t use. That she didn’t use. I believed her.” My gaze snuck to his face and I saw a single tear roll down his cheek. “She hadn’t stopped using. Clutch suspected, but I wouldn’t listen. I didn’t want to believe it. That she would risk our child, our baby girl.” He chuckled softly. “That’s what I called her, baby girl. It stuck. We couldn’t agree on a name. Hell, she was always going to be my baby girl.”
“What happened?”
He sucked in a sharp breath. “I was…working…club business. I guess she thought it was a good time to get high without me knowing. She overdosed and basically the baby….smothered to death.” My hand left his leg, curling around his fingers resting on the bed. “If we’d found her sooner, we might have been able to save the baby.” I squeezed his fingers. “Clutch is the one who found them. He decided to check on them while I was gone.”
“I’m sorry,” I murmured and he tugged on my hand until I laid next to him. “I’m sorry she didn’t stop.” He shook his head, drawing me to his side and I curled into him. “This doesn’t make us friends,” I warned, resting my arm over his chest as my head settled into the curve of his shoulder.
Outcast (Southern Rebels MC Book 2) Page 18