“Can I get your address, please? I’ll get a squad dispatched to your house.”
I rattled off my address and hung up the phone after the dispatcher told me the police should be here within five minutes. I crept toward the window and looked out to see if Pipe was nearby.
My eye caught my reflection in the mirror, and I remembered the last thing Pipe had told me to do.
Get dressed.
*
Chapter 26
Pipe
“Okay, I think we have everything we need. We’ll be in touch if we find anything or if we have any other questions.”
Pipe nodded to the police officer who looked to be no older than twenty. “We’d appreciate that.”
By the time the police had arrived, Pipe was walking through the door and stashed the gun he had grabbed before above the fridge.
“I’d advise keeping your curtains closed until we find whoever is doing this.” The officer tipped his hat at me and walked out the door.
Pipe shut the door behind him and leaned against it. “Now this creep is really starting to piss me off.”
This creep was starting to scare me, and well, creep me out. “I can’t believe I didn’t notice him standing there.” I ran my fingers through my hair and plopped down on the couch. I had managed to put on a pair of leggings and a shirt before Pipe had gotten back to the house and the cop showed up. My skin was crawling, and I just felt dirty. I rubbed my arms and hung my head. “I just can’t,” I whispered.
I listened as I heard Pipe close the curtains and lock the front door. “Get up, sugar. You and I are going to shower and then we’re going to bed.”
I looked up and shook my head. “Please, I really don—”
“Stop. I’m not talking sex. I’m talking we shower, and then we try to sleep.”
“I don’t think I can sleep right now.” My head was a complete mess. I was ten times more terrified than the last time this had happened. Whoever this guy was had watched me at my most intimate moment with Pipe. Being with Pipe was meant for only me and him.
“Whatever you want. We can watch a movie, play a game, read a book. Whatever you want.”
I nodded and stood. “Okay.” I wasn’t sure how good of company I was going to be, but Pipe didn’t seem to really care. “Are you sure the curtains are closed enough?”
Pipe grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hallway as I wearily looked over my shoulder at the window. “They’re closed, sugar. Try not to worry about it.”
I sighed and leaned against the sink. Pipe turned on the water and pulled the shower curtain shut. “Clothes off.” He was still wearing only his pants and tugged them down his legs.
“I just feel off,” I muttered. I looked around and rubbed my hands together. I knew no one was watching us now, but I couldn’t shake the feeling someone was.
“Hey,” Pipe called. He grabbed my hand and wrapped me up in his arms.
I shivered and buried my head in his chest. “I’m sorry,” I mumbled.
“There isn’t anything to be sorry for, sugar. I’m here. Nothing is going to happen to you.”
“I don’t know why this is happening. What did I do?”
“Hey, hey.” His hand caressed my cheek and gently tilted my head back to look up at him. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I don’t know why this guy is doing this, but we’ll get it figured out. Between me and the police, this guy is more than caught.”
“I don’t want you to go looking for him. What if when you chased after him tonight, he hurt you? I couldn’t have lived with myself knowing you got hurt because of me.”
He shook his head and pressed a kiss to my forehead. “I’m telling you right now, sugar, this guy is not going to hurt you or me. He’s a coward who stands in the shadows. He doesn’t stand a chance.”
“Okay,” I whispered. I trusted Pipe would keep me safe, but I was still worried he was going to get hurt doing it. “We should probably hop in the shower.” The steam was billowing over the top of the curtain and fogging up the mirror.
Pipe helped me strip down, taking extra care of me. His hands ran over my body, and he pressed a kiss to my collarbone. “You’re mine, Nikki, and I always take care of what's mine.”
I face-planted into his chest and sighed.“Thank you.”
I loved this man.
He was my rock when I was scared.
My shield when I needed protecting.
My soft place to land when I’d had a hard day.
He was mine, and I was the luckiest damn woman in the world.
*
Chapter 27
Pipe
“Sugar, wake up.” I gently shook Nikki’s shoulder, and she burrowed into my side.
“No, I’m too tired to move.”
“All you need to do is get in my room, and you can go back to sleep.”
Her head lifted, and she looked out the windshield. “We’re here?”
“Yeah. You fell asleep as soon as we hit the highway.”
She looked up at me and yawned. “I’m sorry. I didn’t think I could sleep, but apparently, I was wrong.”
I brushed her hair back from her face. “I think it had something to do with the fact we weren’t in Kales Corners anymore.”
After we had showered last night, we both fell into bed, but Nikki never really slept. She would doze off for about half an hour then wake up frantic, flailing her arms and screaming. I would finally get her settled only for her to wake up again. I was beyond exhausted and had thought about not going to Weston, but I figured it would be good for her to get out of Kales Corners.
Alice was asleep in the backseat and was snoring away.
Nikki peaked over the seat and laughed. “I think she wore herself out worrying about coming here. She was pretty shocked when I called her this morning and invited her to come with us.”
Excited was an understatement. I had been brewing a pot of coffee when I heard Alice scream through the phone. Nikki had been sitting in the living room and had moved the phone from her ear because she had screamed so loud.
Alice had stayed awake maybe ten minutes longer than Nikki, and then she was out like a light.
“Are you talking about me?” Alice asked sleepily from the back.
“You are the only one who freaked out about coming here,” Nikki laughed.
Alice sat up and stuck her head into the front. “How do I look? Think I can catch myself a biker?”
Nikki squinted, and I tried not to laugh. Her hair was plastered to the side of her head, and she had a huge red line on her face from where she had fallen asleep on the zipper of her coat. “Um, you might want to fluff up your hair a bit.” Nikki adjusted the rearview mirror and pointed it at Alice.
“Jumpin’ Jehoshaphat! What did you do to me?” She licked her hand and ran it down the side of her hair.
“Me?” I asked. “I didn’t do shit, woman.”
She shook her head and rubbed a hand down her face. “What happened to my face?” she screeched.
“It’s really not that bad, Alice. Just run your fingers through your hair, and the line on your face will be gone in no time,” Nikki reassured her.
I opened my door, pulling Nikki out behind me. “Get the lead out, woman. None of the guys will care what you look like.”
Nikki slapped me on the chest, and Alice yelled, “You’re an asshole.”
Well, that wasn’t necessary. “What’d I do?” I asked Nikki.
“You can’t tell her no one will care what she looks like,” she hissed.
“I didn’t mean it, well, meanly. I just meant she looks fine the way she is.” She did look fine. Maybe a little sleepy, but she was fine.
“Nikki!” Karmen barreled down on us and wrapped Nikki up into a huge hug. “I can’t believe that you’re actually here. There’s too much to tell you over the phone. You can stay at my house, and we can catch up.”
“Hell no.” That was not fucking happening. There was no way in hell Nikki was going to spend
the night away from me. I felt much safer being back in Weston, but I was still worried about the psycho watching her. “She’s in my room.”
Karmen scoffed and waved her hand at me. “No. You’ve had her for two weeks. It’s my turn with her.”
Nikki wearily looked at Karmen and shook her head. “I, uh, I think I’d rather stay with Pipe. No offense, but I just feel safer with him.”
“Safer?” Karmen repeated. “What the hell does that mean? If he is going to keep you from falling out of bed because that’s about the only thing I think he needs to keep you safe from.”
Nikki looked at me and bit her lip. “Um, well…”
“What the hell is going on?” Karmen demanded.
I opened Alice’s door. “Get out, woman. I’m not going to repeat myself, so you need to hear what’s going on too.”
“Going on? You mean other than my shit-tastic hair?” I grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the truck. “Yes, there are more important things going on other than your hair.”
“Yo, you’re back,” Nickel called.
Karmen turned around and put her hands on her hips. “Something is going on. Do you know what’s going on?” she asked Nickel.
Nickel looked at me, and I shook my head. He didn’t know what was going on, but he got the clue I didn’t want to discuss it in the parking lot.
“I don’t know what’s going on, baby girl, but I think we should let them get into the clubhouse, and then we can talk.”
Karmen stomped her foot, but she let Nickel grab her hand and pull her into the clubhouse.
“Is this about Richard?” Alice asked. She grabbed her bag from the truck and hitched it over her shoulder.
“It might be.”
“Lord help us.” Alice hooked her arm through Nikki’s and nodded her head at me. “Well, lead the way, badass.”
I quirked my eyebrow and looked at Nikki. A smile spread across her lips, and she nodded at the clubhouse. “Well, you heard her, badass, lead the way,” she giggled.
It was good to see Nikki laugh, but I knew she was still worried about whoever was watching her. “Grab Wrecker,” I hollered to Nickel.
He lifted his hand and disappeared into the clubhouse.
“This is so cool,” Alice whispered behind me. “Who’s Wrecker?”
“Um, big bearded, burly guy who’s the president,” Nikki informed her.
“What a wicked name. So much better than Pipe.”
I looked over my shoulder and smirked. “You can say that until you find out the reason they call me Pipe.”
Alice’s jaw dropped, and Nikki pointed her finger at me. “I’m gonna need to hear that story.”
“Me too,” Alice chirped. “You're like my personal biker whisperer for any questions I’ll have this weekend.”
“Um, I don’t know what questions you’ll have, but whatever, darlin’.”
“Is it bad I swoon a little bit when he calls me that? It’s purely because no one ever calls me that,” she assured Nikki. “Not that I have the hots for your personal biker.”
“Is that kind of like a personal shopper?” Nikki giggled. “And what questions are you going to have that I won’t be able to answer?”
I opened the door and motioned for the girls to go ahead of me.
“Wrecker said to meet him in church.” Nickel had his arm over Karmen’s shoulder and disappeared down the hallway.
“Oh you know,” Alice mumbled. “Can I talk to everyone? Do I have to avoid eye contact?”
Nikki looked at me, her eyes bugged out. “Avoid eye contact?” she asked me.
I shook my head. “We’re not that kind of club, Alice. Just show us respect, and we’ll show you respect back.”
She nodded and headed in the direction Nikki and Karmen had. “Cool. See, it’s good I asked. Otherwise, they would have thought I was shady.”
I chuckled under my breath, and Nikki tried not to smile. “Yup, good thing you asked,” she smirked.
The door to church was open, and Nickel was standing at the head of the table, talking to Wrecker.
“Wow,” Alice gasped under her breath. “Hello, burly bearded man.”
“Wrecker,” I called. “You know Nikki. This is her friend Alice from Kales Corners.”
Alice walked up to him, stuck her hand out to shake his, and I kid you not, fucking curtsied. “Mr. President,” she mumbled.
Wrecker took her hand, watching her bowed head, and looked between Nickel and me. “Uh, no need to cursty, darlin’,” he mumbled.
She lifted her head and looked Wrecker directly in the eye. “It’s so great to be allowed in your club.”
“Sweet Jesus, Alice,” Karmen laughed. “He’s the president of the Weston chapter, not the President of the United States.”
Alice curtsied again and stepped back from Wrecker. “Sorry, your highness.”
Nickel smothered his laugh with the back of his hand and looked at Nikki. “Is this shit for real?”
Nikki shrugged. “Maybe we shouldn’t have brushed off the fact she had questions,” she mumbled, looking up at me.
“Yeah, you might be right, sugar.”
Alice looked around the table. “Can I sit anywhere?”
Alice was in her own little world and had no idea that we were talking about her.
“Uh, you can sit anywhere. This isn’t an official meeting or anything,” Wrecker explained.
Of course, Alice sat in the chair I normally did. She pulled her chair in and rested her hands on the table. “I’m pretty sure I’m gonna wet my pants if anything else cool happens.”
Wrecker, Nickel, and I busted out laughing, and the girls all giggled.
Wrecker sat down at the head of the table, while Nickel took his normal spot next to him and sat Karmen next to him.
Nikki sat down next to Alice, and I sat down in the chair meant for just a regular member. It had been a long time since I had sat this far down at the table. “Some shit has been going down in Kales Corners, and I thought I should let you know before something else happens.”
“Trouble always seems to follow you girls,” Wrecker muttered.
“Hey,” Karmen protested. “My trouble found me, and I’m sure the same goes for Nikki.”
Wrecker waved his hand at her. “Details, darlin’.”
Wrecker could definitely be a bit of a dick when he wanted to be.
Nickel patted Karmen’s leg and whispered in her ear. She crossed her arms over her chest but didn’t try to argue with Wrecker.
Wrecker turned to me and nodded his head. “Tell me what’s going on.”
“Does anyone else feel like he’s the godfather?” Alice whispered loudly to Nikki.
Jesus, this was a complete shit show. Thankfully, the rest of the club wasn’t here. Everyone would have been rolling with laughter, and I never would have been able to talk. I cleared my throat and leveled a glare on Alice for her to shut her mouth.
She made a motion to zipper her lips, and turned to Wrecker, holding out what I assumed was the imaginary key she used to lock her lips up.
“Sweet Jesus.” He held out his hand, and she dropped the fake key in it. He nodded at Alice and pretended to tuck the key into his pocket. To Alice, I’m sure she thought he was okay, but from the way his jaw ticked, and look he gave me, I knew I was going to get hell for this.
Wrecker was going to beat the shit out of me after this meeting was over.
I cleared my throat and hoped to God Alice wouldn’t get up to any more crazy antics.
“He gets the key because he’s the president,” she whispered to Nikki.
Nikki nodded. “Good idea,” she whispered.
I needed to get this over with and get Alice far, far away from Wrecker. I could tell he was holding his tongue, and that never lasted long.
“About a couple of weeks ago, Nikki noticed someone standing outside of her house taking pictures. She came over to my place as soon as she saw it, but I was too late to catch whoever it was. Nothing ha
ppened after that except for last night the guy was back, and he was watching Nikki and me.”
Karmen gasped and flattened her hands on the table. “Someone was watching you? Oh, my God. Who is it?”
“We’re still trying to figure that out. I almost caught him last night, but I had to grab my pants and gun before I could go after him.”
Alice turned to Nikki. “He had to put his pants on?” she asked with her eyebrow raised. “Y’all were getting it on, weren’t you?”
Nikki blushed and ducked her head.
“Duh, of course, they were, Alice,” Karmen laughed.
Wrecker snickered but knew not to give me shit about it in front of Nikki.
“We called the police, but I don’t have much faith in them finding this guy since the most they deal with in that town is the occasional speeder or jaywalker.”
Wrecker leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table. “You have any idea of who this might be?”
“Nikki caught the eye of one of her customers at work, and I think it’s him. Her boss told me that this wouldn’t be the first time this guy took his infatuation to a new level.”
“So why haven't you grabbed the guy and asked him what the hell he’s doing?”
“Because I can’t believe that it’s him,” Nikki piped up. “I can't believe that this man who can barely get a full sentence out when talking to me is capable of doing this.”
Wrecker sat back in his chair. “It sounds exactly what someone like that would do. He’s standing outside of your window watching you and your man together. He’s a fucking coward.”
Nikki stared down at the table. “I guess you’re right, but I just don’t understand why he would do this.”
“Because he doesn’t have balls, darlin’,” Nickel stated.
She sighed and slumped her shoulders. “Fine. We assume it’s Richard. Now, what do we do? This guy isn’t all there upstairs mentally. I don’t want him to get hurt.”
Wrecker rolled his eyes. “So you just wanna let him keep watching you get your rocks off every night because there ain’t no birdie in his cuckoo clock?”
“Well, no. I just mean I don’t want you guys showing up to his house and breaking his kneecaps.”
Fallen Lords MC: Books 1-3 Page 34