I’d always basked in being called pretty before, but coming from Zak, it made me blush. He wasn’t even flirting, which was probably the reason I felt bashful at his comment.
For a brief moment, I wished I wasn’t the pretty boy. If only I could be one of them and Grimm could see me as tougher than someone he had to shield, then maybe he would respect me enough to open up completely to me and let me know what was happening. He wouldn’t be dragging his feet about me prospecting, which wasn’t a bad idea. I wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but the idea of being a prospect for the Grimm Reapers terrified me. They had two new prospects, and they weren’t exactly treated well.
I would be content just pledging as their club doctor.
“Zak, did Grimm talk about me in your church meeting today?” I asked quietly.
He squirmed and turned away from me. “You know I can’t talk about what happened in our meeting with nonmembers.”
Frustrated, I hit the dashboard with my palm. “I just want to know what’s going on. I don’t want to be back in the dark about everything. For years I pursued Grimm, and he never gave me the time of day. Now he’s opened up to me, but it just showed me how much he has locked away still. Last night he was jumping in front of a car for me, and today he acts like-like-like he wishes I wasn’t a-a-around.”
To my complete horror, a tear streamed down my face. I dashed it away angrily with the back of my stinging hand. I loathed myself for crying in front of this tough biker, who probably hadn’t cried since joining the Grimm Reapers.
“Hey, man, I’m not good with this crying shit, so don’t start.”
His words only made it worse, and another tear fell. “I’m sorry,” I was compelled to apologize as I turned my face away from him, so he didn’t have to look at me breaking down. “You can’t tell Grimm he made me cry. It will only make matters worse.”
“Fuck, will you stop with the waterworks if I promise not to?”
“Okay.” I inhaled deeply, the breath shuddering on the way down to fill my lungs. I let it out slowly, much of the tension creeping away.
A hand came down on my shoulder, and I turned to find Zak scrutinizing me. “If it makes you feel better, I don’t think Grimm’s mad at you per se. He’s mad at himself for putting you in danger. Come on, Jamie, I’ve known Grimm for almost a year, and I’ve never seen him treat anyone the way he does you.”
I threw my arms around Zak and hugged him hard. “Thanks, that does make me feel better.”
He patted my back, his movements awkward. “Good. Now give me your cell phone so I can save my number, and you can call me if you need anything.”
I let him go and unlocked my cell phone and handed it over to him. He stared at the phone for a few seconds and glanced up at me but didn’t say anything. He had to have been staring at the wallpaper of Grimm, Joel, and me. It was Christmas seven years ago, and my dad had been working at the time, leaving me to hang out at Grimm’s. The clubhouse had been alive with partying that night, but Grimm had stayed with us, watching cheesy holiday movies. Only when he’d thought we were asleep did he leave the house and head out to the clubhouse.
Only fear had kept me from going after him that night. It was one of the few nights I’d cried thinking of Grimm with somebody else.
“There you go.” Zak handed me back the phone. “I’ll be here tonight when you get off. Wait for me in the lobby, and don’t come outside until I ring your phone. If anything happens to you on my watch, Grimm will have the Mortician fire up the retort.”
“The Mortician?”
“Mort. You’ve met him. Guy with the mohawk who always has Cass on his dick.”
“Oh, well, I doubt Grimm would do anything,” I reassured him. “Booker wouldn’t let him anyway. I see the way he looks at you. Kind of the way I looked at Grimm before he gave in to me.”
He shook his head at me, and for a split second, he looked regretful. “There’s no chance of Booker and me being together, kid. You get to keep your fairy-tale thoughts. Grimm will ensure you live it, but Booker and I know the deal. This life we chose ain’t a bed of roses.”
I nodded, opening the car door. “Yeah, well, I’ll believe in the fairy-tale ending for you two. Thanks again for the lift and…you know.”
“No problem, kid. Take care.”
Once out of the car, I hurried inside the hospital, conscious of being exposed every minute I was outside. Everyone was acting so cautious it had rubbed off on me, and I was hyperaware of the things going around me. Only when I was inside did I breathe a sigh of relief.
Erica was off today, so there was no one to talk to. I thought briefly about calling Joel, just to hear his voice. He was usually the calmer of the both of us and ensured I didn’t do anything stupider than I usually did. I didn’t call him, though. That conversation would take a couple of hours at least of catching up.
Instead, I headed straight for Dr. Collier’s office to find out what he wanted to see me about. I had a pretty good idea it was about last night, but I didn’t want to draw any conclusion about his take on seeing me with Grimm. It was too much to hope he hadn’t noticed Grimm’s patches and rockers on his cut, but on second thought, I didn’t really care.
I knocked on his office door, and when he called for me to enter, I did exactly that. He glanced up from his desk, straightening when I stepped in.
“Dehaney,” he stated. “I wasn’t sure or not if you would come in today.”
“I know the hospital is already short-staffed, and my absence would make it a bigger strain on everyone else.”
“We would have managed.” He leaned back into his chair, his features unreadable. “Just what the hell do you think you’re doing, Dehaney?”
His question and the sharpness of his tone caught me off guard. “Excuse me?”
“You heard me.” He rose to his feet but remained behind his desk. “What do you think you’re doing bringing his type around the hospital? We don’t want his sort here.”
I was at a loss for words. “I-I don’t understand.”
“There, that’s it!” He snapped his fingers, then pointed at me. “Half the time I’m convinced you’d make a pretty damn fine doctor, and the other half I don’t know what to make of you. I was willing to look past the piercings and your-your quirkiness, but this is going too far. I don’t want that biker back on the hospital premises. They are nothing but trouble, and we’re running an institution to help people get well, not to cause more damage!”
By the time he had finished his tirade, something inside me snapped. Oh, it had absolutely very little to do with him and everything to do with the stressful situation of last night, plus everyone trying to convince me to stay away from Grimm. The last place I wanted to hear it was at the hospital, where I had come to help people.
“With all due respect, Dr. Collier,” I said, digging my fingers into my palms, “who I associate with outside of work has no bearing on the hospital whatsoever. You know nothing about the man I was with last night, and even if you think he is the vilest person to walk this earth, our oath is to heal people regardless of who they are. You don’t get to judge him, and frankly, I don’t give a damn what you think. I do a fine job here working with you, and I’ve taken a lot of crap from you without complaint because I wanted you to like me. I don’t care anymore. I’m just here to do my job and at the end of the day go home to that man, which I will do regardless of what you or anyone else thinks. Is there anything else of a professional nature that you want to talk to me about?”
For the first time since we’d met, Dr. Collier stared at me, speechless. I couldn’t even feel triumphant about me finally besting him. I felt sick to my stomach at how everything was spiraling, but I refused to unravel. I had a job to do, patients depending on me.
“You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into, Dehaney,” he finally said. “I’ve seen the things they do. I’ve tended patients who have lost their minds because of their methods of torture. Do you know what it does to yo
u when you’ve had every single bone in your hands and feet crushed? Or the top layer of skin cut from your body? I pray to God you never find out, but if you continue hanging out with these bikers, I have no doubt you will.”
Chapter Eighteen
Grimm
“Well, nothing is broken,” Dr. Crawford remarked as he observed the X-ray he’d taken of my back. “You’re lucky that the back trauma you suffered was only superficial, Grimm. You need to be more careful at your age. Your body is bound to feel more impact from wear and tear than when you were younger.”
I scowled at the doctor for mentioning my advanced years and got off the examination table. Reaching for my shirt, I clenched my teeth as I pulled it on. I hadn’t expected my body to still be this sore after resting last night. Against my better judgment, I’d called a couple of my brothers to rustle up the doctor given Jamie’s worry that my body was possibly more severely impacted than the naked eye could see. He’d bugged me all night to examine my back, but I hadn’t allowed him. If something was wrong, he wasn’t the one I wanted to discover it.
“As long as nothing’s broken, that’s good enough for me, Doc,” I replied, smoothing my shirt over my abdomen.
“At least this time I didn’t have to deal with the usual broken bones, knife and gunshot wounds,” the man said, zipping up the medical bag he’d brought with him to the clubhouse. “So even though I didn’t appreciate being dragged away from my dinner table, it could have been much worse.”
“You know we pay you well for your time,” I remarked, then proceeded to do exactly that. I removed my wallet from my pocket and pulled several hundred dollar bills out, handing them to him.
Dr. Crawford paused, staring at the money extended toward him. He’d been our club doctor for the better part of the past couple of years. He had easily been bought with our money when a malpractice suit had been filed against him, revoking his license to practice for seven years. He still did his underground operation, and serving our club had provided him with a decent standard of living.
“This one is on me,” he replied, glancing away from me. He shuffled his feet nervously, and for the first time since he walked into the medical examination room at the clubhouse, I observed him. In his fifties, he looked a decade older, his shoulders stooped and eyes weary.
“I insist on paying you for your time,” I said. “Never let it be said that Grimm Buckley doesn’t pay his bills.”
“I can’t take your money, Grimm. Not now.”
Instead of putting the money back in my wallet, I walked around the examination table and approached him. I hooked a finger into the top pocket of his shirt and stuffed the money inside. “Whatever you have to say to me, go ahead, but I really must pay you for your services. I don’t like being indebted to anyone.”
Standing as close to him as I was, I could feel the tension in his body. He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing in his throat.
“My family and I are moving away,” he finally said, rushing to add, “I know it’s little notice, but my wife insists, and I-I agree with her that it’s for the best.”
“When are you leaving?” I asked calmly.
“Over the weekend,” he stammered.
“I see.” I crossed my arms over my chest. “I’m surprised you didn’t say anything. Would you have just left us stranded if I hadn’t had my brothers pay you a visit today? I thought we had a better relationship than that, Doc, and I’m kind of disappointed in the way you wanted to skip town on us.”
“I didn’t have to say anything, but I did!” he protested, taking a step back. His nostrils flared and his shoulders shook a little from his rapid breathing.
“Not completely true, Doc. We had a contract, and you have four months left on that contract before you are free to leave.”
I was surprised to see tears in his eyes. “Please, Grimm. I can’t do this anymore. My wife’s threatening to leave me if I don’t move the family out of town. They’re all I’ve got.”
“Out of curiosity, what exactly brought this on?” I pressed, sensing he was hiding something from me. “Is there something you’re not telling me because you know if I find out that you’re keeping secrets pertaining to us from me…” I left the threat hanging, allowing him to figure out the rest of the puzzle by himself.
“Okay, okay, here’s the whole truth,” he stated, holding up his hands as though to ward off an imaginary attack. “There are people who are interested in you, Grimm.” He continued on a whisper, his eyes roaming the room. “The FBI have been sending agents over to talk to me about you. Our arrangement was supposed to be top secret, Grimm, but they know I work as your club doctor, and they wanted answers. Of course, I didn’t tell them anything. I swear on my kids’ lives that I didn’t.”
I patted his shoulder. “I believe you, Doc. Not because I have faith in you but because you have faith in me that I’d crush you like a bug if you ever leak any information about me to the FBI.”
He nodded, his head bobbing up and down like a bobblehead. “I wouldn’t mess with you, Grimm. No way. It’s not just out of fear either, but also out of respect. You’ve given me a means to provide for my family for the past couple of years. Now you understand why I think we should leave?”
I patted his cheek. “Yeah, I get it. You just go ahead and leave a forwarding address with the boys when they take you back home. I’d love to drop you a postcard every now and then. Don’t think about sending us on a wild goose chase either, Doc. That wouldn’t make the Reapers happy. So long as you keep your mouth shut, we won’t need to use the address. It’s just a little insurance.”
He didn’t have a choice, and he knew it. I led him out of the medical examination room where the twins were waiting outside. They lounged against the wall close to each other but immediately jerked upright when the door opened. I didn’t give a damn if they had been Frenching, which I suspected was the case. Not when I was too disturbed by the doctor’s revelation that the FBI were investigating me.
We were careful about our dealings. We never shit where we ate, so if there was any raid on the compound, they would find absolutely nothing to link us to any crimes. We had a separate interrogation location, lined with plastic that was washed away and changed after each use. It had been a while since any of us had to dispose of a dead body, and the Mortician was the best at what he did. We didn’t kill for fun, but sometimes it was necessary, and we didn’t trust law enforcement to do right by us, so we handled our business when it was needed.
“Everything good?” Whip asked me.
“Yeah, you see to it the doctor gets home in one piece. He’s leaving town and needs to leave a forwarding address with you guys. See to it that he does.” I turned to Dr. Crawford. “Give my regards to your wife and children, Doc. I hope all goes well with your move.”
The man’s face paled. “Thank you,” he whispered in such a low tone that I almost didn’t hear him. Whip placed a hand on his shoulder and led him away, his twin following behind.
Dr. Crawford might have interpreted my regards as a threat to his family, but I wouldn’t harm an innocent woman and children for a father’s betrayal. I never thought the sins of one man should be carried by anyone else. I had no intention of dissuading him of the notion that I was threatening his family though. He would keep his mouth shut, and hopefully I wouldn’t have a reason to follow him to his new address.
I turned left to visit my office and encountered the deafening moans of Cass and the groaning of a mattress. Damn boy had no self-preservation whatsoever. He would ruin himself taking cocks the way he did, and I was beginning to feel a sense of responsibility toward him. No one else seemed worried for his wellbeing, and he never talked about his biological family. His life revolved around the club and making my men happy in the sack. But who the hell made him happy?
I pounded on the door twice before pushing the bedroom door open without announcing myself. Mort had Cass bent over the bed, his cock deep inside the boy’s ass.
&nbs
p; “Hey, Grimm,” Mort called to me with a goofy grin. “Didya want to share this sweet boy pussy with me?” He slapped Cass’s ass hard enough to make the boy cry out. “I swear fucking him never gets old. He’s such a greedy filthy slut. Aren’t you?”
He smacked Cass again, and the boy moaned. “I’ve room for one more,” he gasped out, his eyes on me.
“Damn, Mort, do you always have to have your dick inside something?” I growled at him. “When you’re done, Cass, I want to see you in my office. And don’t keep me waiting.”
That goofy grin on Mort’s face widened. “Five more minutes and then he’s all yours, Prez. I worked his hole all good and ready for you.”
I scowled at him, backing out of the bedroom. “Just hurry the fuck up and find something constructive to do after, Mort. Like get down to the bar and do inventory or some other shit.”
I was barely out of the bedroom when they picked up where I had interrupted. Hearing Cass begging used to turn me on, and now it sickened me a little to think of how I’d used the boy. Granted he was always throwing himself at me, but it was clear that something was going on with the kid.
As much as I tried, I couldn’t even recall when he first started hanging around the Reapers. In my memory, he was just always there although in reality, he had been with us no more than six months.
In my office, I went through the last reports the accountant had sent in about our assets and was feeling quite pleased at the way we were expanding our business. In some ways, being stripped from the Bloodlet colors had been the best thing to happen to me. Most of those members were not as open to the changes needed today in the MC world for us to survive. The mentality of attacking each other over territory was archaic, and the result was nothing but death. With our way, we thrived financially and still managed to enjoy the thrill of sex, drugs, and danger which eventually always found us. I saw no reason to go out looking for it when it was inevitable.
Biker Daddy (The Grimm Tales of Smoky Vale Book 1) Page 15