by Blair Grey
Hell, I could remember her hanging around the place before or after school and during her school breaks. I knew she liked spending time with her dad, and she really enjoyed the artwork that was going onto our clients.
Ever since she was little, she’d had a fascination with art. She couldn’t get enough of it, that was for sure. I remembered her sitting on the floor in the corner of the shop with her art pad on her lap and a pen in her hand, a box of colored pencils on the floor beside her.
The more advanced she got, the more expensive her supplies became, and the better the pictures she drew. Her father would often hang the photos in various places of the shop, though I’d since taken them down when I bought the place.
I didn’t get rid of them, but I didn’t want to look at them, either. It was too painful, being reminded of her and knowing how things had turned out between us. Still, I couldn’t bring myself to part with them, either, so I placed them in a drawer behind the counter.
They were under files and other things, but they were all still there. Most of them had her name in the corner and dates on the back. I wondered what she would say if I showed them to her.
If I ever did, it wasn’t going to happen today. Today, I wasn’t really sure what to think of her, or the entire situation. Hell, I didn’t even really want to hang out with her if I was perfectly honest with myself. The entire reason I wanted her down at the shop was because I didn’t trust her.
I didn’t know what she really wanted in Santa Rosa, and I wasn’t sure if she would run again. If she only came here to get what she wanted, then she got it last night, and now she could leave. But if she was really in danger, then I didn’t want her to be left alone for the day, no matter how I was feeling.
And right now, when it came to her and me, I wasn’t feeling great.
We hadn’t said much to each other since having sex. In truth, I was pissed off at her. She had come into my room and taken what she wanted from me. Sure, I could have told her no again – and there was a part of me that had wanted to – but there was an even bigger part of me that didn’t.
I had been fantasizing about her since she had grown tits and developed an ass. Even back when she was a teenager, I wanted her so badly I had to get out of there before I did something stupid.
But still, I hadn’t told her the night before that I wanted to have sex. In fact, I had done what I could to avoid the situation. I’d gone to bed, I’d closed the door, and when she flirted, I hadn’t encouraged her. But then, there was a part of me that knew I hadn’t discouraged her, either.
“How’s that?” I asked as I pulled the piece of paper off my client’s arm. The stencil of the skull was in place, and he walked over to the mirror to check it out. The man wasn’t from around here, but he paid well enough I was able to get him in on very short notice.
Most of my regulars understood the need for me to rely on any sort of income that came through, even though the shop was doing well. So, they’d be happy to wait an extra day or two for me to get in someone who really wanted me as soon as possible.
“Looks good, bro,” he said as he climbed back into the chair.
I dipped the needle in the ink and got to work, trying to make small talk with the guy as my mind kept wandering back to the night before with Erika. I wasn’t entirely sure why I was pissed off.
Was it because she came in and took what she wanted? Yes. But wasn’t it also what I wanted? Also yes. But then, I had been bold enough to tell myself no. Sure, she was legal now. She was an adult and able to make her own decisions, but that didn’t mean the sex was right.
She had come up here for help, or, so I thought. She didn’t come up here to get laid. Or did she? Not knowing for sure what her end game had been was driving me crazy, too. I didn’t like feeling used, and I didn’t want her to think that she could do that to me.
Or are you pissed that you aren’t the one who initiated the whole thing? She was begging you for sex. Hell, she’s been begging you for sex practically since the day both of you met. Are you pissed that she finally was the one to take matters into her own hands and get it?
Do you really think that it’s wrong for the two of you to be sleeping together? You know she can do what she wants, and you try to justify that to yourself, but you’re still pissed off.
I nodded, though I was only half listening to what the guy in the chair was saying. He was telling me about his trip up from southern California and how he was going to ride his motorcycle clear up the coast to Alaska. It didn’t sound like any sort of trip I’d want to do, but he was passionate enough about it I let him ramble on.
It was easy for me to zone out while clients were talking. I could just focus on what I was doing with the needle and stencil, and they could talk about whatever it was they thought I’d care about.
I’d learned the art of nodding at just the right time, saying something at just the right time, and answering their questions with just enough enthusiasm to keep them happy. It had taken me years of practice, but now, I was a pro.
Erika was wandering around the shop. She didn’t really engage with the customers as much as she used to, but she got along with Jonas. Tanner was moody and preferred to keep to himself, though he was nice enough to her when she talked to him.
I could feel her looking at me throughout the afternoon, but I basically ignored her. Once again, just like a puppy, I knew that was the best way to get her to realize I wasn’t happy. She thrived on my attention and pretty much dried up without it.
I got another client out the door and was just about ready to take a smoke break when Aaron pulled up in front of the shop. Erika went on high alert as soon as she saw him, though she still hung off to the side as we watched through the window. He took off his helmet and set it on the back of his bike, then he headed toward the door.
“You comin’?” Jonas asked from the hall behind me. He and Tanner were already on their way outside, but I shook my head.
“You guys go on, I’ll be out in a few minutes. I’m going to talk to this guy for a sec,” I said.
Neither of them were part of the MC, but they knew when someone from the club came, I was going to give them priority. So, with a shrug, he turned and headed out the door to joke with Tanner.
I’d asked Aaron to keep an eye on this Kline guy. I wanted to know an update of every move he made – including whether he changed his name to try to travel under the radar. If there was one guy I could trust to do this, it was Aaron.
His years in the military made it impossible for me to read his facial expression as he walked through the door, especially since he smiled even less often than I. “Hey,” he said as he tucked his sunglasses into the front pocket of his vest.
“How’s it going?” I asked.
Erika’s eyes darted from me to him and back again. He walked right up to the counter and laid the palms of his hands down.
“There’s been some activity over in Boston,” he said.
“What kind?” I asked. “Are they coming to their senses and giving up on this?”
“They’re coming, alright, but it’s not to their senses, and they are far from giving up,” Aaron replied. “Kline is still using his current name – whether it’s real or not we’ve no idea, though he was able to get a plane ticket with it.”
“A plane ticket? So, he’s flying?” I asked. “That’s a strange move for a man in the mob, isn’t it?”
“It is to fly commercially, which makes me think he’s really not that high up in their ranking,” Aaron replied. “I’m guessing this is a personal grudge he’s holding against Erika, and he’s coming for personal revenge. Speculation, of course, but he was probably the one who got in trouble after her little stunt and now he’s coming to give her what he got and worse.”
I tasted bile, and immediately all the anger that I felt over the night before flew from my mind. That seemed so insignificant compared to what was happening now, and I didn’t want to worry about it anymore.
“H
e’s coming here?” Erika asked, her face turning pale as she spoke.
“Can’t imagine he’d want to go anywhere else,” Aaron said as he looked toward her. “You’re the one he’s after, aren’t you?”
He was never once to mince his words, but there were times I wished he wasn’t so blunt. Then again, this was something she needed to hear. She’d gotten herself in deep with the wrong people, and I didn’t want her to think that she could do it again.
Hell, if we all made it through this, then I wanted to be sure she’d never do anything so stupid again. Right now, however, her face was so pale she looked as though she might fall over where she stood or get sick right in the middle of the shop.
She didn’t say a word, but instead let out a cry and bolted from her corner toward the desk. I knew she was going to head out the back door, but I didn’t know if she was going to head back to the apartment or hop right in her SUV and head off to who knew where.
I grabbed her shoulders on the way by, stopping her. “Don’t run, Erika! Stop!”
“He’s going to kill me!” she shouted, trying to hit my chest with her fists. “I’ve got to get out of here!”
“No, you don’t. This is exactly what we wanted. We’re bringing him to our turf, so we can get rid of him for you. If you run, he’s just going to track you down somewhere else. Then again and again until your luck runs out,” I said as I forced her to look me in the eye.
She looked terrified, but Aaron just patted his hands on the counter. “That’s all I’ve got for you right now, but I’ll keep you in the loop in case there’s more news.”
“Thanks, man,” I said. “I appreciate it.”
He nodded and walked out, leaving me and Erika alone. She was still shaking, but she had stopped fighting me at least.
“He’s going to kill me,” she said again. “You don’t know who we’re dealing with.”
“If he’s going to kill you,” I replied. “He’s going to have to kill me first.”
She looked back into my eyes, the fear still crowding hers. But, she pulled away and instead of running, she walked back to the corner of the room and sat down. I grabbed a cigarette, now more than ever ready for that five minute break before my next appointment.
I was pissed this guy was still coming, but relieved that he was at the same time. If he was here, then I had backup who would help me get rid of him for good. And, that’s what I wanted.
God help him when he set foot on our turf.
10
Erika
It seemed strange to be having lunch in the middle of the afternoon, but when the guys started their shift at noon, I could understand why they did that. Both of the other guys headed out of the shop to grab something at the sandwich shop down the street, but I’d brought food from the apartment to share with Adam.
My heart still raced, and I could hardly touch my food, but he encouraged me to at least try. “You’re going to need to take care of yourself through all this,” Adam said. “You don’t want to be caught off guard.”
“I don’t want to be caught, at all,” I replied. “I want to get out of here and run as far away as I can. Hell, I’ll leave the country if I have to. I’ll give my dad some bullshit reason like I’ve always wanted to see the world or something, then I’ll take off, and I’ll never have to worry about him again.”
Adam laughed, almost making my blood boil. How was this in any way funny? Of course he was so chill about it – he wasn’t the one with a guy after him wanting to put a bullet in his head. Sure, this might seem funny to someone on the outside looking in, but to me, this was the furthest thing from funny I could imagine.
“Do you really think he is only restricted to the States?” Adam asked. My heart sank. “Do you really think that he is the only one who can find you? These are mob men, Erika, use your head.”
He didn’t have to tell me more. I knew exactly what he meant. I didn’t have a lot of experience with the real mob, but from what I saw in movies and on TV, they were able to find you no matter where you went. They had connections all over the world, and they were more than happy to pay each other off to get what they wanted.
Whether he sent a hitman to kill me, or he hired someone to kidnap me so he could kill me himself, there was no running from this forever. I’d have to go through some serious witness protection in order to make that happen, and if I had to do that, I’d have to come clean to the police about what I’d done.
That could easily carry a prison sentence considering I’d been stealing art out of galleries and even a museum. To me, running my whole life sounded better than being in prison for any length of time.
Not to mention, even if I were to go to jail for a few years, he would still be there when I got out, and he’d still be after me. In the year that I’d worked for Kline, I knew he wasn’t the kind of guy who would forgive or forget. He’d cling to his hate, and he’d remember it for years.
There just wasn’t any changing that.
Adam, on the other hand, didn’t seem too worried. If he was, he hid it well. He was munching on the sandwich that I brought and flipping through his phone, clearly lost in the moment. I wasn’t sure what I wanted from him, but I knew that this wasn’t it.
It didn’t matter that we’d had sex the night before, or that he was right here claiming to help me. He wasn’t paying attention to me, and right now, I needed that more than anything. I wanted to slap the phone out of his hand, but instead, I snapped at him.
“How can you just look at your phone and go through your day like nothing is wrong?” I snapped. “There is a maniac out there who is trying to kill me, and we’re just going to sit here in a tattoo shop with sandwiches?”
There was a lump in my throat, and he looked sharply at me. I knew he didn’t like to be spoken to that way. Hell, he never had. But I was at my breaking point. I didn’t really think Kline was going to follow me all the way out to California. Though I knew he had a temper, I had hoped he’d cut his losses and vow to get me if I ever came back.
I didn’t know he was the kind of man who would personally pursue a woman all the way across the country over paintings and a few thousand dollars. He got that amount of money in a single night from his gambling, he didn’t really need to get it back from me.
The entire reason he was coming was for the principle. He didn’t want to say that a girl got the best of him. Or that anyone had gotten the best of him, for that matter.
And, I was the one who had to pay the penalty.
“I told you, we wanted him to come here. So really, we should be happy with Aaron’s news. Can you imagine how crazy you’d go if you had to wait months for this to go down?” Adam asked. “I can’t.”
“I’d hope that he’d forget about it by that time,” I muttered.
“You are the one who knew the man. You should have known that he wasn’t about to forget anything,” he replied. I tried not to let his words get under my skin. I knew he was right, but it stung. I should have known better, but I wanted someone to feel sorry for me, anyway.
No one seemed to realize that it wasn’t easy to be in my position. Hell, Adam’s buddies through the MC seemed to find this to be more of a pain in the ass than anything. They blamed me for bringing this trouble to their town. And the worst part of it was: they were right.
“We’ve got this under control,” Adam said. “We’ve been protecting this town unofficially for years, and that’s not about to change. With the entire MC behind us, we are going to make a formidable foe for this guy. Trust me, many of us are former military. He’s not going to want to mess with us.”
I sighed. I knew he was right, but it was still hard. I knew they would be my best bet at getting through this, but I was still scared. I didn’t know how I was going to possibly survive, how I’d manage. It was hard to believe I’d even gotten myself into this mess to begin with.
But I had to stay strong. For Adam, I would. He believed we’d get through this, and I would trust him.
What other choice did I have?
That night, Adam and I were back at the apartment. He was drinking the last two beers out of the fridge, and I had a glass of water in my hand. I wanted a beer, badly, but I felt guilty taking one of the last two.
I had drunk so much beer out of his fridge already, I didn’t want to take half of what he had left. So, I forced myself to stay sober as we watched the movie together. I also intentionally kept my hands to myself. I felt bad about how the night before had gone.
As the day wore on, I started to think I shouldn’t have been so pushy. Whether he had asked me to stop or not, he hadn’t asked for it, and I had pushed for the entire thing. But, he didn’t say anything about it this morning, so I hadn’t brought it up, either.
I decided the best thing to do would be to let the whole thing go. There was a part of me that wanted to talk about it and see if he wanted me to apologize, but there was another part that didn’t think he would. Adam didn’t seem to me like the kind of guy who would let something like that go if he was too upset about it.
Besides, we both had enough other things on our minds, it didn’t seem like now was the right time to bring it up.
So, instead of talking about any of the things that were bothering me about Kline or the night before, I decided to talk about the past with him. Not anything sexual or how badly I’d wanted him, but the things that we used to do when I was a kid.
“Like the time when we switched up all the colors in his cupboard and he got so pissed!” I said with a laugh, remembering the pranks we used to pull on my father.
“That was all on you. I wasn’t ever that mean,” Adam said with a shake of his head. “But I do remember how pissed off he was – and how you let me take some of the heat for it.”
“He was mad at you because you didn’t stop me!” I said with another laugh.
“I told you not to do it!” he retorted.
“Well, clearly, I didn’t listen,” I smirked. “So what’re you guys going to do about it?”