Banished Souls MC (15 page)

This brought a burst of laughter from the group. Grunt was mortified.

In almost desperation Grunt pointed at Caine and screamed, "That stupid bitch is the real cause of all this!"

Caine handled this in normal biker style. He punched Grunt.

Grunt was unprepared and flew back to land on the floor. Blood streamed from his nose.

Uncle put a restraining hand on Caine. "That's enough." He said. Then he gave Caine a hard look. "In fact, that'll be the last time you touch him. Until we hear otherwise."

Caine got the hint. Grunt was in Upper Management's hands now, self-delivered. Caine was not foolish enough to seek out any more revenge.

"Okay," Uncle said to the group. "That's over with. Now let's drink!"

This brought a cheer, and members started to disperse. Some gave Grunt sidelong mocking grins.

Caine was trying to cool down. He had been more than prepared to beat Grunt through the floor. He felt T-Bone put a hand on his shoulder.

"I was just struck with a thought," T-Bone said.

"What?"

"This moron expected to win outright. Send you up the river. So if that was the outcome expected, wouldn't Cherish be part of that?"

Caine caught his breath. Cherish was at risk. Maybe even right at that moment.

"Let's go!"

Chapter 17

Cherish

"The Krimson Klowns want a deal?" Cherish said, to Addie, incredulous.

She knew what this meant. Devlin was screwing around behind the scenes, trying to get her to come back. Making her return, or even getting Caine dismissed. This sounded exactly like the scummy thing he would do.

Addie looked at her with pity, "Oh, honey, how could you be so blind? This is how these Clubs work. It's always about the money. They don't give a damn about people. Especially women."

Cherish had to admit, that did sound completely plausible. Was her little chance at heaven ruined now by the very man she was trying to escape? What could she do? She had to talk to Caine.

"I'm going to call Caine," Cherish said and picked up her cell phone.

Addie moved closer, and for a moment Cherish thought the other woman intended to rip the phone out of her hands. Instead Addie put her hand over Cherish's.

"Just be very careful what you say," Addie said.

"Why?"

"Because he's probably with other Club members, and if they hear him talking to you, they might get even more pissed off. Caine's in trouble now because of you. Don't make it worse for him."

Cherish was hearing all of this and it made her worry even more, but a part of her didn't care. She wanted to talk to her man and see if he was okay.

"Okay," Cherish said. "I'll be careful." She really didn't know what that meant, but Addie removed her hand.

Cherish called Caine. They had officially exchanged numbers last night.

Oh, last night, Cherish thought. One of the most passionate and intense encounters of her life. Now it has been tainted by Devlin, and the Banished Souls, and this rotten biker life.

She heard the phone ring but it went straight to voice mail. This caused her to panic. Why couldn't he answer? Didn't he always have that thing with him. It was practically a part of him.

Caine's recorded voice spoke, and Cherish felt her heart melt at the sound of it. Gruff but soothing at the same time. "Hey, not here. Leave a message. Or, better yet, don't."

This almost caused Cherish to laugh. But when the beep came and her message was being recorded she just said, "Hey, you. It's just me. Wanted to check in and make sure you were okay."

Addie leaned into her field of vision, looking worried.

Cherish said, "Uh, gimme a call, okay? Like as soon as you can." And she hung up. For a moment there she almost ended the recording with 'Love you'.

Wow, she thought, as she put down the phone. I must have it really bad for this guy. And it might get him in serious trouble, or even killed.

Addie leaned back, and let out a sigh. She seemed even more relieved than the situation warranted. Was there something else she was worried about but not sharing?

Cherish was now beside herself with worry. What could she do? Wait? Or even leave? She was at a complete loss.

"Is there any way we can find out what is going on right now? With Caine?" Cherish asked.

"I dunno," Addie seemed to think it over. "The Souls are really tight. It's not like we can fully trust any of them. Let alone expect them to share Club business. Even with me."

"You said you had the inside scoop," Cherish said. "Who told you about the Clubs making a deal."

This made Addie bristle a little, then her expression returned to one of frustration. "Look. You hear things, right? Its all gossip until it really happens. Well, now it really is happening." She suddenly brightened. "I know who!" she declared.

"Who?"

"The only one of that lot who truly is worth anything. A real up an comer. Hell, you know him, too."

Cherish was perplexed. "I do?"

Just then there was a knock at the motel door. Both women jumped a little and looked at each other in shock.

"Expecting anyone?" Addie asked.

Cherish shook her head.

The knock came again. "Cherish?" came a man's voice from the other side.

Was it Caine? Cherish couldn't tell. She ran to the door and swung it open.

Basher was standing there. He looked relieved to see her.

"Cherish!" He said. "You're okay!"

Cherish blinked at him, a little disappointed it wasn't who she hoped it was. "Yeah, I'm alright." Was she?

Addie said, "Basher! Now see, Cherish. We start talking about the only Banished Soul we can trust and look who appears."

Cherish let Basher in. She did a quick glance outside. She wasn't sure what she was looking for, a blue mustang, or a group of Banished Souls with baseball bats, but nothing looked amiss.

She closed the door, and went to sit on the edge of the bed.

Basher stood next to Addie. A look of grave concern on his face.

"I just came from the Club house," he said.

Cherish looked at him with expectation.

"Uh, Uncle called an emergency meeting. Private Club business."

Addie said, "It's okay, I told her about the Krimson Klown deal."

"Ah, okay. Well, Uncle called the meeting because of the situation with Caine, and the Klowns." He looked sheepishly at Cherish. "And, well, you."

Cherish swallowed. This wasn't sounding good at all.

Basher continued. "A lot of the members are pissed off that the deal is potentially ruined now. And they wanted to discuss their options to revive it. And being the assholes that they are they came up with one option."

Basher was looking at Cherish with obvious sympathy. As if he didn't want to say what the option was. "Anyways, when the option came up and a vote was cast, Caine went a little crazy."

Cherish caught her breath. She could see it in her mind, Caine freaking out. It was a terrifying vision. And all because of her.

When Cherish didn't speak, Addie asked, "What happened?"

"Well, Caine attacked Uncle."

Both Addie and Cherish gasped. Attacking the Club President was one of the worst offences a member could do.

"Started beating on him. Other members pulled Caine off, and, well..." Basher trailed off.

Cherish was apoplectic. "What? What happened to Caine?!"

"They beat the crap out of him. Real bad."

Cherish gasped again. No! No, this couldn't be happening. Not to Caine. Not because of her. All she did was care for him. And now he's been severely hurt. And what about his Club standing? Was he out of the Club now?

Both Addie and Basher were watching Cherish expectantly. They looked almost identical to when the were watching her running back to the change rooms after her audition.

Cherish tried to get a grip on herself. "Is Caine okay? Is he alright?" It seemed a foolish thing to ask. Caine just received a Biker beat down. But she had to know.

Basher looked forlorn, "I don't really know. I left right then. I had to come over and warn you. I was worried for you."

Addie patted one of Basher's big forearms. "You're a good man, Basher. You always have been. It's good to have someone like you around we can trust."

Basher looked to Cherish. "Cherish, babe, we have to get you out of here. You have to leave town. Like, right now."

Cherish felt the world slip away from her, swirl around her head. This can't be happening.

"I... I don't know," she said. This was all too much for one person to handle. "What about Caine?"

Addie shook her head, "I don't know about Caine, but if he has any chance of getting through this, it will be with you removing yourself from the picture." When this didn't elicit a response from Cherish she added, "For a little while."

"A little while?" Cherish was in a daze.

Basher said, "Yeah, maybe if you went a way for a while, things would cool off. Level heads and all. Maybe get in contact with Caine later. It's just right now you're in danger, and you're continued presence will keep Caine in danger."

Cherish really didn't know what to say.

Addie looked to Basher. "What about that place you told me about once?"

"What place?" Basher asked.

"The one your Father use to have. Just outside of town."

"Oh, yeah. Good idea."

Their conversation sounded strangely mechanical, almost rehearsed, but Cherish was too upset to think straight at the moment.

Oh, Caine, honey, what have I done to you? She thought.

Basher said to Cherish, "It's an old dairy farm my Father use to run. But he got locked up for a life sentence. Tried to bribe a judge. Anyway, it's perfect to hide out for a bit."

Again, both Addie and Basher looked to Cherish. They seemed oddly pleased that she couldn't make up her mind about anything at that moment.

Addie said, "Cherish honey, lets just get your stuff together, okay? The longer you stay the sooner trouble will come for you here."

Cherish found herself nodding. What else could she do? She couldn't go back to Devlin. Not in a million years. And she certainly can't go to her parents. The Banished Souls would eventually find her there and she didn't want her mom and dad involved. She couldn't go anywhere.

She looked at Addie and Basher. Right now these were really the only two friends she had. And Caine, poor Caine. She didn't want to get him hurt anymore.

"Okay," she said finally. "Okay, I'll go."

Addie quickly got Cherish's stuff together. It didn't take long,  because she hardly owned anything.

Basher put out his hand, "Phone," he said to Cherish.

"Why?" Cherish asked. She didn't want to give it up. What if Caine called back?

"So you can't be traced," he said.

With reluctance Cherish handed it over and Basher took it apart.

After everything was packed Addie said, "I'll head over to Bumps, see if I can learn anything there."

Just as Basher went to the door, and put his hand on the handle Cherish remembered something that he had said.

"Basher, what was the option?"

"What?"

"The option. The one the they voted on. The one about me?"

Basher's eyes widened a little. Again, he looked like he didn't want to describe it. "Well, the vote was almost unanimous. Was part of the reason Caine went crazy."

"Vote for what?"

Basher said, "To have you killed."