Bones by the Wood (10 page)

“What’s in your box?”  Lucy was asking Annelle as she made a grab for it.  Stunned by Thea’s predicament, Annelle was too slow to stop Lucy from opening it.  When Lucy registered the contents, she went white, then green, then shoved the box away from her.  It slid down the bar, knocked into Thea’s empty box, and came to rest in front of the other girls.  It was impossible not to see the flaccid penis and the attached scrotal sack that were nestled in red tissue paper inside.  Thea’s world stopped, tilted and started spinning again on a different axis.

Myla put the back of her hand over her mouth as she stepped back.  She was gagging, but she managed not to throw up.

“What the fuck?  Who? Why?”  Lucy stuttered.  Her skin was still so white that with her dark brown hair she appeared positively ghostly.

“I don’t know.  I really fucking don’t.”  Annelle shook her head.

“We need to call the boys.”  Lyla tipped her head towards the grisly package.

“Yes.  Yes, you’re right.  I’ll do it.”  Annelle found her bag and fished her phone out of it.  She dialed the call and then wedged the phone between her ear and her shoulder while she helped herself to a generous shot of vodka from the bar.

“I’m goin’ to call the school.  Make sure Josh is still there.”

Annelle jerked her head in a sort of nod at Thea’s assertion and then turned her attention back to the call which had connected.  Caught up in her own panicked fact-finding, Thea didn’t hear Annelle’s side of the conversation.  Somehow, managing to avoid stating precisely why, but by insinuating that it was related to his father, Thea managed to get the secretary at the school to run and check that Josh was in the classroom that he was supposed to be in.  As satisfied that she could be for the moment that he was safe, and desperately wishing she could just go and pick him up, Thea ended the call and returned to the bar.  She’d wandered away so that the sound of her telephone call didn’t interrupt Annelle’s.  Every motherly instinct within her screamed at her to run to the school and clutch her boy in her arms, but her head was equally adamant that she didn’t know what or who might follow her to the school.

“Dizzy wants us at the clubhouse.  Now.”  Annelle told the girls as Thea approached.  Lyla nodded, seemingly the most calm of the group.  Thea remembered a snatch of conversation, that Lyla was with one of the patches in the new club.  It scared Thea to think that this might not have been the first time the perfectly coiffed girl had seen a box containing body parts.

Thea replaced the textbook and photo in her box and held it close to her chest as she hefted her worn, fringed satchel onto her shoulder and followed Annelle, who was holding her own box as far away from her body as she could, out of the club to their cars.  She squinted in the bright sunlight.  The glare, after the half-gloom of the club, was oppressive.  She was blinded and convinced that an assailant was going to jump out while she had her eyes closed against the brilliance of the clear blue sky.

The six of them made quite the convoy as they drove to the clubhouse.  It was all Thea could do not spin her car into a one-eighty and head over to the school.

Thea remembered the pretty building well, but it had changed in the months since she’d last visited.  It was bigger now
, and the additions, particularly the concrete section with the roller shutter doors, made it look less homey than it had before. There were a number of bikes outside the clubhouse, all lined up against the wall, facing away from the building.  Annelle, being at the front of their little caravan, parked to one side of the dusty space.  The rest of them followed suit, taking care not to block the road that led to the lot. 

As they climbed out of their vehicles, a man wearing a kutte came out of the door and waited for them.  It didn’t improve the state of Thea’s nerves any to see that he had a large handgun held loosely by his side.  He scanned the area around the clubhouse and waved them inside with his free hand.  Thea’s nerves unraveled a little bit further when she got close and saw the scars that crossed his face and his hard, emotionless, green eyes.  She tried not to stare, kept her eyes straight ahead, and clutched the box a little closer to her chest as she stepped down into the cool, shaded space.  She felt a measure of comfort just being sheltered from the bright light of the day.

The club members, Thea didn’t know if this was the full club or if here were any missing, were sitting on the stools that lined the bar.  Dizzy was roughly in the middle of the lineup, facing the doorway, watching them walk in.  A shorter man with curly hair threaded with grey was sitting to his left, and to his left were the two giants she’d seen in the store.  On Dizzy’s right was an empty stool, and on the other side of that a man with a thin, wiry physique and dirty blonde, really more light brown hair and goatee.  Lyla detached from their group and went straight to that man who ground his cigarette out as Lyla approached and pulled her into a tight embrace.  Thea had seen the man in the store and figured he was one of life’s permanently scruffy people like herself.  If she had been asked to pick which patch Lyla was with, it would not have been him.  The last man on Dizzy’s right had auburn hair, a scruff of beard and bright eyes.  A young man that Thea recognized as a local was busy behind the bar, but she couldn’t see exactly what he was doing.

Thea hung back as Annelle approached Dizzy, still holding her gruesome cargo at arm’s length.  Dizzy took it from her without blinking and Thea saw Annelle’s shoulders sag visibly with the release of tension.  Dizzy turned and put the box on the bar.  Thea couldn’t see, but he must have opened it.  The other patches all leaned forward.  Lyla leaned as far away as the arm around her would permit.  There were no exclamations and no one, not even the man behind the bar, flinched.

Dizzy turned and looked over their little group.  He ran his fingertips around the brim of the Stetson he was wearing before he spoke.  “Not what you want to see over your mornin’ coffee, girls, I can understand that.  We got two packages ourselves.  I won’t tell you what was in one of ‘em, ‘cept I think we know who these jewels belong to.  The other was a feather, a big purple feather.”

For the first time that day Thea saw that Lyla was visibly affected.  “One of my purple fans went missing the other night.  I was at a gig in LA, and when I finished changing it had gone.  I thought it had been stolen.”

“This look like it came from that fan?”  The man that had overseen their entry to the building leaned over the bar, when he stood upright again, he was holding a feather that looked exactly like the ones in the ostrich feather fans that Thea had seen Lyla and Myla using that morning, although it was a different color.

“Yeah, that looks like it’s from one of them.”  Lyla nodded.

“What did you get, sweetheart?”  It took Thea a beat to realize that Dizzy was speaking to her.

She stepped out from behind Annelle and handed Dizzy the box, although she was strangely reluctant to part with it.  “It looks like it’s one of my son’s school books.  There’s a photo of him outside his school inside it.”

A look of surprise crossed Dizzy’s face like a flash of lightening before his expression settled back into friendly, but benign, concern.  He set the box down on his knee and pulled the book out of it.  He found the photo, held it up and took a good look at it, and then placed the book back in the box, set the photo on top of it, and set the box down on the bar next to the other one that had been delivered to the club.

“Who signed for these?”  The shorter man on Dizzy’s left asked.

Lucy spoke up.  “Me. ‘Cept I didn’t need to sign for them.  I didn’t realize it was odd at the time, I wasn’t thinkin’, but the guy just handed them over.”

“What did he look like?”  The short man asked.

“Dark skin, dark eyes, kinda a little beard.”  Lucy shrugged.

“You think he could have been Mexican?”

“Yeah, I guess. He had an accent, but he didn’t say much.  He might not have been, though.”

The patches all nodded, and then stilled as a phone chimed.  Dizzy snagged a handset that had been on the bar behind his elbow.  “Hey, Samuel.  What did Shark say?  Yeah.  Uh huh.”  Dizzy motioned to one of the other men, one of the giants that Thea had seen in the store, the one with the buzz cut.  They held out another box, keeping the flaps open so Dizzy could see the contents, but they obscured Thea’s view.  “Yeah, a set of scales, the old fashioned kind.” Dizzy put his hand into the box and moved some of the contents around.  “A star, yeah like on a compass, and a ship, like a pirate ship.  Yeah, a lot of nautical stuff.  Yeah, yeah.  No I agree, it ain’t likely.  We got a cock and balls here, too.  Reckon they’re his.  They were sent to one of the clubs.  Thanks, brother, sorry about this.  Yeah, I know.”

As Dizzy ended the call the other patch closed the box up and put it back on the counter.   The man behind the bar handed Dizzy a towel, he wiped his hands and handed it back.

“I’m goin’ to be honest with you ladies ‘cause I want you to understand what’s goin’ on.  We got some people from across the border that ain’t overly happy with us.  Nothin’ we’ve done, just business.  Either way, they sent us the feather, that book,” he inclined his head towards Thea, “and some pieces of an old member of the Rabid Dogs.  That gentleman would have been about seventy-three, and we’re assumin’ he’s not survived the takin’ of these souvenirs.  So we’re goin’ into lockdown.  The fact that somethin’ got sent to the club and that you personally got a box, means you’re all targets, as well as us, and for that I’m sorry.  It’s not our way of doin’ business, but these folks across the border don’t got the same morals.  We’re goin’ to need y’all to stay here for a few days so we can keep you safe while we make sure these guys are dealt with appropriately.”

Thea shook her head.  The fear that had filled her hadn’t exactly disappeared, more that it had sharpened into a firm focus.  She had stopped shaking like a leaf, for which she was infinitely grateful.  “I can’t stay here.  I have to go.”

“Go where, sweetheart?”  Dizzy was no longer looking particularly friendly, despite the endearment.  Thea figured he wasn’t used to people, women, disagreeing with him right off the bat.

“I have to go get Josh.”

Dizzy’s expression softened, slightly.  “He can stay here, too.  But you’re not goin’ anywhere on your own.  They’ve sent you a direct threat, you and your boy.  You understand that, right?”

Thea’s head snapped round at the sharp sound of Lucy’s voice.  “Not bein’ funny Thea, but how come you get your own box?  What makes you so fuckin’ important to these guys?”  Lucy took a step back as some of the expressions around her turned hostile, but she kept her chin up.

“They’ve threatened people close to the club.”  Dizzy explained patiently.  “They knew Thea was with y’all this mornin’, which means they’ve been followin’ her, so they’ve probably seen her with me.”

Some highly curious faces turned towards her, but Thea had no intention of elaborating with any explanation of what Dizzy was implying.

When Alex spoke up, her voice was quiet and soft, and Thea had to strain to hear what she was saying.  “Why send you pieces of an old man who’s not even from your club?”

The man to Dizzy’s left answered.  Despite the riot of curly hair, he was the epitome of seriousness.  “It’s an example of how far their reach is and the lengths that they’re willin’ to go to.”

Dizzy’s voice was conciliatory when he addressed Thea.  “Look, there’s no point goin’ to the school yet.  Your boy’s safe there.  Stay here.  We’ll get him when it’s time for him to come home.”

“I need to go now.”  Thea hated that the edge of panic was creeping back into her tone.

“And what would you tell ‘em darlin’?” the scarred man asked, with more kindness than she would have expected from someone that looked as though life had literally fed him through a grinder.  “How’re you gonna explain to them, to him, why you’re draggin’ him out of class?  You tell those teachers that someone’s threatenin’ you, and it’s us that they’re gonna haul in.  They’ll keep us locked up while they dick us around, and you and your boy’ll be left swingin’ in the wind for whenever these guys decide to come and grab you.  You’ll have no protection.  He’s safe in that building.  We’ll go get him when school’s out.”

It was irresistible logic, but that didn’t stop Thea from feeling like she needed to scream.  She was on the edge of breathlessness as the shock of the day so far merged with her overwhelming concern for Josh.  She bit her lower lip until she tasted blood and buried her nails in the palms of her hands.  She could see Dizzy watching her fight for control.  Something like pride crossed his eyes when she nodded to acknowledge her acceptance of the situation.

Annelle looked around the room, her hands on her hips.  Now that she was relieved of the shocking package, she was back in business mode.  “Well, if all of us are stayin’ here, we’re gonna need some supplies.”

“I’ll come with you.” Thea volunteered immediately.  It sounded like the prefect distraction.  It would be a short road to crazy if she stayed in this room twiddling her thumbs.

Dizzy gave her a long look from under the brim of his hat before he answered.  “Okay, but Shaggy’s goin’ with you.  He will be your fuckin’ shadow.  You don’t even split up in the store.  Got it?”

“Yeah, we got it.” Annelle answered for both of them.  She gave Thea a hard look.  If Annelle thought she was planning to ditch her and head to the school, she was only half right.  The thought had crossed Thea’s mind, but since these men right here were her best chance of safety, she would prefer not to piss them off.

They left the other girls making themselves comfortable in the clubhouse.  Annelle drove them both out to the nearest Walmart in her SUV.  It was twice the size of Thea’s battered ride and more reliable for the long distance, and they didn’t want anyone local asking questions at the store Thea worked at.  She couldn’t afford to do it, but Thea called in sick on the way, pleading a violent stomach bug that might last for a couple of days.  The giant with the long blonde hair, the one that Dizzy had identified as Shaggy, followed them on his bike.

At the store, Annelle parked and grabbed a cart for herself and one for Thea.  Shaggy followed them closely, but not so close that Thea felt intimidated, or at least no more than she had when she left the clubhouse now that they all had the threat of extreme violence hanging over them. 

Thea wasn’t sure what supplies they needed, but it all became pretty obvious when Annelle started loading their carts with toilet paper, soap, packets of hotdogs, and frozen burgers, bread in various forms and a whole host of other household sundries and convenience foods that could be cooked quickly on a large scale.  She threw in a couple of boxes of wine, but no liquor or beer.  When Thea asked why, Annelle explained that the boys would already have plenty of the booze they liked in stock.

“You’ve done this before, then?”

“Yeah, but not for a long time.  I was workin’ the poles myself the last time somethin’ like this happened.”

“What?  Sendin’ body parts in the mail is a standard thing?”

“No.  The last time someone made a threat against the club so serious that they needed to keep anyone associated with them safe.”  Annelle dropped her voice.  “Of course, it was the Rabids then.  Elvis wasn’t even a twinkle in his daddy’s eye.  Jimmy was the only member you’d have recognized, and he’d only had his patch a year or two.”

Thea thought about asking if Annelle had history with Jimmy, and then decided that she didn’t want to know badly enough to rake over any old wounds his disappearance might have left.  “So, what’s the script?  What do we do while they’re out playin’ cowboys and Indians, or bikers and Mexicans, or whatever?  Do we just sit around paintin’ our nails, ‘cause I gotta tell you, I might end up knockin’ Lucy out if that’s all we do.”