Rising Bounty (3 page)

Chapter 4

The next morning

Abe followed Roxanne as she dropped off her little daughter at school. He had to admit, the kid was cute. She had the same eye color as her mother. Her eyes were soft and a pretty blue but with a touch of sadness to them. What could make a child that young look so sad? What had happened to her and to her mother to put that look of fear on their faces? They both looked like they were ready to bolt at the drop of a hat. He was determined to figure them out.

Roxanne didn’t have transportation of her own so she always took public transportation. She stood there alone by the steps leading up to the school and waited until some teachers escorted her daughter into the building. She looked around the parking lot. What was she looking for? He kept his distance and made sure she couldn’t spot him. She was definitely checking the perimeter of the school. Thirty minutes later, after circling the block a couple of times, she seemed satisfied that the school was secure and went to the bus stop to wait for transportation.

He followed her around town as she did errands. She bought discount clothes, groceries, and indulged in a cup of coffee from a vendor. None of that was strange but what he did find interesting was that each time she purchased something, she paid in cash. She never went to the post office or the bank.

So many things just weren’t adding up. She had no car, which probably meant no license, got paid under the table and used cash instead of credit cards; it was like she didn’t want to leave a paper trail or a way for someone to track her. She was better at subterfuge than some of the assholes he chased, but she wasn’t completely flawless.

As careful as she was, her biggest mistake was enrolling her daughter in a school. This one in particular required identification and background checks. How did she get past all the government-required paperwork? Once he asked for Isaac’s help, he would have their computer system hacked in a matter of minutes.

Her other mistake was leaving anything lying around that would offer up fingerprints. He waited while she threw the coffee cup away before she climbed up on the next bus. He walked over to the trash receptacle and pulled the cup out bagging it. He could have done it at the bar, but she always wiped everything down that she touched. This specimen would have fewer fingerprints to filter through.

“I’ve got ye now, lass.”

*****

What a day.
Roxanne dropped Cici off at school and ran errands. She had to come back to the club around 10 that morning to receive the alcohol deliveries. She got the money ready for the bank deposit, which Lexi would come by to do when she did the payroll.

She had messages from one of the bartenders and a waitress, both of whom were out sick. After three hours of making calls, she still couldn’t find anyone else to come in and help cover their shits, which meant that Roxanne was going to have to help bartend and wait tables that night.

It was odd. All day she felt like someone was watching her. She looked around but didn’t see anyone. It spooked her enough that she took two different buses before coming back home, in case someone was following her. With the club being broken into and then the feeling of being watched, she was acting more suspicious of everyone and everything. Someone letting the door slam shut had her jumping in her shoes. She attributed those feelings to simple paranoia.

Once Lexi arrived at the club that afternoon, Roxanne was able to leave to pick up Cici from school and took her to their apartment upstairs. Her mother greeted them at the door. She frowned when she saw that her mother was limping.

“What happened?”

“Oh, I took a little fall when I got out of the shower this morning.”

“What? Why didn’t you call me?”

“I didn’t want to bother you. I’m fine honey, really. How was your day, Cecelia?” Her mother had been having a hard time adjusting to their new identities. She called Roxanne
Rosie
, which was short for her real name, Roseanne. It was close enough that no one paid attention to it. Cici she continued to call Cecelia. So far they weren’t around a lot of people so it wasn’t a problem, but, eventually, it could be.

Cici smiled at her grandmother. “We learned about the different galaxies and different planets. I can’t wait until I’m old enough to explore them all.”

“That sounds exciting. Are you hungry?”

“Yeah, I skipped eating my lunch today because I wanted to work on my art project.”

“I’ll go get you something.” Her mom was getting up from the couch but she grimaced in pain.

“I’ll get it. You two work on Cici’s homework.” She walked to the kitchen, stopping to look back at her little family. Maybe it had been a mistake to take her mother out of the retirement home. At least they had nursing assistants to help the elderly. She couldn’t afford to hire someone to help her mom. When she had first run off with Cici, she had called her mother to let her know what was happening. Her mom told her that her ex-husband had stopped by and threatened her. She came for her mom that night and snuck her out. She couldn’t trust that her ex wouldn’t try to hurt her mom.

Nothing he did would surprise her. She suspected that he had one of her friends who was supposed to testify on her behalf injured. Nancy, one of the nicest people she had known, had been injured so badly she was in a coma at the hospital. She knew right then that her ex had something to do with that.

He was a violent man and probably threatened her friends if they tried to help her. Nancy was a sweet older woman with whom she had done charity work. If her ex really had anything to do with Nancy getting hurt, it only proved how truly evil he was. Roxanne felt horrible guilt over what happened to the woman and that was the main reason she never trusted anyone enough to let them into her life. Even if someone did want to help her, she didn’t want to have someone else's blood on her hands — not again.

She grabbed plates, bread, and sandwich meat from the refrigerator. She fixed the three of them sandwiches, sliced some apples, and carried a large plate with the food into the living room.

“Here we go. I thought we all three could have a little snack together.”

“Sounds wonderful. I actually forgot to have lunch today too.” Her mother reached for a sandwich.

“Mom, you need to eat.”

“I know, it’s just that I forget sometimes. I slipped and fell. I took some pain reliever and went back to bed.” Her mother’s pale cheeks reddened. Roxanne didn’t want to make her mom feel bad.

“I’ll try to call you during the day from now on to remind you or maybe I can come home for lunch and eat with you.”

Her mother’s smile was wide and it lit up the room. “I would love if you could come home for lunch.”

“Done, I’ll let Lexi know.” The three of them ate their snacks and then Roxanne helped Cici with her homework while her mother napped on the couch.

She put Cici to bed around seven that evening and took a quick shower to get ready to go back in to work. She had to open the club at eight. She stopped at the door and looked at her mom. “Are you sure you guys will be okay?”

“Of course, dear. What time will you be home? Should I wait up for you?”

“No, don’t wait up for me. I have to close tonight so it might be three in the morning before I get home. Lexi said she was going to having someone stop by tomorrow to install an alarm up here.” She leaned down and kissed her mom’s cheek. It felt a little cool to her touch. “Maybe you could turn up the thermometer a little. It’s chilly in here. Call me if you need me. Love you, Mom.”

“I love you too, my Rosie girl.”

She hated leaving them but she had to work to support them. Her family depended on her.

*****

“What do ye have for me, Isaac?”

“Abe my man, you can really pick them. I’m sending you the information now. Let me know what you want to do about it.”

“Thanks.” Abe pulled out his cell phone and began reading the email from Isaac with the background information on Roxanne. It wasn’t what he was expecting. “Fuck!”

Chapter 5

Later that evening

“Dee, I need six bottles of beer for table eighteen.” Roxanne wiped the sweat from her forehead. She was exhausted and sticky and just wanted to go home and take a long hot bath. She ached all over and she could swear she had a handprint on her ass as after the number of times some jerk or two had slapped it. She had to flag Benny the bouncer to escort out one guy in particular. Per Lexi’s rules, the guy was banned from coming to the club again. The guy’s friends straightened out after that not wanting to be thrown out too.

“Are the men still giving you a hard time?” Dee asked, reaching for the beer bottles in the cooler.

“Not really, not more than usual. I confess Dee, I hate waitressing but the tips tonight have been fantastic. Which reminds me…” She reached into her waitress belt and pulled out some of the money. She placed it in the tip jar for the bartenders. “This is for you guys.”

“Aw Roxanne, that is so sweet of you. Not all the waitresses do that, you know.”

“Well, I know that it can be a real bitch to waitress, I also know that it can be just as much a nightmare to tend the bar on rough nights like tonight.” Dee was a single mom like her and was trying to work to pay her way through school. Roxanne had a soft spot for her. Dee’s son Keith was good friends with Cici and they often had play dates together.

“Thanks, honey. Here’s your beer.”

Roxanne took the tray to her table and checked on her other tables. The music was loud and booming. She glanced over at the dance floor which was packed full of bodies grinding against one another. She never could understand why anyone would come to a bar and let a sweaty stranger rub all over them.

“Do ye want to dance?” asked a voice behind her.

She turned and sucked in her breath when she saw Abe standing there wearing his usual kilt, an open sleeveless vest and nothing else under it.
Damn that man was hot. She wouldn’t mind rubbing herself all over him.

“What?” She hoped to hell she hadn’t been standing there drooling over him again.

“I asked if ye would like to dance.”

She shook her head. “I’m working.”

“Don’t ye guys get breaks?”

“We’re short-staffed so no, I can’t take a break right now.” She walked away, heading to the bar. She hoped he would move on. Maybe he would find another waitress to antagonize or tempt to sin. She sighed when she caught his image in the mirror following her.
Damn it.

She turned and glared at him. “Abe, what is your problem?”

“I need to speak to ye privately.”

“It’s going to have to wait until the bar is closed. We’re too busy and we really are short-staffed.”

“Fine, I can wait.” He walked over to the bar and took up a stool.

“Perfect,” she growled. She stormed away as she gathered drinks for her next table. This was going to be a long, long night.

*****

He watched her for the next two hours as she interacted with the customers and with the other staff. Her co-workers really seemed to like her. It helped that even though she was a manager, she was willing to help out, no matter how small the task. He liked that about her. Damn, that was going to make what he had to do next hell.
I’m doing this for Vic and Lexi.
He kept telling himself that.

Movement on the other side of the club caught his attention. Two men had come in about thirty minutes ago and were circling the perimeter. Their eyes were on Roxanne and Abe did not like that at all. Something about those men set his senses on alert. They could have been the ones who broke in the other night. Isaac was frustrated after reviewing the surveillance tapes. He couldn’t get a good shot of the vandals because they had been wearing masks. Abe would keep his eye on the men.

Two hours later, the last customers left and the bouncer locked the doors. The staff all worked together to clean up the club and it didn’t take long before Roxanne let them out the back door and locked up. Abe sat at a table waiting for her. She seemed to be stalling, but she finally came his way and sat down across from him.

“What did you need to talk about?”

“Sarah Roseanne Wall Hadley.”

*****

She felt the warmth drain from her face. She was not expecting him to know her real name.

She gulped. “What do you want?”

“I want the truth. No more lies.”

“What do you know?” she asked hesitatingly.

“I know that ye are Sarah Rosanne Wall Hadley, married to Governor Darryl Hadley and wanted for kidnapping.”

“Whom have you told this to?”

“I haven’t told anyone else, yet. Isaac is the only other one that knows but he won’t do anything without my approval.”

“I’ve got to get away from here.” She moved as though she was about to stand but Abe reached out to take her hand, keeping her still.

“You’re not going anywhere without explaining what the hell is going on.”

“Please, you have to let me go.” She was panicking and shaking.

“Tell me Roxanne, just let me help ye.”

Could she trust him? She needed to trust someone and as unlikely as Abe would be, he always seemed strong and supportive of his friends. Whenever she was around him, he made her feel safe. Her father once told her that she should take a chance on people. He was a wise person and wished he was still around to offer advice.

She took a deep breath. “I was married to Darryl. It wasn’t a happy marriage. In fact, it became a living hell.”

“What did he do to ye?” He reached for her hand and gave it a squeeze.

She pulled her hand from his and wrapped her arms around herself in a defensive pose. “He was okay at first, charming and smart, but power driven. I overlooked how demanding he could be. Then when I couldn’t meet his demands, he would…”

“Hit ye?” He growled in anger.

She wiped a tear from her cheek. “Yeah. I guess I was a failure at being a good wife because he hit me a lot.”

“Why did ye stay with him?”

“I would leave and he would beg for a second chance. He always reverted back to his violent nature. Then I got pregnant. He didn’t hit me at all during my pregnancy. I thought that maybe having a baby may have made him want to change his ways.”

“But he didn’t change, did he.”

“No, he didn’t change. When he lost his next election run, he took it out on me.”

“Why didn’t ye leave?”

“I had no money, nowhere to go and a baby that I had to take care of. I felt trapped.”

“Ye finally did leave, eventually. What changed?”

“I had been secretly stashing money away for a while by sending it to my mother who also saved part of her social security checks for us. I was just waiting for the right moment, I wanted to set up a new home for us, hire a good lawyer, but Darryl forced my hand. I came home to find Cici locked up in her closet crying and terrified.”

“Son of a bitch!”

“I couldn’t wait any longer. I packed us up while he was gone that night to a political dinner and left. I filed for divorce and for sole custody of Cici.”

“Ye didn’t get custody, which I don’t get.”

She snorted. “It was a setup. Darryl had his friends testify against me and the judge was in his back pocket. I didn’t stand a chance. The only good thing that came out of it was that I was granted an immediate divorce, but Darryl was granted custody of Cici. I freaked out. There was no way I could let her go back, especially without me with her. So, instead of taking her the next day to Darryl, I snuck out with her in the middle of the night and fled with all the cash I had.”

“Why did ye risk getting your mother? I’m sure having her with the two of ye made traveling inconspicuously harder.”

“At first, I didn’t want to get her further involved. I didn’t feel like I had any other choice when he visited my mother and threatened her if she didn’t tell him where I was. She was so scared, Abe, I couldn’t leave her there vulnerable like that. So I came back in the middle of the night for her and we have been on the run ever since.”

“How long have ye been running?”

“We fled four years ago. Cici was only two years old. We’ve moved around about eight times. Darryl’s people found us many times over. This is the longest we’ve stayed anywhere. How did you find out?”

“I’ve been suspicious of ye for a while now. I’m part Scottish so I know when someone is spinning a tale, but my Bazinoid side also allows me to detect lies easier. Then when the club was broken into, things just didn’t add up. I asked Vic about ye but he didn’t know much — only that Lexi was extremely protective of you. She knows about ye, doesn’t she?”

“She doesn’t know who I was, only that I am running from an abusive situation. She never asked me a lot of questions, just helped me. God, I’m going to have to move us again.”

“No, don’t go.”

“Abe, if you found out who I am, my ex will find me, if he hasn’t already. The break should have been a big sign that we were found out again.”

“I don’t want to scare ye, but I think ye’re right and that maybe he has already found ye.”

“What do you mean?”

“There were two men here tonight watching ye intently.”

“No.” Her heart was beating so hard she thought it would burst from her chest. She shook her head and looked around like she was searching for a way out.

“Don’t do anything rash, let me talk to Vic and the others. We’ll watch ye and if these guys try anything, we’ll stop them.”

She stood up. “You don’t understand, Darryl has the law on his side. He could simply tell the authority where I am and they would come and arrest me while taking Cici back to that monster. We have to escape.”

Abe moved so fast, she didn’t see him until he was standing right in front of her. He gently gripped her upper arms. “Don’t run lass, let us help ye.”

“Why are you wanting to help? Why do you care?”

He cupped her cheek with a large hand. “I have a soft spot for sexy bartenders.”

“I’m scared.”

“I swear to protect ye and yer family.”

“You’re being so sweet.”

“I’m not. I just want to keep ye around because ye drive me crazy with yer smart mouth.”

“Jerk.” She laughed while punching his chest. Then she gasped when he leaned down and kissed her. She felt like the world around her was spinning out of control. Was it possible to pass out from kissing someone? She felt like she was about to find out. She couldn’t help but wrap her arms around his neck and hold on for dear life.

Their bodies rubbed against each other and she could feel his heat wrapping around her, warming her, heating her body’s responses. She groaned and tilted her head back giving him more access to her mouth. He took advantage and cupped her ass lifting her small frame up on him. It felt so damn good; she couldn’t help but wrap her legs around his waist and ride him a little.

“I’ve been wanting to do that since the moment I laid eyes on ye,” Abe growled, turning them and laying her down on the nearest table.

She reached for his kilt and dragged it up. Was he a true Scot? Or did he wear something else under the kilt? When his bare flesh sprang free, she had her answer. She didn’t hesitate. She reached for him and took him into her greedy little hands. She stroked up and down, back and forth causing him to groan in pleasure. Then he growled with frustration as his phone vibrated.

“Don’t stop, lass.” The mood was broken and she released him, trying to get her breathing under control.

He reached for his phone and brought it up to his ear. “This better be fucking good.”

“Dude, you do realize that I have the security cameras set up and I’m monitoring everything at the club? I mean
everything
.”

Abe closed his eyes and prayed for his body to cool down. All he wanted was to rip Roxanne’s clothes off and fuck her right there on the table, but he didn’t want to put on a show for others to see either, not any more than he already has. “Is the outside secure?”

“Yeah, I caught some shadows but no one has made a move to the club doors or to the apartment.”

“Keep a watchful eye out. I’m taking Roxanne to her apartment.”

“Will do, and by the way, I hope to never see your cock fly out of your skirt again. Wear some underwear, man!” Isaac hung up but Abe wanted to punch him. He was a great technical expert and was always willing to lend a hand. However, he would get himself in constant trouble by making smart remarks at the wrong times.

Abe moved away and helped Roxanne to stand back up. She looked up at him with a sensual look on her face. It didn’t help his body cool down at all.

“What’s wrong?”

“That was Isaac. He wanted to remind me that he is monitoring the club.”

“Did he see us?” She looked around trying to spot the new cameras they had added. Her desire immediately left her face.

He hesitated not wanting to embarrass her. “Not too much. He interrupted just us in time. Come, let me take ye home.”