Surviving The Biker (Motorcyle Club Romance) (3 page)

“I don’t know,” he said. “Prison is too easy of a sentence, if you ask me.”

“Death is too
quick
of a sentence,” countered Slammer. “We need him to rot behind bars for the rest of his life.”

“He’s right, brother,” I answered. “Mud will suffer more behind bars than he would if you killed him. He’s made a lot of enemies and some of them are in prison. Life wouldn’t be as easy as you might think for a shit-bag like him.”

“Maybe,” he answered
,
not looking too convinced. “So, what’s the plan?”

“You’ll find out soon enough,” answered Slammer, flicking his cigarette away. “I need to make some phone calls and get shit rolling. Once I get the ducks in order and everyone on board, I’ll fill you in on the details.”

“What do you want us to do right now?” I asked as he opened up the door.

“Get Chopper down here to help you look for wires or any other recording devices. I seriously doubt you’ll find anything, though. Misty doesn’t seem smart enough to set something like that up and keep it running.”

“And none of the Devil’s Rangers have ever been to this clubhouse?” I asked. We’d had a lot of parties, but Slammer was selective when it came to outsiders. That didn’t mean someone couldn’t have slipped in during a drunken bash. Especially with the help of Misty.

“Not that we know of,” said Tank, as we followed Slammer down the hallway.

“Exactly and that’s why you two need to search this place. I’ll be back this afternoon. Oh, before I forget, you find out if Brandy’s carrying your kid yet, Raptor?”

“Next week,” I answered. Just thinking about it left a sour taste in my mouth. I wanted children someday, but not now and certainly not with Brandy. I just wanted her gone.

“You trust her?” he asked.

I laughed. “Are you fucking kidding me? Hell no.”

“That’s too bad. I was hoping you two were settling down now that she’s pregnant. I was also hoping to use her to keep an eye on Misty. But, if you don’t trust Brandy, either…”

“I don’t even trust that the child she’s carrying is mine.”

“If it is?” he asked.

“I’ll do my duty as a father and make sure I’m in its life.  But I’m not getting back with her, no matter how much she wants it to happen.”

“You think she got pregnant on purpose?” he asked.

“I don’t think so,” I replied. “At least, I hope the fuck not.”

“I know you’re still pissed at what she did, but do you still have feelings for her?” he asked me.

I smirked. “Only bad ones.”

“He’s got the hots for Krystal’s best friend, Adriana,” said Tank.

“That’s right. The skinny redhead,” replied Slammer. “That’s the one you were planning on patching before you found out about the kid, right?”

“Things haven’t changed. She’s my Old Lady already. Just need to make it official.”

He put a hand on my shoulder. “Well, looks like you’ve got your hands full, son.”

“Yeah, but it’s nothing I can’t handle.”

“I’m sure you can handle it fine.” He looked over at Tank and then back at me. “Of course you know that we have your back, no matter what?”

“I know and I appreciate it,” I answered as his cell phone began to ring.

Slammer pulled it out of his pocket. “It’s Frannie. I’d better take this. Why don’t you drive over to Griffin’s and check on Misty,” he told me.

“Sure.”

“Hey, babe,” he said, walking away.

“Can you fucking believe the nerve of that bitch?” said Tank turning back to look at me as I followed him down the hallway. “I mean the more I think about it, the more pissed I get.”

“I don’t blame you.”

He grunted. “Mud killed my fucking girl, man.
Killed
her. I was going to patch Krystal. You knew that.”

I nodded.

“He’s lucky to be alive. Hell, he shouldn’t be alive; now Misty betrays us with that piece of shit? What the fuck?”

“Don’t worry, Tank. They’re going to pay,” I said. We’d run their club all the way out to Hayward, Minnesota for what Mud had done to Krystal, but more needed to be done. I just hoped that whatever Slammer was planning would be a justifiable enough revenge for murdering a woman his son had fallen pretty hard for.

After my first class, I had two hours to spare before my next, so I drove over to a nearby drugstore and picked up a tube of lipstick and a package of tampons, just in case my period decided to rear its ugly head. It was due any day and I knew that with my bad luck, I’d get it before seeing Trevor. As I turned the corner to the next aisle, I noticed the pregnancy tests lined up on a shelf, and the hair stood up on the back of my neck. Although I was on the pill, I didn’t always take them on time.

“Relax, you’re not pregnant,” I mumbled to myself as I looked at the prices. They were definitely not cheap, but, neither was having a baby. Before changing my mind, I grabbed a box with two test sticks, and made my way to the cashier. If I could rule out being pregnant, it would be one less thing to worry about at the moment.

“How are you today?” asked the woman behind the counter. She was in her fifties, had short white hair, and a warm, friendly smile.

“Good and you?” I asked.

“Very good,” she replied, picking up the pregnancy kit. “Oh, my. Someone might be a mother soon? How exciting.” Her eyes sparkled. “Is it for you?”

I laughed nervously and then lied, telling her that it wasn’t. I wasn’t even sure why I even did it, but somehow, admitting to the test made me feel irresponsible. Right now, being pregnant would be devastating. “It’s for a friend.”

As if she could read my mind, she gave me a sympathetic look. “Oh, well I’m sure that whatever the outcome is, your
friend
will be just fine. Children are a blessing.”

“Right,” I said, digging into my purse for a credit card.

“By the way, if your friend is pregnant, remind her to start taking prenatal vitamins and folic acid. I’m sure her doctor will also recommend it as well,” she commented as I handed her the card.

“I’ll let her know,” I replied, as the line behind me grew. It was quiet and I felt as if all eyes were on me, that they also knew that I was lying and were shunning me for being so careless.

After she finished ringing me up, I dashed out of the store, my eyes lowered, and got into my car. As I headed back to the campus, my cell phone rang. It was Tiffany.

“Hey, girl, how’ve you been?”

“Fine,” I replied. “What about you?”

“Pretty good, actually. Remember Jeremy?”

“Jeremy Stone? The detective?”

“Yeah.”

“What about him?”

“We went out on a date last night.”

“You did?  Wow, how did that go?”

“It was fabulous. He bought me dinner and then we went dancing.”

“And then…?” I asked, waiting for her to tell me that she’d screwed his brains out.

“That’s it. We have another date planned for Sunday. He has these crazy hours, so we have to wait until then.”

“So, you didn’t bring him back to your apartment?”

“No. I wanted to, believe me, but he said we should wait before we take that step.”

That was a shocker. She’d offered herself to him and he’d refused? “He’s the one who suggested it?”

“Yeah.” She giggled. “Wild, huh?”

“He sounds like a decent enough guy,” I replied, impressed.

“I think so, too. Anyway, the reason I was calling was to see if you wanted to meet up with me and Amber for dinner tonight? We haven’t seen you since Tiffany’s funeral and we miss you, dammit.”

“I’m sorry but I can’t,” I replied. “I’m meeting Trevor and then I have all this homework. What about Friday? I miss you guys, too.”

She was silent for a few seconds. “Yeah. That might actually be better, anyway. Then Monica can meet up with us, too.”

“Sounds great. I’ll call you later in the week and we’ll plan something.”

“Okay. How are you and Trevor, doing, by the way?”

I hadn’t told anyone about Brandy being at his house or her being pregnant. They would have told me to kick his ass to the curb. Although I was deeply annoyed about Brandy, I loved Trevor and wanted to be with him. Needed to be with him. I just couldn’t fully understand why he had allowed her to move in after everything that had happened. “We’re good,” I told her.

“Well, leave him at home Friday. It’s just going to be us girls. Okay?”

“Sure. No problem.”

“I have to go. I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Goodbye, Tiff.”

“Bye.”

After she hung up, I actually started feeling better and even a little hungry. Relieved, I purchased a sandwich and a lemonade from the college’s cafeteria. Fortunately, I was able to keep it down and the rest of the day went a lot more smoothly. By the time I was finished with the last class, I felt like myself again, which made me feel silly for spending twelve dollars on a pregnancy test when I could have just as easily spent it on a bottle of wine, or even an eyebrow wax. In the end, I decided to return the test as soon as I got my period, which I hoped wouldn’t be until after my evening with Trevor.

Thinking about him, I wondered what kind of surprise he had for me.

Maybe Brandy is moving out?

I could only hope.

Trying to remain positive, I turned on the radio and headed home.

When I reached Griffin’s, Misty and Brandy were both behind the bar in some kind of deep discussion.

“What’s up?” I asked, stopping next to a couple of familiar faces. It was shortly after two and the lunch rush appeared to have dwindled down to the usual bar-flies, including Horse and Buck.

“Raptor,” said Horse, raising a beer to me.

“No work today?” I asked him. He was a mechanic who usually put in over fifty hours a week at his shop, so it was a surprise to see him hanging out at Griffin’s on a Monday afternoon.

“I took the day off,” he said, the smile on his face receding. “Had to drive my Old Lady to the airport this morning anyway.”

“Where’s she off to?” I asked, sitting down next to him.

“California. Her sister has cancer and she’s going down there for moral support. Fuck, I should have gone with,” Horse mumbled, staring at his beer. “I’m an asshole.”

“You can still fly out there yourself, can’t you?” I asked, looking over his shoulder. “Hey, Buck.”

“Hey, Raptor,” he answered, barely looking at me. Misty was standing in front of him and leaning over in a way that gave him a great view of her cleavage. She was talking to Brandy about keeping inventory and showing her a checklist.

Horse nodded. “Yeah. She told me I didn’t have to go, but I could tell she was just trying to be nice. She knows how busy I am.”

“Yeah, you’re real fucking busy,” laughed Buck, tapping Horse’s beer with his.

“Actually, I am,” he said, looking serious. “I’ve got three cages I’m supposed to be working on and look at me. I’m sitting here wasting time. I just…” he rubbed his forehead. “I just felt like such a prick for letting her go by herself. I needed a drink.”

“Don’t you have other mechanics helping you out?” I asked, remembering him complaining about a couple of them in the past.

“I fired Mikey last week for fucking up one too many times and the other mechanic, Bob, he’s doing what he can.” He looked at Misty. “Hon, can you pour me a soda. I should probably clear my head and get back down there.”

Smiling, Misty grabbed a glass. “Sure, anything for you, Horse. Coke?” 

“That’ll work.”

“What about you, Raptor?” asked Brandy, who was wearing a white camisole under a denim vest that emphasized her fake tits. She put her hand on her hip and smiled seductively. “See anything behind the bar you want?”

“If he doesn’t, I sure do,” laughed Buck.

“I’ll just have what Horse is having,” I said, taking out my wallet.

“A soda for you too, huh? Busy day ahead of you?” asked Misty, sliding his over.

“Something like that,” I answered, turning around to look at the stage as a popular song from the eighties started, “Hey Mickey.” A voluptuous pig-tailed blonde dressed in a cheerleading outfit began shaking her pom-poms and moving to the music.

“I wish she’d blow my mind,” said Buck, as the singer shouted the familiar lyrics. He sniggered. “Among other things.”

“I should strip,” said Brandy, leaning over the bar toward me. She lowered her voice. “Maybe I’d get more of your attention then.”

“Don’t start,” I said tightly, my back to her. “I’m not in the mood.”

“What are you even doing here?” she asked, sounding annoyed.

I turned back around. “Checking on things for Slammer. He has some appointments this afternoon and won’t be in until later.”

“Where’s Tank?” asked Brandy. “I’m surprised he isn’t here with you.”

“He’s busy at the clubhouse,” I replied, as she filled up a glass of Coke for me.

Misty swung her hair over her shoulder. “Did you say that Slammer has some appointments?”

“Yep,” I said, opening up my wallet. I handed Brandy a five dollar bill and she walked over to the register.

“Anything major going on?” asked Misty.

“Major? Like what?”

“I don’t know… with the bar? Or any new club recruits?” she asked, grabbing a white towel. She began wiping down the bar with it. “Prospects?”

“You’ll have to wait and ask Slammer about it. I know there are some things in the works,” I replied, enjoying the way her eyes gleamed after I mentioned the news. I knew that she was probably dying to give out more information to that douchebag, Mud. “Although, it’s club business. So he probably won’t divulge much to you, darlin’. You know how it is.”

“Things in the works, huh? Sounds mysterious. You know what’s going on?” she asked Buck.

He burped. “If I knew, you’d have to work harder than that to get it out of me.”

“I think we both know that I’m quite capable of working
hard
,” she replied with a wink.

“Damn, girl. I wish I knew something. I’d let you try to finagle it out of me,” he replied, winking back.

I wasn’t sure what she may have finagled out of him in the past, but I knew that if Buck was aware of her affiliation with Mud, he’d rather take a bullet than divulge anything else to her.

Misty looked back over at me. “I understand. Business is business and club stuff is club stuff. I’m just an employee and I don’t expect to know everything, unless it has to do with my job. I guess I’m just worried about him selling this place.”

“He’d better not sell this place,” said Horse, frowning. “They’ve got the best burgers in town.”

“Yeah, and not to mention the pie here is phenomenal,” said Buck, grinning wickedly.

“Don’t worry, if it was something that affected your position here at Griffin’s, I’m sure he’d let you know,” I answered.

“I’m sure you’re right,” said Misty.

My phone vibrated; I took it out of my leather jacket and checked the screen. It was Tank.

“What’s up?” I asked, turning away from both Misty and Brandy.

“We didn’t find any wiretaps or anything else that looked suspicious,” he answered. “I think we’re good here.”

“Chopper’s there already?” I asked.

“Yeah, I got ahold of him. He’s going to be leaving here shortly, to check Pop’s computer and inspect his office at Griffin’s. See if there’s anything there. Is the bitch there?”

I got up and walked away from the bar. “Yeah, they both are.”

“Both? Oh,” he laughed. “Brandy.”

“Yeah.”

He was silent for a few seconds. “Maybe we should go to Misty’s place and take a look around before she gets off of work. See if she’s got anything on her computer, like emails or other stuff that would give us a clue as to what the fuck she’s up to.”

Misty didn’t seem like the type of person that would spend a lot of time online, but I figured it couldn’t hurt to look into it. Especially with Mud living out of state. Hell, maybe they even
Skyped
. “You know where she lives?”

“Yeah. I’ve been there. I even know where she keeps a spare key.”

I walked into the bathroom where it was quieter. “Huh. You sure that she even has a computer?”

“I saw her laptop last spring. She showed me a shitload of nude pictures that someone took of her. I guess she sells them online for extra money.”

Someone flushed the toilet, startling me. “Somehow, that doesn’t surprise me. Why don’t you head on over there, then, and I’ll let you know if she leaves here,” I said in a low voice as I headed back out of the restroom

“Sounds good.”

I hung up and walked back over to the bar.

“Raptor, can you do me a favor?” asked Misty. “We need some beer brought up from the cooler downstairs. Can you grab a few cases?”

I took off my jacket and hung it on the back of the stool. “Sure, what exactly do you need?”

“Actually, I’ll come with you. I’d better grab some more vodka and rum, too,” she answered, walking around the bar. She looked back at Brandy. “You good?”

“I think I can handle it. We’re not exactly busy,” she said, nodding toward the tables in front of the stage. There were only a handful of customers, and they were too engrossed in watching the naked stripper do cartwheels.

“See you later,” said Horse, standing up. “I’m taking off.”

“Me, too,” said Buck. “I’m heading over to the clubhouse. Check on things.”

“See you guys,” said Misty.

“I’ll catch you two later,” I said, following Misty toward the stairs.

The basement was dark and musty, but cool, so it was a perfect spot to house most of the supplies for the bar. Slammer kept the canned and bottled beer in a large walk-in cooler and I followed Misty inside.

“So, how’s she doing?” I asked.

“Brandy? Pretty good. She learns quickly.”

“Good.”

“She wants you back,” said Misty.

“I couldn’t care less,” I answered, hoping this wasn’t going to turn into an attempt to help Brandy.

“I figured, but she’s been talking about you so much, it’s driving me crazy.”

“She drives me crazy, too.” I nodded toward the stacked cases of beer. “Which ones do you need?”

She showed me.

“I’ll take these up and come back for the rest,” I replied, grabbing two cases.

“What’s going on with you and that other gal with the red hair?”

“Adriana? She’s my Old Lady now.”

Her eyebrows shot up. “Does Brandy know that?”

“I told her,” I said, walking past her.

“You might want to tell her again,” she called behind me.

I grunted. “She only hears what she wants. I told her twice already. I’m done trying to explain shit to her.”

“She loves you, you know.”

“Fuck that. She doesn’t know the meaning of the word,” I replied, walking up the stairs. “Now, unless you have a complaint about her that is not related to me specifically, I’d rather not discuss the bitch.”

Misty grabbed a bottle of vodka from one of the shelves and laughed. “Okay, I hear you loud and clear. What I don’t get is why you’re living together.”

“You don’t have to ‘get’ it. It’s just how things are right now,” I replied, glancing back at her over my shoulder.

She looked up at me from the bottom of the stairwell. “Adriana must be pissed as hell. I know I’d be.”

“Fortunately, you aren’t her,” I mumbled to myself, walking away. “Or I’d have to shoot myself.”