Wicked Man (8 page)

If she took hold of it, she was condemning him to a future where Billy

could and would torment him. Sending the sheriff would be just the

beginning of a nightmare for the Forgotten Rebels, and she was

positive the club had secrets Wick wouldn’t want to get out.

“Do you know what you’re taking on?” she asked.

“All I know is that I can’t and won’t ever live without you

again,” he said.

“You don’t even know me. Not
this
version of Abbott

Carney.”

He gave her a tender smile and brushed some hair off her

forehead. “Time changes the outside shell, but not what’s in the heart.

Everything that really matters is in there.”

Tears welled up in her eyes. How could he be so damn

charming at a time when her world was cracking apart again? Against

everything inside screaming at her to run, Abbott slipped her hand

into his, holding tight.

Wick smiled, bent to kiss her lightly on the lips. “Let’s go for

a ride. Clear our heads.”

“Okay,” she murmured. Now that she had surrendered to the

love in her heart, she’d follow him to the moon and back.

He led her to a bike. In the bright sunshine she had to admire

the black leather and polished chrome. The Forgotten Rebels MC logo

was airbrushed on the fender. He handed her a helmet and she put it

on, adjusting the straps. He got on the motorcycle and started it up.

The engine roared, causing little sparks to ignite through her body.

She slipped on behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

He patted her hands and then off they went, soaring out of the

compound and onto the road.

It was a perfect day for a ride through the countryside. The sun

dominated the cerulean sky, while cotton ball clouds cast peak-a-boo

shadows onto the ground. Abbott closed her eyes and took in the

moment of having a beast of a machine pulsing between her thighs

while she clung to the man she loved. For a moment, she forgot about

all the evil lurking in her shadow, waiting for the chance to snatch her

and drag her to hell.

It took her a little while to figure out that Wick was headed to

Lake Wappapello, the forty-five thousand acre reservoir that was a

popular fishing, boating, swimming and camping spot. It’d been years

since she’d last been there, and over time a small community seemed

to have developed around the vast area. He parked at one of the picnic

areas that also had a small beach and she smiled as she watched

children frolic in the water.

“Ever think about having kids?” Wick asked.

She smiled wistfully. “Of course.”

“You kinda freaked out on me last night, after I forgot about

protection,” he said. “I promise I’m clean.”

“It wasn’t that,” she replied.

“Then what?”

She turned away from the children and looked up at him.

Subconsciously she understood that Wick’s actions would never

mirror Billy Walker’s, but the fear still lodged deep down was hard to

break free from. The trauma still had her flinching from shadows

from time to time. She’d gotten better, however, over the years. Had

learned to forgive herself over certain circumstances that most people

wouldn’t understand, but one careless moment in the height of

pleasure threatened to tumble the house of cards she’d built around

herself.

She opened her mouth to say one thing, but what came out

was completely different. “It’s something I don’t want to talk about

right now.”

He frowned. “One day?”

She nodded. “I promise. How about we go for a nice walk

around the water’s edge?”

He held out his hand and she linked her fingers through his,

savoring how her heartbeat sped up at the contact. Wick always had

that magic touch that caused her nerve endings to sizzle with

awareness. With just one touch, he turned her on.

“I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation with Darrell,”

Abbott said. “I take it your main way of making money is drug

running.”

He tensed. “That’s Church business, Abbott. I can’t talk about

that with you.”

She nodded, as if she understood, but she didn’t. Not really.

“Have you ever used drugs?”

He shrugged. “Nothing hard core. Just smoked a little. Popped

some pills. What about you?”

“I did heroin once,” she replied. By the way he jerked to a halt

she knew she’d managed to surprise him. “Billy’s a user, so of course

he’d get me to use.”

“Jesus,” he muttered.

“Don’t worry, I only did it once. Turns out I’m allergic to the

stuff. Ended up in the emergency room puking my guts up with an

arm swollen twice its size. Scared the hell out of me.”

“Billy did that to you?”

“He injected me, but it was my decision to try it.” For a

moment, that helpless feeling came back, squeezing her insides so

tightly she felt a little lightheaded. “I thought I was dying. The doctor

said I was lucky. I carry those antihistamine strips in my pocket, just

in case, you know?”

“Fuck, Abbott!” He took a few steps away from her and put

his hands on his hips as he stared out over the vast water of the lake.

“He’s dead, you know.”

“Don’t say that,” she said. “You’re better than him.”

He spun to look at her. “Listen, there’s no justice he can face,

no red tape he can hide behind that’ll keep him safe from me. He stole

you with lies, put you through hell. Of course I’m going to fucking

kill him.”

She reached up and cupped his face. “I don’t want you to get

into trouble over me.”

He covered her hands with his and kissed them as he linked

their fingers together. “I would die for you, Abbott. You and my club

mean everything to me.”

“I know,” she said softly. “And I can’t tell you how to live

your life, or how to run your club. I won’t ever interfere with that or

the decisions you make. But that aspect of your world … I just want

you to know that I can’t condone it. I hope you can understand.”

“If it gets to be too much, if it starts to push you away—”

She placed a finger on his lips, shutting off his words.

“It won’t,” she insisted. “Because there’s nothing on this earth

that will ever destroy my love or my need for you. Just don’t ever ask

me to be a part of it.”

“I won’t,” he said.

He squeezed her hand and as they continued their walk, she

wondered if he truly understood what she was saying. She couldn’t

live around that part of the club, which meant she couldn’t live with

him. Which meant she’d be vulnerable outside the compound. The

thought of Billy finding her again filled her with dread, and come hell

or high water, the decision she made to stay was a bed she was going

to have to lie in.

****

through him. He couldn’t seem to look away from how happy they

looked. How happy
she
looked, the fucking bitch. Although he hadn’t expected much to happen with the email he’d sent to the sheriff, he

had still expected her to run. It had become quite an amusing game

between them, at least for him it had. She honestly thought there was

a place she could go that he wouldn’t be able to track her. Little did

she know that as long as there were security cameras everywhere, he

could hack into them. She was so predictable.

But the fact that she stayed put, even knowing he was near,

disturbed him. She’d broken their dance and it pissed him off. Perhaps

it was time to end it. Break up with her in a permanent way by

making sure she ended up six feet under.

A slithering sound brought his gaze to the ground and he saw

a water moccasin slide by his feet. An idea formed in his head, and he

was just high enough to think it might be worth capturing the

poisonous creature. Abbott would certainly not see it coming.

****

bike.

Abbott’s bladder twinged uncomfortably.

“I have to pee,” she said, and let go of Wick’s hand to go to

the park facilities. She pushed the door open and was surprised to see

how clean it looked. The roof was raised upward on posts to allow a

nice breeze to flow through, giving the area plenty of ventilation. She

entered the first stall and proceeded to do her business.

As she zipped up her jeans, a loud plop sounded just outside

the stall door. Abbott flushed the toilet and then opened the door.

A snake hissed at her, obviously pissed off, and struck out

toward her. She jumped back out of fear and screamed before

climbing up on the toilet seat.

“Abbott!” Wick called out. “You okay?”

The snake hissed again, and slithered closer.

“No!” she screamed fearfully. “There’s a snake!”

A booted foot thudded against the door and the next thing she

knew, the sound of a gun exploded through the small room. With her

eardrums ringing, she watched the front part of the snake explode as

the back end wiggled in a death throe.

Then Wick filled the bathroom stall and kicked the dead

serpent away. He held out his arms and she practically jumped into

them, holding him tight.

“Are you okay?” he demanded, running his hands over her

body. “It didn’t bite you, did it? That was a cottonmouth.”

“N-no.”

“Where did it come from?”

“I don’t know,” she said a little shakily. “It wasn’t here when I

came in. I heard a thud—”

She looked up and he did the same. She stared at the open

slots at the roof line.

“I suppose he could’ve fallen,” she said, although she didn’t

believe that.

Wick shook his head. “Cottonmouth’s wouldn’t climb a tree,

especially when it’s not over water. It’s highly doubtful that he just

happened to fall from one over the restroom.”

She lowered her gaze and looked at him. “Then … what

you’re suggesting … is it was thrown in. Wasn’t it? It was Billy.”

His mouth compressed. “Let’s not jump to conclusions.”

“You know I’m right,” she whispered.

They stared at one another until someone banged on the

bathroom door.

“Everyone okay in there? A gun shot was reported.”

“We’re fine,” Wick called out. “There was a snake in here.”

The door opened and a ranger walked in. She looked around

and grimaced when she saw the dead reptile. “Good God,” she

muttered. “Come on out guys.”

The ranger made a come-here gesture with her hand and Wick

walked to the door, still holding Abbott. Not that it bothered her

because she was still shaken up. Once outside, a small crowd had

gathered, murmuring amongst each other. Wick didn’t set her down

until he had reached his bike.

“I think we’ll take a little trip to see my sister,” he said.

She frowned. “At the White Death clubhouse?”

“Well, she has her own house with Kix, but yeah. I think it’s

best if we get away from Stevens for a bit.”

She bit her lip. “Because of me. Because Billy’s here.”

He didn’t answer, but he didn’t have to. She’d known this day

would come, she only wished it hadn’t come so soon. The next step

was for her to run, to get away from Wick before Billy hurt him. Still

feeling a little shaky, she climbed on the back of his motorcycle and

held him tight, wondering if this would be the last time she was able

to do so.

Wick had seen the fear and defeat in her face and knew she

would disappear if he turned his back. Even though she said she was

done running, the inclination was already programmed into her

psyche. So with that in mind, he headed toward Rider Pass, Missouri,

which was about two hours northwest of Stevens. She didn’t say

anything, just held onto him as he sped away from their hometown,

keeping one eye on his rearview mirror. He wanted to know if anyone

was following him.

Southeast Missouri was a whole lot of nothing. Flat land filled

with crops as far as the eye could see. Still, it was in his blood and he

never considered living anywhere else. His whole stint in the army

had been stateside, so he hadn’t even made it overseas, but traveling

had never been important to him. Obviously. He’d grown up here but

once his parents had divorced his father had moved closer to St.

Louis. There’d been a couple of time he’d gone to visit, but the

tension had simply grown amongst the angst he’d been going through.

Back then everything was a fucking crisis to a teenager and Wick was

ashamed at how he’d dealt with handling his father’s second

marriage. He’d walked away, never imaging the horror and heartbreak

that had been only a few years away.

Piper had run to him when she needed him. Now, he ran to

her.

Rider Pass was smaller than Stevens. What some would call a

true hick town. They didn’t even have a stop light. The grocery store

doubled as the gas station as well as the post office. If there ever was

a definition of a one horse town, Rider Pass was it.

But that was why the White Death liked it so much, because

they were basically the law. People came to them for protection or to

settle disputes, and no one interfered with their lucrative business in