Biker Bound: The Lost Souls MC Series (3 page)

“We should go,” I try to say, but it comes out as a whisper.

“Are you going to be okay?” Alannah asks.

That’s her name, I remember now.

I can’t find any words to say so I say nothing and this time I stand with Zachery on my hip and take my purse from Alannah.

“We’ll be fine.”

“Here, take this,” Cas says, scribbling on a scrap of paper.

He hands it to me, it is a number.

“If you’re ever in trouble or need any sort of help, call us and we’ll be there,” he says, kindly and honestly.

I don’t plan on seeing these people ever again, but I take the number and shove it in my pocket to please him.

I don’t say goodbye and turn to leave. The guy behind me takes a few seconds too long to move aside, but as soon as he does I am out of the door.

Once back outside I head for my car and plan on driving as far as I can from here. With Zackery in his seat and the car in gear, I notice Alannah and they guy whose name I can’t remember standing by the door. They are both watching me, they are talking to each other although they aren’t moving their lips much.

Alannah wipes her eyes with her sleeve, she takes a step in my direction but the guy with her grabs her arm and stops her.

I would love to know what he’s saying to her to make her to stop. The little scene before makes me feel like they are hiding something. Did she want to tell me something? Why did he stop her? And why the hell is she so upset for? She could only have known Billy for roughly three months between him leaving me and his death.

Putting the car into reverse I back out of this strange place and try to think of what I am going to do next.

Chapter Three

Slade

Kristen must have been having a bad day when she took her picture for her driving licence. Seeing her a couple of days ago she holds a softer, more beautiful resemblance to the woman I’m staring at on the screen.

I was completely taken just staring at her picture that I didn’t notice Alannah slump down on the couch beside me until she spoke.

“Is she really okay? Her life I mean, her and the little boy,” she asks, as I quickly close the laptop.

“Going by her financials, she is more stable than us.”

Somehow I don’t think this will be enough to placate her. The moment she found out Billy had a kid her already permanent guilt was thrown into overdrive. She has been on edge since Kristen arrived.

“Billy told me he had nobody. He died not even knowing he was going to be a dad.”

I could hear the catch in her voice. It wasn’t fair how Billy got taken out but it wasn’t Alannah’s fault. She has got to get a grip on this, maybe I should have a word with Cas?

“Don’t go adding this to your already over piled guilt you got goin’ on,” I tell her, hoping she listens.

“Did you see how cute his boy was?”

To be honest, I was more focused on his mother than I was on the kid, and his mother is certainly very fucking cute.

“I was more focused on making sure she believed he died in a car accident to see the kid,” I lie.

I waited for the she-should-know-the-truth speech that I knew was coming but she remained silent for a moment.

“Will you keep an eye on her, do your tech magic and see where she goes?”

She didn’t need to ask, I was already on it. I kept telling myself it was because of Billy. As a brother, dead or alive, we are bound to look out for any one of our family members if a brother isn’t around.

“I already know she’s staying at the motel in town and she’s paid up till tomorrow,” I tell her.

From the way she jumps up to her feet I know I have given her the information she wanted to know all along.

“Thanks Slade, I’ll see you later,” she mutters distractedly, already heading for the door.

“Alannah, where are you going?” I shout after her, even though I have a pretty good idea.

She doesn’t answer me and doesn’t stop. Disconnecting the charger from the laptop I quickly follow her outside. I pick up into a jog before she can get to her car.

“Alannah, wait.”

I slam the door shut as she opens it and block her way.

“You’re going to see her aren’t you?”

“I have to see for myself that she’s okay. She came here so her son could meet his father, she found out that isn’t going to happen. I don’t need to remind you why that’s not going to happen, do I?” she rants.

I’m about to repeat it isn’t her fault for the millionth time but she carries on.

“You saw her when she left here, she’s on her own with a kid. I have to make sure she’s alright, then I’ll leave well alone,” she promises.

“You should call Cas and let him know,” I tell her out of duty.

Cas is currently running an errand with Sparky and Oak.

“He doesn’t need to know,” she tells me firmly, but I can tell she doesn’t believe herself.

“If you’re not going to tell him, then I’m coming with you.”

“You don’t need to do that.”

“Of course I do. Now get in the car and I’m driving,” I say, receiving a cold stare as I take her car keys from her.

The car ride into town was in silence. Occasionally I glanced at Alannah, she was too deep in thought to notice. But I noticed all her emotions clear as day on her face.

Her guilt will cause suspicion if she doesn’t pull herself together. This is why I came, fuck knows what she’ll come out with if she goes alone.

“What happens if you find out she isn’t okay?” I ask.

“I don’t know.”

“There’s nothing you can do for this woman. If she’s struggling you can’t go taking her in.” I warn her, before she gets any ideas.

“I think that’s the least we can do.”

Every second this day continues it feels like trouble is coming for me from every corner of the world. Starting with my prez if I can’t keep his old lady under control.

“Okay, so you take her in and then what? She’ll be the only one who doesn’t know the truth. You’ll have to play along with the car accident story constantly and I don’t think you’re strong enough,” I say, beginning to lose my patience with her.

I’ve known Alannah for years and I would do anything for her but she knows better than this. She mulls over what I’ve said before she speaks.

“You’re right. I won’t say anything but I…hold on, is that her car? She points out towards Hanks diner.

“Let’s grab a coffee.”

I sigh heavily, there’s no stopping her. Even if Cas was here he would have a hard time keeping her away.

I pull into the car lot and park.

“Look, she’s sitting by the window,” Alannah points.

I shove her hand down, “Will you calm down and please, just act normal.”

“For God sake, stop worrying.”

She’s out and walking to the door before I’m out of the car. By the time I catch her up we’re inside and subtly Alannah slides into a booth opposite Kristen and her son.

They look like they’re half way through eating so it is probably unlikely they will be leaving soon.

Maggie, the oldest waitress in history, shuffles over and pours two cups of coffee.

“You two want any breakfast with your coffees?” she asks, digging around in her apron pockets for her little notebook and pen.

“Coffee will be all thanks,” I say, throwing Alannah a we’re-not-staying-that-long look.

Hearing my deep voice Kristen looks over at us, her reaction is common. A mix of the fear of the unknown and slight fascination.

She keeps her eyes on me longer than she does on Alannah. I hold her gaze and find myself smiling at her. For a fraction of a second she frowns before it is replaced with a returning smile.

This is being friendly I tell myself. Nothing more than a kind smile to a woman who is on the road on her own with a small child. When she turns back to her kid I feel a need to go over to her and have her buzzing green eyes on me again.

I didn’t need to sit and debate about it for long as Alannah was already making her move.

A handful of pennies were suddenly skittering across the table and onto the floor, somehow managing to roll in Kristen’s direction.

Alannah is quick on her feet and making a show of picking them up, as she nears Kristen she smiles broadly and pauses her little act.

“Hey, I didn’t know you were still in town,” she begins.

No outsider would have guessed she had set that up just to speak to Kristen but to me, I’d congratulate her later on her smoothness.

“I decided to stay for a few days, this little one needs to stretch his legs after being cooped up in the car lately,” she replies, stroking the kid’s head.

“How long were you on the road?” Alannah asks, making herself comfortable at Kristen’s table.

“Too long,” she answers shortly, giving up no information about herself.

While they both talk away I remain in my seat and she answers Alannah’s questions about her son.

“Can I ask you a question?” Kristen asks.

She leans in closer and looks to me before she asks. Alannah nods encouragingly and leans in closer too.

“Were you and Billy…you know…together?” she stammers out.

I see Alannah visibly relax and so do I.

“No, I spent a lot of time with him before he died but he was my friend, there was nothing more on either side.”

“Oh, I just thought maybe there was more to you two.”

I couldn’t work out if she was jealous or curious at the thought of Billy with someone else, which makes me wonder why the hell I am so fucking interested?

“Please believe me, we were only friends.”

“I wish I had told him about Zachery as soon as I found out. Maybe things would’ve been different?”

I doubt it I think to myself and I know Alannah is thinking along the same lines. Billy was always going to die back then, it was the only reason Michael brought him into the club. We blamed the Raging Riders for his death but it was really down to Michael. When Hunter Carson killed Michael none of us held any regret in losing our then president. For what he had done to our club back in those days none of us would have been able to trust him with our lives, and that is something you have to have in a club like ours. You have to have trust.

“Maybe it would have been different, maybe not,” Alannah murmurs wistfully.

I slide out of the booth and go and stand by Alannah, I know she won’t mean to say anything but I have that one per cent that thinks she won’t be able to help herself.

Kristen stares up at me, she offers a small smile and looks back at Alannah.

“I can show you where he’s buried if you like, maybe you can find some form of closure?”

“I would like that, it doesn’t seem real that he’s gone.”

How the hell does Cas deal with her? At every point since Kristen showed up, she has been like an open book over Billy. One slip is all it’s going to take and if Kristen gets one sniff of suspicion, then there are going to be questions asked none of us want to answer.

Kristen

I wasn’t surprised to see Alannah and the biker guy walk into the diner. I was more surprised I hadn’t seen them in the last couple of days as this town is so small. I kept my eyes on Zachery and pretended not to notice them walking past us. I had dialled the number Cas gave me over a hundred times in the last couple of days but each time I deleted it. Now I’ve had time to digest the news of Billy’s death, I have questions only they can answer. I want to know why Billy wanted to join their club. After I checked into the town’s motel I had googled biker clubs and watched clips on YouTube and quite frankly I couldn’t understand why Billy would want to be a part of it. I wanted to know what his last days were like. Above everything else I wanted to know that he didn’t turn into an outlaw criminal. When I first met Billy I knew he got into trouble but from what he told me about his life and from what I saw spending time with him, he was never into anything too serious.

I figured I could talk to Alannah before I leave town and move on. From our brief meet I knew I would be able to ask her my questions. The guys not so much.

So when she ended up sitting at my table I knew she wanted to speak to me just as much as I her.

I was half relieved when the guy remained at his booth. The other half wanted to hear his deep and throaty voice again. When he declined breakfast the sound of his voice got my attention.

I couldn’t help but stare at him. He wore a leather cut not vest as I originally thought it was called, as I learned from google. The rest of him was dressed in a long sleeved tee and black jeans. There was no denying he was hot and then I stop myself. I don’t have the time for any thoughts like that and certainly not with that kind of guy.

When she offered to take me to his grave I couldn’t pass it up, maybe if I see where he is something might make sense.

Zachery and I followed in my car behind Alannah. My eyes kept flicking to Zachery in the reflection of the rear-view mirror. Maybe if I could get a better understanding of what happened then I’ll be able to explain to my son about his father when he grows up and begins asking questions.

By the time we arrived at the cemetery Zachery had fallen asleep in his car seat. I parked up behind their car and slowly got out when they did the same.

“Is his grave far?” I asked, looking back in at Zachery.

“No, it’s just over there,” she points out.

From here I can see where he is buried and looking around, no one is in sight.

Looking in at Zachery once more, I don’t know whether to wake him or leave it for today.

“Slade can wait here while you visit Billy,” Alannah offered, walking over.

So, Slade is his name.

Looking over at him, he didn’t look pleased at being offered as a babysitter.

“Look, you’ll only be going as far as there. Billy’s is the white headstone with the cans on top.”

Cans? Why would anyone place cans on someone’s resting place? It makes it look littered and unkempt.

The plot she was pointing at was only on the other side of her car. I decided to let Zachery sleep and took the keys out of the ignition and kept them with me.

Slade appeared and leant against the back of my car, crossing his arms over his chest.