Edge of Ashes (Sons of Ash Motorcycle Club) (10 page)

“What the hell?”

Mike jumps off the bed and back away from
the window and motions me to do the same.

“Don’t make yourself a target by standing
in front of your window,” he whispers. “You should probably hide somewhere-”

He stops at the sound of my front door
opening. I hear a pair of boots clomping down my hall and suddenly I feel way
under dressed. I’m really not prepared to answer Adam’s questions about what
was going on in here.

“This isn’t what you thin,-” I begin.

My voice catches in my throat when I see
who it is in my doorway and it’s not Adam. Standing in my room is another biker
who is nearly as wide as he is tall. In fact I find later that is name is
Brick; a fitting one considering his physical attributes.

“Who’s this namby- pamby?” He asks,
pointing to Doctor Mike.

“Why does everyone keep referring to me as
namby- pamby?” Mike asks. 

“Have you seen yourself in the mirror
lately?” The intruding biker asks.

“For your information I have a name and
it’s Doctor Micha-”

“Get lost she-man,” The square biker says
as he jerks his thumb towards the bedroom door.

“Michael Shanahan…” Doctor Mike finishes.

“Congratulations you know your name, now
make like a banana and split before I have to split your skull.”

For a response Mike steps between myself
and the biker. I don’t know what Michael thinks he can do here but giving the
other man an ass kicking is definitely not on the menu.

“Really, little man? You and what -” He
stops himself mid-sentence as his phone rings.

“Brick here, what’s up?” He says as he
answers his cell phone. He listens for a minute then replies. “Fine, I’ll bring
her in.” Then he pockets his phone.

“Brick?” Says Doctor Mike, who can’t help
but snigger. “They call you brick? At least I’ve got a normal human physique. I
don’t know what you call that!” He says, pointing to Brick’s body. “Wait I do
know… Brick. This is too funny!”

Brick’s face darkens. Doctor Mike should
not have pushed the man. Brick gets this ugly wild look on his face as he
reaches behind him. Suddenly I can’t breathe. Brick pulls out a very evil
looking silver handgun from his waistband. He racks the slide back chambering a
round. Where is Adam when I need him.

Brick trains his evil stare on Doctor Mike.
“This ain’t your lucky day she-man! I was gonna let you go since we’re only
interested in the woman, but you just had to run your mouth off didn’t you? I
bet this ain’t the first time your mouth has gotten you in trouble, is it?”

Mike doesn’t say a word. Obviously the
gravity of the situation is hitting him pretty hard. I watch in horror as the
biker aims his weapon at the trembling doctor. I should do something I know…
but what can I do? I’m no superman. I’m not faster than a speeding bullet. I’m
frozen in place. I can’t breathe, call for help, beg, or even blink. So this is
what it’s like when you get caught in a fatal shootout. This is what it feels
like when your number is up and you’re taking your final breaths on this earth.
I think about my little sister and wonder how she’s going to take this, or my
best friend Jenny; we’re practically sister. If only Adam were here instead of
Mike. Adam is probably dead outside. He was probably killed while I was in here
making out with Doctor Mike. That’s not the last thought
I
want running
through my brain before I die.

My eyes blur as I look up at Brick and for
a second I think I’m seeing things. Adam is here! I look past Brick and
standing in the doorway is Adam; well, the bloody version of him at least. He
is sporting a nasty gash above his left eyes and looks more like Carrie in that
Stephen King movie when all that shit gets dumped on her head.

Suddenly Brick whirls around to face Adam.
I must have given Adam away. Brick probably saw my expression change or
something and he knew who was standing behind him.

Suddenly the fight is on! Brick and the
wounded Adam are locked in this dance of death. Adam has his knife and Brick
his gun and neither will release their weapon. I hear at least two gun shots
and a cry of pain from brick. At one point I think I see Adam’s bloodied knife
flashing by. Abruptly they’re on the ground rolling around trying to kill one
another. I have to do something. Before I can even wonder about the wisdom of
getting involved in a fight between two warriors fighting to the death, I’m
scrambling across my bed trying to figure out how attack Brick. Out of the
corner of my eyes I see Doctor Mike standing in the corner of the room watching
the struggle. I can’t believe he’s just standing there.

I throw caution to the wind and leap! I
reach out with both arms hoping I grab ahold of something useful and as it
turns out, I grab Brick around his neck, hanging on for dear life. Suddenly my extra
weight on Brick’s back is enough to topple us all backwards and on top of me.
As my breath shoots out of my lungs I dig in with my claws and screech like a
cat. Another deafening bang causes me to cry out letting go of my death grip on
the Brick. At the same time I receive a hot and sickening splash of someone’s
blood bathing my face and chest!

I pass my forearm across my eyes before I
dare open them. The Brick has rolled off my and is lying face down next to me.
His gun is still in his unmoving hand.

“Kari.” A soft voice calls me from the
brink of insanity. “Kari are you hurt?”

I look away from the dead biker. Adam is
studying me, looking for any signs that I may not be fine. He has this mixture
of tenderness and fearfulness in his expression as he waits for me to tell him
I’m okay. And I am… okay. Just not in the sense he is asking. There’s a dead
man in my house. Lying not far from me is a man who came to either kidnap me or
kill me or something like that. How can I even remotely be okay?

“I’m fine,” I lie. “I’m just fine. But you
need to go to the hospital Adam. You’ve got a nasty gash there above your eye.”

I reach out to touch his face and he
recoils for a second, and then relaxes. I rest my hand on his cheek.

“Are you hurt anywhere else?” I ask,
fearing the worst.

“No…just a little banged up. Nothing a few
stitches and a stiff drink can’t fix.

Suddenly Doctor Mike is standing next to
us. He’s opening a makeshift trauma kit.

“That’s not mine,” I say, wondering if he
carries one around like I do.

“Was in my trunk. You’d be surprised how
many times I have actually used this.”

Without another word he begins to sterilize
Adams wound in preparation for suturing it up. Adam refuses a stiff drink to
dull the pain and doesn’t even blink when Doctor Mike begins cleaning the gash;
and I’m pretty sure the good doctor was far from gentle either. Doctor Mike no
doubt sees this as an opportunity to even the score with Adam. I will say it is
convenient to have a physician on standby ready and able to fix you up. Not
that I couldn’t have sutured Adam’s wound myself…

Suddenly a thought occurs to me. “Shouldn’t
there be police on the way or something?” I ask.

Adam points to the Brick’s gun. “Silencer.”

At least I won’t be playing twenty
questions with some cop tonight. When Doctor Mike is finished with Adam’s
sutures I figure it’s a good time to invite them both to leave me alone now.

I’m just about to ask them to leave when I
hear a knocking on my front door. Great, I guess someone did call the police
after all. Reluctantly I go to the door and open it. Instead of the cops it’s
the guy next door to me. He’s a dad with two kids and recently moved in with
his wife of ten years. They’re nice enough, but I just don’t want to be
answering any questions right now.

“Hi Miss Kari,” he begins. “Are you okay?”

I can’t but help notice his eyes are
straining in their sockets.

“Oh I’m fine…really.”

His eyes are still bugging!

“Are
you
fine?” I finally ask
him. 

“Sure…it’s just that I don’t usually see t-this
much of y-you.” He stammers.

“Yeah, I guess I am gone a lot aren’t I?”

“T-that’s not it…you’re usually… w-wearing
more…”

“More?”

Suddenly the ugly truth hits me and I cross
my arms automatically. This is worse than the police showing up.

“I’m so sorry…” I reply lamely. I move to
shut the door but he stops me with his foot in the way.

“You don’t look so good Ms. Kari. Are you
in some kind of trouble?”

“Not at all. I was just in a deep sleep
when you knocked on my door, that’s all.”

This time I succeed in closing my door. I
lock both the knob and the deadbolt as well as hooking up the chain. Oh well…so
he saw me in my bra with no shirt on; big deal. Feeling a bit better I head
back to my bedroom when I pass by the one mirror in the hallway. My mouth drops
open in shock. I look like the living dead!

What’s left of my bra is tattered and
bloodstained. In fact there’s so much blood on my chest it looks like I’ve been
stabbed in the heart! My so called blond hair looks like it hasn’t been washed
or combed in months. There’s even dried blood in it. I slump to the floor as
the reality of my situation sinks in. How does a person carry on with their
normal life after an event like this one takes place? I start to get up but I
just can’t. Instead I just burry my face in my bloody hands and let the tears
flow.

My whole body shakes and great sobs are
torn from me. I can’t remember ever crying like this except when my parents
were killed in a car crash when I was nine. But this is different. I’m a responsible
adult now. I have a life. I’m supposed to be normal. I’ve got a respectable
career and I’m not supposed to be living on the fringe of society like an
outlaw. Finally I get up. I’m going to tell the guys to leave and then I’m
going to take a LONG hot shower and then go to sleep. Then I’ll go back to work
and forget it all happened. Work is the perfect tonic for dealing with my
fucked up life right now and I think when I get there I’m going to guzzle it
down; that tonic. I’m just about to walk into my room when I hear the boys
talking; civilly and instead of ragging on each other like is their usual wont.

I’m so lost in my own world I don’t notice
Adam approaching me. My mind is in such a turmoil. I have never been in a
position where there were two men actually interested in me. When it comes to
me and relationships I usually find myself in a long drought. Seems I’m in the
middle of a downpour now and I’m really not sure how to handle all the
attention. Part of me…a large part is sorely tempted to just pick up and move.
It would be so easy to just up and move halfway across the country. Hospitals
always need nurses, especially those with my particular skills and expertise.
But I can’t. No… I am determined to figure out which man is right for me and while
I’m not ready to jump in with both feet I am certainly willing to test the
waters. Question is, which waters do I want to test? I think it has to be Adam.

The second I feel Adam’s powerful arms
circling me I know I made the right choice. Sure Doctor Mike has the steady
career and financial stability but I have to follow my heart. Love doesn’t come
from the mind. I can sit here and make pros and cons lists until I’m blue in
the face and every time Michael comes out on top. It’s hard to argue against his
good looks, intelligence, financial stability, age, and lack of relationship or
other emotional baggage. On paper the good doctor is the perfect man for me. So
why isn’t he
my
perfect man?

“Relax Kari,” I tell myself. “Just keep
your mouth shut and let him comfort you.”

I force myself to take a deep breath, let
it out with a long sigh, and relax. I allow him to draw me into his embrace and
for a minute there I just let my body melt into his until we fit together
perfectly like a puzzle piece; but only for a minute. Abruptly an image of the
Brick pops into my head and all piece and calm flees. Once more I’m uptight and
cannot sit still.

He notices the change immediately. “What’s
wrong Kari?”

“What’s wrong? Seriously, are you going to
ask that? Have you see the dead guy in my bedroom? I have to get out of here.”

“Yes you do. I called a brother and he is
getting together a few guys to take care of the…problem in the bedroom. When
you come back you’ll never know anything happened.”

“Seriously?” I ask him. “I can’t ever go
back. Now every time I walk into that room I’m going to see the dead guy. I
can’t stay here Adam.”

“For now you can’t. Ripper and his people
are going to be looking for you. They may not try anything for a long time.
He’s patient like that. He’ll content himself to driving you mad rather than
just killing you. Have you got somewhere you can stay til this blows over? Like
with your best friend maybe?”

“You want me to stay with Jenny? You really
think I wanna give Ripper a two for one deal? Maybe I can talk my little sister
into bunking with us as well…you know, to sweeten the deal? No…I think I better
stay as far away from my friends and family as I can or one of them is going to
turn up dead.”