FOUND: A Motorcycle Club Romance Novel (13 page)

“Meant to be home?”

“Yeah.” She raised her eyebrows before slamming back the shot.

“Sorry about being late...”

Her hand rested on mine. “It's nothing... a girl has to get used to it in this life. This
business
...”

“I know, but Jerome can be... slow at times. You know how it is.” I drained my glass. “How many kids you got?”

She laughed. “Three boys... and each one is more terrible than the last.”

“Sounds like a handful.”

“They are. You wouldn't believe the trouble they're getting up to at that school lately...”

“Happy Valley?”

“Yeah. Guess you went there?” She refilled our shots.

“With Boyd. Good school. Or at least it was while we were there.”

She picked up her glass and walked round to the edge of the bar where I sat and took a seat next to me. “I wondered how long it would take you to bring him up... Want another drink? Oh, and I heard about him coming around with the GPS.”

“Yeah. What? Oh,
that
. It was nothing.
Business
...”

“If you say so...” She chuckled to herself, but, almost as soon as she began, her eyes became serious. “I'm not so sure about these shades though...”

Even under the make-up and sunglasses she noticed the marks creeping out from below. While it may be enough to fool a man, it certainly wasn't enough to get past the perceptive eyes of a woman. With her eyes lingering on the wound my heart sunk. The shame of, by all appearances, still being with the man who did that to me caused the reality of the situation to hurt. In the past I forced that feeling down, ignore it and deal with it. But that was when I still felt something for Jerome. Not now.

I sunk another drink before replying, “Don't worry. I'm leaving the bastard the second we get back to San Francisco.”

She placed a hand on my shoulder, “I hope so sugar. We've
all
been there and sticking with a man who treats you like that will only lead you to the grave.”

Of course, I heard similar words in the past. Friends who wanted to help and not see me injured, though, for the first time, I nodded along with understanding. The strength, the courage, to leave a bad man only comes from within. Finally I found that.

We sat in silence for a moment, but male voices from behind a door across the other side of the room brought us to life. A wooden door opened revealing Jerome, clutching an envelope in his hand, Anton and Boyd.

Boyd walked out smiling, maybe laughing at something Jerome had just said. He was so protective of me when we were kids. I guess if life hadn't separated us all those years ago, I could have relied on a friend like him to have helped me out of this sick relationship long before now. Still, life has dealt us the hand it has. It's not like we were even acquaintances at this point.

“...The traffic was crazy. And I ain't looking forward to driving all the way back West tonight either,” Jerome's voice rocked across the clubhouse. Must have been chirpy from getting his green.

Blanche and my eyes locked over the sunglasses. She squeezed my shoulder and mouthed, '
remember what I said
'.

“You're heading back tonight?” Boyd asked Jerome. “It's a long way... and at this hour.”

I turned around and Boyd's eyes were on me. He looked happy, energized as though he spent the day productively. The opposite of me. Nothing in his healthy gaze suggested he noticed anything was out of the ordinary. I suppose, to him, Jerome and me were just any happy couple.

“Nah, nah, nah. We got to get moving.” Jerome's hand, the one with the cut knuckles, fell upon my back. “I got things to take care of this weekend. A couple of important things.”

“Come on now, you've got to stay for a drink. Blanche – get everyone a round,” Anton, more at ease and less focused than I had seen him previously, encouraged to his wife. “What's everyone having?”

“I can't really. It's a long drive and I can't be drinking.”

It wasn't Jerome at all to decline a drink. He wanted out with his money and coke. That was his only motivation to be here.

“We've got some beds out back if you want to crash here. You're free to stay until morning.” Boyd leaned against the bar after making his offer. He joked, “We try to be as hospitable as possible round these parts.”

Jerome reached out and firmly shook Boyd's hand. “I thank you for the hospitality, but it's been a pleasure doing business.”

Boyd nodded silently.

Anton reached across too. “It's been good for us both. Thank you for the leg work and I'll let you know if we have any jobs coming up. There's money to be made for the right people.”

Jerome turned to me expectantly.

I stood to say my goodbyes. “Blanche, Anton... It's been nice to meet you. Boyd...”

He took my hand in his with a soft but firm grip.

“...Good to see you're doing so well for yourself. Club president? Your dad would have been proud.”

He smiled, “Likewise Cass. Shame it's been short, but it's been great to see you again. Like the old days... Let me know if you're ever back. I can show you how the place has changed.”

Jerome's hand tensed on my body. I didn't need to see his expression to know what was the matter.

“Yeah,” I replied. “It's not often I meet someone from this place. Someone I grew up with. I nearly forgot Midnight existed. It's been good...”

Before I let go of Boyd's hand, Jerome was pacing his way to the door. The sound of his leather shoes echoed on the hard floor.

“...Bye Boyd... and bye everyone.”

I followed Jerome's quickening pace and left the three standing at the bar. Anton patted Boyd on the shoulder before turning to his wife and telling her to make quick work on some drinks.

I turned just as I was leaving the clubhouse. Boyd smiled to me. In that old way of his.

~ Chapter Fourteen ~

I followed Jerome out to the car. This time he took his seat on the driver's side and silently started the engine. He backed the car out of the clubhouse's lot and made his way down the path towards town. He didn't say a word. Surprising as I would have thought him to blow up at finding out that Boyd and me were childhood friends. When we were a few miles down the road it became unnerving.

“Get all you wanted in there?” I asked, wanting to break the tense atmosphere. “How was the payoff?”

Jerome gripped the wheel with a poker face. “I got enough... I
learned
enough.”

He didn't want to talk. The car drove into the main street and quickly sped away from my hometown. It was past midnight and, in this out of the way place, there was barely any sign of life to be seen. I lay back in the passenger side watching the stars and counting down the miles until we would be arriving back at the condo. My escape was set. Now I only had to wait.

Suddenly, when I could feel my eyelids closing and heading towards a needed sleep, Jerome turned to me and barked. With indignation flowing from his voice he growled, “I take it you know that white boy president, huh?”

It was coming. It took a while to come, but it was here.

I reached in my bag for a smoke. “We grew up together. I knew him when we were kids before I left here. We were in the same class.”

His eyes remained fixed on the highway.

“It's... It's
nothing
.”

Slowly life formed in his face and he spoke. The words seething from his lips. “If it's nothing, why didn't you say anything?”

“I guess it means so little it didn't come up.”

Of course, I didn't want to tell him the truth. That he's such a domineering, aggressive fuck who would go apeshit from something so trivial as being friends with a guy in the past. However, even making sure to handle my answer with kid gloves didn't stop him.

He punched the wheel with full force sending a shiver running up my spine and my hand clutching at the side of my face where hit hit me last night. “My bitch!
My fucking bitch
! You didn't think to tell me - yo
ur goddamn man!
- that?”

I tried not to show fear and reply calmly, “It's nothing. I only knew him for a few years. We were kids.”

“Fuck that! I don't know what the fuck is wrong with you. You
should
have told me. You're my woman. You should have told me...” He hissed and punched the steering wheel again before his hands clasped around the wheel. His knuckles were sharp and white.

“Come on now, come on now. Let's just go home. We don't need to do this. It's been a long journey and we've got a long journey. Can't we just go home in peace?”

Out of nowhere the back of his hand smacked me, knocking my glasses flying behind me. “You fucking bitch whore!” He raged. “You fucked that motherfucker then?”

I hid behind my hands. “No! It's nothing like that.”

The car swerved off the road we were on and he slammed down the breaks.

“Listen. I knew him when we were kids, you know? Just kids. You didn't think I could go back to my home town and not meet someone I knew?”

He stared out into the blackness of the night. To anyone else my words would sound reasonable, understandable, but not to him. To Jerome they were a red cape to a bull. He viewed anyone, especially me, not acting in the way how he believed they should act as an insult to him. With each breath he took while contemplating what I said, his chest puffed up and his eyes grew more furious. The bomb was ticking.

“Can you understand what I'm saying?”

He grabbed my wrist and dragged me close to him. “Listen –
you fucking good for nothing whore
– I've had enough of your shit. You make it fucking difficult for me not to beat your ass.”

“Get. Your. Hands. Off me!” I tore myself from him and shoved him away.

He sat back against the door giving me an unbelieving look like I was in the wrong.

“Now let's drive,” I ordered emboldened. “You're taking me home... And let me tell you what – we're ending this the second we're back in the city!”

The moment I uttered those words a weight lifted from my shoulders. I felt strong and, for the first time in years, resilient. Revitalized by this act of strength, I felt emboldened. Strong enough to tell him the truth.

He gave no reaction to the bomb I dropped. He simply stared the car matter-of-factly and sped off down the road.

We drove on like next to each other as the miles turned. Jerome sat unnaturally muted while I wondered when the fire I stoked in him would flare up. I figured my words extinguished it. Only when we didn't take the turning we should have did I realize something was up.

“San Francisco was that way. You missed the turning.”

“I know,” he replied between gritted teeth. “We're going someplace else.”

“Where?” Something about his voice made me nervous. “Where are we going?”

He shook his head. “You remember that place Virgil has out towards the desert? We're going there.”

Something was up, but I had no idea of what he planned. “What's out there? I thought he moved out to Florida. It'll be empty now.”

“Exactly!” He put his foot down on the accelerator and burnt rubber down the empty highway. “If that's the way you want to act -
think you can just up and leave me
! - I need to get you alone and beat some sense into that blond motherfucking head!”

“Stop this car!” I demanded.

But he didn't. He shoved my head into the seat and drove on faster than before.

The hairs on the back of my neck stood up on end while he tore on. He hit sixty. Seventy. Eighty. Within seconds he was doing a hundred. Each and every inch of the car shook and with it my breathing grew as quick as the speed it moved.

Jerome sat next to me. A scowl on his face with hands clamped around the wheel. He was completely sober, but nothing about his manner suggested he was in his right mind. My words, the threat of losing me, sent him over the edge. Soon we were in the middle of nowhere, racing down empty roads.

“Stop this car! Where do you think you're taking me?”

He didn't reply. He only smiled on like a maniac. Lips tight around clamped teeth.

I freaked out. Thoughts of what he planned raced through my mind. I wouldn't have put anything past him. Sure, I had seen him angry enough times, but at that moment it's like a light switched in his mind. The way he just stared out into the distance, rarely blinking. It wasn't normal. Hell, it wasn't human. I pulled my phone out, thinking that I might be able to call for help, though the second he noticed its appearance he snatched it from my hand.

“Bitch? You think you can call someone? Who you going to call?” Spit flew from his mouth and covered my face. “That white lover of yours?”

I kept my tone low and calm to avoid agitating him further. “Please Jerome... I don't know what you're doing, but I don't want to go wherever you're heading. How about taking us back to San Francisco, OK?”

“Woman, I ain't the one who needs to chill! Shut that crab mouth or I'll shut it for you!” He opened the car window and tossed my phone out. With the dial reading one hundred miles an hour it must have shattered into a million pieces. He didn't bother to close the glass and the cold air of the late night chilled me to my bones.

Honestly, I had no idea what to do. I felt so ineffectual and powerless while he took me to where he wanted. Sitting there frozen while he drove madly. I thought about hitting him and struggling for the wheel, but all I saw in my mind's eye was the car turning on this long and barren stretch of road before rolling and killing the pair of us. The image of me lying on my back, legs mangled and with blood spilling from my mouth filled my mind. Premonitions of the headlines in the papers came to me –
Couple Dead. Drugs Found in Car
.

“What the fuck? Who is that Jake trying to kid?” Jerome shouted next to me, breaking my out of my catastrophizing thoughts. He frantically focused on the mirrors.

Behind us there was a cop. A motorcycle unit police officer quickly tried to keep pace with us. Instantly the lights and sirens were on us. Where the hell he came from out here I'll never know, but I was thankful to see him.