Love's Hope (The Unknowns Motorcycle Club Book 2) (4 page)

CHAPTER SEVEN

At the same time Slim sat on a doctor’s table in Chicago to get his ribs checked, Alex was walking into a small little diner, a dive if there ever was one. He had just wrapped up the two and a half hour drive, stopping in the small town of Dunning Creek to meet the man he had called three hours ago. Walking across the parking lot, he was secure in knowing that the man he was meeting had picked the spot well. Alex felt as if he were in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing but rural countryside all around. A two-lane road wound in front of the diner and spooled out into nothing in one direction and absolutely nothing else in the other.

He spotted the man right away as he walked into the diner. It was three o’ clock, so there weren’t many people there. Spotting the man he had once started forming a rocky friendship was easy. His name was Chester Hamel and had once been a member of the Unknowns. Alex was used to seeing him dressed in a white tee shirt, jeans, and a leather vest, so seeing his old acquaintance decked out in a Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts was a bit jarring.

Chester stood up when he saw Alex enter and met him halfway down the small aisle that rested between the few booths and the bar-style counter. They met and gave an awkward man-hug. Alex noticed right away that Chester had put on some weight. He had the beginnings of a beer belly and some chub in his cheeks.

“Looks like the biker life is treating you well,” Chester said as they broke the hug.

Alex avoided the comment altogether and countered with, “And the nine-to-five family life seems to have severely altered your wardrobe.”

Chester shrugged as he took his seat again. Alex slid in behind the table as well, facing Chester. “All jokes aside,” Alex said, “I’m glad things are going well for you. It’s sort of nice to see someone that made the transition from the club to family life. How
is
the family?”

“The wife is working from home doing some Etsy thing. My son just turned fifteen and is the starting tight end on his high school football team. My daughter is ten and does nothing but listen to shitty music and talk about boys. But I love ‘em all. I wouldn’t change it for anything.”

“Sounds good,” Alex said.

“It is. But look, I doubt you called me to hear about my illustrious life in the suburbs.”

“No,” Alex said with a smile. “No, I didn’t.”

“You wanted to chat about the club, right?”

Alex nodded.

“Well,” Chester said. “From what I hear, there are a few others that are going to get the same luxury I had of getting out of the club very soon.”

“Yeah?” Alex asked, surprised.

“I still hear the grapevine,” Chester said. “I know all about Chicago. And rumor has it that a pretty good number of Unknowns are staying behind to be with their families. I bet that chaps Jameson’s ass like crazy, huh?”

“He was surprisingly calm about it,” Alex said. “I think he plans on recruiting some folks in the Windy City.”

Chester nodded as a waitress came by and took their orders. Chester ordered the club sandwich, and Alex ordered a cheeseburger. When the waitress left, Chester wasted very little time.

“So did you have me drive thee hours to meet you here so we could go over where you might also find some stylish shirts for
your
new life?”

Alex gave him a perplexed look, suddenly wondering if asking Chester to drive three hours to meet him at a central location between them had been a bad idea. Chester lived in Topeka and had seemed fine with meeting him at the halfway between Topeka and Omaha, but now Alex regretted it and was starting to feel stupid.

“It’s easy to put it all together,” Chester said. “You were becoming Jameson’s golden boy. If you aren’t already in Chicago and are, instead, in the middle of nowhere having lunch with me, I’m assuming you’re wanting out of the Unknowns. Right?”

“It’s not really as simple as that,” Alex said.

“Well, you said you had some questions for me,” Chester said. “I automatically assumed you wanted to know how I made the pitch to Jameson to leave the club.”

“That wasn’t the reason I called, but that
would
be interesting to hear.”

“It was simple,” Chester said. “My wife was pregnant with our second kid. I wanted to live a respectable life. So I asked Jameson for an out. He was pissed, but he allowed it. He
did
make it known, though, that if I ever went to the cops with damning information about the Unknowns, that he’d have someone kill me… but only after killing my wife and kids and making me watch. Charming fellow, isn’t he?”

“No,” Alex said. “Not really.”

“Okay, so what was the real reason you wanted to speak with me?”

“I wanted to know about the Tulsa job. The one with the bank building.”

“Ah, I see,” Chester said. “Can I ask why?”

“You can, but I don’t know that I can tell you. Not yet, anyway. The last three days have been very strange, and I think there might be some information buried in the details of that Tulsa job that might clear some things up.”

“Well, I was only involved in the planning of it,” Chester said. “I wasn’t actually there.”

“I knew that,” Alex said. “But what I really wanted to know if the name Stephen Randall means anything to you.”

Chester thought about it for a moment and then shook his head. “No, that doesn’t ring any bells. Who is that?”

“It’s the name of the systems analyst that was killed in the job.”

“Oh. How the hell did you find that out?”

“That’s where it gets muddy,” Alex said. “I can’t really tell you just yet.”

“Fair enough.”

“What else can you tell me about the job? I always only heard the bare bones and how it was some super-secret but very successful moment for the Unknowns.”

Before Chester could respond, the waitress came by and dropped off their food. Chester took a large bite out of his club sandwich and started answering while he chewed.

“Jameson was running out of cash, and he had someone on the inside that was pretty sure they could help us steal a huge amount from a bank in Tulsa. It was going to take some hacking skills and a few people on the site might have to die, but Jameson was fine with all of that. He sent three goons in through the back after they disabled the alarms on the building – again, thanks to that inside source – and they took out two security guards.

“Now from what I understand, no one was supposed to be in the building after eight o’ clock at night. That’s why we scheduled it at nine thirty. But yeah, there was some guy that had stayed on the floor after hours. The guys Jameson sent had no idea what to do, so they did what came naturally. They killed the poor bastard.”

Alex picked at his burger, but discovered that he was not hungry all of a sudden, not even after the long ride out here.

“All of this is really just a hunch,” Alex said. “One huge, freaky coincidence. And I am hoping that man that was killed was
not
Stephen Randall. I thought you might be able to tell me.”

“Sorry, man. I have no idea. I don’t even know who the goons were that Jameson sent in to do the job, but there might be someone I can call to get all of that information.”

“Who?” Alex asked.

Chester smiled. “You have things you can’t tell me and, in return, there are things that I can’t tell you. Let’s just say that a man with Jameson’s short fuse and shitty business sense has made a few enemies over the years, and enemies can be a vital source of information.”

“Thanks,” Alex said. “Do you know when you might be able to find out?”

“I guess within a day or so. Is this important information? Do you need it the moment I get it or can it wait?”

“I’d like to have it the moment you find out.”

“Agreed,” Chester said. “Now… if that concludes the business portion of this meeting, why don’t you tell me how things have been going for you?”

From that point on, the two of them shared small talk. Alex found it refreshing to speak to a man that had dutifully served the Unknowns for nearly five years and then made it clean as he came out on the other side. Chester now worked as the manager at a Jiffy Lube—not the most prestigious job, but much better than running drugs and constantly watching for blue lights in your rearview mirror.

They stayed there for another hour, catching up and sharing stories about their time with the Unknowns. When it was over and they walked out into the small dusty parking lot, a sudden clear thought struck Alex that made him happy and uncertain at the same time: this was the longest period of time he had spent away from Amanda since coming to her house that first morning. He couldn’t wait to get back to her even if he
would
be carrying the harrowing news that he might very well know who killed her husband and why he had been killed.

Of course, he wouldn’t even consider telling her any of that until he knew for certain.

He and Chester shook hands as they parted ways, Chester leaving in his very basic Honda Accord and Alex pulling out to the comforting growl of his Harley.

He hit the road and was reminded once again of why he had joined the Unknowns in the first place; scaling the road on his motorcycle felt like flying in a way, particularly on the often deserted secondary roads along the stretches of Nevada desert that he had come to know as home.

Now that he was in a different part of the country, he was relieved to find that it felt the same. With a woman that he cared about waiting for him along this stretch of road, it made the ride all the more pleasant.

CHAPTER EIGHT

It was just after seven o’ clock when Alex pulled his bike alongside the curb in front of Amanda’s house. It was nearly dark, and he wondered if she had worried about him. When he had left, he had not given her a time that he would be back, and she had not asked. He assumed it was far too early in their relationship to be setting such boundaries if this was in fact a relationship.

It
felt
like one, but it had been so long since Alex had been involved, that he couldn’t tell for sure. What he did know was that when he walked in through the front door, he was beyond glad to be back. The smell of something cooking greeted him. Music was playing somewhere, and he could hear Amanda singing lightly along with it.

He walked through the living room and into the kitchen when Amanda was standing by the stove, stirring something and swaying her hips back and forth to the music that was coming from the iPod dock on the counter. She heard him come in and turned to see him, slightly embarrassed.

“I’m not the best singer in the world,” she said.

“Or the worst,” he added.

When he walked to her and kissed her, it felt like the most natural thing in the world.

“I got wrapped up in work and almost forgot that I’d have someone here for dinner,” she said. “So it’s quick and simple tonight. Spaghetti and salad.”

“Sounds great,” Alex said. And it did; having skipped over most of his burger, the ride back had made him ravenous.

He helped her with finishing up and setting the table. As they did, she filled him in on her day. She’d spent most of it chatting with clients and working on one project that might have the potential to take her to the next level. While she was doing slightly better than scraping by, she was also very aware that she could be doing much better. This job might do that for her. Her excitement was evident in the way she carried herself around the kitchen. Alex was happy for her and noticed how, in her excitement, she took every chance she could to touch him – placing a hand on his hip when she passed by him to get to the silverware drawer, running a hand through his hair when she stood next to him while he washed his hands, placing a hand on his chest when they nearly bumped into one another while he got the plates out.

“You know,” Alex said as they were halfway through dinner, “you don’t have to keep feeding me.”

“I know. But I always liked to cook — even something as plain and simple as spaghetti — and it’s nice to have someone to cook for again.”

“Well, thank you. It’s delicious.”

“It’s spaghetti,” she said. “A dunce could have made it.”

“Quiet. This is a big deal to me. Other than my mother, I can’t remember the last woman that cooked for me.” The mention of his mother brought up memories of his father as well. With that, the weight of his big secret loomed in his mind: the thing he had done at thirteen that still scarred him to this day.

How many secrets do you intend to keep from her?
He asked himself.

This question stayed on his mind as they finished dinner. It was still there when Amanda said something that caught him off guard and made him realize that he cared a great deal for her.

“Tell me,” she said as they washed the dishes together. “Is it totally a teenage-type thing for me to want to ask where you went and what you did today? I don’t want to know in an obsessive way, but… well, can I be honest?”

“Of course.”

“You’ve told me the sort of work you did with your club. I don’t know that it would change anything about what we have right now, but if you were still doing that sort of stuff, would you tell me?”

“I would,” he said. “I don’t mind. And to ease your mind, I haven’t actually run a job for almost four months. I only need to push about six jobs a year through to make good money.”

“And now that you’re not in the club, what sort of work will you do?”

He chuckled. “I honestly don’t know. I guess it’s something I need to start thinking about, huh? I’m automatically going to assume that a used car lot is out of the question.”

She laughed, but it was a thin laughter. He had told her most of what his job entailed – buying stolen cars from gangs or other criminals and selling them whole or bit by bit to the highest bidder. She’d taken it well, and as he told her about it, he had even come to understand just how shady the whole thing was. How had that not bothered him before?

“I’m sorry,” she said. “I don’t have a right to be asking you things like this. I hate that I feel the need to know what you did today, and it –”

“I drove out to a small town named Dunning Creek to meet with an old friend,” he said, interrupting her. “His name is Chester. He used to be in the club but left to be a family man. I hadn’t spoken to him in a while, and I wanted to know how his life had been after leaving the club.”

“Oh,” she said, unable to contain her smile.

“I don’t mind telling you what I’m up to,” he said. On the heels of that was the guilt of not telling her the
real
reason he’d met with Chester.

“Still,” she said, drying the last of the dishes. “It’s none of my business.”

He took her softly by the arms and pulled her close to him. He brushed some stray hair away from her forehead and kissed her there. “It sort of is your business,” he said. “I don’t know what this thing between us is, but I’d like to keep building on it. So yes, it
is
your business as to what I do when I’m not with you.”

She smiled and kissed him on the mouth, lingering for a moment and placing her hands on his lower back to pull him closer to her. “You have no idea how badly I needed to hear that.”

They stared into each other’s eyes for a moment and leaned in slowly. When their mouths met, it was like electricity. Alex felt his heart beating throughout his entire body as their bodies pressed together. Her hands softly trailed up and down his back, and before he was aware of what had happened, her hands were under his shirt, her nails softly raking down his sides.

Grinning beneath her kiss, he bent his knees a bit, placed his hands under her hips, and lifted her up. She laughed, their kiss still not breaking, as she wrapped her legs around his waist. They kissed softly and deeply as he walked her into the living room. He gently lowered himself to his knees, allowing her to sit on the couch. She reached down to the tail of his shirt and lifted it up over his head, their kiss finally breaking.

When it was removed and discarded on the floor, she kissed him softly along his collarbones, moving slowly down to his chest. Each kiss sent a shiver through him, and he could not believe how badly he wanted her. He could simply kiss her, he could have slow and passionate love with her, or they could go at it like animals. In that moment, he just wanted to be with her.

That being the case, he let her lead. She trailed her kisses back to his mouth and started working at his pants next. Taking the cue, Alex removed her shirt and unclasped her bra. When those items were on the floor with his shirt, he took one breast in his left hand, caressing it, and placed a series of kisses on the other one.

She sighed against him and resumed working on his pants. Their mouths found each other again, and Alex’s world went dizzy and spinning for a moment. His pants came off, but he was barely aware of it. Hers followed suit, and he didn’t know it had happened until she was pulling him onto the couch with her, positioning him into a sitting position.  She then straddled him, facing him and placing one arms= around his shoulder and the other along the back of the couch.

She raised herself up just a bit and then waited for him to guide himself into her. When he did, she sat down on his length excruciatingly slowly, locking eyes with him as he filled her. They both gasped, and then they were kissing again.

What happened next was slow and beautiful, more involved and passionate than any other time they shared. Their hands interlaced as they rocked against one another, and when their mouths weren’t attached to one another, their eyes were.

It was over quicker than what they had been used to over the last few days, but the end result was much more powerful. They shuddered as they came together, and when Amanda collapsed against him, he hugged her tightly to him. He ran a hand through her hair and kissed the side of her neck lovingly.

I have to tell her,
he thought.
This isn’t right.

But everything about it felt right in that moment, and he couldn’t destroy it. They sat there on the couch like that for several more minutes before Amanda got up to walk to the bathroom. Alex watched her go, appreciating her naked form as she crossed the living room and disappeared into the hallway.

As he watched this, another thought appeared in his mind, unexpected and absolutely jarring.

Oh my God, am I falling in love with her?

The question rang in his mind, and it terrified him.