Sal (The Ride Series) (21 page)

“Oh, actually, I’m okay,” she recanted while looking at me again in bewilderment.

Poor girl, she was in over her head.

I looked over to find Axel watching the exchange, his entire body taut and eyes fierce.

Interesting.

“Hey, if she wants a drink then she wants a drink,” the guy argued with me.

“It’s your face,” I said and shrugged as though indifferent.

“Bitch,” the guy huffed to himself.

“
What
did I just hear you say?” Sal stormed, hauling the guy around to face him.

“Nothing, I didn’t say anything,” the guy said as he shook his head profusely. I almost felt bad for him as he visibly gulped looking up at Sal.

“Really? Because I thought you just called my woman a bitch,” Sal growled. Axel, Wes, and Mack had all gathered behind him, and I was fairly certain the guy was close to pissing himself.

“It’s fine, babe,” I told Sal calmly. “Let it go.”

Sal glared at me, clearly not happy about me telling him how to handle the situation. He hauled the guy toward the exit and shoved him out the door.

“Oh my god,” I heard Sophie mumble under her breath.

“Get used to it, honey,” Connie said and laughed as she raised her glass in salute.

“Sal and the guys, well, they’re a bit overprotective,” I began tentatively. Ettie snorted loudly at my understatement. I shot her a glare to shut her pie hole before continuing, “It comes from a good place, but your brother is already under a lot of stress with all this shit going on. He probably won’t react well to strange men approaching you. Well, any man actually,” I amended.

“And, Axel seems like he’s more than willing to take on the role as your protector,” Ettie added, grinning.

Sophie blushed profusely.

“You like him,” I commented quietly.

She scoffed delicately. “He’s terrifying. Yet handsome,” she allowed.

“Handsome? Axel is smoldering hot with a capital H,” Connie amended.

“That, too,” Sophie agreed with a shy smile.

“Another round?” I asked, wanting to take the attention off Sophie. She seemed ready to crawl in a hole and hide away.

I got nods from all the ladies and headed back to the bar to get another round.

An hour later, Sophie looked ready to put her head down on the table and fall asleep. Between taking the red-eye, being introduced to the world of the Knights, and whatever had forced her here to begin with, I was sure she was at the far end of her rope.

I was just about to tell Sal we needed to take her home when Axel stalked over. “I’ll take you home, come on,” he told Sophie gruffly.

She looked up at him in surprise before looking to me for guidance. I nodded. “You look ready to crawl under the table and fall asleep, honey,” I said as I smiled. “Axel’s got it covered.”

Sal leaned on his pool cue watching intently as Sophie stood and gathered her purse. She turned to wave goodnight to her brother and he gave her a chin lift, watching as Axel guided her out of the bar.

I looked over at him with a slight grin and a shrug as though to say those two might be inevitable. If Axel was anything like Cole and Sal, if he wanted her, he’d figure out a way to have her. But, maybe he only felt protective of her. She had that effect on me as well. I wanted to wrap her up and hug her until she looked less overwhelmed by life in general.

I walked over to my man, wrapping my arms around him. “You about ready to head out?” I asked, tilting my head back to look up at his gorgeous face.

“Yeah, babe,” he said with a nod, giving me a quick squeeze. His eyes were still gazing at the door his sister had left through.

“She’ll be okay,” I reassured him.

“I hope so,” he muttered, clearly troubled.

“Let’s go, you look tired,” I commented softly.

His demeanor changed as I raked my fingers through his hair.

“You gonna help me fall asleep, baby?” he asked, his tone low as his lips swept my ear.

A shiver ran down my spine as he pulled me closer. “I think I can do that,” I replied with a slow smile.

Chapter 18

“B
abe, wake up,” Sal’s voice came abruptly through the dream I’d been having about swimming in the ocean.

“Hmmm?” I mumbled. It felt like we’d just fallen asleep.

“Somethin’s up. I need you to get up and come with me,” he ordered, and his tone left no room for messing around.

I sat up immediately. “What happened?” I asked, my voice thick with sleep.

“Need you to get dressed. We gotta get to the club.”

“Okay,” I answered, suddenly wide-awake as I moved to throw on my clothes in the dim light of what had to be early dawn. Sal had never woken me up like this and his tone was not to be questioned. I got ready as quickly as I could, asking no further questions, and climbed dutifully on his bike. We shot off from the curb as the sun crested the sky.

We pulled in behind Wes and Connie, and I saw many of the other members had already arrived. I cringed at the significance of everyone gathering at this hour.

Cal stood with feet braced apart in the great room, arms clasped behind his back with Cole seething at his side. I was surprised to see Henry, the president of The Sinners, flanking Cole. The Sinners was Scarlet’s dad’s club when he’d been alive. Now Henry ran things and he’d helped the Knights out in the past. His presence here did not bode well.

“Ettie was taken last night,” Cal announced, and I heard the collective gasp and a few cries of shock reverberate around the room. My gaze immediately sought out Mack and I found him sitting in a folded chair on the far side of the room, his head bent, his fingers tearing through his hair. Sal’s arm came around me, pulling me into his body as though he had to assure himself I was still there.

“Allen Parker has stolen from us,” Cal began in a tone I’d never heard before. His blue eyes were like ice as he regarded his club, his family. “He has disrespected us; he has spilt the blood of those we love. He will pay in blood,” Cal assured the agitated crowd. “But, for now, our priority is getting our girl back. We’ve called in our brothers, the Sinners. We’ll find her,” he assured the crowd, though his head had turned to Mack.

My gaze landed on Mack and my heart lurched as I observed his utter torment. I knew I had to do anything and everything I could to get Ettie back and an idea quickly began to form.

I turned to Sal, gripping his T-shirt in my fists. “My ma,” I said simply.

Sal’s dark eyes narrowed, his anger so evident I could feel it, but he nodded once and pulled me from the room.

After a brief meeting with Cal, Cole, and Sal, I dialed the number in my call log praying it still worked as Sal paced the concrete.

“Yeah?” her voice rasped.

I felt equal parts of relief and dread that I’d been able to reach her. “Ma?”

“What the hell do you want?” she demanded roughly. Clearly, I’d woken her up, which wasn’t surprising since it wasn’t even 8 AM.

“I have some money for you,” I lied, going along with the plan I’d confirmed with the guys. If her deadbeat boyfriend had crossed paths with Parker, chances were he could do it again. A potential payday would at least get us in the door.

I heard her sit up. “Oh yeah?” she replied, her tone far more lucid.

“Yeah, sorry it took me a little while to pull something together,” I apologized as my eyes shot to Sal’s. He nodded, giving me the silent support I needed to continue.

“You’re lucky I’m still breathing,” she retorted, and I wanted to scoff at the insinuation that anything to do with her and luck went hand in hand.

“Sorry about that,” I said as I swallowed the bile which wanted to rise at having to apologize to her for anything. “I can probably come to you depending on where you are.”

She cackled out a laugh that made me wince. “Same zip code as the last thirty years, I think you’d remember it.”

Oh, shit. I wanted to faint at the thought of having to go back there. Of having
Sal
go there.

“Same park?” I asked, referring to the trailer park from my youth. I squeezed my eyes shut, wanting to vomit.

“Yep, when can you get here?”

“By tonight,” I answered simply, turning my back to Sal to avoid his eyes.

“How much you got?” she wanted to know. Of course, that was all she cared about.

“Enough,” I snapped before hanging up.

“I want to go alone,” I said immediately and desperately when I hung up and turned to face Sal. I knew I was being completely irrational, but I couldn’t seem to stop myself.

He stalked over to me, his eyes assessing my expression. “Babe,” he began.

“I want to go alone,” I pleaded. “Please, Sal. Nothing will happen there,” I demanded desperately. “It’s just a bunch of white trash druggies. You can help everyone else. Look for Ettie here. I’ll be back before you know it,” I rambled as he gripped my upper arms, peering down at me.

“Birdie, what the fuck?”

I shook my head in an attempt to clear the roar in my ears at the sheer terror of having him see where I’d grown up.

Cal and Cole made themselves scarce as tears pooled in my eyes. “Please, Sal, I’m begging you,” I whimpered, my voice hoarse.

“You’re killin’ me, baby. What is it?” he asked, pulling me into his chest, his chin resting on my head.

“I promised myself I’d never go back there,” I whispered as he held me tight. “And I will, in a heartbeat for Ettie. But the thought of you coming too, of you seeing how I grew up. I don’t know if I can…” I stammered.

He pulled back slightly, holding me at arm’s length to look down at me. “Part of why I love you is knowing what you came from, you get that?” he asked.

I bit my lip and nodded.

“Well, then we got no problems.” He shrugged as though it was as simple as a trip to the grocery store. “We’ll be in and out, baby. You might have lived there a long time, but it’s not who you are. It never was,” he decreed, stooping slightly to meet me at eye level.

I pressed my forehead to his and nodded.

“Right,” I muttered.

We rode all day toward the outskirts of Eugene. We left the sun and sand and headed into the forested canopy and perpetual rain of my hometown. It felt as though the cloudy, desolate sky was sucking me in, making it hard to breathe as we drew closer to my childhood home.

My memories were filled with days and days of rain. I would never forget what that was like. It was either be trapped in the trailer with my drugged out parents or head out into the muck. When I was younger, I would pretend it was an adventure to slosh through the mud the rains brought cascading through our trailer park. As I got older, I simply found other places to hide, like the public library, a coffee shop. I would go anywhere within walking distance where I could dry out for a few hours before regretfully having to make my way home.

It was probably why Nevada called to me so strongly when I’d left home. The sun shown brilliantly most of the year.

My ass was sore as hell, but in a way, it worked. because by the time we pulled into the trailer park, part of me was relieved to get off the bike for a bit.

It was exactly as I remembered; the decrepit trailers standing on top of torn up cement that, in many cases, had simply turned to mud. It was all shrouded by trees so thick in some places you couldn’t see the sky. I looked up at those trees as we rode deeper through the park.

They’d always scared me for some reason, especially at night when they cast shadows no matter how far you ventured. Their limbs seemed to bend and stretch too close for comfort, as though they were determined to be a part of you.

Broken down trucks sat alongside many of the lots, serving as storage or extra bedrooms. Or, in some cases, playrooms depending on the circumstances.

That was one saving grace of childhood. Imagination was a beautiful thing. I would play with the other kids around the park for hours around some rusted out pickup, pretending we ruled the world. Our little hearts were so full of hopes and dreams.

The Harley rumbled up to the all too familiar white trailer, now rusted on all sides and sitting slightly sideways. My heart had picked up as soon as we’d crossed the state line, more so when we entered the park and was now in overdrive as the engine cut in front of my childhood home. Sal reached back and grabbed my thigh in a reassuring squeeze I desperately needed.

I swung off the bike, unclasping my helmet, and stood regarding the place as the sun dipped low in the sky. The rusted door swung open with a groan, and my mother stood there with a scowl.

Just remember Ettie
, I coached myself.

“Hey, Ma,” I greeted. “You remember Sal,” I gestured to my beautiful man who had now divested himself of his helmet and came to stand at my side.

She scowled deeper as a balding man with a huge gray beard peered out from behind her. He had beady eyes and an accusatory stare.

What a winner, but really, was I surprised?

“This is Stu,” she responded, simply gesturing with a thumb.

“Brought some Jack, some smokes if you want to sit for a few. Been a long drive,” Sal spoke up gruffly. I’d told him how much my mother loved brown liquor. First, he’d play nice guy, if that didn’t work, and quickly, then things would deteriorate until something gave.

He threw his leg easily over the picnic bench nearby as though he’d lived there his entire life and took a slug of whiskey. I took a deep breath, which I hoped didn’t sound too shaky and sat alongside him.

I was determined to not make this about me. This wasn’t about my old demons. This was about getting Ettie home. I focused on Sal’s warm grip on my thigh and the crickets that sang as night approached.

An hour later, we had them pretty toasted. Stu and Sal were talking like old friends while my mother was content to smoke in silence. Stu was talking up a storm about how he’d lived in Nevada for years before moving out to Eugene. He wanted to hear all about Sal’s club because he’d been in one himself years before. Sal obliged him, in gesture at least, without giving anything away.

“Where’s the money?” my mother finally demanded as though she’d been holding the question in all night, which she probably had.