Chapter 3 – Daphne
3
DAPHNE
I really didn’t know what I was doing or what possessed me to agree to stay at a biker clubhouse. Especially when I was in no position to defend myself if I once again needed to. I based my decision on the word of others and the vibe I got from them, even though I wasn’t always the best judge of character. My soon-to-be ex-husband was a great example.
“We’re here,” Dice said, pulling me from my thoughts.
I looked up to see we were parked in front of a large warehouse-style building. I made a mental note to drop a location pin on my phone once I got settled since I hadn’t been paying attention to where I was being taken.
Dice grabbed my bags while Diablo and I got out of the truck. We followed him to the front door and inside. I was surprised to find the place relatively empty. I had pictured a room filled with smoke, loud music, and leather-clad bodies.
Dice chuckled. “Did we disappoint your preconceived notions?”
“Sorry. Sometimes my face says what my mouth doesn’t.”
“Don’t worry about it. It’s a pretty common reaction for people who aren’t familiar with us.”
“I wasn’t expecting it to be so clean and so quiet.”
“It’s not always quiet. We tend to have parties and family gatherings on the weekend, but this is what it’s normally like during the week.”
I followed him down a hallway lined with doors to a small bedroom that resembled a hotel room. “You can stay in this room. There’s a bathroom through that door over there. There should be plenty of towels and toiletries in there, but don’t hesitate to ask if you need anything.”
“Thank you.”
He turned to leave, and I panicked. I didn’t know if I was supposed to stay in the room the whole time or make myself at home. At some point, I would need to eat, but I didn’t know where the food was. And it wasn’t like I could go get something because I didn’t have my car. “Wait!” I blurted. “You can’t just leave me here.”
Dice’s eyes softened. “I wasn’t. I was just going to let Phoenix know we were here. He’ll want to meet you.”
“Who’s Phoenix?”
“He’s our president.”
“Did I hear my name?” a man asked as he appeared in the doorway. Diablo moved in front of me and stared at the man.
“Oh, hello there. I sure hope you’re friendlier than you look.”
“He is,” I said. “You’re Phoenix, I presume?”
“I am.”
I introduced Diablo to Phoenix the same way I introduced him to Dice. Phoenix laughed. “That’s impressive.” Then he extended his hand to me. “Phoenix Black.”
“Daphne Clark,” I replied and shook his hand. “Thank you for letting us stay here.”
“You’re welcome. How are you feeling?”
“Not too bad, all things considered. I’m a little sore, but the doctor assured me it would be worse tomorrow and the next day. So that’s something to look forward to.”
“If you need anything while you’re here, let one of the guys know,” he said.
“I will. Thanks again.”
“There you are,” a woman said from down the hall. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”
Phoenix smiled proudly. “The welcome wagon’s here.”
Before I could ask what he meant, a beautiful blonde woman appeared at his side. “Hi. I’m Ember Lawson. You must be Daphne.”
“I am. And this is my dog, Diablo.”
“Well, aren’t you a handsome boy?” Without an ounce of hesitation, she reached out and rubbed Diablo’s head. He leaned into her and relished in the attention. “We’ll have to introduce you to Shadow so you two can play together. Shadow is Gabby’s dog. He’s a pit bull, and he’s super sweet.”
“How did you know he wouldn’t snap your hand off?” Dice asked Ember.
“Because he looks like he wants to eat you and Dad, not me.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “That’s only because he can sense their trepidation.”
Ember laughed. “You heard her, guys. He can smell your fear.”
“I prefer to call it self-preservation,” Dice said.
“You can call it whatever you want, but that doesn’t change what it really is.”
“Are you here for a reason?”
“Actually, yes,” she said and turned her attention to me. “A long time ago, I was the girl who showed up at the clubhouse needing help. Luckily, I had my best friend with me.” She paused and looked down at Diablo. “Well, I guess you do too, in a way. Anyway, I’ll be around if you need anything. A few of the other old ladies are coming by for dinner and a movie tonight. You’re welcome to join us if you feel up to it.”
“Thank you. I think I’d like that.”
“Great. I’ll come get you around five-thirty.”
“Sounds good.”
“Would you like a sandwich or something else to eat?” Dice asked. “I’ll bring it to you so you can go ahead and get in bed.”
I wasn’t exactly hungry, but I knew I needed to eat since I’d taken a pain pill. “Thanks. A sandwich would be great. Turkey and cheese or something like that if you have it.”
“I’ll be right back.”
While he was gone, I took the opportunity to change into something more comfortable and use the restroom. As I was washing my hands, I got a good look at my face for the first time since the attack. To my surprise, it didn’t look as bad as I thought. My lip was busted, and my left eye and cheek were starting to bruise. My torso was another story. Bruises were already scattered all over my abdomen and sides, and I knew more would appear.
Sighing with resignation, I left the bathroom and walked over to the bed, gingerly slipping beneath the covers. Seconds later, Diablo jumped onto the bed and made himself comfortable beside me. “What the hell is going on?” I whispered.
Diablo raised his head to look at me before lowering it back down. I swear, sometimes I thought he understood everything I said.
Too many weird things had happened to me over the last few months for them to be coincidental, but I couldn’t find any dots to connect. On the other hand, I had a hard time believing that a string of bad luck was to blame. Either way, something had to give. I could no longer chalk things up to minor annoyances or inconveniences. I just knew something more was going on, and that scared me.
Someone knocked on the door, causing Diablo to bark and jump to his feet.
“It’s me,” Dice said.
“Come in.” I patted Diablo’s back and quietly told him to lie down. He snuffled, turned in a circle, and laid down beside me as Dice opened the door.
He entered the room carrying a tray that he placed over me. “I brought you a turkey and cheese sandwich, chips, a brownie, and a Coke. Can he have a t-r-e-a-t?” he asked and tipped his head toward Diablo.
“Yes, he can, as long as it isn’t rawhide.”
“It’s one of those green dental chews.”
“Oh, he loves those. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out the treat for Diablo. My heart filled with pride when Diablo looked at me for approval before he took the treat from Dice’s outstretched hand. At my nod, Diablo took the treat and jumped off the bed to devour it on the floor.
Meanwhile, I picked up my sandwich and started eating, or tried to. “Ow,” I groaned and brought my hand up to cover my lip.
“I have something that might help. I’ll be right back.”
He returned a few moments later and handed me a tube. “If you put a little on your lip, it will numb the area so you can eat.”
I exhaled in relief. “Thank you. I didn’t realize my lip would be an issue.” I squeezed some on my finger but hesitated before I applied it. “Can I ask why you have this?”
“I dropped a wrench on my face when I was working on a car and split my lip.”
“And this worked for you?” I asked, hoping he wouldn’t realize I was checking to see if he had a cold sore or something else contagious and permanent.
“Yeah, it worked great. It doesn’t last very long, but it did the job long enough for me to eat.”
I gently rubbed the gel on my sore lip. “Thanks. I hope it works for me, too.”
I gave it a few minutes to work before I tried taking another bite of my sandwich. “Oh, that’s much better.”
Dice pointed to the end of the bed. “Mind if I sit?”
“Make yourself comfortable.”
“I wanted to talk to you about the attack this morning, if that’s okay.”
“Sure. What do you want to know?”
“Do you think it was random?”
His words caused me to freeze with my sandwich halfway to my mouth. Returning the food to my plate, I met his eyes. “No, I don’t,” I admitted quietly.
“Why do you think that?”
“For starters, the timing. You know where Irene’s house is. It seems very unlikely for someone to show up there at the exact time I have a scheduled showing. If he was trying to rob the place, he would’ve come back when no one was there. On that note, the place is empty, so there’s nothing to steal. Furthermore, when I called my office to let them know what happened, I asked them to notify the client and reschedule their appointment. It turns out the client was new to us, and their contact information wasn’t valid.”
“You think it was a setup and there never was someone interested in the house?”
“That’s exactly what I think.”
“Do you have any idea why someone would want to hurt you?”
I took a moment to decide how I wanted to answer him. Ultimately, I didn’t see any reason why being honest with him would be problematic. “The only thing I can come up with is it has something to do with my ex, but I don’t know why. Honestly, the whole situation with him is odd.”
“How so?”
I continued eating as I told him my story. “Well, the first part is as common as it gets. He confessed to having an affair. Cheating is something I knew I couldn’t forgive, so I told him I wanted a divorce. He packed his stuff and left without any kind of argument. I later found out that was exactly what he wanted to happen when a mutual friend casually mentioned that his girlfriend was living with him at his new place. I filed for divorce on the grounds of adultery, but he wouldn’t respond to anything my lawyer sent him. We weren’t married long and didn’t have any children, so there wasn’t anything to fight over. Actually, we’d pretty much already divided our assets when he moved out, so the lack of response didn’t make any sense. I tried to contact him myself and didn’t have any luck. Then I found out his mother reported him missing. So, I don’t know what’s going on.”
“Why do you think the things that have been happening to you are connected to your ex?”
“Because they started around the time I filed for a divorce. I didn’t think anything of it at first, but as things kept happening, I suspected something wasn’t right. Then I moved to Croftridge. Everything was fine for the first few weeks, then the weird things started happening again.”
“Do you think your ex is behind it?”
“I’m not sure. We didn’t end on a positive note, but if he is behind it, I’m not sure what he hopes to gain.”
“Maybe the house,” he suggested.
“No, it’s not the house. It was in my name, and I’ve already sold it,” I said and tried to stifle a yawn.
Dice got to his feet. “I’ll let you get some rest.”
I really didn’t want him to go, but I felt like it would be weird to ask him to stay, especially when I was going to go to sleep. “Thanks.”
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his phone. “What’s your phone number?”
His question caught me completely off guard. “What?”
“Your phone number. I’ll text you mine so you can let me know if you need anything when you wake up.”
“Oh, thank you,” I said and rattled off my phone number. A few moments later, my phone dinged with a text.
“I’ll check on you in a few hours if I haven’t heard from you.” With that, he was gone.