Chapter 2
A Few Hours Later
“You said what?”
I looked around my office and frowned.
My mind was on other things, so Snoopy’s words didn’t process right away. I could already tell that I wouldn’t be here long because I needed to check on the mystery woman that kept me up all night long. I finally gave Snoopy my eyes, and he held up a piece of paper I recognized as one of our purchase orders.
Everyone wanted their cars and bikes wrapped by me, so seeing an order wasn’t new, but hearing Bucks name for the millionth time this year was a surprise.
“Buck said he wants a new color.”
“How he need a new color already? We just wrapped the last order less than three weeks ago.” I fussed, then snatched the purchase order from Snoopy, who was a prospect, but one I appreciated like a little brother.
He had a lot more leniency than the other prospects because of my favoritism, and I didn’t care who didn’t like it.
“I don’t know, Arrow, but he put in the order last night. Something must have gone down because it’s only March, and this will be his fourth wrap.”
I nodded, but whatever Buck was into wasn’t my business, so I didn’t respond verbally.
He was a paying customer, so I wouldn’t complain. Buck was for sure keeping me in business. I waved Snoopy out of my office, and my mind immediately went to the night before. I had a huge problem with anyone who harmed women and children.
Knowing I wouldn’t be able to focus until I had some news on her, I pressed two on my desk phone to call the clubhouse.
“Good morning, Arrow.” Izzy answered on the second ring.
“She up?” I cut straight to the reason for my call.
I only dealt with Izzy because she was part of the club. Outside of that, if I never had to talk to her, it would be too soon. Her father was the current president of our motorcycle club, so there was no escaping her, but I definitely always tried.
“Damn, would it kill you to at least say hello?” I didn’t say anything, so she sighed and continued. “I don’t know if she’s awake. I heard the baby crying a few hours ago. Since she got him settled, I haven’t heard a peep.” She popped the p. “She plans to leave as soon as the sun breaks through the clouds.”
She would try, but she wouldn’t get far, especially since her car was in car heaven.
Early this morning when my phone rang and I saw it was Izzy, I ignored it. She knew better than to call my phone, but when it rang a second time less than one minute later, I answered. What she said didn’t register at first because she was so frantic. Nothing rattled Izzy, so I listened better when she explained what was going on. The situation was delicate, and when I arrived at the car on the side of the road near my property, my brain shut down.
Seeing baby girl so terrified had me ready to blow up.
“I’m sending Grub over, so you can go on about your day.”
“I can stay and cook, Arrow. She probably needs to see a familiar face. Grub is a teddy bear, but he can be scary to those that don’t know him.”
I knew what Izzy was doing, but I wouldn’t lie and say she didn’t have a point.
“Aight, but I’m still sending Grub.”
I hung up the phone and looked down at my hands because I knew I’d be taking somebody’s life soon.
The next call I made was to Doc because Izzy mentioned that when she saw my mystery woman walk last night from the back seat to the front, she hissed with each step. Both she and the baby needed to be checked out. Plus, her face needed to be tended to as well. Once Doc confirmed that she would meet me there, I was able to focus on what I needed to do.
My mind wasn’t settled, but I felt better enough to give my brain a break for a couple of hours.
“You cannot hold me here!”
The voice screaming was shaking, and I didn’t like the sound of it.
“I was told to sit until Arrow got here. He ain’t here, so I ain’t letting you go until I get the word to do so.” Grub sounded irritated, but that was nothing new.
“Well, call him. I have somewhere to be.”
Some of the bass had left her voice, and now she sounded tired.
I was surprised the clubhouse was as empty as it was, but happy. Doc walked behind me as we made our way from the front to the hallway that led to the back rooms. Grub and the mystery lady were in a standoff in front of the room Izzy put her in… my room. Her eyes grew the size of saucers as she stepped closer to Grub like he could protect her.
Doc and I chuckled because a second ago, she was about to cut off his head, and now he was her protection.
“Nobody needs to call me because I’m right here?—”
“Well, thank you for the accommodations, but it’s way past the time for me to go, so…”
“Unfortunately, I can’t let you do that. Doc is gon’ check you out to make sure ain’t shit broken, then you and I will have a conversation. If I like the way the conversation is going, then you can do whatever you want.”
Shorty’s mouth opened and closed several times, but not one word was spoken.
Grub and I stepped away, as Doc approached her. I could have called Mac, but baby girl seemed like she needed some feminine shit Mac couldn’t give her. Izzy had a buffet style lunch set up in the kitchen, and the first place Grub went was to the kitchen sink so he could wash his hands. If there was food around, Grub was going to throw down. I’d known him since we were nappy-headed knuckleheads, and he had always been that way.
I wasn’t a fan of Izzy’s, but she was cold as hell in the kitchen.
“So, what’s her story?” Grub asked as he tore into his piece of chicken.
“Don’t know, but I plan to find out. I need to know who her people are so if they come looking for her, we’re protected. Whoever did her in will be out looking for her. We just got Billings off our asses… We don’t need no more smoke.”
Grub nodded as he sopped up his waffle that was lathered in syrup.
“Yeah. Hopefully, he comes looking for her without back up because I want to show him a thing or two. He clearly ain’t never fought no man. I’ll give him the fight he’s looking for.”
Grub and I pounded the sides of our fists.
He knew exactly why I wanted her folks’ information. There was no way in the world a man could do that to a woman and live to talk about it. He needed to die, and if she wasn’t coming up off the information, then she might as well get comfortable in Rushin Mills.
Someone was coming for her, and I would be ready.
“I’m already knowing. Once she drops the deets, she’ll never have to worry about him ever again.”
Doc slid up to the table wearing a straight face, but her eyes let me know that I was about to blow up.
“There are healed, healing, and fresh bruises all over her. From the back of her scalp and face down to her?—”
“Aight, I get it,” I spoke through clenched teeth. “Did she let you check out the baby?”
Doc shook her head, and I nodded.
I figured she wouldn’t, but it never hurt to ask. Pushing away from the table, I stood and made my way to the back. The door was closed, so I knocked three times with my knuckles. There wasn’t an answer, but I didn’t stress because the only way out of this place was two side doors and the front. I smirked at the thought of her trying to escape.
I knocked again, and the door was snatched open.
“What?”
The bass in her voice caused my eyes to do a full sweep of her body. I’d been right; baby girl was caked up. I could see her ass from the front, and she had enough meat on her and then some.
“Have you eaten?”
“I’m not hungry.” She lied.
Her stomach growled, and we stared at each other.
I bit my bottom lip to keep from laughing. Baby girl looked like she would fall through the floor if I said anything about her lie, so I just walked past her into the bedroom. She was hot on my heels as I walked over to the bed and looked down at the sleeping baby. He was the spitting image of his mother, and I smiled. I looked at her over my shoulder, and she was watching me watch her son.
When shorty caught me staring, she replaced her mug and frowned.
“How are you feeling? Izzy said when you arrived last night, you were moving a little slow. Today seems a little better for you.”
“I’ll be better when you guys stop holding me hostage. You said that you and I would have a conversation, but you haven’t started talking.”
I turned to face her and crossed my arms across my chest.
“Who did that to your face? Your husband?” I nodded to her hand. She looked down, then slid her hand into her pocket.
That had given me my answer.
I rolled my tongue across my teeth and blew air out of my nose. Baby girl wouldn’t meet my gaze, so I reached out to her to lift her chin, but my movements stopped when she flinched. My entire body stilled, and I had to rein in my anger so she wouldn’t fear me some more.
I took a step back so she could have some breathing room.
“When can we get out of here? I need to keep moving.”
“What’s your name?” Her shoulders dropped, and she shook her head. “If you really want to get out of here, tell me who did this to you.”
Hard eyes met mine. “Why do you care? My problems aren’t yours. Thank you for a place to stay, but we need to get out of here.”
“Unfortunately, when you made the right that led you to Rushin Mills, what you wanted went out of the window. You have potentially brought danger to our door. We need to know what we’re dealing with. Based on your face, neck, and Doc’s report, the person who did this to you will come looking for you. Am I right?”
She didn’t answer, but the glossiness of her eyes gave me my answer.
I wanted to keep her here because I was a selfish man, and the reason I needed an answer would feed into that selfishness. We stared at one another for a long time until little man stirred. She moved toward him, but I beat her to picking him up. She reached out for him, but I moved so he was out of her reach.
I snuggled him to my body and moved past his mama.
“Wh-where are you taking him? Please. I’ll answer whatever questions you have. Just please give me my baby.”
She was crying so hard her words barely made sense.
“You need to eat, so we’re taking him to the front so you can do just that. I don’t know what man you’re used to, but hurting women and children is against code. Get yourself together and meet us in the dining room. He got a bottle, or he cool? He ain’t crying, but I want to make sure he straight if he start.”
“Oh, uhm. Uhm, I just fed him about an hour ago, so he should be okay.”
I smiled, but it wasn’t returned, and I knew it wouldn’t be.
She wanted to fight me for her baby, and I respected it because I would have been the same way. With my head, I pointed to the bathroom, and she looked behind her like she hadn’t realized it was there. She inched toward the door, and I left the bedroom with her son in my arms. By the time I was fully seated at the table, she was behind me. I let out a little chuckle because nothing had been done to clean her face.
Once again, she reached for the baby, but I liked him right where he was, so I moved him out of her reach.
“Izzy, hand me a wet washcloth.” She looked at me, then at baby girl and stared a hole in her head before doing what I asked.
“Here.”
The woman glared at me, then snatched the wet washcloth from Izzy and wiped her face.
“Can I have my baby now?”
“No. Do you want to make your plate or have Izzy make it? Hopefully, by the time you finish eating, you’ll be ready to talk. Before you decide on what you’re about to do, tell me your name…”
Her eyes moved back and forth between me and the table.
“Charlie. Uhm, Charlie Brown.”
We both knew that was a lie, but I let her live.
What I really wanted to know, she wasn’t giving up, so I would take what I could get for now. The baby moved against my chest, and I ran my large hand over his and snuggled his neck. Whatever Charlie needed to see must have been conveyed because she finally got up and followed Izzy into the kitchen.
The clubhouse was filling up with bodies, and I knew that soon, my mystery woman would be known by the whole club.
“Aw, Lord. Who baby you done stole?” my older brother, Hendrix, better known as Boss, asked.
“Don’t worry about it. Just say what’s up to your nephew.”
Boss scoffed and hit me in the shoulder, then took the baby from me.
“What’s his name?”
Boss sat in the seat Charlie vacated and looked down at the baby.
Charlie and Izzy returned, and I noticed the moment Boss caught sight of Charlie. His head whipped in my direction, and I nodded. With my eyes, I communicated that I was working on it. His jaw clenched, but he didn’t say anything about the obvious, and neither would the other guys.
She was safe here with us, but her silence would only last for so long.
“What’s up, gorgeous? I’m Hendrix, but everybody around here calls me Boss.”
Charlie had taken a sip of her pop and started to choke.
“You okay?” I asked, trying my hardest to sit on my hands and not rush across the table.
“Uh-huh.” She cleared her throat. “It’s just that my son’s name is Hendrix, so hearing it caught me off guard. I hadn’t heard it before my father-in-law suggested it.”
Boss and I looked at each other again, but neither of us spoke.
She had dropped a piece of information that would be enough for Tech to find out exactly who she was. Finding out her true identity would lead to her husband, and that was what I needed. More club members and their women floated into the clubhouse, and Charlie relaxed slightly, but not a lot. Boss had given me the baby when his old lady, Flora, walked through the door. Charlie kept her eyes on me and her son, but she didn’t make a fuss about me holding him.
He got fussy, so I let her take him to feed him and put him down.
“You’re putting her out tonight, right? We don’t know her, and it’s probably not a good idea for her to stay. If she got people beating on her, she probably ain’t no good.” Izzy laughed.
Boss, Buck, and I turned around and looked at her like she’d lost her mind.
“What?” I barked as I pushed away from the table.
She jumped and placed a hand over her heart.
“Oh, I was just saying that it’s time for Charlie to go.” She gulped. “We don’t need the problems that are probably following her.”
Izzy’s role in the Riding Rebels was a wet ass and cook.
Honestly, the only reason she felt comfortable enough to say the words she just did was because of who her father was. I didn’t care though. She knew that I didn’t fuck with her, so there was no reason for her to be in my face trying to hold a conversation.
I didn’t reply because I knew if I did, her father and I would have an issue.
“Izzy, don’t you have something else you can be doin’? Instead of worrying about what’s going on with her, worry about the fact that the kitchen is dirty.”
“I was just saying. No need to be rude. I?—”
“Please go, damn!” My fist hit the table, and she jumped up.
When Boss, Buck, and I were alone, our conversation switched to Buck needing a new wrap. He’d gone out with a woman who he met online, slept with her, and found out that she was married. The husband vowed to kill Buck, so he said he needed a new wrap because the metallic blue was too noticeable. All I could do was laugh because that man was always in the middle of something.
After about twenty minutes, there was no sign of Charlie, so I got up and walked toward the back of the building.
“You didn’t want to come back and chill with all the chaos?” I walked into the room without knocking.
“Excuse you!”
“Excuse me, what? This my shit you in, baby girl. Plus, ain’t nothing on you I ain’t ever seen before. Why you cooped up back here like you’re on punishment or something?”
I fell across the bed and pulled the baby’s blanket closer to me.
Charlie sucked her teeth but didn’t move him back. We lay in silence like this was something we’d done thousands of times. Today was our first real meeting, and I hated that it had been under these circumstances, but I wouldn’t complain. Even with a face full of bruises and a busted lip, she was gorgeous. She didn’t shy away from her war marks, and that had me concerned for two reasons: She was either used to them, or she believed that she deserved them.
“You didn’t have to leave your friends to come check on us. We’re fine. Even better when we can get back on the road.”
“Them fools ain’t my friends. Those my brothers, and I told you if you wanted to leave, you could, but you had to come up off some information first.”
“Whatever. You don’t need to concern yourself with my business. Trust me, your life would be so much easier without me in it.”
Somehow, I strongly doubted that. Already, life seemed a tad bit better with her around, and I didn’t know this woman from a can of paint. I needed to convince her to tell me who hurt her so I could end their miserable lives, and after she did that, I would need to convince her she needed to stay right here in Rushin Mills.