Chapter 16 Checkmate
Chapter sixteen
Checkmate
Roxy
Each time Ripper moved his head, the hanging skin flapped.
I’d never known a biker to be squeamish about blood, but every time he brought his dirty hand up to poke it, he’d double over, making retching sounds.
I said nothing, preparing to run if he actually threw up.
He needed to man up. I had a pool of blood in my mouth, and I hadn’t moved away from the bar.
“You fucking bitch,” he spat. I still said nothing, reaching for a napkin to wipe the spittle off my face, but he was quicker.
His hand cracked against my cheek, sending me to the ground, but I grabbed the bar, digging my nails into the wood.
I wouldn’t lay at this asshole’s fucking feet.
It took me a minute to bounce back, but he just laughed at me.
I wasn’t a weak little girl. He was just a dirty bastard.
I pulled back, spitting the glob of blood into his face.
“You should have left when you had the chance.” I smiled, hoping I still had blood on my teeth. I wasn’t a fan of other people’s blood, but at least I wasn’t gagging. Ripper reached back to hit me again but hesitated when Scorpion’s voice rang out across the room.
“Hit her again, and I’ll use your head to clean up this floor.”
Ripper wrapped his sweaty hand around my bicep, thinking we were going to leave the saloon. “We got what we came for, so we’ll be leaving now,” he called to his men, but no one moved.
Scorpion stepped in front of him mid-stride. “You’re not going anywhere. Let go of her.” Each syllable was drawn out.
Scorpion wasn’t high on my list, but I wouldn’t let him see me flinch.
He wasn’t here to protect me, but I didn’t fear him.
If he kicked me out of the saloon after this, he wouldn’t do it until after they left.
There were worse things in life than death, and at least Scorpion would make it quick, taking me out into the desert.
The only person who could protect me from Scorpion’s wrath was Cactus.
I scanned the room, checking each face. Too young.
Too heavy. Definitely too skinny. He wasn’t here, and my heart sank.
It was my fault, letting him take up space in my mind.
He was someone I barely knew. Giving him power over my fear was my fault. I wouldn’t make that mistake again.
“I’ve been to your shithole of a bar, so I’ll understand if this is like culture shock. You’re going to get a beatdown for this, so why not make it easier on yourself?” Scorpion shot me a look over Ripper’s shoulder. A silent message to fight the hold.
I had been dead weight he was dragging behind him, so when I squirmed, banging my free fist against the patch on his back, he couldn’t maintain his grip on my arm.
Letting me go, he was stuck facing Scorpion.
A slow, cruel smile stretched across his face before he balled his fist, smashing it into Ripper’s face.
He followed it up with several hits to Ripper’s chest and gut, like it cost him nothing.
Ripper doubled over, holding his stomach in. “Enough.”
“This is only the beginning.” His eyes went to Angelica’s, still standing behind the bar with the soda gun in her hand. Before he could say anything, the front door opened. Aces strolled in with one of the other Saints. I recognized him from that lunch, but no one had introduced us.
“All taken care of. Sheriff can’t wait to collect $500 a bike.” Aces laughed, the sound hollow as he surveyed the room.
“Don’t forget our tow fee,” the other brother chuckled.
“Sucks to be you, bitches. Are we at the beatdown yet? I need to release some tension.” Aces jumped up to sit at the end of the bar, swinging his feet and cracking his knuckles.
“What the fuck did you do to our bikes?” one of the Disciples brothers growled.
It didn’t surprise me they were more concerned about their bikes. They had the prospects wash them more often than the brothers actually bathed.
“It’s now past five, and you’re not patronizing a business, so the sheriff had you towed from the visitors’ lot. Unfortunately, you’ll have to camp in the desert because the office will be closed by the time you get out of here.” A snicker from the Saints floated around the room.
In my experience, most bikers gave off a dangerous air, but I hadn’t been afraid.
Once I gave the impression I wasn’t interested, they left me alone.
It wasn’t until Williams that it changed.
The Bear Canyon Disciples were dangerous men, but they often used their numbers to bully their way, and I was now their focus.
However, the Saints made them look like chumps.
Scorpion grabbed a chunk of Ripper’s hair, forcing him to stand. “There’s a clause in the paperwork that says we’re not responsible for any damage that occurred during the tow, so when you find that big scratch in your paint, no, you didn’t.”
He let him go, kicking him in the stomach on the way down.
“Here’s how this is going to go, so you fucks better listen up,” he addressed the room, getting distracted when his eyes scanned over to Angelica behind the bar.
Marching through the soda on the floor, he stood in front of her.
“Butterfly, don’t even think about it.” He smirked.
“I’m going to have to close tomorrow, thanks to these fuckwits.” She swiped one of her bangs away from her eyes.
“You know I’m going to take care of it.” He patted her cheek, but her eyes were still blazing. “Trust me.”
“Fuck you.” She raised the soda gun level with his chest as she flicked the button.
“Is the kitchen cleaned up?” He ignored her, letting his hand caress the apple of her cheek.
She shook her head. The cooks had been switching over from lunch to dinner when the club had stormed through the front door.
“You’re done here. Take the staff out back. They’ve got the day off tomorrow—with pay.”
She started to argue but stopped herself. Nothing she would say would change any of this.
“No, I’ll take care of it. Go.” He patted her cheek again before prying the soda gun from her hand. Laying it on the bar, he held her hand, lacing their fingers together as he led her towards the bar gate. Picking it up, he let her walk in front of him with her head held high.
I met her in the middle of the dining room, holding out my hand.
She locked our fingers together, giving me some of her strength, but when we passed Slick, lying on the floor, she stopped.
Pulling her leg back, she landed a kick to his stomach before we made our way to the back of the dining room.
It didn’t do any damage, but I swore I saw a smirk on her lips.
When the kitchen door closed behind us, the sounds of a fight floated through the crack in the door. I could only guess how much damage Angelica was going to incur—all because I had been nice to a kid.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. This was all my fault. I’d put it off long enough. I needed to go check on my car so that nothing like this would happen again. Angelica had given me an opportunity, and I had repaid her with blood on the walls and broken furniture.
“Don’t fucking say that. You didn’t know they were going to behave like Neanderthals.” She hugged Bri before ushering us out the back door of the saloon. “At least one good thing happened today.” She smiled. “I’m getting the renovations I’ve been hounding Scorpion for.”
“Dad doesn’t always keep promises,” Bri whispered, but Angelica ignored it.
If I had stayed forgettable, none of this would have ever happened.
***
Cactus
Eights had said nothing else, and I didn’t bother texting him back. I wasn’t interested in hearing what had happened from him. If I asked, he would tell me, but I wanted to hear it from her. The need to call her rode my ass as we sat down in the warehouse for dinner.
The brothers took their sweet time eating, and I would have offended our hosts if I rushed them.
I tried to make enough small talk not to be noticed, but the girls had picked their favorites.
They sat on laps, trying to feed the brothers for attention.
It wasn’t until I caught the back of a head with short raven hair, nuzzling the neck of a brother, that I had to bury my anger.
It wasn’t her, but that need cranked up another notch.
We headed out with our payment a couple hours later, driving down toward the Mexican border.
Another hour of pretending the open road fixed everything.
Tomorrow wouldn’t be any different. Just another wasted day, burning gas and pretending I gave a shit.
I’d end up doing this all over when Scorpion found another excuse.
I was rolling out my sleeping bag inside one of the pop-up tents we rented when a shadow crossed over me. “Can I help you?” I snapped, looking over my shoulder. Cowboy boots—Tumbleweed. He was the only brother who refused to wear regular shitkickers.
“Hey, brother.” He squatted next to me, his arm brushing mine as he laid it on his thigh. “Is she alright?”
“How would I know?” I asked him. I pushed him over in the dirt, but he just popped back up into a squat. Tumbleweed was resilient. It didn’t matter how many times he got steamrolled. Fucker always stood up. “How do you know?”
“You didn’t answer Eights, so he wanted to know if you were alright.”
“Tell him to go fuck himself.” I didn’t want him to think we were friends.
“If you find a dark corner, I won’t come looking for you.
” Tumbleweed whistled, standing up before strolling back to his tent on the other side of the fire.
The brothers were in small groups, roaming around the campsite.
They were busy having a good time, but they knew better than to drag me into it.
They lied so much they’d forgotten the truth.
Prick, I thought, which instantly reminded me of Roxy. What the fuck would I even say to her? She’d think the call was mainly about what happened and not her.
I shoved the end of my sleeping bag in, closing the tent. Sticking close to the edge of the dark campsites, I stopped when I was three away from ours. No one could sneak up on me.
Sitting on a log around the darkened fire pit, I dialed her phone number from memory. She’d filled her employee paperwork with her actual information, and I’d stolen her phone number right before we’d left.
The phone rang before clicking over to her voicemail. I called again—nothing. She didn’t have the burner phone’s number. After the day she had, I didn’t blame her for not answering a strange number.
Hitting the phone against my leg, I wanted to throw it across the unlit firepit. Caving, I sent her a text.
(520) 589-0819
Call me back, sweetheart.
I waited. I’d give her ten minutes before I tried another round of calls. It hadn’t even been a minute when my phone rang with an incoming video call. Did I answer? It wasn’t like I hadn’t had video calls, but I didn’t want to reveal anything that would put a target on her back.
You’re sitting at an empty campsite. Answer the call. I hit the green button, waiting until her face appeared in the screen. She was lying in bed, the ugly motel walls behind her. The exhaustion was clear on her face as she curled under the covers.
“I can’t see you,” she said, adjusting the phone she must’ve propped up.
I turned my phone’s flashlight on.
“Hi,” she said, laying back down on her pillows.
“Hey, how are you?” My hand came up to palm my face at how stupid I sounded. I was lucky, catching it before she could see the motion in the camera.
“Fine.”
“Roxy, you’re not fine. Why don’t you tell me what happened?” I held my phone in one hand, tracing the dark shadows under her eyes on the screen. She looked worn out—the kind of tired that made people do dumb shit out of fear.
She huffed a few times before the entire story came out in quick bursts, not bothering to breathe in between. “When we walked out the back door, the bar melee had just started. I came here, and that’s it.”
“They’ll be gone before I get back, but this was an opportunity for Scorpion to play hero. He’ll make sure they’re reminded to call first before they show up at our doorstep next time.”
“Yeah, but Angelica took me in when she didn’t have to, and now, the saloon can’t open until the renovations are done. I caused that. I’m going to pop over there tomorrow to see if they need a hand and check on my car.”
“You’re determined to be a martyr for this, but all you did was give those guys a chance to fight. Now, they’ll be good for at least a few days. Angelica’s been asking for some updates, so don’t worry about it. Plus, if you try to apologize, she’ll just wave it off.”
“Would you have fought?” Her eyes blazed through the screen. Subconsciously, she wanted reassurance that she belonged.
“I would have.” I’d never sat out a fight as long as I was here.
“For me or as a Saint?” she pushed.
“Hey, I should let you sleep. We’ll talk tomorrow.” I was running as if I were doing Mach 5. I couldn’t give her the answer she wanted, probably because I had never stopped to consider she could be mine.
“Right.” There was a hiccup in her tone, and that was when I realized she wasn’t angry. She was done.
The screen went black in my hand.
Fuck. I’d royally fucked up. I could have said yes. Instead, I’d let her believe she was just another woman I was trying to conquer.
I thought about calling her back, making her talk to me until she fell asleep on her own. I had two more days on the road, and every nerve was screaming at me to fix it. Hovering over the green button, I stopped right as my thumb came close enough to hit it.
If there was a chance to make amends, I was going to have to do it in person.