Chapter Twenty
Samantha
It was Thursday.
Today, I was supposed to leave work early, lose my tail, and meet Carrie an hour away.
This was stupid.
I wasn’t, though. I knew Jack would be furious when he found out. I didn’t have a choice. I needed to talk to Carrie with no one around. I needed her to tell me everything.
Carrie had been my best friend for six years. The one person who always had my back. The one person I could count on.
Something had changed, though.
Ever since Jack found out about Charlie, Carrie had been erratic. I understood some of it was fear on Carrie’s part. I knew she was worried about losing Charlie and me.
She shouldn’t have been concerned about that. I never would have cut her out of our lives. Especially after everything she had done for us.
Now, I felt like I was doing damage control to keep my world from imploding. I needed to combine my two families. Because Carrie was family.
Looking at the clock on the wall, I knew it was time. I had only told one person what I was doing. I hoped he was trustworthy.
“Hey, Sam, can you take this garbage out?” Chris called from the kitchen.
“Sure thing, Chris.” I grabbed the bag of trash and walked out the back door. I threw the bag in the dumpster and then pushed the door closed, making sure it latched.
I walked over to my car and slid in. My purse and keys were where I left them under the seat. Pulling out of the parking lot, I drove north to meet my friend.
Getting out of my car an hour later, I stopped and looked around the parking lot. Someone was watching me. I didn’t see any bikes, but I noticed an expensive SUV, a Mercedes.
I had seen it behind me on the way here but thought nothing of it. I didn’t know anyone with enough money to afford a vehicle like that.
Well, except Beck.
When her grandmother passed away, she left Beck millions. No one was more shocked than Beck.
A man was driving the SUV, so I knew it wasn’t her. Besides, Beck was a Ford girl.
Walking into the coffee shop, I looked for Carrie. She wasn’t there yet, so I approached the counter and ordered two coffees. Then, I found a table in the corner, away from the windows, and sat down to wait.
A moment later, the man from the SUV walked in. He was tall, blond, and wearing a very expensive suit and mirrored sunglasses.
He ordered a coffee and grabbed a newspaper. Once his order was ready, he walked over and sat two tables away. As soon as he sat down, I knew.
Jingles.
Fuck.
I didn’t let myself react. I couldn’t. If he saw me react, he would know I knew. So I took out my phone and scrolled aimlessly. While I was waiting for Carrie, I realized there was a way I might temper Jack’s anger.
I opened up a recording app I had downloaded a few years ago. Carrie stepped inside the shop, and I hit the button and turned my phone over.
“Sam, thank God you’re here.” She looked around the shop. “Where’s Charlie?”
“I didn’t bring her.”
“Why the fuck not? I told you, Sam, we have to go. ”
“Carrie, calm down,” I whispered.
She realized where we were and took a breath. “I’m sorry. I’m just so worried about you and Charlie.” Then she muttered, “He knows, Sam.”
“What?”
“Derek knows you’re with Jack. He’s not happy.”
“I know he knows. Matlock sent him divorce papers. We have been expecting him.”
“No, Sam,” she said, shaking her head. “He’s been here in Nebraska for weeks. He doesn’t know about the divorce papers.”
“Carrie.”
“Sam, you don’t understand. The notes are worse than I told you. They’re vile, Sam. The things he is threatening to do to you and Charlie. He’s evil, Sam. We have to leave. You need to hide.”
“Carrie, slow down. We will get to Derek in a minute. I need to talk to you about something Charlie told me.”
Carrie sat up. “What? Did Blade do something? I knew there was something about him. His attention on those little girls isn’t normal, Sam.”
I reached over and grabbed Carrie’s hands. “Carrie, stop! Blade wouldn’t do anything to hurt those girls. He loves them, the way their father loves them.”
“Their father too? Sam, keep Jack away from Charlie. She’s not safe at the clubhouse, those bikers—”
I slammed my hand on the table, causing Carrie to jump. “STOP!”
I knew I was drawing attention. The few customers sitting at tables looked over at us.
Except Jingles. If I had any doubt it was him, that just confirmed it.
The barista came around the counter. I knew what she was doing. So, I held my hand up.
“I’m so sorry. I just needed to get her attention. It won’t happen again, I promise.”
She gave me a look that told me the next time I was gone. I nodded and looked at Carrie .
“I don’t know what has gotten into you.” She opened her mouth to speak, and I held my hand up. “No, you need to listen to me. Jack, Blade, King, every one of those men would give their life to keep Charlie safe. I will not let you sit here and talk about them like they are wicked men. That couldn’t be further from the truth.”
I took a deep breath.
“Jack told me why Beck punched you. You are lucky she pulled that punch. A few months back, she beat the shit out of a man who tried to rape her. She went easy on you.”
I took a sip of my coffee. I needed a moment to calm down before I asked her what I needed to. Then, we would have to talk about Derek.
“Charlie told me you said something mean to Tabby.”
Carrie shrank back.
“Who’s Tabby?” she asked.
She never lifted her eyes from her cup. She knew who Tabby was, and she knew what she said to her.
“Why did you do it, Carrie? Why would you tell that little girl she was stupid because she didn’t talk?”
“Because she is.” Carrie sneered. “How does a three-year-old not know how to talk?”
“Carrie, you do not know what that little girl has been through. That could have been Charlie if you hadn’t helped us get away. I am so disappointed in you.”
“I’m sorry, Sam. I haven’t been myself lately. When Jack found out about Charlie, you disappeared from my life in an instant.”
“I know, and I am sorry about that. That was my fault, not Jack’s. I will make more time for you, I promise. But you will need to apologize to Beck and Ryder.”
She nodded, but didn’t say a word.
“Tell me about Derek. What did you mean when you said it was worse than you told me? Why wouldn’t you tell me everything?” I asked.
“I wanted to protect you. I didn’t want you to be in fear all the time, so when a note came, I told you enough for us to move. When we got to Nebraska, I thought he had finally given up. Everything was perfect until Jack found out about Charlie.”
I looked at my friend. Something wasn’t right. I could see now what Jack was talking about. I didn’t know what it was, but I wasn’t sure I believed what she was telling me.
How would Derek know who Jack was? Unless he had been here for weeks. But if he had been, why hadn’t he done something already? Derek wasn’t a patient man.
I looked at the time on my phone.
“Carrie, I have to get back. Jack will know by now that I’m not at work. I don’t want the others to get in trouble for my actions,” I told her.
Jingles stood from his seat and stretched. He gathered his trash and walked to the door. He never looked at me.
I stood up, and Carrie followed. We walked outside to my car. I didn’t see Jingles’ SUV, but I knew he was waiting for me to leave so he could follow me back to Diamond Creek.
“Sam.” Carrie grabbed my hand. “Please don’t go back. Come with me. We can get the authorities to go get Charlie, and we can leave. We can make a new life somewhere else. Just the three of us.”
“Carrie, no. I am done running. My life is here now. Jack wants us to be a family. He wants to get married and have more babies. He wants to give me everything, Carrie. He loves me.”
“NO!”
I stepped back against my car when she yelled.
“Carrie,” I breathed. “Calm down.”
“He doesn’t love you, Sam. He wants to control you. Like Derek did.” Carrie was pacing back and forth next to my car.
I reached behind me and opened my door.
“Carrie, I have to get back. I need to get back to Charlie,” I told her, knowing Charlie’s name would pull her back from her spiral.
“Yes, go back. Get Charlie and meet me at The Diner. You don’t need to bring anything. We can get new things.” She was mumbling now. “Yes, this is good. We can slip away, and they will never know. They won’t be able to hurt Charlie. We can keep her safe.”
I stood in the open door of my car and looked at my friend. It was at that moment I realized something had happened to her. Something bad.
“Carrie,” I said, hesitantly. “Why don’t you come back to the clubhouse with me? We can talk about what happened to you.”
She spun around on me. “What? Nothing happened to me. It’s you something happened to. You let one man beat you so badly you ended up in the hospital. Now you’ve surrounded yourself with bikers. Everyone knows bikers are bad. You know what they were like back home. You know what they did.”
I didn’t know what she was talking about. The Shadows in Arkansas never hurt women. Sure, they weren’t boy scouts, but women and children were off-limits, or so I thought.
“Ok, Carrie, ok. I need to get back to Charlie.” I slipped into my car and started it up. Backing out of my spot, I left Carrie there, pacing. There was nothing more I could do.
I turned my car south toward Diamond Creek. I wasn’t in a hurry to get home. I knew Jack would be mad.
Looking in my rearview mirror, I saw Jingles a few cars back. I knew he would follow me back to the clubhouse. Only, I wasn’t going to the clubhouse. I needed a drink.
Sure, I could drink at the clubhouse. But Jack was there. Nope, wasn’t ready for that yet.
I was halfway home when my phone rang.
Jack.
I answered his call, and before I could say hello, he was yelling.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“Jack, calm down.”
“You fucking lied to me, Sammy. AGAIN!”
“Jack, if you would just let me explain.”
“Oh, you will fucking explain, after I tan your ass. Do you have any idea what could have happened? There is something wrong with that woman, plus, Derek could be anywhere.”
“I was perfectly safe, Jack. You know that. ”
“I didn’t know that. You didn’t tell anyone where you were going. The guys at the diner didn’t know you had left. You had no protection.”
“Jingles,” I calmly said.
The line went quiet.
“What?” Jack asked, quietly.
“Jingles was there. But you knew that, didn’t you? How long has he been following me, Jack?”
My hands tightened on the steering wheel as I waited for him to answer me.
“Sammy—”
“How long, Jack?”
“Since the party,” he admitted.
“So, neither of us trusts the other. We can’t build a life without trust, Jack.”
“Sammy, wait.”
I cut the call. Pulling into the parking lot at the bar in town, I stepped out of my car and walked over to where Jingles sat. I knocked on his window, and when he rolled it down, I asked,
“How about a beer to wash down that coffee, Jingles?”