Moose Chapter 17
Allowing the women time to think and work through their questions and fear without us hovering damn near killed me. I kept insisting I was leaving and heading back over to Zisa’s house. And I wouldn’t leave until she heard me out fully, was able to deal with the things I might do, and was protected like all other women by the words club business.
It was late when we finally gave up and went to bed. I knew Carnage was as anxious as I was, but he seemed able to hide it better. I tossed and turned most of the night until I called it quits. I got up and dressed. He was awake, too.
“You ready to head over to Zisa’s,” I asked Carnage.
The asshole snorted at me. “It’s barely six. We go over there and wake them up this early, and our asses will be called mud. At least give them until eight before we go barging in and demanding they listen and not leave us. Your woman already threatened us with a gun. Don’t make her pull the trigger this time.”
I fought but lost. I couldn’t keep a tiny smirk from twisting my lips. He was right. We had time. The kids would be at school most of the day. If we went bursting in there, upsetting the girls, they’d both murder us. I tried to stay busy and not get on his nerves, but it was hard. Finally, at seven forty-five, he told me to get my ass out to our rides. I almost ran like a giddy schoolgirl on her first date. When we got to Zisa’s house, I didn’t see Shantel’s car. She must not be here yet. Carnage didn’t appear happy by that. He was scowling as we walked up to the front door.
I knocked at first, but when they didn’t answer, I changed to ringing her doorbell. After three times and no answer, I was wavering between worried and pissed off. Were they playing games with us? Or had they taken off? When I thought of that possibility, I wanted to kick my ass for not thinking of it and watching them.
“Where the fuck did they go?” I snarled as I kicked the front door. Luckily, it was made of strong wood, so there was no damage.
“Before you go completely off the deep end, let me see if I can get Shantel on the phone,” Carnage said as he took it out of his cut. I restlessly paced while it rang. When she didn’t pick up, he frowned.
“You try Zisa.”
I already had my cell phone in my hand. I hit the call button. It rang three times, and I was ready to hang up when she answered. She sounded breathless.
“Zisa, we’re at—”
“I’m sorry, but I can’t talk right now. Don’t bother coming over to the house. We’re not at either house, and we’re not gonna be. I’ve got to go.”
“Wait—” All I got was the beeping that told me she’d hung up.
“What the hell is going on?” I growled.
“Let’s send texts and see if they answer those,” Pres suggested. I was willing to try anything, so I did.
Me: What’s going on? I know you’re still upset, but avoiding me, us, isn’t the answer.
When she answered, all I got was a brief one.
Zisa: Have things to handle. Will contact you after it’s done.
Carnage and I compared the answers we got. The ones from Shantel weren’t any clearer. Whatever was happening, they were trying to show we weren’t a priority. Now, I wasn’t egotistical enough to think I should always be first and my needs be immediately met or exceeded, although it was nice when they were. But being blown off like this didn’t sit well with me.
“What do you think is so damn important they stood us up? Do you think they’re really involved in something major, or are they trying to teach us a lesson?” I asked my pres.
“Honestly, I don’t know, Moose. At least yours answered the phone. I say we give them a few hours. If they don’t call us back by then, then we’ll go find them. They can’t run forever. The girls get home from school around three-thirty, and there’s no way they’ll leave them there alone.”
“Agreed. Alright, I can’t sit in that hotel room, or I’ll go stark raving mad. How about we take a ride? If they call, we have the ability to answer our phones using Bluetooth,” I suggested.
He was all for it, so hustling back to our bikes, we fired them up and took off. We didn’t have a destination in mind. I just needed to blow the cobwebs out of my head and kill time. We didn’t want to go far, so we’d stay in the general area, but I wasn’t feeling a ride through the congested streets of Salina.
We were sitting at a red light, waiting for it to change. There was more traffic due to so many people still making their way to work. I glanced around to see what there was to see when a familiar face caught my attention. It was Marius. He was sitting in his patrol car across the intersection, coming from the opposite direction as us. His thunderous look told me he hadn’t chilled out any.
When the light changed to green and we shot through the intersection, I gave him a jaunty two-finger wave. If I had it my way, it would’ve only been the middle one. We kept going until we were outside the town limits. There were several small towns not far from Salina, so we decided to ride through them.
We ended up riding for a solid two hours before we were back in town and heading over to their houses. We would stop at Zisa’s first since it was first based on the way we were coming through town. I wasn’t feeling as tense as I had been. Or I wasn’t until we came down Zisa’s street and saw a police car parked in her driveway. There was no need to guess who it was. I sped up and came to a hard stop next to it. Kicking down my stand and turning off my bike, I bailed off it, ripping my helmet off. Stomping to the front door, I didn’t see him. I was about to pound on the door when Marius came walking around the side of the house. The way you’d come if you’d been in the backyard. I was about to fly at him and punch his ass, but Carnage caught my arm and gave me a warning look. I took it and swallowed my aggression.
“What’re you doing, snooping around Zisa’s house and in her backyard?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“It’s not any of your business what I’m doing, but I’ll tell you. I want to know where she is.”
“Why?” Carnage asked calmly.
“That’s between me and Zisa. Where is she, Kinsley, or whatever your name is?” he sneered.
Wanting to not give him the upper hand, I forced myself to relax and then smirked. “It really chafes your ass, doesn’t it? The fact she’s with me. Here you are. A supposed upstanding citizen with an important job. Here I am. A supposed lowlife who probably doesn’t have a job at all. There should be no comparison, except there is. Looks can be so deceiving.”
“Do tell,” was his comeback.
“On the outside, people think you’re the good guy, but we both know that’s not true. You’re the man who cheated on Zisa. I’m the man who’ll remain true to her for the rest of his life. I bet I’ve rescued or helped more people over the years than you ever have. As for jobs, I manage a business for my club. I make better money than you do. I can give Zisa a life you never could. I already love her more than you ever could. And don’t lie and say you love her because if you did, you would’ve never touched another woman. Oh, and Kinsley is my real name, asshole.”
As I talked, his face grew redder. I saw his fists clench, and there was a vein down the side of his face that was throbbing.
“If it’s the last thing I do, I’ll run you out of town and show her you’re nothing but trouble,” he hissed.
“Good luck. Oh, and by the way, Marius, stay away from Zisa, including her house. She doesn’t want you. And you’ll be the one run out of town when all your dirty secrets are revealed.”
The mention of dirty secrets made him ever so briefly lose his composure, but he got it back in place quickly. It told me he had them. I couldn’t wait for Maestro to find them.
“Where did she go?” he asked again. He was like a broken record.
“Why would I tell you?” I responded.
“Fuck you, Kinsley,” he snapped before walking to his car.
“What a mouth you have on you, Officer? Better watch it, or you’ll scandalize someone,” Carnage piped up. He wore an amused expression.
Marius jerked his car door open and got in, slamming it behind him. I swear, if his patrol car was a manual, he would’ve ground gears as he backed out of the driveway and took off. We waited until he was out of sight before punching in the garage door opener code. It opened, showing that her car was gone. Closing it back up, we gestured to our bikes.
Less than five minutes later, we pulled up to Shantel’s house. The place appeared deserted, but we stopped to check. The same result as at Zisa’s. There was no answer. Wherever they were, it was a good guess that they were together, not that we didn’t already guess that.
“I’ve had enough waiting. I’m calling Maestro to see if he can tell us where they are,” Carnage gruffly said as he took out his phone. Moments later, he was talking.
“Maestro, I need you to do something for me and Moose. We need to know where our old ladies are,” he said, then paused to listen.
“No, we haven’t misplaced them. They’re out and about, and we can’t get a hold of them. Can you do it? Or should I call Tenillo and see if Phantom is available?”
I snickered. There was a slight rivalry between Maestro and his counterpart in the Ares Infidels club. It wasn’t anything ugly or that they hated each other. It was merely wanting to be the best at what they did. It was a guaranteed way to get Maestro fired up to do everything he could to find them fast. Carnage was devious. I saw my president smirk as he listened.
“Good. Then we’ll expect your call in no time. Call me. Moose is with me, and he’s not going anywhere. Later.”
When he hung up, I laughed. “That was mean, Pres. You know he’ll be working his ass off to get it to you ASAP.”
“I know. Wanna place a bet on how fast he calls back with the answer?”
We placed a twenty-dollar bet. Carnage guessed ten minutes. I said eight. When his phone rang, I glanced at mine and saw it had been seven and a half minutes since Carnage hung up. While he answered it, he took the twenty in his hand, stuffed it into the front pocket of my cut, and then gave me the finger. He listened for a minute or two, then thanked Maestro before hanging up. He was glowering.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“According to Maestro, they’re at a hotel in Abilene. What the fuck would they be doing in a hotel? And one that’s not even in their town?”
“Well, whatever the reason, they’d better be ready to bring their asses back here. I guess we’re headed to Abilene.”
“Goddamn right we are. You’re lucky,” he said as we got on the bikes.
“How’s that?”
“You’re bald. You don’t have any hair to tear out or turn gray.”
I laughed. “You know why I don’t. I keep it waxed off. If you do the same, you won’t have those issues, either.”
“Screw that. I’d look like a lumpy mattress. This hard head has taken too many knocks to be smooth like yours. Bastard,” he muttered.
It took forty minutes for us to get to the hotel in Abilene. Maestro had sent the GPS coordinates to our phones. We rode through the front parking lot, checking for Zisa’s car. We didn’t see it. Maybe they left already. Just to be sure, we rode through the back lot. We got lucky. We spotted it. Parking next to it, we went inside to the front desk. There was an older woman, I’d say in her late fifties, standing behind the desk. She gave us a tentative smile.
“How may I help you?” she asked.
“Good morning. We’re looking for our girlfriends. The last name is Adams. Not sure if they checked in under Azisa or Shantel,” Carnage said with a friendly smile. He could be charming when he wanted to be. And an absolute bastard when he didn’t.
“I’m sorry, but I can’t confirm that,” she said without checking her computer.
“You don’t need to confirm it. We know they’re here. We just forgot their room number. It’s been a busy morning,” he added.
“Sir, I can’t tell you that information without—” she was cut off by a voice we knew.
“Carnage, Moose, what’re you doing here? How did you know where we were?” Shantel asked. As we turned to face her, I saw that she had frown lines between her eyes.
“Where else would we be? We need to see you and Zisa. Where is she?” he asked. We went over to her.
“Up in the room. How did you know we were here?” she asked again. I saw her scanning the lobby.
Alarm bells went off. “Shantel, who’re you checking for?”
“Come with me,” she said softly before taking off for the elevator. We were the only ones to get on it when the door opened. After the doors closed, Carnage was questioning her.
“What is this about? Who were you looking for in the lobby?” he asked.
“Shh, let’s not talk in the elevator or hall. We’re almost there,” she said.
We held our tongues until we were shown into a room, and the door was closed. She hurried over to an open connector door and closed it.
“I don’t want to wake them up,” she told us.
“Wake up, who?” I demanded. Did they have the girls with them, and were they in the other room? If so, where was Zisa? She wasn’t in this one.
“Sit, and I’ll tell you.”
Tired of the stalling, I went to open the connector door, but Shantel’s hissed response stopped me. “No! Will you hold your horses? Yeesh. Give me a minute. As for who, it’s Zisa and Zuri. We were up late. They’re exhausted, especially Zuri. I don’t know the last time that girl got decent sleep.”
“Zuri is here? Why? Why here and not at one of your places?” Carnage asked.
She waved for us to sit, which we did, and then she launched into the bizarre tale of Zuri showing up in the middle of the night, wanting help, and expressing the desire to go to rehab. Then she told us about her daughter’s fear that Penn would catch her and drag her back.
“Shan, there’s no way in hell we’ll let that prick do that. You should’ve called us. We would’ve come over and stood guard, or at worst, you could’ve stayed in our room in Salina rather than traipsing twenty-five miles away. And why didn’t you stay in another there?” he asked her.
“Because they were all full. This was the nearest one. And it’s better because there’s no reason for Penn to look for her here. He’ll be searching home for her. It gives us time,” she explained.
“Time for what?” I asked.
“To get her admitted into a drug treatment center. Sorry, I overslept. You should’ve woken me up. Mama. What’re you two doing here?” Zisa asked right before she yawned.
We’d had our backs to the door and hadn’t heard her enter. She looked so sexy and adorable, all rumpled from bed. I couldn’t stop myself. I went to her, pulled her against me, and kissed her. She didn’t fight me, which was a very good sign in my book. I took my time. Only when she pushed at my chest did I reluctantly let go.
“Moose, I have morning breath,” she protested.
“I don’t give a damn if you do or not. I’ve been going crazy wondering where you were and if you were okay. That call and text didn’t tell us shit, Bae,” I chided her.
“I’m sorry. We were dealing with Zuri freaking out. And then Mama and I were trying to get her a bed in a treatment facility, which isn’t going well. I finally took a nap, but it was only supposed to last an hour. Why didn’t you wake me like you promised?” she asked her mom.
“Because I knew you needed more sleep. And there’s not much we can do until we figure out a way to pay for it, so why waste your time calling other places? They’re all the same,” Shantel said wearily.
“So you’ve got a place, but they need money?” Carnage asked, just to be sure we were following.
“Yes. Since Zuri doesn’t have a real job.” Shantel looked at Zisa and then continued, “She doesn’t have insurance to pay for it. Zisa and I rent, so we can’t take out second mortgages or sell our houses to pay for her treatment. Our joint savings isn’t enough either. We’ve been trying to think of a way to get the rest of the money.”
I was sitting on a chair with Zisa on my lap. She hadn’t protested when I pulled her down in it. Just having her do that and not fight me settled my anxiety. Surely, if she hated me or wanted nothing to do with me, she wouldn’t allow it. Carnage was sitting next to her mom on the bed. He’d taken her hand in his.
“Do you think the bank will give us a loan?” Zisa asked before either Carnage or I could speak.
“I thought of that, but all we have for collateral are the cars. We might do better to sell those,” Shantel said.
“But they—” Carnage beat me to cutting off Zisa.
“Stop right there. You’re totally overlooking how it can be paid for.”
They both gave him surprised looks.
“How?” Shantel asked a beat before her daughter did.
“You’re looking at how. You get it from me and Carnage,” I stated.
Instantly, they were both shaking their heads. Zisa tried to stand up, but I held her fast. Shantel was trying to tug her hand free of Carnage’s.
“No, no, we won’t take your money. This is our problem, not yours,” Shantel said.
“Mama is right. We won’t foist our troubles on you. We can figure it out,” Zisa added.
“So you’ve decided then. You’re no longer willing to be our old ladies. How can you decide without talking it over with us?” I asked.
“They can’t,” Carnage growled.
“Whoa, hold on. No one said anything about not being your old ladies. We do need to talk about that, but Zuri has kinda taken first priority. We have to get her placed before Penn finds her. That can’t happen,” Shantel told us.
I saw anger and fear on their faces. Worry started to hit me.
“What’s going on with him? I see you’re both angry and afraid. Why?” I asked.
“He can’t get his hands on her or the girls, any of us,” Zisa muttered.
“Why the hell would he try to get his hands on any of you?” Carnage asked gruffly.
After exchanging glances, Zisa told us what happened from the moment Zuri showed up at her house to the moment she revealed what Penn had said after meeting us.
Carnage and I almost lost our shit. To stop us from doing it, I stood, placing Zisa in the chair. Carnage came off the bed. We paced to keep from hollering and tearing the room up. They watched us warily.
“That cocksucker thinks he can make his daughters into whores, sell Zuri, and make you prostitutes? He’s fucking delusional or stark mad. There’s no way in hell we’ll allow that,” Carnage said before I could.
“Carnage is right. Penn is a dead man,” I snapped. Maybe with what happened yesterday, I shouldn’t have said it, but oh well.
“You’d kill him to protect us?” Zisa asked.
“If I’d die to protect you, so why wouldn’t I kill to do it? There’s nothing I wouldn’t do for you or your family, Zisa.”
She let out a soft squeal and then was up running to me. I opened my arms only to have her not hug me. But instead, she jumped, wrapping me in her arms and legs. She kissed me. As we kissed, I was vaguely aware of Shantel and Carnage kissing. We probably would’ve continued if we weren’t interrupted by a hesitant voice speaking.
“D-did I miss something?”
Reluctantly, I ended our kiss and whirled us around to face the connecting door. Standing there looking lost and so skinny and drawn that she worried me was Zuri. Shit, she was worse than the last time we saw her. It was obvious the life she was leading was close to killing her. Zisa wiggled. I took it as her signal to let her down, which I did.
“Come in, Zuri,” her mom said.
Zuri still hesitated. She was giving Carnage and me wary glances. After what she’d been through with Penn and God knows how many men, I didn’t blame her.
“Come in like your mama said. You’re safe. We won’t hurt you. I’m Carnage, and this is Moose. We didn’t get to talk that day we met,” Carnage told her kindly. She edged further into the room.
“We didn’t mean to wake you up,” I told her.
She took a few more steps. “You didn’t. I woke up, and I was alone. I didn’t know they weren’t until I opened the door. I can leave if I’m intruding.”
“You’re not. We were actually talking about you and what we’re arranging to do,” Shantel informed her.
“Mama, I appreciate it, but you need to give up. You know they’re not taking me unless I have money or insurance. I have neither. I appreciate you trying. I should get back.”
“Back? Back where? To Penn?” Zisa asked aghast.
“Yes. It’s the only place I can go. If I stay with either of you, he’ll just keep coming after me and then target you. I don’t have money to run. And even if I did, it leaves you and the girls behind. If I go back now, he won’t be as mad.”
“Over my dead body will you return to that monster! He’s threatening to sell you, Zuri. He wants to get his hands on your daughters, me, and your sister. Returning to him is the last thing you’ll do. We’ll find a way to get you into rehab and protect us,” Shantel practically yelled.
“She’s right, Sis. We’ll figure it out. Come have a seat,” Zisa told her. Zuri shakily walked over to sit in the other chair at the small table in the room.
“Zuri, I don’t know if you know this or not, but your mama is my old lady, and your sister is Moose’s. Do you know what that is?” Carnage asked.
She shook her head. Zisa was getting a pop out of the mini-fridge in the room. She took it over to Zuri, who grabbed it, thankfully.
“It means they’re our women. In the biker world, an old lady is your wife,” I tacked on.
“Exactly, so that means anything that pertains to them pertains to us. And their family becomes ours. We’ve already welcomed Milan and Imani. We’d like to do the same with you,” Carnage told her.
Her eyes widened. “Y-you would have me as your family? Why? They had to have told you what I am. I’m an addict and a whore. You don’t want someone like me in your family,” she said dismissively.
“And I’m a biker who doesn’t always stay strictly on the right side of the law and who has blood on his hands,” Carnage admitted.
“Me too. Maybe you don’t want someone like us and our club in your family,” I threw out.
Shantel and Zisa made protesting sounds. Zuri let a small smile appear as she shook her head. “There are way worse people in the world who appear to stay on the right side of the law and do monstrous things they keep hidden. The fact you admit who you are and don’t pretend you’re perfect tells me you aren’t bad men. As for being bikers, I don’t care about that. And it doesn’t seem my family does either.”
“We’re hoping they don’t. Now, back to what we were saying before you came in. It seems money is an issue in getting you into a good rehab center. We were telling your sister and mama we can help with that. If you bear with me, I think I have a solution to it all,” Carnage advised. When none of them objected, he laid out his plan.
“We don’t live here in Kansas. We’re from Norfolk, Nebraska, which is about four hours from here. You’re all concerned about each other and what this Penn bastard will do. He’s clearly vindictive and off in the head. Shantel and Zisa, I know we still have things to talk about when it comes to us and what we spoke about yesterday. I promise we’ll still do it, but time is of the essence. We need to know. Are you refusing to be our old ladies going forward?”
I cringed inside. I didn’t want him to ask that until we’d had a chance to plead our cases. I held my breath, waiting to see what they’d say.
“First, I need to apologize for how I acted yesterday. I was a total bitch to you. I should’ve waited until I calmed down before saying anything,” Zisa said.
“And I didn’t help the matter. I’m sorry as well,” Shantel tacked on.
Zisa continued. “However, we came to an epiphany last night, which decided the matter for us. It was after Zuri showed up, and she told us what Penn had done and was planning to do. She’s run from him numerous times, and he always finds a way to force her back. He’s been arrested for being a pimp and even selling drugs. He always finds a way to get out of it. I realized we can’t trust the system will ever put him away, and even if they do, he won’t stay there. She’s never going to be free of him. Mama said it best. The only way to guarantee it is if he’s dead. And I knew I could kill him without remorse and set us all free. That’s what you were trying to tell us yesterday. It’s what you do. I judged you, and I was wrong.”
“Does that mean what I hope it does?” I asked.
“It does if you still want us after the way we acted,” was her answer.
I let out a loud whoop, and then I had her back in my arms, kissing her. It took Carnage to break us apart, although, from Shantel’s flushed appearance, he’d done some kissing of his own.
“Alright, now that’s settled, back to my plan. As our old ladies, you know it means you’ll have to relocate to Norfolk. I can’t leave my club, Shan. If I wasn’t president and all, maybe I’d go to Topeka. With that said, you’ll need to move to where we are. There’s no way we want to leave Zuri in a facility close to here and have you there. You’ll want to visit. I suggest you let us call Maestro and get him to work on finding a place near us. Until he does, we’ll divide up.
“I know it’s not easy. You have the houses you rent to give up, moving, and there’s your work, Shantel. It’s not going to be simple or done today. My suggestion is that Zuri is at the most risk. We need to get her to Norfolk today. I can get a few of my guys here to pick her up and take her. Moose and I will stay to help you get things in order to move, and then we’ll follow with your stuff and the girls as fast as we can. I’ll ask a couple of my guys to stay as extra protection. Mainly to keep an eye on the school when they’re there. I don’t want us to take weeks to get moved, though. I need to get back to my club. What do you say?”
“It sounds great, but even if Maestro finds a place close to your club, they’ll still need to be paid,” Zisa reminded us.
“And they will. We have money,” I said.
“I don’t want to use your money,” she protested.
“Without saying too much, our club has a slush fund, if you will. It happens to be funded by the ill-gotten gains of people like Penn and worse. We thought it was better to use it to fund good things. Call it monster’s restitution to those who have been hurt,” Carnage told them as he chuckled. Yeah, no need to tell them yet that the money was stolen using Maestro’s skills.
“It’s a club fund. Wouldn’t they have to agree? And we’d want to pay it back,” Shantel said.
“It is a club fund, and we’ll ask them to vote, but they’ll say yes. As for paying it back, that’s not happening. As our old ladies, you have a right to access it if needed,” I piped up to add. Carnage was nodding in agreement.
It took a bit of back and forth, mostly to get them to allow us to use the money and not pay it back before they folded and agreed. As soon as they did, Carnage called Maestro and told him what we needed. He was eager to jump on it. From there, Carnage sent out a text asking for everyone to gather for a quick emergency church. It would be held as a video call, just like last time. While we held it, the women would hang out in the other room. We were on the clock to get guys down here, and the girls picked up from school. Good thing we thrived on stuff like this.