Chapter Five
Lily
I opened my eyes to the sound of Scrapper’s contented purring. The little furball was curled up on the pillow inches from my nose. Good thing I wasn’t prone to allergies! Mom must have brought him up while we were sleeping.
Reaching behind me, I felt nothing but sheets. Rattler wasn’t in bed, and I rolled over to see where he was. There wasn’t anywhere to hide in the room, and the open door to the ensuite let me see that he wasn’t in there either.
I untangled my arm from the sheets and checked my watch.
I’d been asleep for less than an hour. A pang of loneliness washed through me, and I tried to squash it.
We’d barely met, and the man had a life, places to go and no doubt there were things to do that had nothing to do with me.
The fact that he’d let me stay in his room was huge.
Flipping the sheets off, I stretched. I was naked, which made sense, but I really needed to get decent. I wasn’t sure how this whole clubhouse thing worked, and I didn’t need anyone other than Rattler seeing me without clothes.
Picking my backpack up off the floor, I dumped the contents out on the bed.
I really hadn’t put any thought into packing it when I’d left.
I had underwear, socks, and leggings, but absolutely nothing resembling a top.
Great. The one I’d been wearing desperately needed a wash and I cringed at the thought of putting it back on.
I picked out a thong and matching bra and donned them along with a pair of black leggings.
Now what? This tiny scrap of lace that passed as a bra wasn’t the kind you could pretend was supposed to double as a shirt.
A dresser against the wall caught my attention and I padded over to it on my bare feet.
The top drawer yielded an array of T-shirts, and I gingerly picked out a gray one with a Harley logo on it that looked like it might work with the leggings.
Rattler wasn’t a small man, and what was probably a figure-hugging shirt on him looked like a short dress that fell to mid-thigh on me.
With the leggings under it, it made a respectable if somewhat unstylish outfit.
I hoped Rattler wouldn’t be too upset with me for borrowing his shirt.
I repacked the clothes in the backpack and headed into the bathroom to find the clothes I’d discarded before taking a shower.
I could rinse them out in the sink and hang them to dry on the shower rod for now.
When Rattler got back, I’d ask him to run me back to town.
Surely there’d be a Goodwill or secondhand store there where I could pick up a few outfits with the money I had left.
I was just hanging the last of my dripping clothes up when I heard the door to the room open. My first reaction was to hide, but I resolutely squashed that down.
I was done playing doormat. To anyone. Of course, the gun hidden in the stack of towels beside me added to my bravado.
“Oh, good. You’re up. Feeling better?” Rattler walked into the room and glanced in my direction, taking in my outfit. He nodded approvingly. “That shirt looks a whole lot better on you than it does on me.”
I smiled shyly. “I packed in too much of a hurry and didn’t realize I didn’t have any tops until I woke up just now and went to get dressed. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Not at all. Like I said, it looks better on you.” His gaze shifted to the assortment of clothes hanging from the shower rod.
“There’s a bunch of stuff downstairs that people have left over the years.
Mom washes it and puts it in the game room.
I’ll show you where it is later and you can help yourself to whatever you want. ”
“I was hoping you’d take me to town. There must be a secondhand clothing store there somewhere so I could get a few things without spending too much.
” I didn’t want to whine about my lack of money, but I knew if I used that credit card it could be traced.
Tim did finance stuff. He probably knew how to trace credit cards, or else he knew someone who could.
I didn’t think he knew about the card, but I wasn’t willing to take a chance on it.
Rattler shook his head. “No can do. You need to keep low for a bit.”
“Keep low?” Was he trying to tell me Tim was somewhere close by?
He reached into his back pocket to pull out a piece of paper. “Might as well sit down. I had a talk with Ace, and it seems your ex is alive and well and putting his own spin on shit.”
I backed up until the backs of my knees hit the bed. I sat, my heart racing. Was he going to tell me I had to leave? I wasn’t sure I could handle any more bad news right now.
As if sensing my distress, Scrapper padded over and rubbed his little head on my arm. Absentmindedly, I reached down and stroked his silky fur.
Rattler crossed the room and sat down beside me. Unfolding the piece of paper, he handed it to me. I found myself staring at a picture of myself.
Missing. Tim had reported me as a missing person. Possibly kidnapped by persons unknown.
“Shit!”
That meant people would be looking for me. They’d know who I was. They’d be under the impression I wanted to go back. Wanted to be with Tim.
Rattler nodded. “Yeah. Shit. Unless you want to end up back there, you need to make sure no one outside the club sees you until we come up with a plan.”
“A plan? You’re going to help me?”
He grinned. “Help Jack’s little sister, and my new roommate? Of course.”
“But you don’t know Tim. He’s not going to give up.” I could feel the panic starting to rise.
“I’m counting on it.” He draped an arm around my shoulder.
I leaned into him, resting my head on his shoulder. I was confused. “You want him to find me?”
“No, I want him to make it easy for us to find him. Then we’ll take care of him, so he won’t lay his hands on you or anyone else ever again.”
He made it sound so easy. The panic was starting to simmer down. “So I just hide out and let him come looking for me?”
“Pretty much.”
“And exactly what do I do while I’m hiding? Just sit here and pet Scrapper?” I didn’t think that was going to work. I’d sit. And think. And go crazy. Nope. Not going to work.
“Actually, Janet could probably use some help with the wedding shit. That would give you something to do.”
A wedding. I felt a twinge of envy. When I was little, I used to picture my own wedding.
A lacy white dress. Lots of flowers and music and happy people dancing and singing.
The groom had always been a rather hazy figure, but I knew he’d be amazing and handsome and love me so very much and we’d live happily ever after in a perfect world.
I’d been such a naive idiot. When my dad died, my perfect little world had fallen apart.
“Janet doesn’t even know me. Why would she let me help with something as important as her wedding?”
“Your brother Jack was one of us in spirit even if he didn’t quite make it back to officially join us. That means you’re family. She’ll be thrilled to have one more person to help celebrate. And help do all the shit she expects to happen.”
I had my doubts, but my options were limited.
“Which brings up the other issue.” He reached into a pocket in his vest and pulled out a zip locked bag with a stick sticking out of it. “I need a DNA sample from you.”
I frowned. “Why?”
“Shadow can match it up with Jack, so there’s no doubt about you. It will prove you are who you say you are.”
I tried to process that. “You think I’m lying?”
He shook his head. “No. It’s a formality. We take government contracts, among other things, and they need to know everyone here has been thoroughly vetted.”
I stared at the little baggie. “So how does this work?” I was picturing a swab up my private parts. Not exactly a fun idea. Maybe I could just pee on it like a pregnancy test?
“It’s a cheek swab. I just swipe the end of the stick in your cheek, drop it back into the bag so it doesn’t get anything else on it, and give it back to Shadow.”
I could feel my face go red with embarrassment. I wasn’t about to explain what I’d been thinking. “Oh.”
Rattler tilted his head. “What?”
“Nothing. Never mind. Let’s get it over with.” I opened my mouth.
Looking slightly confused, Rattler pulled the stick out and ran the soft tip around the inside of my cheek. After sealing it back in the bag, he tucked it into his pocket. “All done.”
“Do you tell me when you get the results?” I asked.
He gave me a questioning look. “If you want. It will just say you and Jack are related, and the probable relationship.”
I frowned. “Probable relationship?”
“It can say full siblings, half siblings, cousins, offspring. Depends on something called markers, which is nerd talk for a bunch of crap I don’t understand.”
I nodded. “So nothing I don’t already know.”
“Exactly.” He looked down at his lap where Scrapper was busy kneading a place with his claws. Sliding a hand under the little furball, he held him up in front of his face. Scrapper batted at his nose.
Rattler grinned. “You are quite the little scrapper, aren’t you?
You need to find somewhere else to dig those claws in, though.
” He placed him on the bed and turned back to me.
“You also need to let Joker check you out and make sure you don’t have anything worse than bruises.
He can take some pictures and start a medical file.
It will document what happened to you and when, just in case your asshole of an ex claims you got all those bruises after you left him. ”
“Joker’s a doctor?”
“Next best thing. He’s a medic -- military trained, so not great if you’re having a baby but top notch if we’re talking injuries. He’s board certified here as a paramedic so his files can be used as evidence if needed.”
“Okay. When am I doing that?” I was starting to think I’d need a calendar or something to keep track of all this.