Chapter 13
Lynch
“What the hell are you doing?”
Jagger tossed another sofa cushion to the floor. “I’m looking for something.”
“Yeah, I got that.” I was beginning to worry that the clubhouse being packed with women and kids had finally gotten to Jagger and walked over to help remove the other cushions. “What are you looking for?”
“A quarter.”
“Seriously?” I glanced around at all the cushions on the floor, then asked, “All this for a fucking quarter?”
“It’s not just any quarter.” He stopped and glared at me, then barked, “This one has a bullet hole in the center.”
“All right, no need to get all worked up about it. I’m sure we can make another one.”
“I don’t want another one.” Jagger went back to digging in the sofa as he said, “I want this one. It means something to me.”
“And what makes this one so special?”
“My old cellmate, Tully, gave it to me.” He leaned back on the arm of the sofa and continued, “He had it in his pocket the day he was shot and kept the damn thing. Said it brought him luck, so he gave it to me the day I met with the parole board. I had it with me then and every day since.”
“You got no idea where you lost it?”
“No clue.” He shook his head. “I always put it on my dresser with my wallet and keys, but a few days ago, it came up missing. I’ve looked everywhere for the damn thing.”
“I’m sure it’ll show up.”
“Yeah, I know, but it’s been bugging the hell out of me.” He stood and started putting the cushions back on the sofa. “Hell, everything is all fucked up, and I don’t see it getting better any time soon.”
“I hate to say it, but I think you might be right. The whole mess with Misty and Candy has all the girls on edge, and they have so many fucking questions that none of us can fucking answer.”
“I hear ya.” Jagger ran a hand down his face in frustration. “Would’ve helped if Shotgun had gotten something more out of that Kordarius kid.”
“I don’t know, brother. That kid took a helluva beatin’. Either he didn’t know shit or has some gargantuan balls and high pain tolerance.”
“Who’s got big balls?” Country asked as he sauntered into the room with Rafe and Widow. “I mean, besides me, of course.”
“Not today, Country,” Jagger grumbled. “I’m not in the fucking mood.”
“What’s wrong, brother?” Country gave Jagger one of his goofy smirks. “That time of the month?”
Jagger didn’t respond. He just stood there and glared at Country.
“Whoa.” Realizing he was barking up the wrong tree, Country raised his hands in surrender and said, “Okay, o-kay. I’m done.”
“Good.” Jagger turned to Widow and Rafe and asked, “Y’all happen to have seen a quarter with a bullet hole through the center?”
“No, not that I can recall,” Widow answered.
Rafe shook his head as he replied, “Me either.”
“Well, damn. I give up. The fucking thing is just gone.” Jagger started out of the room but stopped dead in his tracks when Sophie appeared in the doorway. “Hey, babe. What are you doing here? I thought you had an appointment this afternoon.”
“I did, but it got canceled.” Frustration marked her face as she explained, “That client I’ve been working with at the prison got into some more trouble last night and landed himself in solitary.”
“Damn, this guy’s had a rough go of it, huh?”
“Apparently so. He’s been there for almost a week, and to make matters worse, they didn’t notify me. I still wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t gone for our weekly appointment.”
“That’s fucked up, but I’m not surprised. That place is a fucking joke.” Jagger shook his head with irritation, then asked, “Who is this guy anyway? Maybe I know him or know someone who does.”
“You know I can’t tell you that. I’ve already said too much.” Sophie stepped over to Jagger and gave him a soft kiss on the cheek. “It’ll be fine. I’ll get it sorted, and until I do, I can spend more time with you.”
“Sounds good to me.” He took her hand in his and led her towards the door. “We’re going to the kitchen to grab some dinner. I’ll see you boys at the club.”
“See ya.”
Widow waited until Jagger was out of earshot before he turned to me and asked, “You working tonight?”
“Nah, I got plans, but I’ll be close by if anyone needs me.”
“Plans, huh?” Country snickered. “That mean you worked things out with your little jailbird?”
“Maybe.”
“Well, how about that.” Country crossed his arms with a smirk. “Our boy has done gone and got himself a lady.”
Rafe chuckled as he asked, “Does this poor girl have any idea what she’s getting into?”
“She knows enough.” Like Jagger, I wasn’t in the mood to deal with my brothers’ nonsense. “I’m out.”
When I turned to leave, Rafe asked, “You got a prospect going with ya?”
“Yeah, Davies is tagging along.”
“Good deal. You two be careful.”
“Always.”
I left there and, with Davies following close behind, headed out to the parking lot and on to meet up with Raelyn.
It had been over a week since I’d last seen her, and I was eager to spend some time with her—even if it was hanging out at the animal shelter. When I pulled up to the address she’d given me, I was more than a little concerned by the state of the place.
Not only was it in a bad part of town, but the building also looked like it was on the verge of being condemned, and the grounds weren’t in any better shape.
Raelyn had nothing but good things to say about the shelter and the people who worked there, so I tried to give it the benefit of the doubt as I got off my bike and headed inside. As soon as I walked through the front door, I heard Rae shout, “I'm back here!”
I followed the sound of her voice past the front desk and through the side door and was immediately hit with the potent scent of bleach and dog, but the foul smell was quickly forgotten when I spotted Rae.
She was wearing a pair of ripped jeans with rubber boots and an oversized hoodie and holding a tiny white pup in her hands. “Hey, stranger.”
“Hey there, good lookin’.” I motioned my hand to the puppy. “Whatcha got there?”
“This is Charlie.” She cradled him close to her chest. “Isn’t he the cutest thing you’ve ever seen?”
“Hmm ... Yeah, he’s all right.”
“All right?” She held him up to my face as she pressed, “Look at that wittle face and that cute wittle nose. He’s precious.”
“If you say so.”
She rolled her eyes and smiled, then tucked the pup under her chin, hugging him. “I think our friend here has a screw loose.”
She gave him a peck on top of the head before carrying him back to his cage. Once she had him secured, she moved to the next cage and started filling the bowl with fresh water. “You need a hand?”
“You could go grab the bag of food from the storage closet for me.”
“You got it.”
As I walked over and picked up the dog food, I couldn’t help but notice the sad state of the shelter.
Zip-ties were the only thing keeping some of the cages from falling completely apart.
The concrete floor was crumbling apart, and the ceiling was covered in stains from all the fucking leaks.
I found it hard to believe the place hadn’t been shut down.
I was carrying the food over to the cage when I realized I hadn’t seen any other workers, so I asked Rae, “Where is everybody?”
“It’s just me today.”
“You’re here alone?”
“For the most part.” She continued on with her work like it was no big deal as she said, “I rode here with Haleigh, and she helped me clean most of the cages, and then she had to go to some dinner thing for work and a date with Locke after that.”
“You do realize that you’re in the middle of the ’hood out here, right?”
“It’s not that bad.”
“It is,” I argued. “It’s not safe for you to be here alone.”
“I wasn’t alone. I had the dogs with me. Besides, I wasn’t planning on being here long.”
“It wouldn’t take long for someone to come in here and—”
“Okay, okay.” She huffed, interrupting my train of thought. “I get it. I’ll make sure Haleigh or one of the other girls is with me the next time I work.”
“And keep the door locked.”
“And we’ll keep the door locked.”
“Good.” I started into the next enclosure and almost tripped when a swarm of puppies surrounded my feet. I managed to scoot around them and eventually made my way over to their bowl.
As I filled it, the brown and white puffs raced over and started devouring their food. I hated to admit it, but they were pretty cute—which led me to ask, “How long does it usually take for these guys to get adopted?”
“It’s hard to tell. Some of the puppies that were here on my first day are already gone.” She motioned her hand over to an older German shepherd mix. “But dogs like this one have been here for months and months.”
“Just doesn’t seem right.”
“I know, but there’s not much we can do about it.”
“Maybe. Maybe not.”
Rae’s face lit up. “Does that mean you’re going to adopt one of them?”
“No, but that doesn’t mean we can’t do something.”
“Well, let me know if you come up with any ideas. Otherwise, I might end up with an apartment full of dogs, and everyone will call me the dog lady.”
“Yeah, nobody wants that.”
“No, they do not.”
Once we finished tending to all the animals, I helped Rae lock up everything, and then we headed outside. As we walked to my bike, she noticed Davies waiting in the parking lot and asked, “Who is that?”
“That’s Davies.”
“Why is he here?”
“He’s just keeping an eye on things. Nothing for you to be concerned about.”
“You sure about that?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
She studied me for a moment, then nodded. “Okay, do you mind if we run by my place for a minute? I need to take a quick shower and change.”
“Sure. We can do that.”
After Rae put on her helmet, she climbed on behind me, and we were on our way.
When we reached her apartment, I followed her inside, and it was just as I’d expected.
All the furniture looked like it came right out of some designer catalogue, but the mix of dark and light made it feel cool and edgy—just like Rae.
She dropped her keys on the kitchen table and headed down the hall. “I’ll be back in a minute. Just make yourself comfortable.”
“Will do.”
I took off my cut and laid it across one of the kitchen chairs, then wandered into the living room.
I was about to sit down when I spotted a bookshelf full of pictures.
I went over to check them out and was happy to see that several of them were of Rae.
There was a shot of her with Haleigh and a couple more with her family.
She looked stunning in each and every one. But one photo stood out from the rest.
I picked it up and studied it for a moment.
She was standing on the ledge of a bridge, looking down at the water, and there was this glint in her eye—not one of fear, but of anticipation. At first, I had no idea what she was doing there until I noticed bungee straps around her feet.
After the way we met, I should’ve known she’d have no qualms about bungee jumping or anything else. I had no idea what drove her to be such a risk-taker, but I intended to find out.
I’d just put the picture back on the shelf when Rae called out from her bedroom, “I’m almost done.”
“There’s no rush. Just take your time.”
I sat down on the sofa and overheard Rae muttering to herself as she scurried back and forth between her room and the bathroom. While I couldn’t make out what she was saying, I found it amusing until I heard a loud thud. “Rae? You okay back there?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.” The words had barely left her mouth when there was another one. “Well, shit.”
“You sure about that?”
“Mm-hmm. I’ll be out in a sec.”
I was about to get up and go check on her when she appeared in the doorway.
She was wearing a pair of black leggings with an oversized black sweater that fell off her shoulder, revealing a bright red bra strap.
One side of her hair was pulled back while the other fell close to her face.
With barely a hint of makeup, Raelyn looked absolutely stunning. “You clean up good, babe.”
“I do what I can.” She started over to me and asked, “So, what’s the plan for tonight?”
“I was about to ask you the same. I mean, you’re the one who asked me out, remember?”
“No, I don’t remember that at all.” Raelyn placed both hands on her hips and pursed her lips as she stared at the ceiling, mulling over our last conversation.
After a few minutes, she threw her hands up in surrender.
“Okay, fine. I’m the one who asked you out, so that means I get to decide what we do, right? ”
I hadn’t forgotten about the picture on the shelf, so I answered, “Yeah, within reason. I mean, I’m not all that eager to jump off a building or anything like that. And considering your whole probation thing, I’d say it’s best we steer clear of a situation that might involve the cops.”
“I can’t disagree with you there.” She sat down next to me on the sofa and asked, “What kinds of things do you usually do on a date?”
“I don’t really date all that much.”
“Really?” She smiled. “I’d think a handsome guy like you would have your pick of women.”
“I never said I didn’t. Just said I didn’t date much.”
Her eyes narrowed in confusion, but I didn’t say anything more as I raised my brow and stared at her. It took her a minute, but she eventually realized what I meant and gasped. “Ohhh.”
“It’s really not that big of a deal. I just haven’t met anyone who’s been worth the effort. At least, not until you.”
“Oh, yeah? And what makes me so different?”
“I’m still trying to figure that out.”
“I know the feeling.” Raelyn’s eyes met mine as she admitted, “I’ve never met anyone like you, and it drives me a little crazy, especially when—”
“When what?”
A slight blush crept over her cheeks. “When you run so hot and cold.”
“Not sure I follow.”
“I think you know exactly what I mean.”
She was right. I knew what she meant. “I have my reasons for running cold.”
“Well, I wish you’d tell me what they are because honestly, it’s confusing the hell out of me.”
I started to feel closed in, so I stood and stepped over to the fireplace, taking a minute to consider my answer, which ended up being a moment too long. “I mean, if you aren’t all that interested, you can just tell me. I’m a big girl. I can take it.”
“You gotta know it’s not that. Hell, I wouldn’t be standing here right now if I wasn’t interested.”
“Then, what is it?”
“I’m a man who likes to be in control, but when I’m with you—” I let out a breath of frustration. “Fuck, even now, it’s killing me to be close to you without putting my hands on you, but if I do, I won’t be able to stop myself.”
She got up and walked to me, then placed her hands on my chest. “And what if I don’t want you to stop?”
“Rae.”
“I’m willing to take the risk if you are.”
Her words were still lingering in the air when my mouth crashed down on hers.
The second our lips touched, my restraint instantly faltered.
I was worried it was too fast, but when she inched closer, and I felt her body against mine, I was done.
A soft whimper vibrated through her chest as her tongue twisted with mine, and I was hooked.