Chapter 15 #2
Tom and Simone arrived about an hour and a half later. Not only did they bring a very sleepy Grayson and Amelia, but they also had Mark with them. Tally tried to hide her scowl, not sure she wanted to talk about her mystery man in front of Mark. She hadn’t really forgiven him since his birthday party two days ago.
“I heard about your restaurant,” he told her, pulling her into a hug. “I’m so sorry. I tried to call you yesterday, but you never picked up.”
Clearly, he hadn’t taken the hint that she didn’t want to talk to him. “I was really busy with the police and the fire marshal and then dealing with the insurance company, notifying my employees and vendors…”
Mark squeezed her tighter for a second and then stepped back. “I would have come over to help you if you’d asked.”
“Tom was here,” she informed him shortly. “Look, Mark, about your birthday party?—”
“I know, I know,” he sighed. She felt him lift his hand and knew he was running his fingers through his hair, which he did when he was nervous. “I fucked up, Tal. I’m really sorry. I just… I called my mom to tell her and she started talking about rings and how excited my grandma would be if I proposed at my party. Fuck, I just… I froze. I’m the oldest of my siblings and I’m the only bachelor! It’s embarrassing. I got her off the marriage track but I just…” He sighed again before shrugging. Tally was still standing close enough to him to feel the motion. “I panicked. I’m really sorry. I told them all that we’d broken up after you left the party.”
Guilt filled her that he’d had to face his family alone because she’d left early. Tally reached for his hand. “Thank you for the apology. I forgive you.”
He squeezed her fingers. “Still friends?”
Tally smiled at him. “Always.”
“Good, because I smell cinnamon and dough. Were you making your ooey-gooey yummy cinnamon buns?”
Tally shook her head at his boyish excitement. She expected to feel regret for breaking up with him, to feel that hesitation that maybe, just maybe, she’d given up on them too soon… But she didn’t. She felt… nothing . There wasn’t an ounce of romantic intent when she thought of Mark, even though he’d been her boyfriend only two weeks ago.
Simone came back into the room from putting the kids in Tally’s bedroom as Tally said, “I needed to do something while waiting for you guys so I cooked.”
Yet she had no intention of feeding the bodyguards standing outside her apartment like sentinels. Something really was wrong with her.
Simone, Tom, and Mark took seats at her island as she went to work serving them. When Simone tried to help, Tally shooed her back to her chair.
“Okay, what I am going to tell you cannot go beyond us. I need all of you to swear to me.”
Though she heard the confusion in their vows, all three still gave them.
Tally took a deep breath and started from the beginning. She told them about the night she’d walked back to her apartment and been accosted by two street thugs. How she’d defended herself, and after they ran off, she’d felt a lone man behind her. She explained how she knew that that was the man inside her apartment when she’d called the police. She didn’t know who he was or what he wanted, but that he never harmed her. Nor did she know how he kept getting in and out of her apartment without using the front door.
Then how he’d followed her to the restaurant the next morning. How he’d witnessed her hiding coins in her dining room for Grayson and then feigning forgetting her drink so he could sneak her container of food out.
How he never talked, how she didn’t even know his name, but was a constant presence in her life.
She recalled the situation with Noah and how she was sure he’d done something when he was upset with her and how her mystery man had merely appeared behind her, having her back. Then Noah apologized and undid whatever it was he’d done. She told them how her mystery man had cleaned up her desk, organizing her paperwork so she could actually get some office work done. She confessed to Mark about how his apartment had gotten so clean the night she’d come over and they’d broken up over a glass of wine. To say he was pissed was an understatement, but he let her continue talking.
She went on to explain how she’d started talking to her mystery man and making him breakfast. How he’d stopped hiding and started sitting with her, listening to audiobooks or her stories about her life. How he’d walk beside her instead of behind her.
It was harder to confess about Gordon Tremont. How he’d been harassing her since the day she’d outbid him on the building that would become her restaurant. She explained that she believed him to be behind several occurrences at her restaurant, as well as sending the thugs after her. Her lawyer repeatedly told his lawyers that her building was not for sale, but he never backed down.
She did not tell them about their evening at her storage unit or about him guiding her hand to his throat and the scars she’d discovered there. That was too…private, too intimate. That memory was just for her.
She continued on, explaining how she believed Gordon Tremont was responsible for her restaurant burning down. As hard as it was to say, she also confessed to the fact that she suspected her mystery man killed the man in the alley behind her restaurant to protect Grayson, which also confirmed to Tom who Grayson had described brought him to her apartment.
And finally, she told them how he disappeared for most of yesterday and her pleading with him to speak with her the moment he’d returned—but before he could, he’d been kidnapped.
It felt like a betrayal, but she also confessed who had done the kidnapping. She couldn’t explain anything beyond that her father had ‘enemies’ and claimed her mystery man was one of them. She very specifically told them that they could not ask questions regarding who her father was and what he did for a living, having to trust her vague explanation.
“So it sounds like your father did the right thing,” Mark said. There was a stiffness to his voice that made Tally wince. “He apprehended a criminal that was stalking you right under your nose.”
“He was not stalking me,” Tally snapped. “Were you not listening? I knew he was there the whole time.”
“How do you know he didn’t let you know he was there?” Mark asked in return.
“I just do,” Tally practically growled. “Besides, you’re missing the point, Mark.” She tapped her chest. “I know he wasn’t here to harm me. I know it, but my father won’t believe it. How do I get him to understand?”
“Understand what?” Mark asked, but there was movement that hinted that someone stopped him from inquiring further.
Simone spoke up. “Tally, putting aside how much you’ve kept from us, your friends , I am not sure I am understanding what it is you are wanting to do. It sounds like you want your father to release him? I’m assuming he’s been taken to prison or something? Regardless, if your father says he’s dangerous and a threat to you, I don’t know what it is you are looking to do.”
“He is dangerous,” Tally stressed, “but not to me .” She scratched her arms, that itchy feeling returning. “You don’t understand. None of you get it. I know in my heart that he was never a danger to me.”
Mark scoffed. “Do you know how insane you sound, Tally? You’ve clearly got Stockholm syndrome or whatever the equivalent of that is to whatever this is. Is this why you broke up with me? Because you fell for your fucking stalker ?”
Tally flinched at Mark’s harsh words.
“Don’t be rude, Mark,” Simone scolded, her voice almost maternal. “Of course, she hasn’t fallen in love with him. Hell, she doesn’t even know his name.”
Tally opened her mouth to deny the accusation as well, but the words got caught in her throat. She coughed, turning away from them to head to her fridge for some water. She was not in love with her mystery man… She couldn’t be.
That was insane—though not for the reason Mark thought or Simone just said.
But there was… something there.
Tally gulped down her water, needing to buy time before answering. Mark and Simone were still bickering back and forth, but Tally blocked it out.
Tally could not deny that she cared for her mystery man. But love? It was… That was too much. She didn’t know anything about him. Except—she did. She knew he was protective. She knew he was caring. She thought back to her questions she’d asked him, their throwing game. She knew he barely ate and only drank water. She knew he served in the military and even that the Army had been his branch of service. It was more of a sense than anything, but she thought he had an aversion to touch. Given the scars she felt at his throat and the one Grayson claimed was on his face, Tally could understand that. Clearly, something traumatic had happened to him.
Tally didn’t know if he could talk, but she still had the impression that he was going to. If her father hadn’t come when he had… Which also begged the question, how had her father known her mystery man was here and with her? If he’d come down to help her deal with the fire at her restaurant then he wouldn’t have brought a small army of bodyguards with him.
Maybe that was what was bothering her about this whole thing: her restaurant, her life’s work, had just burned to the ground and all her father had cared about was capturing her mystery man. What was between them? The sense of betrayal she’d gotten from her father came forward again, but he’d also been harsh and determined in his single-mindedness to get at her mystery man.
Her father had fucking kidnapped someone out of her apartment.
Tally walked back to her island. “You’ve been quiet, Tom,” she said over Simone and Mark. “What do you have to say about any of this?”
Both Simone and Mark stopped talking, and Tally sensed their attention turn towards Tom to their right.
Tom deliberated for a moment, likely choosing his words carefully. “Bottomline, I’m concerned. This man was in our lives, all of our lives ,” he stressed, “for over a month and you didn’t tell us. I understand that you believed he was working for your father, but he was inside Mark’s apartment without his permission or knowledge. Was he inside our house too? Around our daughter?” Shame filled Tally and must have shown on her face, because Tom said, “Exactly. You might trust him, Tally, but I’m not sure you should. Clearly, your father knows more about him than you do. If your father is as powerful of a man as you’ve implied, both now and in the past, then perhaps you need to put your personal feelings aside. Whatever this man was doing here, it wasn’t to protect you.”
Tally felt her heart sink at Tom’s words. He didn’t understand. None of them did. “What if that’s not why he came here?” she asked Tom. “But what if that’s why he stayed ? I don’t know how to explain it, but…” She shook her head, frustrated. “I will never believe he was here to hurt me. I don’t care who tells me and how many times. Unless I hear it from him , I will never believe it.”
A chair scraped across her floor. “Tally, can I talk to you for a minute? Alone?”
Tally nodded at Simone. She started around the island, but then stopped. “Wait, the kids are in my bedroom.” She supposed they could talk in her bathroom.
“I’ll get them,” Tom offered. “It’s time they got up anyway. You said the extra cinnamon rolls were for them, right?”
“Yes, of course,” Tally answered.
After Tom got Grayson and Amelia up and headed towards the bathroom with them, Simone and Tally stepped into her bedroom. Simone closed the door behind them.
“Okay, out with it. What is it you’re not saying?”
Tally shifted, uncomfortable. “I don’t know what you mean?—”
“This might come as a shock to you, Tally Meacham, but you’re a shit liar. You have no poker face whatsoever. So yes, I know you’re still keeping something from me. I am putting aside how angry I am right now that you’ve been keeping secrets from me since the start of our friendship. But I need you to talk to me.” Simone’s ire still rang in her voice, making Tally’s guilt intensify. “What is it you’re not telling me? Did something happen between you and your ‘mystery man’?”
Tally ignored the obvious mockery of her nickname for her, well, mystery man. Letting out a long sigh, Tally sat down on her bed. The comforter was messed up from the kids sleeping in it. She hadn’t checked the time since the others had arrived, but it was probably still before nine in the morning. “It’s… I don’t know how to explain it. All my life, I’ve been able to sense things. You know, my ‘spidey sense’, but it’s more than that. It’s deeper than that. Obviously, I’m not psychic or have empathic abilities, but I still feel certain things. Intentions, I guess. I’m not really explaining it correctly.
“But that’s how I know that he would never hurt me. Hell, even when I thought he was an intruder in my apartment, I knew that.”
Simone came to sit next to her. “Okay. Go on.”
Tally should have known Simone wouldn’t let that be it. “Mark’s…not entirely wrong. I mean, I’m not in love with him. But,” she sighed, rubbing the back of her neck. “Fuck, I feel possessive over him, maybe? I know I care about him, but, fuck, Si, it’s like I’m missing a piece of myself with him gone. I have this itchy feeling under my skin that won’t go away. I have to find him. I have to prove to my dad that he’s wrong about him.”
Simone was silent for a long time. So long that Tally started to get up to pace again, simply because she could not sit still another moment.
But when Simone spoke, it was not a question or statement that Tally was expecting. “What’s that?”
Tally stopped pacing. “What’s what?”
Simone got off of the bed. She wandered over to Tally’s bookshelf in the corner of her room. While she preferred audiobooks, she did have certain copies of braille books that she loved. Like the Harry Potter series and a set of braille encyclopedias that her mom had found at a yard sale when Tally had still been in high school.
She had no idea what Simone could need off of or be questioning on her bookshelf.
Simone walked back over to her. Tally smelled leather. Confused, because she certainly didn’t own anything leather, she held her hand out for it.
The warm, grainy material molded to her grip. Whatever it was was folded, maybe a shirt or a jacket. Her thumb brushed against something soft. She placed her other hand on it, tracing her fingers along the repetitive thread. It was a patch. Multiple patches, but the embroidery wasn’t thick enough that she could read it.
“What does it say?” she asked, her voice low. This was his. Her mystery man’s. He’d hidden this in her bedroom. Why?
Simone cleared her throat. “Tally, that’s a cut. Like from a motorcycle gang.”
A motorcycle gang? She lifted the leather to her nose, inhaling the woodsy scent. She could tell from the feel of the leather that it was worn a lot, but like her mystery man, there was no additional scent. Maybe something tangy, like metal, but no cologne, no shampoo, no deodorant. Nothing that described the wearer.
“Um,” Simone hesitated. “The name on it is ‘Scar’. Under it, it says ‘Enforcer’.”
Scar. It wasn’t his real name. She didn’t know much about biker clubs, but she knew that they liked nicknames. Monikers, like the military. The name though, Scar, it fit him, her mystery man. Wasn’t very original, given what she knew of the blemishes on his face and neck, but it fit him.
Tally opened up the leather. This was the first real thing she had of his. Yes, she still had his laptop and backpack, but those were supplies . This cut, it was personal. It was his .
“What else is on it?” she asked. “I can feel other patches.”
There was a tenseness in Simone’s voice. “Tally, if he’s a gangster?—”
“What else?” she pressed, needing to know.
Simone sighed, relenting. “Next to his name and title, there’s a small circle with the word ‘Original’ in it. There’s, uh, also a Pride Rainbow on the right breast pocket.” She felt Simone lean closer. “It says ‘Ally’ on the rainbow.” Simone moved around to the back. “I think these are called ‘rockers’. I remember from binge-watching Sons of Anarchy when I was pregnant with Amelia. The top one says ‘ Via Dae— ’” Simone paused. “Um, this is Latin, I think. I’m not sure I’m pronouncing it correctly. ‘ Via Dae-moan-ia’ , maybe? Then there’s a demon skull with two rifles crossing behind it. On the bottom, it says ‘Mount Grove, PA’.”
Tally’s heart nearly skipped a beat. “How far away is that?”
“Wait, you’re not considering going there, are you?” The shock in Simone’s words made her voice pitch higher.
“I have to,” Tally told her. She held up the cut as if to show Simone. “These people, whoever they are, they know him.” Tally had to remember she knew his name now, or a name at least. “I mean, Scar. They know Scar. They can tell me about him. If I am right about him.”
“Tally, they’re bikers ?—”
Tally pulled her phone out of her back pocket. Despite her anxious night and not sleeping, she’d thankfully remembered to put pants on before her friends came over. She instructed her phone to search the Via Daemonia in Mount Grove, Pennsylvania.
Her phone started reading off things, mostly from the club’s website. They were a club of veterans and ninety-nine percenters. Tally didn’t know what that meant but listened as her phone continued to list facts about the motorcycle club. They owned several businesses in the small town, including a kids’ consignment store and a Harley-Davidson shop. They supported many charities, both local and national.
Though her phone had more to say, Tally shut down the program.
“Well,” Simone hedged, “they don’t sound like completely awful people.”
No. In fact, they sounded like good people. Another search to explain what a ninety-nine percenter club was and Tally was even more convinced. They sounded nothing like the infamous Hells Angels or the TV show Simone had mentioned. Tally had only listened to an episode or two over the years.
“I’m going.”
She had to know. She had to learn the truth. Her hands tightened on the cut, Scar’s cut. With determination running through her, that itchy feeling she’d had since the moment Scar had been taken from her apartment vanished.
“Wait!” Simone stepped in front of her. “Tally, you’re not thinking clearly?—”
“No,” Tally argued. “I’m thinking very clearly.”
She felt the slight breeze of air as Simone lowered her hands. “Oh, really? And how do you expect to get past not only my husband and your ex-boyfriend, but also the bodyguards your father put on you?”
Shit. Maybe she wasn’t thinking that clearly after all.
“Also, according to my GPS, Mount Grove is over a ten-hour drive away. What are you planning on doing, hot-wire a car and drive yourself there using echolocation?”
Fuck. Okay, so maybe Simone had some fair points.
Tally’s shoulders sagged in defeat. Taking a rideshare there would be expensive as fuck. Maybe she could take a train? Fly? No, her dad would be able to track all of that. If she wanted to get to Mount Grove without her dad knowing about it, she’d have to use cash. She’d also have to leave her phone behind.
“Okay. Here’s what we’ll do. Tom is going to need to get out of here with the kids, but that will give you a chance to pack or at least put on something other than your pajamas.” Tally felt her cheeks heat. “Mark can distract the guards while you and I sneak down to my car. I’ll take us to the airport?—”
“Not the airport,” Tally corrected. “My dad can track that.”
“Then, what? You want to drive there?”
“We can split it up,” Tally encouraged. “Do five or six hours today and then the rest tomorrow morning. We’ll be there by lunch time.”
“You say that as if we will be driving,” Simone grumbled. “Well, if you’re worried about your dad tracking us, then we’ll also have to get some cash.”
“I have some in my safe. It’s not much, but it’ll get us there and back. We’ll need to avoid tolls too.”
“Which might take us longer.” Simone sighed. “I’ll go tell Tom. Start packing. He’ll get the kids and take a taxi back to our house. I’ll have him pack a bag for me and whatever cash we have too.”
“What if Mark doesn’t agree to distract the guards?” Tally asked, worried. He would not be happy when he learned Tally and Simone were planning on running away to a different state to meet up with a motorcycle club. And Tally did not have time to argue with him about it.
“Well, I’ll just remind him of a certain picture I have of him that he’d rather not have published on social media.”
Tally’s eyebrows raised. “What picture is this?”
“Let’s just say it involves a company Christmas party and a very, um, drunk elf doing a very poor lap dance on your ex.”
“What? When was this?”
“Years ago, before you moved here,” Simone assured her. Then more hurriedly said, “Get packing. I’ll go talk to the guys.”
Tally heard her bedroom door open and called out, “Hey, Si?”
Her best friend’s footsteps stopped. “Yeah?”
“Thanks.” Tally felt her eyes well up in gratitude for what Simone was about to do for her. “I mean it.”
“I keep telling you, Tally, I’m here for you. Always. That’s what best friends are for. It’s about time you believed me.”
Tally smiled at her. “I do. Really.”
Simone walked out, leaving Tally alone in her bedroom. Tally brought Scar’s cut up to her face once more, taking in the earthy scent. Finally, she was going to get answers. Then, hopefully, she’d be able to do something to help her mystery man.