Can’t Walk on Water (Diamond Creek #3)

Prologue

Katrina

“Kat, it’s time to go,” Slyce whispered. “Grab Frankie. We need to move.”

I jumped up from the bed. “What’s going on?”

“There are men outside. It looks like they’re wiring the place up to blow. We need to move now.”

“Blow? As in explode?” I hissed. “Who would do that with people inside?” I rushed to Frankie’s bed. “Wake up, baby.” I gently shook her shoulder until her eyes fluttered open.

“Mom, stop.”

“Francesca Delilah, get out of that bed. We have to go!” I prayed the urgency in my voice didn’t scare her, but I needed her to take me seriously for once. Raising a preteen was not for the faint of heart.

“Fine,” she huffed and threw her blankets off. “I need to get dressed.”

“There’s no time,” Slyce commanded. “Put on your shoes; we’ll get you some new shit once we’re gone.”

Frankie glared at Slyce. She didn’t like the woman’s brash demeanor. I couldn’t say I was a fan of it either, but she’d been protecting us since she got here, so I owed her.

“Frankie, we need to go; this might be our only shot.”

“What about Bunny?”

I threw my head back and stared at the ceiling, silently willing my eyes to stay dry.

Looking at my daughter, I said, “We don’t have time to look.

” I grabbed her by the shoulders. “There are men outside trying to blow this place up.” Her eyes widened in fear, and her face paled.

I hated scaring her. She’d already been through enough.

But I trusted Slyce enough to know she wouldn’t bullshit me.

“Okay,” she said quietly, her voice somber.

She spun around and dove under the bed, pulling a box out.

She threw off the top and grabbed the small stuffed bunny.

It was no bigger than the length of her hand, but she’d had it since she was two, a gift from her biological father before he walked away from her.

I’d never kept secrets from Frankie. She’d always known she was adopted. She knew her mother had gone to prison for hurting her, and her father had signed his rights away.

And she knew that bunny was from him.

After my ex-husband, Richard, went to prison, Frankie and I moved to Arizona. I did everything I could to keep Richard from finding us when he got out. Always used cash, which had gotten harder and harder. We were happy and safe for a few years. It was just the two of us.

Then I met Clay.

He seemed nice. I worked at a diner, getting paid in cash under the table. It was such a cliché, but there weren’t many places that would pay in cash. He’d been coming in for months before I finally agreed to go on a date. I’d known him for almost a year when I finally allowed him to meet Frankie.

Allowed was a strong word. It was an accident, really. We were in the grocery store and suddenly there he was. Looking back, he must have been following me. Hindsight was 20/20, as they say.

He pulled out all the stops and convinced me to move in with him.

That was when I found out the truth. That he was in a biker club.

I didn’t know how to get out. I’d only gotten away from the last bastard because the police were involved.

The Death Dogs didn’t involve the police, and God help anyone who did.

I knew it was stupid. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Clay was controlling, but he wasn’t abusive. Not physically, anyway. He protected me and Frankie from the others. Then one day he just never came back from a run.

By then, we were living in Wyoming. I’d thought my life was over, then Slyce arrived one day. She took one look at me and somehow knew we needed help. I would forever be grateful to her.

“We need to go now!” Slyce repeated, the tone of her voice displaying her irritation. I grabbed Frankie’s hand, and we rushed out into the darkness.

We started running, Slyce in the front and me practically dragging Frankie behind me, her little hand clutching the bunny she held to her chest.

My legs burned, and my breathing was rapid as I held on to my little girl. Shouts rang out behind us, and I looked over my shoulder. A man was running after us, with five more behind him.

“SLYCE!”

She slowed but didn’t stop as she lifted her gun. “Keep going!” she shouted. The sound of gunshots made me stumble, and then the ground shook. Heated wind pushed us forward, and we tumbled to the ground. I pulled Frankie into my arms, tears no longer holding back.

“Mom,” she whimpered.

“I know, baby. I’m so sorry.” I cried into her hair as I held her and waited for the inevitable. My eyes closed tightly against the impending capture once again.

“Kat.” I opened my eyes to Slyce’s quiet voice and her hand on my shoulder. The man standing behind her looked angry. The cut was unmistakable. I couldn’t see the patch on the man’s back, but I didn’t recognize him as a member of the Death Dogs.

“Kat, this is Stocks. He’s a member of the Silver Shadows. You can trust him.” Slyce looked over her shoulder at the man. “Well, you can trust his vice president.” She stood from her crouch and held out a hand. “Let’s go.”

“Where?” I asked as Frankie and I stood. Frankie hadn’t said a word, just stood close to me with one arm around my waist.

“To Diamond Creek, Nebraska.”

“I can’t do another club, Slyce,” I whispered.

“It’s only for a day or two. Just to get our bearings. His vice president’s old lady is a Nyght Nymph. Between the two of us, you will be safe.”

I stared at the burning structures. Whoever the Silver Shadows were, they’d just blown up the clubhouse and surrounding dwellings. A black SUV drove across the field toward us, and I hugged Frankie tighter.

“It’s okay, Kat, they’re with Stocks.”

I didn’t respond as the vehicle came to a stop and I saw two more men inside. One wearing a cut and one without.

“This is Payne and Eros,” the man Slyce called Stocks said before turning to the men and confirming, “They’re coming with us.”

The ride to Diamond Creek was quiet. Frankie cuddled against me in the back seat while Slyce sat in the middle seat with Stocks. Payne and Eros were in the front.

I woke Frankie as we pulled into the lot. The clubhouse was a huge brick building, with a porch that spanned the front. My immediate thought was how much nicer it was than what the Death Dogs had in Wyoming and in Arizona.

Frankie and I stayed at the back of the group as we entered the building. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it wasn’t this. There were men everywhere with various cuts on their backs.

“Oh fuck!” one man said as he stared at Frankie. I wrapped my arms around her shoulders and pulled her back against my chest. I didn’t want to scare her further, but I didn’t know these people.

“Jack? You know them?” another man asked.

“Never met them,” the man named Jack replied, never taking his eyes off my daughter.

A young girl with pink hair pulled my attention from Jack when I heard her call out, “Slyce!”

“My name is King. I’m the president here. Is this your daughter?”

I nodded but didn’t speak. I hugged Frankie tighter.

“You’re safe here.”

Slyce snorted, her eyes glaring at King, and I wondered why she brought us here. She said we’d be safe, but her reaction said the opposite. King raised a brow to Stocks, who only shrugged.

“Church, now.” King walked away toward the double doors on the other side of the room, then turned. “Kytten, would you bring your friend? Zeus, you too.”

King held the door open as we all shuffled inside. I was once more at a loss as to what to expect. I knew what church was, but the way Clay described it, no one outside the club ever entered. Kytten, the girl with the pink hair, led us over to a couple of chairs, and King sank down into his.

“What the fuck happened?”

Payne looked at Stocks and waited for him to speak. I was surprised when he didn’t, as this was Stocks’ club. Clay never would have let someone take credit for his work.

Shaking his head, Payne said, “We got out there and wired everything up. Chatty Cathy over here”—he motioned toward Stocks, and I knew he was being sarcastic—“wired up the barn while Eros and I took the trailers. We were just about to blow them up when Stocks took off running. I guess he’d seen the women and the kid when we hadn’t.

“He ran after them, and a few guys took off after them too. Stocks took them down and yelled for us to blow it up. There is nothing left. We made sure the guys who went after Stocks were dead and threw their bodies in the fires.”

King focused on Slyce. “What about you?”

“This is Kat and Frankie. I was tasked with locating and protecting them. I found them living at the Death Dogs’ compound.”

I looked up at Slyce. Someone had sent her to find us? “Who sent you?” I asked her.

She gave me a sad smile. “I can’t tell you.”

Frankie sat up straight and faced me. “Is it Dad? Is he coming after us?”

“You’re safe here, Frankie. I promise,” Slyce offered. I pulled Frankie closer and glared at Slyce. She’d told me I could trust her. That she wanted to help us.

“Kat, I have a home you can stay in. It was my old lady’s house, and she’s staying here at the clubhouse now.

I’ll send a couple of guys with you to help you get settled until we can figure out how best to help you going forward.

The house will have no ties to you, so whoever is looking for you won’t find you here.

” King scowled at Slyce. “Unless someone tells them.”

“They are in no danger from me,” she growled, but I didn’t believe her. Not until she told me who was looking for us.

“Jack, you and Blade show them the house. Take Indie with you so she can pack up Grace’s clothes.”

We followed the men back out to the SUV, and Frankie and I climbed in the back.

“Mom, what if he finds us?”

“Shhh, he won’t find us, baby. And if he does, he won’t hurt you again. I’ll make sure of it.” Never again would my daughter fear one of her parents.

The house King had for us was only a few miles away. It didn’t take long before we were pulling up out front. It was a cute home, well-maintained in a small neighborhood. There were flowerbeds out front and a porch swing.

Jack unlocked the door and held it open for us. The way he stared at Frankie made me uneasy. I knew what to look for, and so far, nothing he had done had been inappropriate.

“Frankie is a cool name,” Jack said.

“It’s short for Francesca,” my daughter responded with a slight smile.

“I have a daughter named Charlotte. She just turned five. We call her Charlie,” Jack shared.

“That’s cool.”

“I could bring her by if you’d like to meet her? She’s always wanting to make new friends.”

Frankie nodded with a smile that surprised me. My daughter was shy, but she took to Jack easily.

“My old lady will come to,” Jack directed to me. Her name is Samantha, or Sam.”

Not knowing how to say no, I nodded the way Frankie had. There was no interest in making friends here. I wouldn’t be staying. Not once I learned who was looking for us.

“I’ve got Grace packed up. There are a couple boxes. I grabbed all her clothes and toiletries etc. I’m sure she’ll want to come by and grab anything that is personal,” the girl whose name must have been Indie said to Jack.

“I sent another prospect out to the grocery store. What else do the two of you need?” Blade asked.

“They need clothes. I don’t want to leave them here alone. Not yet,” Slyce answered.

“If they make me a list, I can go. I’ll take Mimic with me,” she rushed out when Blade opened his mouth. He nodded at her.

I gave Indie a list of a few essentials we needed to get through the next few days. Jack ordered us some food to be delivered before he left, and Frankie and I fell asleep as the sun began to rise.