Halley
When I made it to Reno, to Cowboy, I collapsed.
He scooped me up and carried me to his room, but before we made it there, we were stopped.
Two drunken women each wearing spiked heels and not much else looked Cowboy up and down.
The strong odor of liquor rolled off them and I noticed Cowboy smelled the same and like smoke. He didn’t smoke.
“Is this where the party’s at?” The one in the aqua halter top asked us.
Cowboy told them where to find his boys.
Inside, I couldn’t help but close my eyes.
After I’d gotten some rest and we talked about how they hadn’t found my baby, I had a bad feeling.
I felt Cowboy was keeping things from me.
Only a feeling, I tried to ignore it. He hadn’t kept his promise.
He smelled like those whores. I couldn’t believe his men were partying instead of out looking for my baby.
Therefore, when he said I should go shower, I snapped at him.
Inside the crummy bathroom, I ran a bath.
The lousy tub had a ring and the body wash and shampoo were lacking, but I’d had worse.
I washed every inch of me then I used the shower to rinse off.
I wrapped myself in the paper thin, scratchy towel and twisted my hair up in a smaller one.
Most nice hotels have robes, so I knew I wouldn’t find one here.
I hadn’t even thought to pack a change of clothes.
When I stepped out of the bathroom, Cowboy was gone.
I looked all around.
Serpentine sat in the corner with his feet propped up. “How are you enjoying your freedom, Star?”
I started to say, “What the hell?” But understood I was dreaming.
Having a nightmare more like it. LuAnn stepped into the picture holding my baby.
“Look at this little Rattler,” she said.
“We’re grandparents, sort of.” She looked back at Serpentine, forgiving him for fathering my child, like she always did.
All the sudden, I couldn't breathe. I was drowning. Cowboy’s arms yanked me by the shoulders out of the bath water as I gasped for air. I gripped the sides of the tub to steady myself. Still reacting to the dream on top of coughing and gagging, I was confused.
Cowboy yelled at me, but I couldn't make out what he was saying. Snakebite was there, too, lifting me out of the tub.
Shaking. I couldn't stop shaking.
All went black.
When I came too, I was lying on the bed with covers up to my neck.
“She passed out from exhaustion. She didn't try to kill herself,” Cowboy growled at Snakebite.
What the hell was Snakebite doing in our room?
They were having an argument. Although awake, I found I couldn't move my head, without it pounding. I decided to be still and listen.
Snakebite spoke, “I told you not to tell her about Teeth.”
“I didn’t. She doesn’t need to hear no shit about him being a known human trafficker.”
“I’ve heard from Hiss. Him and Root. They think they spotted the child. They followed Teeth’s sister to an overnight daycare center where she dropped a baby off.”
Cowboy laid out a plan. “So, we’ll wait until she comes to pick him up, and we’ll follow them. We’ll have him. This will all be over.”
Snakebite said, “Meet you out front in the morning.”
Meaning the two men would be carrying this plan out.
I waited until Snakebite left to confront Cowboy. When I sat up, he was right by my side, all concerned, but I didn’t care. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Tell you what?” Cowboy was still keeping secrets.
“You know what.”
“About Anarchy?”
Hell, I clammed up. Had he heard she’s pregnant? I wasn’t about to give up the fact I had no clue what he was talking about. “And about Teeth. What he’s planning for the baby.”
“Snakebite thinks they’re trying to sell the baby…”
I collapsed back down.
“But I’ve done some research. The top buyers are looking for a baby to raise as their own, no questions, but no funny business.”
“Like that makes it better,” I screamed at him.
“No, it doesn’t. I just didn’t want you to worry.”
“You think there’s any way I could not worry.”
“No, I don’t think that... And about Anarchy. It’s a long story.”
“So, you know?” I couldn’t believe I’d believed her when she said she would wait to tell him she was pregnant. Was this why the two crews were here having a high old time instead of going after the baby? It’s like Cowboy didn’t even care.
“Know what?” His eyes turned into slits.
I crossed my arms, still not wanting to give my position away. “What’s the long story?”
“Well, as you know, she rode with us to track Jessy and Teeth down. When we came up empty handed, I sent her home.”
“Okay, and why did you send her home?” I waited, knowing that couldn’t be all of it.
He shook his head, like he was about to tell me something awful. “I think her and Freedom are involved somehow.” He talked about the kidnapping. “From the way Anarchy acted all weird around me, she’s up to something.”
“Weird. How do you mean?”
“All mature and level headed. She wasn’t drinking or giving me sass. That’s not the Anarchy I know. I’ve let Scar know to keep an eye out and to keep her from joining the hunt again.”
As bad as the possibility that the kidnapping was even more of an inside job was, I was relieved he hadn’t told me his ex-girlfriend had gotten knocked up with his child.
Personally, I didn’t think Anarchy was involved in my baby’s disappearance, but I didn’t know her like he did.
I did know Snakebite, so felt he had to be behind all of this mess.
My lips were sealed about Anarchy. Cowboy crawled in bed with me saying, we’d just sleep. He assumed I wasn’t in the mood, and he’d been right.
I laid my head on his shoulder and drifted away.
The next morning, Cowboy told me to stay put while him and Snakebite met up to try and rescue my baby.
It was a tall order. Still hurt he hadn’t been truthful with me and feeling guilty knowing something he didn’t know about Anarchy, something that pertained to him, I didn’t let him kiss me goodbye.
So, when the door opened again, I thought it’d be him, coming back to insist. I rushed to meet him, having changed my mind, upset about being so short with him, but bumped into Snakebite.
“What are you doing here?” I made sure all the buttons on the big plaid shirt I’d borrowed from Cowboy were buttoned.
He came toward me, and I backed into the room. “Hiss is taking your Cowboy to the center. I volunteered to guard your door.”
“And Cowboy was okay with this?”
“I think he’s pretty confident I won’t win you over… What the fuck, Halley? Why haven’t you come back to me?”
“Why have you taken my baby?”
“He’s mine as much as he is yours.”
“I don’t think so.”
“I’m president now. Dad’s dead. Murdered by your brother, so I’m all the decent kin the baby has now except Viper.”
Viper, I hadn’t thought of Snakebite’s sister in ages. I fought the urge to ask about her, knowing how she lost her own child. One of the Asphalt Gods had murdered her. I shook my head not wanting to go back to the past. “No way to tell if the baby was Serpentines or not.”
“None of that matters. I loved you so he’s mine… Still love you. I’ll be responsible for him.”
“I guess you are responsible. You left me to rot down there. If it weren’t for you, your brothers and your daddy wouldn’t have raped me at all.”
“If it weren’t for me, you’d be dead, and you know it.”
After that, Snakebite stepped outside, actually guarding my door.
Cowboy had left me a bagged breakfast. I ate but didn’t taste the food. Sucking down the coffee, I got some energy, but had no idea how to use it. I paced. It’d been over an hour, and I hadn’t heard anything from Cowboy.
Peeking out the window, I saw Snakebite hadn’t moved, but he had stepped up to lean on the balcony while he smoked. I stepped outside and bummed a cigarette off him.
“You don’t smoke,” he said, handing me one.
My hands shook as I tried to light it. He took the lighter from my hands and lit it for me.
I inhaled and coughed.
“Don’t worry. I won’t let them sell our baby. I’ll buy him if I have to.”
I inhaled again. “You will not. And he’s not our baby.”
“You porkin’ that Sumbitch’ Cowboy?”
“None of your beeswax,” I automatically replied then regretted it.
“Beeswax. How’d I know you’d say that?” He smiled.
A memory of Snakebite and I, of us, before anything bad happened, flitted through my head. I cursed myself for smiling back. My face rolled into a scowl. “What are you up to?”
“I want to find my baby same as you,” Snakebite said, like that explained everything. He shook all over, telling me, “I can’t wait to get my hands on the fuckers who took him.”
My frown deepened. Maybe they’d been right, and Snakebite wasn’t behind the kidnapping? What had Scar and Cowboy gotten us into? What was their plan? What were they planning to do after we find the baby and Snakebite thinks he has some claim on him?
I didn’t plan to hash it out right now. Instead, I found common ground. “You’ll have to wait in line.”
As Snakebite and I talked about the most painful ways to kill Jessy Bell and Teeth, a heavy metal song started playing. He pulled out his phone just when I realized it’d been his ringtone. He hung up quick and started to run down the stairs.
“What’s going on?” I shouted after him.
When he didn’t answer, I ran after him. He mounted his chopper. I stepped in front of it. “What’s going on?”
“They’re losing him,” he snarled, starting his bike.
“The baby?”
“Yeah, I knew I shouldn’t have trusted a God to take care of mine. You coming?”