11. 11
Deacon continued to spend his spare time with Lisa over the next few days. Cowboy seemed to forget his concern about her, and things seemed to go back to normal, except for the new routine of going to her place instead of his own.
On Saturday, Miles had planned a run for the Kings of Destruction. This was a member’s only run and one that Deacon had committed to riding on weeks ago.
At first, he was hesitant to leave Lisa. He didn’t want to get out of bed and leave her sleeping, but he did it. She knew where he was going and hadn’t seemed disappointed or upset by it, but still, he found it harder than it should have been to slide out of that bed and get on his bike.
They’d been gone for a couple of hours and Deacon had relaxed a bit when they stopped for a few minutes to gas up and give the men a chance to get a drink or use the restroom, and Cowboy approached him.
“You seen Lisa this week?”
“A couple times, why?”
“Did you ever figure out what’s wrong? Her behavior is still bugging me.”
“I don’t think it’s anything to worry about,” Deacon said with a shrug. He wasn’t going to tell Cowboy he knew exactly what it was and while it wasn’t nothing, he thought he had things handled. Especially since he was there with her most of the time. Again, he wasn’t ready to share that with his best friend.
Cowboy nodded and they went back to their bikes. Deacon sent Lisa a quick text while he waited for the others to mount up, and they hit the road again. They were going to spend much of the day on the road, as they were headed to Devil’s Lake.
What they were doing there other than grilling some burgers, he wasn’t sure. But it wasn’t about where they were going. It was about the ride. They were a motorcycle club, and they rode just to ride.
Deacon had to admit, at least to himself, that he’d needed this. The getting away, the feel of the wind in his face and the bike between his thighs. Though lately he’d come to enjoy something entirely different between his thighs.
He pushed that kind of thought out of his head before one of his brothers caught him grinning like an idiot or worse, he caught a bug in his teeth.
When they reached the campground Miles had chosen as their destination they parked their bikes, lining them up so it would be easy to get out when it came time to hit the road again, then he put them to work.
Miles assigned Deacon to oversee the parking and lighting of the grill. It took a couple of tries, but the prospect driving the truck towing the club’s grill trailer got it where Deacon indicated, then they got busy lighting the thing. It would take a little while for the charcoal to be ready to cook on, and that was fine with Deacon. His part was done for now.
Ready to take some time to himself, he headed down by the water to enjoy the view for a few minutes. He pulled out his phone and took a few pictures to share with Lisa later, then checked to see what she’d said about his text earlier.
He frowned. She hadn’t replied. He dialed her number and listened while it rang then rolled to voicemail.
“Hey, it’s me. I’m worried about you. Send me a message and let me know you’re okay.”
He sent another text saying basically the same thing then turned and looked for Cowboy. It only took him a moment to spot the club president. He was talking to a few other brothers at the far end of the parking lot, near where they’d set up their little day camp. Deacon headed that way to see if he’d heard from his sister.
A ball of dread formed in Deacon’s stomach as he closed the distance to his best friend.
“Hey,” he said as Cowboy turned toward him when he joined the group. “You heard from Lisa since we left this morning? Has she texted you or anything?”
“Not that I know of.” Cowboy pulled out his phone and checked it. “No. Is there a reason she would?”
“I’ve got a bad feeling, and she hasn’t replied to me and isn’t answering my call. Can you try calling her and see if she answers?”
Cowboy scowled but did as he asked. After a couple minutes the other man shook his head and disconnected the call. “Went to voicemail. Want to tell me what’s going on? And why you know about it, and I don’t?”
Deacon took a deep breath and let it out in a rush. It was time to come clean, not just that he was seeing Lisa but about all of it.
“Earlier this week when you said you thought something was off with Lisa you were right. I went over and talked her into telling me what was going on.” Deacon looked toward the lake as he told Cowboy what Lisa didn’t want him to know.
“You have known about this for days and didn’t see fit to tell me. But you’re worried about it now. He could have shown up any time. She lives alone and there’s no one to stop him from going in and overpowering her at any time, what makes you think something is wrong now?”
This part of his confession was going to be harder than the other part. “She hasn’t been alone for more than an hour, two max, until this morning.” He turned to face his best friend. “I’ve been spending my nights with Lisa.”
“You’ve been sleeping on her couch to make sure this guy doesn’t show up? It would have been a hell of a lot easier to just tell me what was up. I would have arranged for security for her.”
“Not exactly. I’ve been there, bro, but I’m not sleeping on her couch.” Deacon didn’t miss the way Cowboy’s jaw bulged as he clenched his teeth or the way his hand flexed into a fist.
“Are you telling me you’re fucking around with my sister?”
“No. I’m seeing her.”
“And you didn’t have the balls to tell me. You’ve been running around behind my back for how long?”
Deacon took a deep breath and braced himself in case Cowboy decided to hit him. “I wasn’t running around behind your back. I was going to tell you. It just hadn’t come up. It hasn’t been long, less than a week. I didn’t plan it. It just happened.”
“What you slipped and fell, and your dick fell into my sister?”
Deacon winced. “No. I didn’t say it was an accident. I said I didn’t plan it. If at any point in the last week you’d asked what I’d been doing or who I’d been with, I would have told you. Lisa isn’t hiding it either. If you’d gone by her house any evening this week you would have seen my bike parked out front. We talked about how you’d take it. I told her it wouldn’t be well. But back to what’s got me worried. Before I left this morning, she told me she was going to spend the day at the house. She should have answered the text I sent more than two hours ago. She should have answered at least one of our calls.” He pulled his phone out and dialed her again. Again, it went to voice mail. He shook his head and looked up at Cowboy again. “Anyone not on the ride today? Anyone still in Dickenson we can send over to check on her.”
“No. All the brothers are here. We could send Ava, but—”
Deacon cut him off before he could finish, “No, I won’t put your woman into danger to get Lisa out. I’ve got to get back.”
“I’ll go with you. She’s my sister.” Cowboy turned to where several brothers were gathered near the trailer. “Miles. You’re in charge. Something’s come up and we’ve got to get back. You and Tiny make sure everyone gets home safe. I’ll check in with you later.”
They hurried for the bikes.
“Tell me more about this stalker,” Cowboy said.
“Not much to tell. They went on a couple dates, she kissed him once, then broke it off. He couldn’t take no for an answer and started stalking her. Freaked her out enough she moved home to get away from him.”
“Any sign he’s followed her up here?”
“Nothing so far.”
“What’s his name?”
“All I know is his first name and he lived in Springfield like she did. She never gave me his last name. I’m not even sure she knows it.”
“Son of a bitch.”
“At the very least.”
They reached their bikes. Deacon couldn’t help but be grateful they’d gassed up as soon as they’d hit the town on the shore, then come out to the campground. He threw one leg over and put on his helmet.
“Try to keep up. I’ll stop for gas at the same place we did coming up, but if I lose you, I’m not waiting for you. I need to be sure she’s okay.” He didn’t wait for an answer, but cranked the engine and took off.
Deacon pulled his bike up in front of Lisa’s house a few seconds before Cowboy. They’d made the normally four-hour trip in just under three. Cowboy had stayed right beside him for nearly the entire trip, only dropping a few feet behind as they’d made their way through the city streets. By the time Cowboy pulled his bike to a stop and killed the engine, Deacon was halfway across the yard. He raced up the steps and through the unlocked door.
“Lisa? Lisa! Are you here?” He went from one room to the next looking for any sign of her. His heart thundered in his ears, and a sick feeling settled in the pit of his stomach. Her purse was on the table beside the door where she’d started keeping it, but he couldn’t find her anywhere in the house. He stepped out into the backyard and called again. “LISA!” When he got no response, he stepped back inside. One of the dining room chairs lay on its side and there were a couple of kitchen drawers open. That seemed to be all that was out of place.
“Is she here?” Cowboy asked as he stepped from the kitchen back into the living room.
“Not that I can find. She wouldn’t leave the door unlocked.” Deacon stared at Cowboy. “Not after dealing with Randy in Springfield.”
“Her car is out front. If she’s not nearby, then something’s happened.” Cowboy pulled out his phone and dialed. He put it to his ear and listened. “Still nothing,” he said after a moment. “Does she run an android or iPhone?”
“Android, why?”
“I might know a way to find her. Let me see if I can figure out her password.” He sat on the sofa and messed with his phone for a few minutes.
Deacon couldn’t take waiting. He searched the house again. Then paced while he waited for Cowboy to do whatever it was he was doing.
“Jackpot!” Cowboy yelled as he jumped to his feet. “The little fool used her last name and her date of birth for her password. Her phone is at a motel on the outskirts of Bismark.
“Fuck. Wish we’d done this before. We were there a little over an hour ago.”
“Then let’s go back. I’ll send you the address so we both have it.” He did something on his phone and a moment later, Deacon’s phone buzzed.
Deacon looked at the address, wasn’t sure where it was exactly but he’d look it up while they fueled the bikes.
“Let’s go.” He grabbed Lisa’s keys on his way by and locked up before getting on his bike and taking off.