Chapter 2
CHAPTER
TWO
Julie
This was a mistake.
I don’t know why I let Liz talk me into this. Hell, I don’t know why I let her convince me to do half the shit we do, but here we are.
You know why. That little voice in the back of my mind is always reminding me of stuff I don’t want to remember.
I do, though. Liz promised me that if I came out tonight and met the guy she’s interested in and hung out with one of his friends that she would go to a concert with me.
As close as Liz and I are, our music tastes are vastly different.
I found my love of classic rock from my father.
It’s what I grew up listening to. She did too with as often as she was at our house, but somehow it didn’t stick with her. Instead, she calls it geezer music.
That’s why she knew I wouldn’t say no if she offered that. In this moment I kind of hate how well she knows me because while I’m watching her have sweet little moments with her guy, his name I’ve already forgotten, I have to deal with his…friend.
“Come on, hon, sit on my lap. Let me show you what will be yours in a few hours,” the man next to me says, making my stomach sour.
“No thanks,” I tell him, trying to keep my thoughts off my face.
I look across the table at Liz, who’s tucked into the side of her biker love interest. I would call him her boyfriend, but knowing Liz, she hasn’t agreed to date him. The guy looks like a discounted version of a guy from a motorcycle club on TV.
“Come on, you know you want to,” his buddy says next to me.
I look over at the guy and try to remember his name.
Chet. Clint. Clive. Something with a C. His hair is greasy, and he smells like cigarettes so bad I fight the urge to gag. He isn’t wearing a cut like the other guy. Actually, he looks more like a drug dealer.
“I really don’t,” I say plainly.
“Then why the hell did you come? I was told you would be a sweet thing, but as far as I can tell, you aren’t,” he sneers.
“I came because my friend asked me to, not because I’m interested in a hookup.” I decide honesty would really be the best.
“Come on, give me a chance to thaw some of that ice queen shit you got goin’ on. You won’t regret it.”
A memory rushes to me from when I was a preteen. Dad took me into the backyard and went over several self-defense moves. He wanted me to be prepared in case I ever needed it.
Is tonight going to be my lucky night to finally put those moves to the test?
The guy reaches toward me, and I jerk back.
“I said no,” I remind him.
He opens his mouth to say something, but Liz cuts him off.
“Everything okay over here?” she asks.
I look over at my best friend and see a concerned frown on her face.
“Everything is fine,” I lie.
Her brows furrow. “Are you sure?”
I slide off my stool and grab my purse. “Of course. I’m going to step outside for a minute. I need some air.”
She starts to pull away from her man. “Let me come with you.”
“Babe, no. She’s a big girl and can handle herself. If not, Cliff can go with her…” he groans.
Cliff, that’s it. I knew it started with a C.
I shake my head. “No, I’m going to go by myself. I’ll be out front by the bouncers. Dad texted, and I need to call him back.”
Liz’s eyebrows raise at my lie. She’s been around long enough to know that my dad doesn’t type out texts but sends voice notes if he doesn’t have enough time to pick up the phone and actually call.
“All right. Tell Daddy Corday hi,” Liz says.
Her man picks her up and moves her off his lap. “Come on, babe. Let’s go dance.”
“Have fun,” I tell her, truly meaning it.
I want her to have fun. Really I do. I just wish it was with someone a little…different. Not that I have a problem with guys in clubs. I just don’t like ones who hang around creeps. After all, you are the company you keep, and I’m not inspired by the company this man keeps.
Still, if she is happy, I will suck it up. It wouldn’t be the first asshole I’ve suffered through for her. Most likely won’t be the last either.
Before she can say anything, I head to the door, but before I step outside, I look back once. Liz has her head tilted back, and she’s laughing at whatever her man is saying against her neck. For a split second, I can’t help but be a little envious.
I want that.
I want someone who wants me and only me.
Sighing, I shake my head and step outside.
“You coming back in?” the bouncer asks.
“Yeah, just have to make a quick call.” I smile.
He nods. “I’ll save your spot.”
“Thank you,” I tell him as the crowd of waiting girls groan.
“Come on, just let us in,” one of the girls whines.
“We’re over capacity.”
I walk down the street a little bit and lean against the edge of the building. Tipping my head back, I sigh as the chill gets me.
Jesus, I didn’t realize how hot I had gotten in there. I should have brought a jacket. It’s January, and the cool air will quickly have my teeth chattering. I wasn’t planning on needing to escape, though. Poor planning on my part.
Something in the air shifts, making all the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end. My body tenses as I frown and I look around. My eyes stop on a guy just down the street, leaning against the no-parking pole, smoking a cigarette. The way he’s watching me puts me on edge.
Quickly I look back over at the bouncer and see that he’s a little preoccupied by the girls who want in to notice that something’s wrong.
Fuck it. I’ll just go back inside and try to find a place at the bar where I can get a minute alone.
Decision made, I push off the wall, but before I can take a step, it happens.
Someone grabs me from behind, his leather-gloved hand instantly goes to my mouth, covering it.
“Shut up, bitch,” he hisses as I try to make a noise.
I look down the street and see that the cigarette man is leaning against the pole with a smile on his face.
I try to pull away but can’t as he lifts me off the ground, my feet dangling in the air as he pulls me back into the shadows.
Son of a gun. Just when I think this night can’t get any worse, it does.
Yak
The wall behind me vibrates from the bass as music blasts throughout the club on the other side. I can’t help but smirk as my brother takes a seat behind the club manager’s desk, making the guy sit in a different chair.
“How are things going?” Yooper asks as I discreetly scan the room.
“Business is good,” the club manager, I think named Albert, says.
“Yeah? The sales don’t necessarily reflect that,” Yooper points out.
Albert waves his hand through the air. “You know it dies down right after Christmas. Everyone is too poor to buy drinks.”
It’s a lie. One I know Yooper sees. This is yet another issue Yooper is having.
Some of the club’s businesses are being mismanaged.
I wish there was one person that was common in all of this, but the club works as a team, meaning any one of them could be involved.
Or maybe none of them are, and this dumbass is skimming himself.
I don’t believe in coincidences, though, and three of the club’s businesses skimming money is far-fetched.
No, this is sabotage.
“Yet our place over off of Seventh is excelling, and it’s in a sketchier neighborhood. If the poor are managing to spend their money, why can’t you get some trust fund college kids to spend theirs here?” Yooper points out.
“That’s not fair. Those people have nothing else to do but drink,” Albert protests.
I tune out and watch the brothers in the room. All of them seem to be fully present, which sets off major red flags. Frustration rolls through me. Yooper told me that shit was wrong inside his club, but I didn’t think it would take this long to pinpoint who it is.
It is driving me insane.
I will, though. It’s just going to take time.
Maybe I should slip out. Check out the club and see if I can find anything out there.
It wouldn’t be unreasonable to think that brothers could be holding their own meetings out there when they know Yooper is tied up.
Now I just need to find a way to slip out of the room to check it out.
I tune back in and catch something about renovations.
“Come on, Yooper. I need you to approve the renovations. You know it’s a good call,” the club manager pleads with my brother.
“You and I both know that your sales are too inconsistent for me to agree to it,” Yooper tells him.
One of the brothers, Timbit, fidgets in his spot.
“Come on, Yooper. The club is packed tonight, and the upgrades will bring people in,” the club owner says.
“Cleaning the place up some would probably help more,” Keener, the club’s enforcer, says.
Yooper turns to Hoser, the treasurer. “What do you think?”
As Hoser starts to speak, I catch my brother’s eye and point to the door. He subtly nods, and I slip out of the office. The sound of music slaps me in the face, making me wince.
Fuck it. I’ll take a minute by myself before I circle the room. I make my way to the back door and step into the cold night air and take a deep breath.
Jesus fuck. I’ve been a part of club life for a long time, but when I was with Mountain River in Colorado, I never had to sit in on shit like this.
I enjoyed my grunt work. It was simple. Yooper needs me, though, to stick close to try and find his traitor.
If I don’t, who knows what will happen. Not just to him but to the club he’s built.
The idea makes me sick. I just got him back, and the idea of something happening to him now…is unacceptable.
I pull a pack of smokes from my pocket and shake one into my hand. Staring at it, I twirl it between my fingers.
I fucking hate these things.
Memories of my dad smoking flash through my mind, but I shut that shit down quick.
It’s a vice I can’t seem to quit, though.
Not without replacing it with another. It helps that many of the brothers smoke and often talk freely as they do.
It’s another thing to bond me to them. So it’s a vice I will keep for a while.
A scuffling gets my attention. I shove the pack back into my pocket and quietly step forward.
“Hold her, man,” someone grunts.
“I’m trying. She’s fucking feisty, though,” the other guy mutters.
Ice fills my veins. Quietly, I make my way to them, and when I round the corner, anger rushes through me.
The two men have a woman pressed up against a wall. They have her mouth covered as she thrashes, and with the help of the alley light, I can see tears rushing down her cheeks.
Reaching into my vest, I grab my knife, and without a second thought, I move. I go for the guy closest to me and slit his throat first. As he drops, his buddy’s eyes go wide, and I grab him by the head and slam his face into the brick before pulling him back.
“What the fuck, man?” the guy hisses.
Ignoring him, I look at the frightened woman. “What did they do to you?” I demand, not taking my eyes off of her.
Gasping, she tries to speak, but nothing comes out.
“Did they touch you?” I ask.
She nods.
“Did they violate you?” I press.
Her head jerks up and down.
“Words, Angel. I need specifics.”
She licks her lips and rasps. “They ripped my panties and groped my chest.”
“Anything else?”
She shakes her head slowly, wincing, I’m sure, from the pain of moving her head. “No, you stopped them before they could go any further.”
For some reason, her words help me breathe a little easier.
The man I’m holding tries to break my hold, but I tighten my grip and grab his chin. I lean in close and ask, “What were you going to do to her?”
“Nothing she didn’t want, man,” he says stupidly.
I shake him. “Tell me.”
“No.”
Knife still in hand, I jab it into his side, making him gasp.
“You stabbed me,” he grunts as if he were surprised.
“Tell me what you were going to do to her,” I demand.
“Look at her, man. She wanted it. She’s asking to be fucked wearing that,” he whines.
I shake my head in disbelief. “Are you fucking serious? You think she was wanting to be manhandled and raped because she’s wearing a skirt?”
“She was into it!” the man cries.
“We should call the cops,” the woman says, her teeth chattering from either the cold or the shock.
“He doesn’t deserve to go to jail and be bailed out. He wasn’t going to let you out of this alley tonight,” I tell her.
“You don’t know that,” she whispers.
I sigh. This girl is innocent. She hasn’t seen the worst of the world. I have, though.
Turning my attention to the man in front of me, “Do you see this patch?”
He pales as he nods.
“Then what were you going to do with her? Let her go?” I demand.
“N-no…” he whispers.
“What were you going to do?” My eyes harden as I stare at the man.
He knows he isn’t getting out of this.
“I was going to rape her and then kill her.”
“Is it the first time?” I ask.
He shakes his head.
I look over at the woman in question. “Don’t worry, sweetheart. They will never hurt you again. You’ll sleep easy tonight. I promise.”
I pull my knife out of his side and slit his throat without hesitation.
She whimpers, pulling my eyes back to her.
Fuck.
She’s got blood sprayed across her face, and if I didn’t know better, I would think they were freckles, and in some sort of sick and twisted way, she looks beautiful even with fear bleeding from her pores.
Walk away, Yak.
You don’t have time for complications right now, no matter how pretty they are.
Then she sways, and I know I won’t leave her. Not until I know she’s safe.
Fuck.