Chapter 4
CHAPTER
FOUR
Julie
“Let go of me! Help!” I scream, even though they are covering my mouth as they drag me into the alley.
“Shut the fuck up, bitch,” the guy behind me says, breathing down my neck.
The other guy chuckles darkly. “I love it when they fight.”
Gasping, I sit up in bed, heart pounding as I come out of the nightmare. My eyes shoot across the room, looking for something, anything.
I’m alone.
I take a shuddering breath as I try to calm my breathing.
It wasn’t real.
Well, not actively happening, real. It was all a dream. A horrible dream.
Licking my lips, I look around my room and see that I am in fact not alone. Tabby is curled next to me in bed, but my mystery man is nowhere to be seen. My eyes dart to the door and see it’s wide open. I listen closely and hear nothing.
“Hello?” I say out loud tentatively.
No one responds, and my heart skips. I could have sworn he said he was going to stay with me.
Carefully, I get out of bed and head to the kitchen.
After grabbing a glass of water, I check the rest of my house and see that I am in fact the only one home.
I come to a stop next to the front door and take a sip of the water as I stare at the locked door.
If it were just the handle, I would understand, but the deadbolt is locked.
When I went to bed last night, I know I wasn’t alone, so how is the door locked?
“I’m going crazy,” I mutter to myself.
Padding softly down the hall, I go back to my room and head straight into the bathroom.
I turn on the water, and as it heats up, I take off my clothes, dropping them in the hamper.
Without glancing at the mirror, I get into the shower and quickly wash myself.
I can’t help but scrub a little harder with my loofah as I try to wash the dirty feeling away.
I’ve heard women talk about being violated many times, and I thought I understood what they meant, but I was wrong. I didn’t know I could feel like this. My skin doesn’t feel like my own, and I just feel…wrong.
“Stop it. You’re lucky. It could have been so much worse,” I scold myself.
It could have been. I could have become a statistic, or maybe I should say more of one. They could have taken more from me and hurt me in ways I can’t even fathom.
They said they were going to kill me.
I push the thoughts away and step out of the shower. Quickly I dry off and wrap the towel around me. Slowly, I approach the mirror but keep my eyes down. For the first time ever in my life, I’m afraid of what I might see looking back at me.
Taking a deep breath, I look up and sigh in relief.
“Thank goodness,” I mutter to myself as I eye my neck.
My skin is still a bit red, but no bruising has started to show. I look at my arms and see a little bit of bruising but flick my eyes away. I can’t look at it. I will spiral out of control. Thankfully it’s winter, and no one will question why I am wearing long sleeves.
Shaking my head, I put on a little makeup with shaky hands. I never should have accepted the sleeping pill last night. Not because of who gave it to me but because I hate the way they make me feel. I swear I feel the lingering side effects from those little pills more than I do a bottle of wine.
After doing my hair and makeup, I head into my bedroom and get dressed for the day. Usually I talk to Tabby while I get ready, but I’m somber this morning. Once I’m done, I head back to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee to hopefully shake off the rest of the sleeping pill.
Coffee brewing, I turn to put my phone in my purse and pause when I see something propped up against my bag. My heart races so hard I swear it feels like it could pound out of my chest. With a shaky hand I pick up the folded piece of paper carefully and open it.
You are safe. I stayed as long as I could, but before I left, I checked again and made sure all of your doors and windows were locked.
I thought about waking you up, but you looked peaceful despite what happened to you.
Just remember, when the thoughts get too overwhelming, you are safe, and they can no longer hurt you, but take last night as a lesson to always be aware of your surroundings. Danger lurks everywhere.
Take care of yourself.
Sadness seeps into me when I realize he never left his name or number.
Of course he didn’t, Julie. He had no reason to.
I let the letter fall onto the counter and head back to my coffee. Still, I can’t help but wonder who my savior is. Before I can think too deeply on it, my phone rings.
“Hi, Dad,” I say as I answer when I pick up my phone.
“How are you, baby?” he asks.
I close my eyes as the timbre of his voice washes over me, offering me comfort.
“Jules, you there?”
I shake my head. “Yeah, I’m here. Sorry, I’m trying to get out the door.”
“Everything okay? You’re usually already on the road by now.”
“And you called knowing that I don’t answer while I drive?” I tease.
Dad chuckles. “I was going to leave you a voicemail.”
“Well, now you can just tell me. So what’s up?”
“I was wondering if you wanted to do dinner tonight?”
“Sure,” I say with no hesitation.
“Good. I’ll make your favorite. Are you going to invite Liz?” he asks.
I can’t help but smile at my dad’s automatic assumption that my best friend will join.
“I’ll send her a text.”
“You kids and texting,” he mutters, making me laugh softly.
“Anything else? I need to get on the road.”
“Just stay safe, and I’ll see you tonight. I love you.”
“I love you too.”
He hangs up, and as I put my phone into my bag, my heart aches.
I know I should have told him about last night. I know he would want to know, but at the same time, I made my mystery man a promise. I told him I wouldn’t tell anyone, and I meant it.
So, for the first time in my adult life, I’m keeping something from my father. Not because I don’t trust him, but because he is the law after all. I’ll keep the secret close to my chest, and hopefully someday I’ll be able to show my knight in shining armor my thanks.
Yak
I stand in the middle of the field and stare at the land before me. There is a thin layer of snow on the ground that fell in the early morning, but by midmorning it will probably be gone. The weather changes up here as fast as it does in Colorado, only here it’s different.
For one, it’s a lot fucking colder.
My phone buzzes in my pocket, and I pull it out. I chuckle when I see the name flash across the screen.
Wolf
I had to sit on guard duty with Trout last night because the prospect came down with the flu. About midnight, he started snoring logs. It was all I could do to stay awake. Fuckin’ Aspen had to keep bringing me coffee, and now I’m too wired to sleep.
Me
So what you’re saying is…you miss me.
Wolf
when are you coming home?
Sighing, I look away from my phone for a moment.
I want to tell him I’m home, that I’m where I need to be, but I know he won’t like it.
Wolf used to be a part of the FBI. He specifically worked on taking down MCs like KOA.
When I told him that I was going to be staying here and patching in, he pulled me aside.
Told me he didn’t like it and gave me the little information he had on the club as a whole.
Not my brother’s chapter, but the entire network.
He tried to talk me out of it, but I wouldn’t listen.
Because Yooper needed me, and maybe I needed him.
Getting this time with my brother has been…eye opening to say the least. I didn’t realize how much I missed him.
“Hey,” a voice calls out.
Speak of the devil.
“One sec,” I tell Yooper as he comes to stand next to me.
Looking down at my phone, I type out a quick text.
Me
If anything changes, I’ll let you know.
Before he can respond, I shove my phone into my pocket.
“Everything okay?” Yooper asks.
“Yeah, it was just my friend Wolf checking in.”
“They miss you.”
I nod.
“As soon as we figure this out, you can take off. I’m sure you’re itching to get home.”
I rub my jaw but keep my mouth shut.
“Spit it out, little brother,” Yooper tells me.
“I know the deal was for me to head back down there when this was over, but honestly I’m not so sure anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“The idea of going back feels wrong. When I think about home now, it’s not there that comes to mind. I might hit the road and see where it takes me.”
He frowns. “You would still be there if I hadn’t taken you away. What’s changed?”
My soul.
I don’t tell him that, though.
“Don’t know. Just feel like I haven’t found where I belong yet,” I admit.
He nods. “You know you always have a place here.”
I know that, but I don’t say anything.
“Tell me what happened last night?” he asks, changing the subject.
“Was outside for a smoke and saw some pests taking what didn’t belong to them,” I say simply.
He frowns. “Do you know who she is?”
I shake my head. “I’m sorry. I know I shouldn’t have, as it put the club at risk, but I couldn’t let them do that to her.”
He shakes his head. “Never apologize for protecting a woman. You know that. For fuck’s sake, I hope someone would do the same if it was one of our sisters.”
“Yeah, but I’m not here to be a pain in your ass. I’m here to help you solve your problems,” I point out.
“Jameson, you’ve been a pain in my ass since the day you were born. Last night was nothing. You saved a girl, and that fucking matters. I would have been fuckin’ pissed if you would have just let them rape her and did nothing to stop it,” he says quietly.
Even though I know I did the right thing, it’s nice to hear it from someone else. Someone who wasn’t there.
“Enough of my bullshit. How did last night go for you? Did I miss anything?” I ask, changing the subject.
Yooper groans and rubs his hands over his face. “Fuck! It feels wrong to talk about this shit out in the open.”
“We decided to do it this way so we know no one is listening,” I remind him.
Being out in the middle of a field isn’t ideal, but we know nothing is bugged, and we would be able to see people coming and have time to stop before they get too close.
“I know. I know.” He shakes his head. “Outside of Albert being a pain in the ass and your shit, last night was uneventful. I’m starting to feel like I’m going crazy and I’ve just imagined all of this shit.”
Before he can even finish his sentence, I start shaking my head.
“No, you aren’t wrong. Your instincts were dead on.
Something is happening. Runs don’t get interrupted as often as yours do.
On top of that, I know you guys do things differently than where I come from, but from other clubs I’ve talked to, a brother would never overspeak their president in the presence of outsiders without permission,” I point out.
Last night when Keener stepped in and talked about cleaning up the club, I didn’t think much of it, but now looking back, I can’t help but wonder. Is he part of the problem? Does he want to take my brother out and have the club to himself?
“You’re right,” Yooper sighs.
“Does he usually do shit like that?”
Yooper shakes his head. “No. He’s usually typically pretty quiet unless asked. Last night was abnormal.”
“I’ll dig into him. See what I can find.”
“Fuck, I hate being this paranoid!” he hisses as he begins to pace.
Once he’s started to calm down, I speak. “We will figure this out. I promise, Bennett.”
Yooper nods. “Tomorrow, there’s a club party. You might be able to pick some shit up then.”
I bite back my groan. The last thing I want to do is hang out with a bunch of possible backstabbing dickheads, but for my brother, I will.
“Don’t worry, I got this.”