Chapter 4 #4
But a member named Ranger? She was not familiar with him, that she knew of. Other than biblically, now, it would seem.
Susie shifted in her seat. The car was dark, but between the headlights and the moon, Toni could clearly make out her friend’s discomfort. “Ranger and Ghost co-managed Demon on the Rocks,” she explained slowly. Like she was trying to lead Toni somewhere.
Everyone in town knew about Demon on the Rocks. Beyond that it had been a safe place for women to drink and know they were protected, regardless of who they came with, it was also where a recent bombing had taken place. Where four members of the community, including Jett Deininger’s wife, had died.
Toni recognized Ghost’s name, but in name only. When Steel had been arrested and held at the town jail over the weekend, she recalled him telling her that the club’s enforcer, Ghost, was on his way. But she still didn’t know Ranger’s name.
“You’re going to have to give me more than that, Suz,” Toni told her. “Did Ranger have something to do with the bombing?”
She hadn’t been paying close attention to the case, which wasn’t much of a case because the perpetrator or perpetrators had never been caught to her knowledge.
“No, no, of course not. Ranger’s a solid man, a good man.
But I also know something’s changed about him since then.
He’s barely been around recently, but to my knowledge he wasn’t injured in the explosion.
Ghost and he used to be tied at the hip.
I can’t remember the last time I saw the two of them apart.
Not just at the bar, but around town, events, and such.
One of the women who died, Monica, she used to be one of the club bunnies.
They called them ‘Honeys’, but that’s what they were.
” Susie shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe she and Ranger were something more. I just know he’s not the same.”
Toni recalled the haunted look in those ice-blue eyes. Not icy eyes. They weren’t cold or absent. If anything, they were too expressive, too open to the pain coursing through him.
Was Susie right? Was he mourning the loss of someone he loved?
Pulling into her drive, the gravel crunched under the tires. Her outside lights were on, as they always were, but her parents’ place was dark. Seeing their car as Susie’s car passed the modified garage, Toni guessed they turned in already. Her dad worked early hours, so it wasn’t that surprising.
Susie pulled into Toni’s usual spot to the left of her front stairs. “Congrats on your first Girls’ Night. You nailed it.”
Toni lifted both eyebrows. “What are you talking about? I didn’t even get to go.”
“Honey, you had a crazy experience, fucked a hot guy, and possibly lost your panties along the way. Other than the lack of wine, you nailed it.”
Toni snorted. “Oh, trust me. There’s about to be plenty of wine. I’m going to down an entire bottle, soak in the bath, and then spend the rest of the night figuring out how I am supposed to get my car fixed in the morning.”
Susie raised an eyebrow. “Wow, how na?ve you are.”
“What?” Toni blinked, confused.
“If you think for one second that Ranger’s just going to leave your car down there, then you don’t know these bikers at all.
They’re rough around the edges, and some might be a tad unhinged, but they’ve got hearts of gold.
Ranger will get your car to the auto shop.
And don’t be surprised if he or a prospect isn’t here first thing in the morning to pick you up to take you to work. ”
Toni just stared at her. “That’s insane. I literally just pulled a fuck-and-run on him. Why would he still help me out?”
“One, because it’s the right thing to do. Two, because I have a feeling he’ll want to see you again. And three, because it’s the right thing to do.”
“You said that twice.”
Susie shrugged. “To them, it’s that important.”
“Great,” Toni grumbled, not sure if she wanted to see Ranger again. After how she acted and then running from him, it would be totally embarrassing. As she looked at her front door, something else occurred to her. “Fuck! My purse is back in my car!”
Susie’s eyes widened. “Crap. Do you want me to head back down so you can get it?”
Toni had no idea how long it took to hook up a car, if Susie was even correct about Ranger not just ditching the job and heading home.
But what if she was correct and they got back down there to see Ranger hooking up her car, and then she had to talk to him and look at his beautiful face and those haunting eyes…
? “No,” she decided out loud. “I have a spare key around back in my garden. I’ll grab that. ”
“If he notices your purse and phone, he’ll keep them safe,” Susie promised her. “He might break into your phone to put his number in it, but that’s just wishful thinking on my part.”
Toni stared at her, unable to tell if she was joking or not. “I’m not drunk enough for this conversation.”
“Go!” Susie laughed. “Enjoy your wine and your bath. If I don’t hear from you by eight, I’ll come up to get you.”
“Thanks,” Toni mumbled. She felt completely out of sorts, and this was why she shouldn’t be allowed out in public outside of work hours.
* * *
125 Days Sober
A loud noise startled Toni awake. She panicked slightly, not seeing anything upon opening her eyes, until she lifted her head and the washcloth fell from her face.
The low lighting of her bathroom further disoriented her until she realized she’d fallen asleep in the tub.
The water was cool, the bubbles completely gone, and an empty wine bottle stood accusingly on the edge of the porcelain.
Thank God it hadn’t been full when she started, but there’d still been enough for two and a half glasses before she dozed off.
Blinking, she tried to recall what had woken her.
She was starting to think it was just the cold water getting to her when another noise from downstairs caught her notice.
What was that? Her heart picking up speed, Toni rushed from the tub, dripping water everywhere.
Her hair was mostly dry except for the ends, and she’d been in the water so long that her entire body had started to prune, not just her fingers and toes.
As she reached for her robe without drying off, the distinctive sound of breaking glass reached her ears. Fuck! Was someone breaking into her house?
Toni had lived on this mountain for six years, and no one had even trespassed on her property, let alone broken into her house.
And for them to do it on the night that she didn’t have a phone?
Fuck! She didn’t have her phone. She couldn’t even call her parents next door for help.
Was there even a point in calling the police if she could?
She was at least fifty minutes from town.
As the crow flies, it wasn’t that far, but the police cars couldn’t go speeding around the windy mountain roads without them becoming a hazard themselves.
It was why her road was notorious for teenage crashes.
Who was here? Why? Did they know she was alone?
Her mind jumped to Ranger, but that made no sense at all.
Why would he break into her house? Susie had said he’d give her a ride in the morning.
Was it morning yet? Not having her phone on her, Toni had no idea what time it even was, and her bathroom had no windows to hint if the sun had risen yet.
As quietly as she could, Toni entered her bedroom. She only had a lamp on, but shouldn’t that have been enough to signal someone was home? Maybe not, it did face the back of the house. What about her front lights?
A glance at her nightstand clock confirmed it was still the middle of the night.
Something metal crashed downstairs. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Someone was definitely in her house, and they were not even attempting to be quiet. Which meant they either thought no one was home or they didn’t care that someone was.
Toni did not like guns, but she was a single woman, who lived and traveled alone. She owned a small pistol that she kept in her car—something else she’d left behind, fuck!—and a double-barrel shotgun. It wasn’t unusual for bears or other wild predators to venture onto her property.
Maybe a raccoon had broken into her house? Please, she silently begged as she reached into her closet for her shotgun. Please let it be a raccoon.
She couldn’t recall what lights she’d left on when she’d come inside. Had she even locked the back door? She’d been so focused on getting out of her torn dress and into the tub, not to mention the half bottle of wine, that she honestly couldn’t remember.
Pulling two shells from the case next to the gun, Toni loaded it as quietly as she could. She’d only used it once before, when a black bear had tried to break into her car one summer. Hoping the sound would be loud enough, she’d shot into the air to scare it away—which, thankfully, it had.
The hallway was dark when she entered. Should she turn the light on? Maybe if she did, they would leave? Feeling like a rat in a maze, Toni made her way down the hall and to the top of the stairs. Her bare feet left wet prints along the wood floor.
At the top of the stairs, Toni froze. Something definitely moved down there, and it was not raccoon shaped. Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
Another crash made Toni jump. Her heart beat was so loud in her ears that she didn’t know if she was hearing voices below.
Was there more than one? She’d only seen one shadow move.
What was she supposed to do? Was it better to hide?
To get out? Fuck, she would not survive the zombie apocalypse.
She was not good at making decisions in the moment.
She liked facts, she liked order, she liked knowing what she was going to say when she was supposed to say it…
She did not like horror or action or adrenaline.
“…not good enough!”