Chapter 31
thirty-one
GREER
Anxiety and excitement mingle so interchangeably that it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.
One thing is certain. Jude’s now a brother in the Bayou Dogs.
I can’t wait to see him. Darcy, of course, knew what was going on.
She couldn’t tell until after the voting was over.
She invited me over to her house under the guise of helping with posters so she could bring me to the clubhouse for Jude’s patching in party.
I can’t drive there myself because the location of the compound is a secret.
That’s a little bit of a shock. Darcy’s going to bring me there herself.
She offered to let Jude come and get me, but it sounded like it would interrupt whatever celebrations are going on at the compound, and I want Jude to enjoy his moment.
Don’t get me wrong, I trust everybody I’ve encountered in the Bayou Dogs, but do you think I’d just let someone take me to an undisclosed place without at least asking questions? While my mind races like a whirlwind, Darcy patiently gives answers as if they’re expected.
“If you don’t know where the compound is, you can’t be forced to tell. Some federal agents want to be the ones to locate the club, just to brag they’re the ones who found it. They’d have better luck looking for Jimmy Hoffa’s grave.”
“These days it’s mainly a failsafe, just in case something does happen. But nothing is ever going to get to that point.”
“Yes, I do have someone shadowing me every day, but that’s because Odin worries over nothing…because he makes sure there’s no actual threat to the families.”
Sometimes you have to follow your instincts, and mine are screaming to get into the van and go meet up with Jude. So we load Gris-Gris and Owen into the van, and make a pit stop at my apartment to pick up Hank and a few other things.
As I’m climbing out to run inside, Archer follows behind on foot. “Hey, I need your phone.”
My stomach drops right to my toes. “Why?”
“It needs to be turned in for security reasons.”
I’m sure it’s so I can’t find the compound's coordinates either. Cell phones are a big thing when you’re a type one diabetic.
It was even included as an accommodation in my health plan at school.
I need to be able to call for help at any time, in any circumstance.
What if I’m locked in a bathroom and too weak to get to the door?
My blood sugars rarely crash that hard, but safety first. I’m still not handing over my phone so they can do whatever they want with it.
“Are they going to install some sort of spyware on my phone?”
“He’s going to make sure your phone doesn’t get tracked. Then he’s going to put some lockdown stuff on it, so you don’t get hacked either.”
I give him narrowed eyes, “That’s a hard no for me. I’ll leave it here.”
“Your choice,” Archer placates.
Darcy walks up from behind Archer and demands, “That’s bullshit. Why does she have to turn her phone in, but I didn’t?”
“Ah, c’mon, don’t bust my balls. I’m just doing what I’ve been told to do.”
“That doesn’t answer my question,” she demands.
He stammers, then blows out a long breath, “All I know is that the enforcers insist all phones be turned in or altered prior to traveling to the clubhouse.”
Laser eyes focused on the prospect, she deduces, “So Odin fucked with my phone before we left.” Darcy purses her lips and turns to me. “There’s an old school burner phone in the van for emergencies that you can have. It doesn’t have GPS, so these oafs don’t have a reason to take it away.”
I rush upstairs to throw things together and collect Hank, both our diabetes supplies, low candy, and dog food. At the last second, I think to pack a party outfit. I grab a dress and with a smirk, heels, and the earrings I usually pair with it. Before putting my phone on the charger, I text my mom.
Greer
Going somewhere there’s no phone service. Just a party. We’ll talk tomorrow.
Mom
What’s your emergency plan with no way to call an ambulance that far out?
Greer
I’ll be with a former medic and I have my rescue stuff. He can get me stable until we can get help.
Mom
Is this the new boyfriend with the motorcycle you didn’t tell me about?
Greer
Let’s talk about this later? Love you.
I coax Hank's bulky body into the backpack-style carrier, then bring him downstairs with my bag.
I’d do a lot of crazy things for Jude, but getting into a blacked out panel van that’s straight out of a horror flick takes the cake. If my mom knew she’d practically teleport here by sheer will. It’s just further proof of how absolutely loony I am for him.
Darcy’s still giving Archer shit when he climbs into the back of the van with me.
She’s gone out of her way to make sure I’m comfortable with something she knows is difficult. “Thank you,” I say with absolute earnestness.
“I had the luxury of knowing the Bayou Dogs well before my first trip in, and it was still nerve-wracking.”
With a certain nod, I ask, “Are we picking up anybody else along the way?”
“No, we’re bringing you in earlier so you have time to get settled in and spend some alone time with Band-Aid,” she says with an insinuation that is likely accurate.
She slams the van door closed, then a few minutes later, the engine starts.
“Okay, girl let's do this,” Darcy calls from the front of the van.
It’s weird sitting in the back. A metal partition separates the front from the second and third rows, blocking my view of Darcy. The tinting is so dark it can’t be legal, since the images outside the glass are little more than dark shapes.
Gris-Gris is on the back bench seat with Owen, his head resting on the side of the baby’s car seat. The moment I pull the carrier off my back, Gris-Gris lifts up his head and lets out a sharp bark. “He doesn’t like other dogs?” I ask with a grimace.
“He won’t let them around the baby. I put them in the back row so that you don’t have to pass them. Just put Hank at your feet, and it’ll be fine.”
Darcy reaches into a side panel and hands me a silver flip phone. “It’s activated and everything. Jude has the number, but if you want to give it to someone else, you can.”
I tuck the charged device into my pocket.
“No, I’m okay.” You have to appreciate it when another woman does her best to assure you that you’re not on your way to being sex trafficked.
Not that I’m genuinely worried, it’s more like a dark, cynical side of my brain screaming, “Hey, dumbass, this is how the documentaries always start…a woman from a small town just disappears into the night with her phone left at home.” The club is too protective of women to see us as a commodity instead of humans.
I know, deep in my gut, that I can trust Jude.
You aren’t jealous and possessive over what you don’t cherish most in the world.
Plus, I’m Sully’s only nurse. We might have only just started working together, but he’ll be lost if I ever have to take a sick day.
Greer shuts the van door, then the engine kicks to life.
With Hank settled at my feet, I kind of zone out.
After a while, the van slows, and the smoothness of the interstate turns bumpy.
We come to a complete stop, with the engine running, like we’re at an intersection.
“We’re at the home stretch,” Darcy consoles, making a wide turn..
A symphony of engines kicks to life behind us.
The cell in my hand chirps. I flip it open and read a grainy text from a number with a local area code.
Unknown
I’m right behind you, Baby Doll. I’m coming to get you when we’re a little further down the road.
With the old style keyboard, I don’t answer Jude. It’s one from the early 2000’s where you have to punch a number multiple times to get the correct letter. By the time I’m done typing a response, we’ll probably be at our location.
It’s another twenty minutes or so before the brakes squeal to a stop.
The side panel door slides open, and I blink at the sudden intrusion of light.
As my eyes adjust, I can make out Jude offering me his palm to help me down to solid ground.
“Hi, Baby Doll. I’ve been waiting for you to get here.
” His grin is infectious as he draws me into his warmth for one hell of a kiss.
It’s one of the things I adore most about Jude. He can tell me exactly what he’s thinking with just the touch of his lips to mine. This time, it’s exciting and wicked, meant to ignite a flame in my core.
It works. I’m aching, so desperate for more contact, I don’t care that we’re surrounded by others. My mother would kill me if she knew I was letting a man touch me like this with other people around.
Maw Maw would cackle and say I got it honest.
I feel high off the scent of leather, soap, and wind on his skin, the safety of his embrace, the rumbly contented noise deep in his throat.
Loud hoots and whistles jolt me away from Jude.
I’ve not even noticed the small tribe of Jude’s new brothers nearby astride their bikes, waiting to get into the gate.
Jude yells, “Fuck off,” to them. As the gate swings open, they mount their bikes and ride ahead, calling out colorful suggestions to Jude on how to celebrate tonight.
Jude takes it lighthearted but soothes my warm face with a kiss on the forehead.
“You good?” I take a look around for the first time.
We’re on a road surrounded by a tall fence topped with barbed wire.
Security cameras are mounted on several posts at different angles.
Far from a welcoming sight. We’re in the woods, on a one lane road without street signs.
“Why did we stop here?”
“It’s tradition that the old lady is brought to the clubhouse for the first time on her man’s bike. Since you’re new to riding, it’s best you not have to be blindfolded.”
“Yeah, that would kinda suck,” I admit.
“We’re at the perimeter, so we’re good from here on out.” He pulls me into him again, the kiss growing so heated I wouldn’t care if he took me behind one of the trees.
I inwardly groan when he leads me to his bike and instructs, “Straight up to the bedroom.”