Chapter 65 Maybe he knows how to find her
LIA
My bank account said $125.72 this morning. That was it. Walking through Morton Williams, trying to figure out what I could afford to eat for the next week, felt like its own special kind of sadness. I looked in my cart: milk, butter, the block of sharp cheddar I was treating myself to, bread, cereal, cheap ramen. I needed some real food. Doing the math in my head, I figured if I got two pounds of ground beef, I could still afford a case of Pepsi, some canned vegetables, and enough gas to put a little in Misfit’s old truck until I figured out how to make more money.
I sighed and turned up the music on my phone as one of my favorite songs started. I pushed my earphones in tighter and kept moving to the aisle with the cans. My eyes scanned the shelves until I found the sweet corn. I grabbed a few cans, then some stewed tomatoes. Looking back at my cart, I thought if I switched to a smaller pack of soda, I could afford some noodles and seasoning to make a big pot of goulash. My stomach growled at the idea. Decision made, I headed for the pasta aisle and stopped dead at the end of the row.
A huge man was loading cases of Gatorade into his cart a few aisles over. His muscles stretched his shirt with every move. He bent down to grab another case and I made a small sound without meaning to. The back pockets of his light blue jeans fit him perfectly. He wore a gray t-shirt under a leather vest. On the back of the vest was a skull and crossbones with the words ‘Lords Of Chaos’ above it, and smaller patches on the sides. His hair was black, short on the sides and longer on top, falling a little over his forehead. When he finished and turned around, my breath caught.
He was beautiful.
His bright blue eyes scanned the store. I just stared. Tattoos covered his neck and disappeared into his shirt. His arms were fully inked, even his hands. A silver ring curved through his left eyebrow, and another ring sat in his bottom lip on the right side. I watched his tongue play with it and felt my own lips part. For a second, I imagined what it would feel like.
Then I saw him smile. A small woman with dark hair, showing a little baby bump, walked toward him. He opened his arms, picked her up in a hug, and kissed her forehead. Of course. Of course he had someone. I shook my head and finally turned down the noodle aisle.
Bobbing my head to the beat, I grabbed the noodles I needed. As I turned down the next row, I heard a crash and shouting over my music. I pulled out one earphone.
“Let her go!” a voice yelled, hard and angry.
I peeked around the corner. Two men were facing off near the front. A third guy was on the floor, not moving. One of the standing men had the dark-haired woman in a tight hold, his arm around her neck. She had both hands pressed over her belly, protecting her baby. She didn’t look scared, though. She looked furious. The other man, the one who’d shouted, was the beautiful stranger from before.
“You promised I’d get my patch! Then you threw me out over this bitch! All I did was smack her kid when he ran through the clubhouse!”
“You’re lucky that’s all that happened to you, Hal,” the beautiful man growled. His voice was low and dangerous. “Viper and Catalina and I were ready to end you for touching Cameron. He’s three years old. Catalina was going to cut your balls off.”
“I still might if you don’t let me go, Hal!” the woman, Catalina, snapped, her voice fierce.
I couldn’t watch. My chest was getting tight. I could feel my heart beating too fast. If this kept going, the old memories would rush back in, and I would lose myself. I couldn’t let that happen.
Without thinking, I grabbed the cans of corn and tomatoes from my cart. Calling on my old softball days, I let them fly. One after the other. I heard two solid ‘thunks’, then a heavy ‘thud’.
I didn’t wait to see the result. I never missed a throw. I used to be one of the best catchers in the state, before I fell for a man who taught me what fear really was. I left my cart right there and walked fast out of the store. I couldn’t get caught up in this. If the police came, they would ask questions. I couldn’t lie to them, and I couldn’t tell the truth. He would find me.
My hands were starting to shake. I had to leave. Now.
I ran to my best friend’s beat-up green Ford F-150, a truck that had seen much better days, and got in. I peeled out of the parking lot. In my mirror, I saw the tattooed man run out of the store. He waved his arms, trying to get me to stop. I just shook my head, mouthed ‘no way,’ and kept driving.
BEAST
I couldn’t believe it. Hal got the drop on Viper, knocked him out from behind, and grabbed Catalina before I could even react. We’d kicked Hal out two weeks ago for putting his hands on Cameron, Viper and Catalina’s three-year-old boy. The kid is the light of my life. I was just figuring out how to get Catalina away from him when two cans came flying out of nowhere and hit Hal right in the head.
I lunged forward and caught Catalina before she could fall with him. Hal was out cold on the floor.
I looked around and saw the back of a woman with amazing blonde hair and an even more amazing backside, running full-speed out of the store.
“You okay, babe?” I asked Catalina.
She nodded, then dropped down next to Viper, checking him over. He was starting to groan. Once she decided he was fine, she stood up, walked over to Hal, and started kicking him hard in the ribs.
“That’s for hitting my kid! And that’s for hitting my man! And that’s for daring to put your arm around my neck!” she yelled.
I had to laugh. I walked over and gently pulled her away. “Go take care of Viper. I’ll be right back.”
I ran out of the store, looking for the blonde. I saw an old green Ford truck screeching out of a parking spot. I waved my arms, trying to get her to stop. I caught a glimpse of long blonde hair and a pretty face, her eyes wide and panicked. She shook her head, her lips, full and with no makeup, formed the words ‘no way,’ and she sped off.
I looked at the license plate and committed it to memory. I had to smile. The plate read: ‘S3XKTTN’. Yeah, she sure was, with a backside that could wake up the dead. Not that I’ve ever had that problem.
I walked back inside. Hal was still on the floor. The store manager was on the phone, probably with the police. Viper and Catalina were holding each other.
“You alright, brother?” I asked Viper.
He gave me a stiff nod. “Just pissed.”
I would be, too.
“Who was our savior? Did you see who threw those cans?” Catalina asked.
“Yeah. Some woman who ran. But don’t worry, I got her plate. We can look her up back at the club.”
She nodded. We waited for the cops to show. Normally, we’d handle this ourselves, but there were too many people watching. We had to follow the rules this time.
After we gave our statements, we finished grabbing what we needed for the family barbecue later. Back at the clubhouse, after we unloaded everything, Catalina went into Butcher’s office and pulled up the information.
“Looks like the truck is registered to an Owen Brown,” she said, handing me a printed page. “Here’s his info. Maybe he knows how to find her.”
The guy in the ID photo looked… pretty. Almost feminine. He had sharply arched eyebrows and full lips that looked like they came from a doctor, not from nature.
“Good. I’ll stop by his place tomorrow and ask,” I said. I really hoped he could help. I wanted to get to know the blonde with the incredible arm, and the even more incredible smile I only saw for a second before she fled.
Note: This story is a little different. Our girl isn’t as tough as Catalina right out of the gate. She’s been through some things. She’s got a softness to her, but there’s a fire in there, too. Beast is going to have his work cut out for her.