CHAPTER 16: Theo
I heard Piper say the name Vinnie and I instantly switched to danger mode. Something told me that asshole wouldn’t be calling unless he had something to say.
An instant later, there was a crash like thunder from outside my front door. I saw smoke and splinters fly from the wood around my door handle before I realized my door handle wasn’t there anymore. Someone was attempting to gain entry to my apartment, using a shotgun. I reached down to pull my M&P Shield from where I had hidden it, under the couch. My little backup is less than an inch wide and easy to conceal, but it only holds nine rounds.
Before the smoke could clear, I got my hand on Piper’s head and pushed her down to the floor. I fired three times, twice at the door that was slowly swinging open and once at the window right by it, shattering the glass. I figured that ought to buy us a few seconds and make the bad guys behave a little more cautiously.
“Bedroom, now!” I hissed, grabbing Piper’s arm and shoving her towards the door. She stumbled her way into the dark room and I backed in after her, keeping my Smith & Wesson pointed at my broken front door. Inside the bedroom, I shut the door and wedged a chair under the handle.
“What’s happening?” whispered Piper. Considering there was now live ammo flying around her, she was doing pretty good.
“You see those boots?” I pointed at my bike boots that were stood under the window. She nodded as I crossed to the bedside drawer. “Open that window and drop them out,” I told her. I picked up my SIG and tucked the M&P into my pants. I checked it was loaded and racked the slid. Piper crawled over to the window and did as I’d asked, then did the same with a pair of black cowboy boots I’d tossed to her just after.
“Now what?” she asked quietly, yet impatiently. I touched my finger to my lips while covering the bedroom door with my gun.
“Keep quiet, they’re inside,” I said. I kept backing up until we were both by the open window. “Sorry about this,” I gave her a smile, “but try not to scream.” I bent down and tipped her legs up so she toppled backward out of the window. It was a risky move but we didn’t have time to play it safe. I swung my leg out and looked down to see she’d landed safely in the dumpster, but she didn’t look happy.
I took a breath and threw myself off too. A microsecond later I heard more shots. I guessed they were shooting their way into my bedroom.
I landed right next to Piper, who punched me in the arm again. I ignored her and kept a check on the window. Nothing yet, we still had time.
“Quick, we need to be not here,” I hissed, leaping up and jumping out of the garbage. I stopped and held out my arm for her to catch as she climbed out. I picked up the two boots that were nearest me and motioned for Piper to do the same. We were at the back of my apartment, in a courtyard, surrounded on three sides by two-story walls. I grabbed her by the wrist and we rushed over to an alley that ran between the four units behind mine. I knew it was almost invisible from my bedroom window.
We stopped just inside the alley. I turned back to the window we’d jumped from and saw what I assumed was one of Vinnie’s mobsters looking out of it. He had a large bore pump-action shotgun in his hands but, thankfully, he barely glanced our way. As far as he was concerned, no one would run away from the street to escape.
“Here,” I said, trading a cowboy boot for one of the bike boots she was holding, “put those on before your feet get hurt.” She slipped the boots on and I did the same.
“What’s wrong with this picture?” I heard her say. I turned around and she was standing before me in only a white shirt and cowboy boots, doing up the buttons I’d undone moments ago to cover her nakedness. I smiled and fished into my pocket, pulling out the boxer shorts I’d tried to give her earlier. She took them and gave me a sarcastic smile back. “Yeah, this is much better,” she scoffed.
“Cops will be here soon,” I said, turning around so she could pull the shorts on. “Our new friends will skin out as soon as they hear the sirens, then we can go.”
“Go where?”
I pointed at my Harley, parked just the other side of the dumpster. I never parked her on the main street. Too many thieves. Plus, if I ever needed to escape via the bedroom window, there she was.
Seconds later, we heard the wailing of sirens. I couldn’t see the wise guys anymore and figured they’d be out of the apartment and on their way by now. I took the Shield from my pants and tucked it inside the top of my right boot, so I could put the SIG in its place. I pulled the back of my shirt out to hide it, took Piper’s hand again, and we stole our way back to the dumpster.
After checking the coast was clear, I started pushing the heavy bike towards the street. I’ll admit it was a struggle to get it moving, so when she put her hands on the backrest to help, I was grateful. We muscled it out of the courtyard and about fifty yards down the road, ignoring the honking horns of cars passing Piper, appreciating that she was bent over in a short shirt. We were both out of breath by the time we stopped and I got on.
“Why did we have to push it?” she panted, swinging a leg over the back and snuggling in behind me.
“Didn’t want the cops to place a bike at the scene,” I told her, firing up the motor. I didn’t want to tell her I was trying to make sure that if the Mafia guys were still waiting outside, there was less chance they’d hear us. “It’s probably best if we say we weren’t there, okay?”
She squeezed me tight. The sexual frustration of being interrupted had gone, quickly replaced by the surging adrenaline we needed to escape but, now that was fading away, I just hoped she felt safe again. We’d only known each other a few days but it felt like so much longer, and I never wanted to let her down.
***
“How did they find us?” Piper yelled to me as we roared along Sepulveda Boulevard.
“My guess is they followed you,” I shouted back. I heard her curse. “Don’t beat yourself up, I didn’t think Vinnie was paranoid enough to put a tail on you, either.”
She squeezed me tighter again. “I guess we’re really running from him now,” she mused, out loud.
“Looks like,” I replied. “Man, Frost is going to be pissed.”
I switched routes, doubled back, and generally tried to make things as difficult as possible for those guys from the apartment, if they were following us. I kept an eye out and didn’t see anything, but that didn’t mean they weren’t there. In the end, with all the diversions and route switching, it took us nearly two hours to do the fifty-minute drive to Handle’s Bar, and it was close to midnight when we finally arrived.
That didn’t matter to my crew, though, and there was still a rowdy crowd outside cheering every time a pantless girl rode by.
“Sorry, babe,” Piper said into my ear, “can we give the bare ass run a miss this time?”
“Yeah, I think that’s probably a good idea,” I smiled. We parked up on the end closest to the exit road, this time, and made our way inside. We went straight in to see Frost. He didn’t say hello.
“I’m going to guess from your crazy outfit, and that Theo here is minus his crew vest, that you two left town in a hurry. What have you got my boy mixed up in now, missy?” he said to Piper, stalking threateningly towards her.
I put myself in his way, shoving him backward when he tried to push me aside. “You need to back the fuck off, Frost,” I snarled at him. He turned to me, our faces really close together. Although he was nearly a head shorter than me, he had no trouble looking threatening. His expression was angry. I felt like he was going to hit me, any second, but I stood firm. I knew I was putting him in a difficult position, but I was his crew member, his brother and I needed his help. “It’s me that’s coming to you, Frost. Me that’s asking for your help, not Piper. We take care of each other, right? That’s our way and I’m coming to you because my woman needs me and I need you. Okay?”
Frost kept eyeballing me, like he was trying to read my mind or peer into my soul. He stood still for a long minute, saying nothing. Without lookinf away from me, he shook a cigarette loose from the packet he was holding. He clenched it between his teeth and lit it with his silver zippo. He took a long drag, still staring me right in the eye, then plucked the cigarette from his lips and stuck it between mine. He broke into his huge smile and slapped me on the back, hard enough to make me choke on the smoke.
“Link!” Frost yelled, “We need a bunch of drinks, the kid here’s not only found his balls, he’s fallen in love!”
Link laughed, as did Tina from back on the couch, and I felt myself redden slightly. I heard Piper laughing from behind me too.
“Who’s side are you on?” I turned and smiled at her. Standing there, her long legs extending out from under that man’s shirt, the white material huge on her, yet still managing to accentuate her figure, and her hair blown dry by the ride, she looked beautiful but, laughing with her mouth wide open, her sparkling blue eyes nearly closed, she was damn well glowing. I pulled her to me and kissed her, long and deep. She responded, throwing her arms around me and crushing her body against mine. It was like, with the Steel Angel’s help, we could finally see a real way out.
“Okay, lovebirds, knock it off,” called Frost. “Theo, come and sit over here. Tina honey, can you take Piper and find her something to wear?”
“Sure thing,” Tina beckoned Piper to follow her, “come on, honey,” she said and the two woman left through the door in the back wall of the room.
“Now, I gotta tell you,” Frost’s eager smile spread wider. “I wouldn’t mind being a fly on the wall in that room, watching those two foxes trying on each other’s clothes…” he trailed off. I shook my head. Link came back in with shots and beers. We toasted each other and downed the tequila, then Frost cleared his throat to speak. “Well, this is one great big shit sandwich you’re asking us to bite into here, boy.”
“I know, brother, and I’m sorry,” I said. “But you don’t understand this Vinnie guy, what Piper’s seen him do, what he’s threatened to do to her. There’s no way I can just leave her to him.”
“Wow,” Frost groaned, “that blonde pussy got you all fucked up, huh?” I heard Link chuckling beside me. “But I guess you’re right. I heard a story about the last girl he bought from a whore house. Now, this is going back more than five years, but the word was, Vinnie thought she was making eyes at a young guy in his outfit. Now, the way I understand it, she was way too scared of Vinnie to be interested in anyone else, but Vinnie didn’t believe her.
“He gets it in his head something is going on between them, so he makes the poor kid watch while he ties her down and lets his boys take turns. After they’ve finished, he makes the poor kid have a go, then shoots him in the back of the head while he’s fucking her, and leaves them there, her trapped with a dead man’s dick still in her, for three days. Any way you slice it, that’s a motherfucker the world can do without.”
“Jesus,” whispered Piper. She and Tina must have emerged from the bedroom while Frost was telling the story. Piper looked visibly pale at hearing what had happened to her predecessor but, now at least, she was dressed a little more fitting for an escape. Tina had found her a tight, black Motley Crew t-shirt and a pair of skinny jeans. With a slightly smaller pair of cowboy boots than we’d taken from my place, she looked really good. I went up to her and put my arms around her.
“Don’t worry,” I whispered, “I’m never going to let anything like that happen to you.”
She slid her arms around my back and laid her head on my chest. Unexpectedly, I felt another set of arms wrap around us both. I glanced sideways to see Tina hugging herself to us. She smiled at me warmly.
“Awe, I couldn’t help it, you guys are just so darn cute together.”
I heard Frost laugh and felt myself relax a little, for the first time since Piper told me to go, back at the club.
Then came a knock on the door. Tiny quietly pulled his impressive bulk through the small opening. “Frost,” he said, “we got company.”
“Shit, did you let them follow you here?” Frost turned and an angry eye towards me again.
“No way,” I broke away from Piper and Tina and put my hands up. “No way they could have tailed me, unless they had at least three cars.”
“Uh-huh,” rumbled Tiny. “Three cars. Mercedes, Chrysler, and a Buick, all black.”
“Fuck!” I spat.
“How far away, dog?” asked Link.
“Couple hundred yards. They’re at the edge of the clearing. Probably talking things over.”
“Okay, swell,” said Frost, mostly to himself. “Everyone outside, no guns on show. Let’s appear peaceable and say a warm ‘howdy’. You two,” he pointed at me and Piper, “you two stand right by Tiny, at all times.”
***
The crowd gathered just in front of the lines of parked bikes, facing the three cars. Frost brought Link, Tiny and us to the front and center of the gang, with him. Marco joined us as well. No one had a gun in their hand, but I could see plenty of firepower sitting in shoulder holsters and tucked in brother’s waistbands. I pulled the Shield out of my boot as we followed Frost outside.
“Here,” I said to Piper, handing her the gun. “Stick this in the back of your pants. It’s no different than I showed you on the SIG. Safety’s on, it’s the lever by your thumb.” She took it and held in her small hand, getting the weight and finding the safety catch. She smiled at me and tucked it in her jeans.
Finally, we stood with the others. There must have been nearly a hundred of us, men and women, all facing our new guests. I felt safe and empowered, as anyone would with an army at his back.
The three cars seemed to make a decision and started slowly heading towards us. Clouds of dust and stones kicked up from their tires as they rolled our way until they stopped side on, two facing north, one south, about ten yards from the front line of bikers. Two men got out of each car. Two had pump action shotguns, two had AR-15 rifles, and one was carrying an MP-5 submachine gun, and the last, I recognized as Pauley from our earlier standoff, had a Mac-10 machine pistol in his hand. The two with the rifles and the guy with the MP-5 got out on the far side of their cars, not pointing their weapons at us but ready to kneel and use the engine blocks as cover. Pauley and the two with shotguns stepped out of the doors on our side of the makeshift barricade. They too kept their guns down but they looked pretty threatening, regardless.
“Well, hot damn, gentlemen,” Frost said loudly, with a big smile on his face, “what can we do for you on this fine warm night? Beer?” There was a murmur of laughter through our group.
“We don’t want any trouble. We just want those two,” said Pauley, pointing at Piper and me. “We got no beef with anyone else. Give them up and we’ll be on our way.”
Piper shot me a nervous glance. I guess she didn’t feel totally safe with the Steel Angels just yet. I squeezed her hand to reassure her. No way Frost was going to give us up.
“Problem there, friend, is they ain’t exactly prisoners,” Frost kept smiling, speaking loud and clearly. “So, they ain’t ours to give up. It’s up to them if they want to go with you. Piper honey?”
“Err… yeah?” she answered, probably not expecting to have to speak.
“You and your man feel like taking a ride today with these fine gentlemen?”
“Hell no!” she smiled. She seemed to be getting into the spirit of the occasion. I grinned at her. I could see she was far more excited than scared now.
“Well, there’s your answer boys,” announced Frost, back to the mobsters. “And you know how it is trying to change a woman’s mind once it’s made up. I guess my hands are tied.” Another ripple of laughter from our side.
I could see the sweat forming on Pauley’s brow, and the frustration showing on his face. He had some balls, though. Even with these odds, he wouldn’t back down.
“Fuck this,” he yelled, “You’ve got the count of five to hand them over.” Still only smiles from Frost. “Five…” called Pauley.
“Four, three” came the count from the army of bikers around us, very quickly and with exactly the right amount of force. “Two, one!” Link emphasized the ‘one’ with his middle finger.
I watched Frost as our brothers counted down around him. He just smiled politely, watching the all the fight run out of the wise guys as we called their bluff. The noise finished, leaving the Mafia boys looking shaken and foolish. There were only two choices for them now; fight or flight. In fairness, that vicious and illegal little machine pistol Pauley was holding, along with the two shotguns, would cause a shit-load of carnage if fired into our closely packed group at this range, but he knew they’d never stop us all. Not before we tore him and his buddies apart.
Pauley gave up, gave the order to get the fuck out, and they all ducked back into their cars, speeding off with tires spinning and the derisory laughter of the Steel Angels chasing them on their way.
“Oh my God! Oh my God!” squealed Piper, her face alive with delight. “Did you see them? That was amazing! You guys are amazing!” She turned and kissed me ferociously, her leg wrapping around mine and her hips grinding against me.
“Easy there, Piper honey,” laughed Frost as she kissed and dry humped me. Piper broke away and seemed to remember where she was, a flush coming to her cheeks and a small, embarrassed smile on her lips. “Don’t I, at least, get some of the credit?” Frost continued. As the small army we’d gathered began to disperse and go back to their own activities, Piper threw her arms around him, being actually taller than him in her boots, and planted a big kiss on his stubbled cheek. “Alright, lady, that’s enough! Tina’s gonna think I’m messing around on her.”
I put my hand in Frost’s and shook it. He pulled me in for a hug, as well. “I can’t repay you for this, brother,” I whispered to him.
“And I hate to tell you that’s all you get,” he whispered back.
I pulled away and looked at him. “I’m sorry, kid,” he shrugged, “frightening away some assholes who trespass on our territory can be forgiven. But if I help you guys anymore, it’ll be war and a war we can’t win. We do anything to Vinnie, we’ll have the entire mob all over us. And I mean every wop from here to Sicily, via New York, Las Vegas, and Chicago.”
I nodded my understanding. Piper hadn’t heard. She was laughing and joking with Tiny and Marco, and she didn’t need to know about this right now. She felt safe for once and it didn’t hurt to let her keep feeling that way for a little while longer.
“Here,” said Frost, pushing a key into my hand. “My lodge is about three miles up the hill road. You two go and rest the night there, figure out your next move tomorrow. You’ll be safe, no one knows it’s even up there.”
“Thanks, brother,” I said. I couldn’t blame him for backing out. It was disappointing, but I was asking him to risk the lives of my brothers and their families, hundreds of people, and he just couldn’t.
I nodded and turned to get Piper. It was nearly one and we needed to rest if we were going to face this on our own.
“Keep in mind,” Frost smiled as he halted me for a second, “I said rest tonight.” His eyes glanced over at Piper, her beautiful face shining as she laughed with the others. “Not a chance in hell of that happening…”