Clara

 

“Hey, do you mind if I slip off to the bathroom real quick?” I asked Alec.

 

“Yeah, it’s down at the end of the hall,” he said, walking me to the door and pointing down the hallway to where the bathroom door stood open. He watched behind me as I walked down the hallway.

 

Poor kid. He was big like a lot of the younger guys, but he just didn’t have the brains like Mason and Mick had. He was pretty much just muscle. He wasn’t bad muscle either. It was good to have a guy like him around, a strong yes-man, as long as no one made the mistake of relying on his brain power.

 

The upstairs looked like an apartment building or a hotel where the rooms didn’t have their own bathrooms. Each room was essentially just a decent-sized bedroom. I didn’t want to know why they felt the need to have so many rooms, but as much as these bikers liked to drink, I figured it was a good thing to have somewhere for them to crash if things got a little too wild at night.

 

I walked into the bathroom and closed the door, locking it behind me for privacy. I didn’t really have to go. I wanted to check my phone and see if Skull had called me back yet.

 

As I fished it out of my tight pocket, it started to vibrate with an incoming call.

 

“Hello?” I answered quietly, turning on the water in the sink to cover my voice.

 

“Hey, where the hell are you?” he asked.

 

“I’m hiding in a bathroom at their headquarters,” I told him.

 

“Do you have anything?”

 

“No dope. They didn’t move it, but I’ve got some intel,” I whispered.

 

“Good girl. Look, get the hell out of there, okay? Meet me at the city park,” he said.

 

“Got it.” I killed the phone and stuffed it back in my pocket. I cracked the door and looked down the hallway. Alec was still standing in the doorway to the room where he’d taken me.

 

“Is everything okay?” he asked.

 

“Yeah, I just, um, I just need some toilet paper,” I told him.

 

“Shit, we’re out?” he asked.

 

“Yeah, there’s none in here,” I said, taking a second to look into the bathroom. There was a full roll next to the toilet, but I figured he couldn’t see that from where he was standing.

 

I also noticed for the first time it wasn’t just a toilet. I was standing in a full bathroom, complete with a tub and a linen closet, where the extra toilet paper probably was, just in case I really was out of toilet paper.

 

“All right, I’ll get you some. I’ll be right back. Don’t go anywhere,” he said, hurrying to the stairs. I heard his footsteps as he rushed down the wooden stairs and chuckled to myself. Poor kid.

 

I closed and locked the bathroom door. I cut off the water. I opened the linen closet and found a stash of towels. I went to the window, raised it all the way, and looked down to the ground. Surely, between the towels and the shower curtain, I had enough makeshift rope to make it downstairs.

 

I hated to have to leave behind Mason’s back while he was gone checking on the drugs I’d given to Skull, but regardless of my physical desire, my loyalty still rested with my boss. Skull had been a father figure to me. He took me in off the street and raised me. He put me to work, taught me a work ethic, and showed me how to manage the money he gave me for what I did. He showed me there was a life better than the one I’d been living on the street. I owed a lot to Skull. I certainly needed to get away from here before Mason got back. Surely he knew by now who was selling his stolen dope, which would bring him right back to me.

 

I climbed down from the bathroom, surprised it actually worked. I figured it only worked in the movies, but I dropped down in front of a bare wall facing the street. No one saw me, and no one would know until someone decided to break down the door to the bathroom.

 

Now, I had to get to the park on foot. That was several blocks across town from where I was. I had to hurry.

 

Walking through alleyways to stay off the main roads and avoid being seen by Mason or anyone else from the MC, I had plenty of time to think about what I was doing. I was actually surprised at myself. I felt myself falling for the compassionate side of Mason I was seeing. He wasn’t just the brutal, nightmarish thug I heard about in the stories on the street. He was a kind, caring man who wanted to take care of me.

 

There was also Skull, who had taken care of me for so long. I was pretty much his right-hand gal. I’d helped him grow his organization through sabotaging his rivals. I wondered, though, if it wasn’t time to move on.

 

Mason had gone after one of his own for me. He hadn’t kicked him out of Storm’s Angels, but he’d been sent packing. And somewhere down the line, I knew Liam would probably end up coming back to haunt Mason for his decision. I was sure Mason understood that fact, as well, but it didn’t seem to bother him or deter him in any way. I couldn’t buy that kind of loyalty. I couldn’t even expect that kind of loyalty from anyone.

 

Of course, it was possible that everything I saw had been staged just to get me to talk, but I doubted it. Mason seemed to be a very upfront kind of guy. I didn’t see him going through all that trouble just to make me trust him.

 

Trust was an important issue in our business. I had to know I could trust and count on him before I moved on. I knew I could trust and count on Skull. We’d relied on each other for far, far too long for me to just run out on him. But I was starting to feel like Mason was building some trust with me. Yet, as I crossed the street into the park a few blocks from Mason’s headquarters, I knew I was doing everything I could to throw away any trust I had earned from him.

 

I’d made it too far to turn back. I pulled out my phone and texted Skull.

 

At the rendezvous point.

 

After I sent the text, my battery gave out. I sighed and slid my phone back in my pocket. Hopefully, I’d be able to charge it soon enough, back at home, away from bikers and gangs, drugs and money.

 

I walked over to the bench and sat down. It was all going to be over soon enough, and I would be home relaxing in a hot bath, letting the danger and the drama of the last few days wash away from me.

 

That was when I noticed three men standing next to a black sedan with the windows blacked out. They looked like Secret Service agents with their black suits, black sunglasses, and small earpieces. I narrowed my eyes at them, keeping an eye on them as they started to approach me from across the park.

 

“No fucking way,” I cursed, getting up and breaking out into a run. I knew I was too far away to try to make it back to Storm’s Angels’ HQ. I had to duck down an alleyway or into an abandoned building. It was time to get creative and use my skills to survive.

 

They were fast, though, and they closed in on me quickly, before I even had a chance to get back to the sidewalk. They surrounded me silently.

 

“Come on, guys, no catcalls, no greetings? What are you trying to do?” I asked them.

 

In response, they tried to close in on me. One of them stepped around behind me and tried to put his arms around me to hold me. I broke the hold easily and slipped away from him just to be grabbed by another one.

 

“What the hell is this?” I asked as I tried to fight the second one off.

 

“Clara Burton, you’re coming with us,” the second one said as he pulled me towards the car. I struggled, but he was easily as strong as any of Mason’s men.

 

“I don’t think so,” another voice snapped. Speaking of Mason.

 

I heard a couple of guns cock and looked over to see Mason, Mick, Alec, and a couple of guys I didn’t recognize yet. They all stood with guns trained on the men who were trying to kidnap me.

 

“Go,” one of the men in black said to the guy holding me. “We’ve got them.”

 

Before he was able to turn around, a hole appeared in his head and he collapsed to the ground right in front of me without another word.

 

“Anyone else?” Mick asked in a threatening tone.

 

Number One darted off, but one of his legs exploded underneath him and he fell over himself.

 

“Shit, sorry about that,” Mason taunted Number Two. “I don’t know what happened, but I will tell you this. You need to put her down. Now.”

 

“I don’t think I can do that, Mason,” Number Two said, and I felt the barrel of a handgun press against my temple.

 

“You’re not going to shoot me,” I groaned. “You were just trying to take me away with you, and you expect anyone here to believe you’re going to waste me? Your mom must be so proud,” I taunted him.

 

I saw smiles break out on the faces of Mason’s men as they tried not to laugh.

 

“If it comes down to me or you, bitch, I’m killing you,” he said.

 

“Excuse me,” Mason said, stepping forward. His words hit like a punch.

 

Number Two took a step back. I felt his barrel pull away from my head ever so slightly, and his grip lessened just a little. His eyes were obviously on the rifle trained at his head.

 

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Mason said, still stepping closer. “Now, let the girl go.”

 

His arm released me and he held his gun up, uncocking it.

 

“Good. Now, put the gun down on the ground,” Mason ordered.

 

I ran past him to Mick and Alec. I looked at the dead man lying in a heap at Mason’s feet as he kept walking towards Number Two. Number One was still moaning and groaning on the ground, trying to crawl to the car.

 

One of the back doors sprang open.

 

“There’s someone else in the car,” I told the guys around me.

 

“We’re not worried about that too much. Letting that guy go will help. Now you’ve got the wounded knee and the driver who’s witnessed that you’re not to be fucked with, and we’re about to see what happens to your buddy here,” Mick said.

 

“Where were you taking my friend?” Mason asked.

 

“Nowhere, man,” Number Two said, backing away with both hands raised now. I could see him shaking from where I was standing.

 

“Wrong answer.” Mason popped him in the knee and he fell down onto the other one.

 

“It’s none of your business,” Number Two growled through the pain.

 

“Wrong answer number two. You don’t get three strikes, bud. I’m sorry.” He put a round through the guy’s head and left him on the ground.

 

In no rush at all, Mason strutted back to us, and we all walked to the motorcycles parked at the street.

 

“Are you okay?” he asked me as we walked.

 

“I think so, yeah,” I told him.

 

“Good.” He grabbed my arm and guided me to his motorcycle.

 

“What’s up?” I asked.

 

“Guys, I’m taking her back to my place,” he told the others. To me, he said, “Get on.”