BLAKE

 

Two days later…

 

“Harris isn’t too happy about it, obviously. But he’s cooperating. As much as he hates us, he cares about his sister more than anything.”

“Fuck Harris. What about the rest of the club?”

“Garnet’s on edge. Michelle’s situation hasn’t changed, so he’s still distracted.”

“The boys?”

“Brawn’s Brawn. He’s not worried about anything. There’s nobody on the Cobras he couldn’t take. Petey’s doing his thing.”

“Sullivan?”

Ghost paused for a second before he responded.

“He’s a little bewildered,” Ghost sighed. “He just got patched in and we’re already dealing with a rival club.”

“He’ll be fine. He’s a good guy and he knows what’s right.”

“I think so, too. But things aren’t proceeding as fast as they need to.”

“What do you mean?”

“We looked at some of the footage of when Harris’s van was stolen.”

“And?”

“And… it’s blurry. It’s hard to tell who took it.”

“Could have been one of Harris’s own men.”

“That’s a possibility. Right now, we’re not any closer. Sheriff Sutton has some people working on the case, too. But that doesn’t mean shit.”

“Damn…”

“It’s only been a few days. Give it time. I know you’re not in a hurry.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I saw the way you looked at that girl before you left. You had that look in your eye. Just had to have her all to yourself. I don’t know why I let you go…”

“Shut the fuck up.”

Ghost laughed. Even over the phone, I could picture that arrogant smile on his face. He always had to be the smart one.

“How are you doing? She’s not giving you any trouble, is she?”

I looked over at Katrina in the distance. She had her arms wrapped around herself while she warmed up next to the bonfire. Even though she seemed fine, I was still worried about her. Spending too much time out here would make anybody go crazy.

“Just hurry up and get to the bottom of this,” I said. “We can’t stay out here forever.”

“Sure thing, boss. I’ll be in touch if you need anything.”

I hung the phone up and walked over to Katrina. She stared at the fire, not looking at me as I got closer to her.

“Ghost said they’re working things out,” I said. “They’re not getting any closer though.”

“My brother said the same thing. Whoever is responsible for this did a good job of hiding their tracks.”

“It appears that way.”

I took a seat next to her.

Katrina and I had gotten comfortable around each other. Despite going along with my plan earlier, she was apprehensive about leaving Ivory so suddenly.

But just a few days had gone by and she was letting her guard down. She knew there was no reason to protest. She probably thought I was just being nice to her because I wanted to fuck her. That might have been true but there was more to it than that. I’d gotten so used to her that there were times I forgot why we were out here in the first place.

“Cold?” I asked.

“A little bit. But it’s something else.”

“What’s wrong?”

“I’m a little… dirty.”

“There’s running water in the cabin,” I said with a laugh. “You can take a shower.”

“I know. It’s just… Being around all of these trees and bushes and dirt. It’s like there’s a layer of filth I can’t get off of me until we leave this place entirely.”

“Hmm…”

I stood up and offered my hand.

“Come with me,” I said.

“What? What are you up to?”

“Come with me.”

I smiled at her. She looked at me skeptically before smiling back and taking my hand. The sound of her giggling as we made our way through the trees was like listening to a chorus of angels. I led her over to the pier that hung over the lake.

As we stood before the water together, I held my arms out.

“What?” she said, confusion in her voice. “What’s going on?”

I didn’t say anything. I just started stripping my clothes off. My vest. My shirt. My shoes. My jeans. Every piece of clothing until I was completely naked.

She eyeballed my body up and down, an eyebrow raised and her eyes wide.

“What the hell are you doing?” she said.

“You feel like there’s a layer of filth on you.”

“Yeah…”

“You’ve gotta learn to embrace it.”

Without saying another word, I leapt into the water with a big splash. I bobbed up and down in the water and laughed as the cold embraced me.

“What the hell? Are you crazy?”

Katrina screeched loud enough to make me laugh even harder. I looked up at her with a smile.

“Come on in,” I said. “The water is fine.”

“If you think I’m going to jump in the lake, you’ve lost your mind.”

“Katrina…”

“Blake…”

“If you don’t jump in the water, I’m gonna drag you in.”

She crossed her arms as she stared at me. She was almost frightening when she wasn’t smiling. I’d seen that look in her eyes before. It was the same look her brother gave when he was pissed. Considering how he was always pissed at the club, I knew it well enough.

“I’m not jumping in the water,” she said.

“Fine,” I said, swimming toward the pier. “I’ll just have to drag you—”

“Okay, okay! Hold your horses!”

She started stripping her clothes off. The sight of her pale skin shining underneath the moonlight had me distracted. When she took her underwear off, her body had never looked more perfect than it did now.

An angel on the pier…

She wrapped her arms around her breasts as she stared at me.

“Do you really want me to do this?” she said.

“Yes, I do.”

“I’ll do anything so I don’t have to. Anything!”

“Tempting. But right now, I want you to join me in the water. It’s getting kinda lonely in here.”

“Fine…”

She rolled her eyes and let out a deep sigh.

“Jump right in—”

Before I could finish, she hopped off the pier and landed with a delicate splash. I swam up to her, unable to contain my laughter.

“Oh, God!” she squealed. “It’s freezing!”

“You’re okay. Just let your body get used to it.”

I moved up closer to her and wrapped my arms around her. Her body was warm despite the cold water. Feeling her wet skin against mine gave me the wrong kind of thoughts. I knew she was upset with me now though, so I pushed those thoughts to the side.

Her teeth chattered. I almost felt sorry for her.

“You’ll be okay,” I said, holding back my laughter. “It’s just water.”

“What kind of stupid idea is this?”

“You’ll get used to it.”

“I don’t know how you can do this. I feel like I’m turning into an ice cube—”

I leaned forward and kissed her. My tongue in her mouth shut her up. Water splashed gently around us. After a few seconds, I pulled away and saw the smile on her lips.

“I guess this isn’t so bad…” she whispered.

Her face was wet. She wasn’t wearing any makeup but damn she was fucking gorgeous. Just the way she looked at me was enough to leave me hypnotized.

I could have stayed in this moment forever. By her side, floating in the water without a care in the world.

This shit felt wrong, knowing what the rest of the club was dealing with back in Ivory. But there still wasn’t much I could do at this point.

Katrina remained silent, leaning against me as we floated in the water. Her body warmed. Her teeth stopped chattering. She stopped shivering. I kept my arms wrapped around her, holding her close and enjoying the moment.

I knew it had to end eventually though.

“That should be good enough,” I said. “Let’s go.”

I led her out of the water. We gathered our clothes off the pier and raced back to the bonfire outside the cabin as fast as we could. Naked and wet, Katrina wrapped her arms around me and tried to warm herself up.

“That was a dumb idea,” she said. “You were supposed to protect me and now I’m getting sick.”

“You’re not getting sick,” I said with a laugh. “A little cold water never hurt anybody.”

“Speak for yourself…”

She pulled away from me and rubbed her hands together. Seeing the flames glistening off her wet body gave me another reminder of just how gorgeous she was.

“My brother would kill you if he found out what you were doing,” she said.

“What? Skinny-dipping with you in the lake? I suppose the fucking is all right with him though.”

She gave me a sideways glance. I would have thought I offended her if she didn’t do such a shitty job of hiding her grin.

“What would make you do such a thing?” she asked.

“I used to do it all the time. Friends and I would go camping with my brother. My brother and I would strip down naked and jump into the water.”

“Naked?”

“Completely. Clothes off. You couldn’t feel free with a pair of swimming trunks on.”

“Right…”

Katrina slowly turned toward me as I looked forward into the fire.

“Your family,” she said. “Where are they now?”

“Mom and dad… They’re gone. Somewhere in Heaven, I suppose.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. They lived long, happy lives. They’re at peace now.”

“What about your brother?”

“My brother…”

I blinked my eyes as the memory of him came back to me. I thought about what it was like when I went camping with him and a smile came to my face.

“My brother’s at peace, too,” I said. “He’s in a good place now.”

“What was his name?”

“…Jack.”

“Jack… What was he like?”

My smile grew even wider.

“Jack was a good kid,” I said. “A few years younger than me. He was quiet. People always said he was the shy one between us.”

“Oh, really. I would have thought you were the shy one.”

I glanced at her and saw the grin on her lips.

“No, Jack was the quiet one,” I sighed. “But he was the better Bennett. That’s why…”

I paused for a moment. I clenched my jaw as I stared into the bonfire. From the corner of my eye, I could see Katrina staring at me as she waited for a response.

“That’s why he’s gone,” I said.

“What do you mean?”

“Jack was quiet. He didn’t talk much. He got bullied a lot. Even after he graduated high school, there were always people picking on him. I beat up my fair share of assholes trying to start shit with him. But I couldn’t watch over him all the time. Eventually, it just became too much for him.

“He left me a note. Said he couldn’t take it. Found his body and it was too late. All the evidence says he did it to himself…”

I felt my eyes glaze over. I swallowed as my throat got dry. I didn’t care what Katrina thought of me now. I didn’t care what anybody thought. All I could think about was Jack.

“Blake…”

She leaned forward and put a hand on my arm. Her touch brought me back. I shook my head and turned to see her. A tender, warm smile. Like an angel there to comfort me.

“You should have met him,” I said. “You would’ve liked him.”

“I’m sure I would have.”

“He was fucking talented. The best tattoo artist in all of Ivory.”

“Really?”

“That’s right. See all this ink on me? It was all him.”

“Wow… That’s impressive.”

“Jack was an artist. I let him use me as a canvas. I knew he wouldn’t fuck things up—”

“Needle.”

She said my name. Her head nodded softly, a slight smile on her lips.

“That’s why they call you Needle. A tattoo needle…”

“Jack will always be with me,” I said. “I’ve got a reminder of him that will stick with me for the rest of my life.”

“You should be proud.”

Looking into Katrina’s eyes, I saw that she understood. It didn’t matter who was in what club or who was responsible for what happened. Right now, all I cared about was her.

“I love my brother,” I said. “I would have done anything for him. Just like I know you love your brother and you’ll do anything for him.”

“Then you know Jordan has nothing to do with what happened to Michelle.”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “It looks that way. I’m not the one you need to convince though.”

“Right now, you’re the only one that matters.”

She leaned forward and kissed me. Her lips were so soft. It was like all the stress on my shoulders floated away.

I pressed my forehead against hers and whispered into her mouth.

“This will all be over soon. Everything will be okay.”

“I know. I believe you.”