“Jesus,” Scott murmured the next morning as he switched of the throbbing Harley. “This was your clubhouse?” He stared at the dilapidated storefront of peeling paint and broken windows.
Last night, Jess had elicited his promise to not tell anyone about the super-secret clubhouse location, breaking down his playful resistance using the most pleasant tortures imaginable. When he found out what she planned, he protested that it was too much of a risk and he would buy her new clothes, but she was insistent. She didn’t want him spending money on her clothes when she knew she could trust Angela.
Two hours ago her phone had pulled her from another blessedly dreamless sleep and Angela reported she had the clothes. Now they just had to wait on Angela to arrive.
“What? You don’t like it?” Jess teased.
“To be honest, I don’t know what to think. Detroit is so…strange…compared to Atlanta. We have our bad parts of town, but nothing like this.”
“I know. I wish I could have lived here in the fifties and sixties, before the city began to decline. Or even earlier. It must have been fantastic to be here when the city was thriving.” She looked at the dying city around her. “This makes me so sad.”
“Why do you stay?”
“It’s my home. I grew up here. I keep hoping something will change and the city will begin to recover. There are so many treasures here: Michigan Central Station, the James Scott mansion we were in, the Book Tower…all abandoned.” She looked at her toe as she scuffed a clump of weeds growing in the cracked sidewalk. “I hoped that, someday, I would be able to help with the preservation of the city’s history.”
There was something in her voice, a longing that touched him. “Why can’t you?”
She sniffed as her lips pulling into sad crooked smile while still looking at her shoe. “Water under the bridge.”
“Why?”
“So much has happened, Scott. It’s, I don’t know, too late to start school now.”
“That’s bullshit and you know it. You can do anything thing you set your mind to. Look at what you have survived already. Compared to that, school is a piece of cake.” He tapped her on the scar from the cut Luke had given her. It was clean stitch work, the scar barely visible on her shoulder blade, the slight imperfection making the rest of her even more beautiful. “That which does not kill you makes you stronger. You are the strongest woman, maybe the strongest person, I know.”
Jess smiled but didn’t look up. “You think so?”
“No. I know so. Jess, you just need to believe in yourself again. Once you do, there will be no stopping you…because the only thing stopping you now is you.”
She looked up and met his gaze, his eyes holding hers, allowing her to read his belief in her. “Thank you for saying that.”
“It’s easy to say because it’s the truth. You’re amazing. And as soon as you realize that, God help anyone who gets in your way.”
Her smile broadened. “You’re going to get laid tonight; you don’t have to keep selling me.”
Scott didn’t smile, keeping his face serious. “I’m not selling you, Jess. I’m telling you the truth. I’m telling you something you haven’t been told enough.”
She had to struggle mightily to not cry at his words, her face growing hot as she sucked on her lips while she tried to gather herself. She wasn’t sure why his words hit her so hard, but they had. It was as if he could peer into her soul, read her, and know just what to say. His fiery passion and gentle, encouraging, words were slowly filling the emptiness she felt inside. With each drop, she felt more alive, more vibrant, more like she felt before her life began to go wrong. She was beginning to feel happiness again, a feeling she had been missing for so long she had almost forgotten what it felt like.
“Thank you,” she said softly. “I think you’re pretty amazing yourself.”
“Aw, shucks, Ma’am,” Scott said, putting his hands in his pockets and acting embarrassed as he laid on the drawl. “I ain’t nothin’ special.”
Jess giggled as Scott shuffled his feet and twisted back and forth in a perfect imitation of an embarrassed little boy. But damn! I see what Angela means by the way the southern guys talk!
Jess pulled her phone from her pocket and glanced at the time. “She’s late, as usual. While we wait, you want to go inside? I’d like to see if our stuff is still in there.”
“Stuff? What stuff? How long has it been since you have been here?” Scott asked.
Jess thought a moment. “About ten years, I guess. I can’t remember everything we had in there. I remember Angela brought some pictures her sister took while fucking her boyfriend. We used to look at those and wonder what that was like. I wonder if she ever came and got them?”
“Was her sister hot?”
Jess grinned. “Looked just like Angela does now, but without the tats.”
Before Scott could figure out how to answer that and not make Jess mad, a white Nissan Sentra turned the corner and slowed as it approached the curb in front of them. “That her?”
“That’s her car,” Jess confirmed, her face breaking into a big smile. Damn, it feels good to smile again!
Angela bounded out of her car with a squeal, running toward Jess, her blonde flying behind her, and Scott was, again, surprised at the speed and grace with which the woman could move. He would have never guessed anyone so soft and round could move so well.
“Jess! Thank God you’re okay! I know you said you were, but…” Angela said, taking Jess into her arms and holding her tight. “I’ve been so worried!”
“I’m fine,” Jess said, hugging her friend. “You bring my clothes?”
“In the car,” Angela said, stepping back. “I can’t believe how good you look! You look like you’re glowing! Jesus, he must be treating you right.”
“Did you come alone?” Scott asked, forcing his presence into their little reunion.
Angela gave him a scowl. “Of course I came alone. Ed is off on club business and while Kat was busy in the diner, I slipped up stairs, grabbed a few things, and scooted out.” She turned her attention to Jess. “Your mother looked like hell. I’m not sure she even knew I came in. You need to call her and tell her you’re okay.”
Jess sighed heavily. “Yeah, I know. I talked to her yesterday. She wanted me to come home, but I can’t. Especially not now.”
“Yeah,” she said and then stared at Scott as if looking for something.
“What?” he asked as she continued to stare at his forehead.
“They did a good job hiding the stitches where they took your brains out. Are you fucking crazy?”
“Maybe,” Scott said with a grin.
“This is some seriously bad shit,” Angela muttered, turning back to Jess. “What are you going to do?”
“I don’t know. Give Val time to cool off to start with,” Jess said. “Then after that? I don’t know. Maybe leave Detroit.”
Angela stared at Jess a moment then pinned Scott with her glare. “Do you know what you’ve done? The Angels will never stop until they track you down. You’ve ruined not only your life, but hers, as well. You may be pretty, but you’re not very bright.”
“Hey!” Jess said. “It’s not his fault! Val was going to make me come in, by force if necessary. He lied to me, Angela. He said he just wanted to talk, but when we met him, and I told him I wanted to stay with Scott, he called out the goons.”
“He’s the President, Jess! What he says goes!”
“Then he shouldn’t have promised me we were just going to talk! If I can’t trust him on this, how can I trust him on anything?”
“He just wants to protect you! Can’t you see that? You’re part of the club, and his niece, and he is just trying to make sure you don’t get hurt again!”
“That’s just it! I’m not part of the club. I’m nothing, a nobody. He and my mother want to keep me locked in that damn café for the rest of my life.”
Angela softened. “No, that’s not true. They love you, Jess. We all do. We just want what is best for you.”
“Yeah. They love me so much that they don’t want me to have a life.”
Angela’s lips pulled into a pout. “I don’t want that.”
Jess smiled sadly. “I know. You were the only one who tried to help me. I would still be locked away in my ivory tower if it weren’t for you.” Jess stepped in close and gave the woman a hug, closing her eyes as she remembered all their good times together.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more,” Angela said as she stepped back.
“You’ve done enough. You got me out of the tower and brought me some clothes. You’re a—”
Jess heard the rumble of approaching Harley’s just as Scott’s head snapped up.
“You sold us out, you bitch!” he snarled, grabbing Jess and dragging her toward his bike.
“No! No! I didn’t!” Angela wailed, her hands coming up in defense as her face twisted into a mask of anguish.
A red Dodge Dakota, its powerful V8 bellowing in anger, charged around the corner, bearing down on them like a mad elephant. “Run!” Angela screamed before turning and running toward the approaching SUV. “Stop! Stop!” she cried as she ran, waving her hands as if she were going to try to stop the charging car on her own.
“Fuck!” Scott snarled as he dragged Jess along in his wake. He heard the pops of gunfire but kept moving, knowing how hard it was to hit a moving target, especially from a hard charging vehicle.
Jess heard the cracks and turned to look over her shoulder as she ran. She knew it was slowing her down, but she had to see. Angela was running toward the SUV, trying to get it to stop. There were a couple more cracks and Angela stumbled, then went to the ground in a tumbling roll.
“No!” Jess screamed, trying to stop and go to her friend, but Scott kept dragging her along.
“Keep moving!” he snarled.
“Angela! They shot her!”
He didn’t even hesitate at his hog. There was no escape on that. “You can’t help her now!” He dragged her through the missing door into the abandoned drug store and shoved her down behind the low brick wall that would have formed the bottom of the plate window then turned his back to the pillar beside the door. “Stay there!”
He took two quick puffing breaths as he pulled his weapon and then pivoted through the door. Their only chance was to take the Durango before the rest of the Angels arrived. The Durango was still rocking on its springs at the curb when he pulled the trigger, his gun barking twice in quick succession. The driver side door glass shattered and the horn began to blow as the driver slumped forward into the steering wheel.
“Jess! Come on!” Scott screamed as he began to run for the SUV.
He saw the other man step out of the passenger side an instant too late, but fortune favored the bold. If Jess were coming behind him, he had to eliminate the threat before he could get a shot off. He continued to charge toward the SUV as the man ducked behind the front, aiming over the hood. Scott dropped into a roll, bounded up in a shooting stance, and fired off two quick shots. Only one bullet found its mark, but it was enough, and the man went down.
He whirled, looking for Jess, taking a precious second to spot her running toward Angela. “Jess!”
Jess heard Scott’s scream, but she had to check on her friend. She knew Angela hadn’t sold them out and she had to make sure she was okay. Angela was just rolling over as Jess skidded to a stop beside her.
“I didn’t know,” Angela grunted as Jess leaned over her, Angela pressing her hand to her side where she was bleeding heavily.
“I know,” Jess gasped as she saw the blood, a rich red circle spreading out on Angela’s right side, the smell cloying. She felt herself go light-headed for a moment with the sight and smell, then her head cleared. “Get up!” Jess yelled, taking Angela by the arm and pulling her to her feet. Fueled by fear and adrenaline, Jess pulled Angela up as if lifting a baby.
Angela shrieked as Jess hauled her to her feet, her cry of pain almost drowning out the squeal of tires as the SUV lurched to halt beside them.
“We have to help her!” Jess cried as she dragged Angela toward the truck.
Scott didn’t hesitate. It would be quicker to help than to argue with her. “Move your fat ass!” he bellowed as he helped stuff Angela into the back seat of the truck, Jess piling in behind her.
The slamming of the door didn’t drown out the bellow of the six Harleys as they rounded the corner and bore down on them like a swarm of angry bees.