~ Barbara ~
Barbara woke to the sound of her cell ringing. Climbing over her sexy biker, she snatched it from the bedside table. Moving communicated two things really quick: she was tired from fucking the aforementioned sexy biker on and off all night, and there was a delicious ache between her legs every time she moved.
Slipping back to her own spot, she answered the call. Ace was laying turned toward her with one cheek on the mattress. His arm was above his head and he was staring at her in the gap between the mattress and his arm. His dark eyes shown with happiness.
Finally plugging into the conversation taking place on her phone, she heard Jennifer’s voice. “…shot him and ran away. We never saw the damned dude before. This is all fucked up, Professor Reynolds. We need protection.”
Bolting up, Barbara shouted into the phone, “Wait, back up, Jennifer. Who got shot?”
“Jesus, that’s what I’m trying to tell you. Ethan got shot by someone on a motorcycle. The ambulance took him away, but I don’t think he’s gonna make it.”
“Where are you now?”
“We’re hiding out in the student union. We’re afraid to go anywhere. Peb’s on his way to get me. Jack’s coming to get Dylan.”
“Sit tight. I’ll be right there. Don’t go anywhere.” As soon as she hung up, she looked to Ace. “Ethan got shot—”
“I know. I could hear her screaming about it across the bed. We’ll shower and get the hell over to the college as soon as possible.”
Diving into the shower, this time there was zero funny business. Once they were washed and dressed, they were dashing out the door. The sun was just cresting over the tops of the houses when they pulled out of her driveway.
Barbara’s stomach was churning. “They were probably heading for their eight a.m. class.”
“Stop the car.”
Her head whipped around. “What?”
“Stop the car, Barb. I don’t think David made it home last night.” Gesturing to an accident up ahead with police cars, an ambulance, and blinking lights galore, Barbara wondered how she’d missed it.
Pulling off to the side of the road, she gazed at what she now recognized was his car. The passenger door was open, and David was lying on the pavement nearby while emergency personnel worked on him. Blood was everywhere, and the front end of his car was smashed in by a thick oak tree he’d apparently hit. Shock tore through her body when one EMS worker gave the other the signal to stop.
A jarring knock pulled her out of the horror. It was a law enforcement officer. Quickly rolling down her window to see what he wanted, she didn’t have a chance to ask anything. “What’s your business here?”
“My n-name is B-Barbara Reynolds,” she stammered. “That’s my ex-husband, David Reynolds.”
Taking out a little pad, he began to scribble down information. “When did you last see him?”
“Last night. He came to my house wanting to get back together. I told him no and we argued. If you look, you’ll find a domestic disturbance file on my home.”
“Was he intoxicated?”
“Not that I noticed. He didn’t smell of alcohol or slur his words.”
The officer frowned. “That’s strange. His car was trashed, and there was alcohol everywhere.”
No, that couldn’t be right. “My ex-husband was very fastidious. He hated disorder. I find it difficult to believe his car was a mess.”
The officer finished jotting down notes and stood straight. “I guess the blood alcohol level will tell the story.”
Ace leaned over the center console. “He crashed into a car once before when he was a teen. He was drunk then. Just thought you might want to know.”
“Who are you?” the officer said with a suspicious scowl.
“Jeremy Strond.”
“Nice cut,” the officer said, giving him a once-over. “You’re with the Blind Jacks?”
“Yes, sir.”
He held his pen at the ready again. “Where were you last night?”
Ace reached for his breast pocket and pulled out a business card. “I didn’t have anything to do with this. The dude was a train wreck waiting to happen. If you want me to answer any more questions, you call my attorney. I’ll cooperate in any way I can, but I ain’t gettin’ involved in shit that’s got fuck all to do with me.”
Barbara couldn’t understand why Ace was being so defensive. Turning to the officer, she explained, “Mr. Strond was with me all night. We entered my home after sending David on his way in perfect health. We spent the entire night indoors. I got a call this morning from one of my students at the college—that’s where we’re headed now—when we came upon this.” She gestured to the grim scene before them.
“To be honest, David’s behavior was becoming increasingly concerning as of late. I believe he probably went to get alcohol and hung around waiting for my friend to leave so he could have another go at me. He probably drank too much and wrecked his car going home.”
Barbara rubbed her eyes, guilt assailing her. “This is all my fault. I should have just taken out a restraining order, but I was reluctant to do that because he’s a prominent person in this community.”
“I’ll review my notes later and, once everything checks out, I’ll give you a call. I don’t foresee any problems, but I need to ask you two not to leave the area until we get this case sorted.” Bending down to look past her to Ace, he stated flatly, “That goes double for you, Mr. Strond.”
“Whatever you say officer. We had no intention of leaving the county anyway.”
After taking contact information and asking a few more questions, the officer reluctantly turned them lose.
Once they were on their way, Ace said, “You have my condolences on your ex.”
“I feel terrible about this. David was a bit of an asshat, but he didn’t deserve to die that way.”
“I believe he was always going to die that way. Meeting you just put it off for a few years.”
Maybe he was right. David wasn’t without issues. “Sometimes, I don’t think I knew him at all. I should call his father and break the news lightly.”
“Please stay out of it, angel. The cops probably did that first thing. Like you say, he was prominent.”
Moments later, they pulled into the college, parking outside the student union.
Ace spoke softly. “That’s Peb’s softail. He’s here for Jennifer.”
“That would make the second bike Jack’s?”
“Probably, but I’ve never seen it before.”
The students filed out as if they’d been watching for them and met them near Barbara’s SUV.
Jennifer rushed out, “I’m so glad you’re here…”
“Not here on the street,” Ace cut in quietly. “Get in the SUV. Peb, take point. Jack, bring up the rear. We head for the clubhouse.”
Ace stopped to dash off a text to Darkness. Peb reluctantly let Jennifer get into the car and headed for his bike. Jack followed suit. This time Ace drove. Barbara turned around from the front seat to look at the two students. “Tell me everything.”
Dylan spoke first. “Ethan was really rattled after what happened. He called me last night, insisted that it felt like someone was following him to his dorm. Once he got to his room, he locked himself in but swore someone rattled his doorknob in the middle of the night trying to get in. I told him that he was probably imagining things and that he should get a shower and make himself some coffee.”
Jennifer chimed in, “We were meeting up at the student union to grab some breakfast and come up with a plan for staying safe and checking on each other. Dylan and I arrived first, and since it was so early, the place was practically empty.”
Dylan’s voice sounded haunted as he picked up the story again. “We heard gunshots, only we thought it was firecrackers and ran to see who was getting suspended. That’s when we saw that it was Ethan. I called 9-1-1 while Jennifer did what she could for him. They got him in the gut.”
Ace interjected, “He might make it, if EMS got to him quick. Did anyone see who did it?”
“There wasn’t anyone around but one or two people. They said it was a guy on a motorcycle. They couldn’t say what he looked like because he was wearing a black helmet with a face piece.”
Ace’s phone rang. “Has the entire fucking world just gone crazy?” he answered.
“I don’t know. In addition to Ethan getting shot, Barbara’s ex-husband was found dead this morning.”
Listening to the person on the other end for a minute, Ace responded grimly, “I threatened to kill the stupid bastard, ‘cause he showed up at her place and was screaming at her and jerking her around. Before you ask, I wasn’t quite ignorant enough to tell the cops I threatened him. We told him David was at her place and they got into an argument.”
Again there was some mumbling on the other end, and Ace responded harshly, “How the hell am I supposed to know? It could be that we’re getting picked off one at a time and they nailed David ‘cause they couldn’t get to me and my old lady, since she has a high-class security system at her place. It’s just as probable that David was furious that she was fucking a stupid biker and sat in his car watching her place while getting shit-faced all night, and then wrapped his nice sports car around a tree. . And get this, the cops say we can’t leave the county.”
After listening to the other person, he grumbled, “Yeah, I know. Who the hell gave Jack permission to make a run to the college? Now we got him riding out in the open, and it’s pissing me off.”
Closing up his phone, Ace shoved it into his pocket. Without taking his eyes from the road, he reached over and took Barbara’s hand. “We’re gonna get through this.”
Barbara felt the most awful feeling snaking through her stomach. “This is something to do with me. Think about it, Ace. I got the call from the farmer. I took it upon myself to go out to that farm. My ex-husband is dead. My student got shot in a drive-by. This is all somehow related to me.”
Without looking at her, he confirmed quietly, “You’re right at the epicenter of this whole mess.”
Dylan spoke, “You’re the one variable that intersects every event. Have you spoken to anyone about this, besides us?”
“I told the supervisor of my department, but he didn’t seem to believe me.”
“Law enforcement is going the extra mile to keep the discovery of the bodies out of the news. They don’t need a public panic in that small town,” Ace said, giving her a small amount of reassurance.
“I honestly haven’t spoken to anyone else, I promise. This isn’t the kind of thing I wanted to drag my family into.”
Ace glanced at the kids in the rearview mirror. “How about you two? Have you talked to anyone.”
Dylan shot Ace an angry look. “I’m not at the epicenter of this clusterfuck. I’m just the stupid ass who thought he could get extra credit and cool aquatic fossils. I wish the hell I’d stayed in bed that day.”
“Calm the fuck down, little dude.”
The young man’s voice escalated. “Sure thing, asshole. I’ll just sit here real quiet like and wait for my own drive-by shooter to arrive. Meanwhile, you big, badass bikers can keep right on trying to use the Pythagorean Theorem to calculate the probability of us being picked off one at a fucking time and see how far that gets you.”
Ace deadpanned right back, “Or I could kick you out on the fuckin’ street right now and save myself from listening to you whine.”
Barbara turned again to talk to Dylan. “We are not kicking you out of the car, but you have got to calm down. We can’t turn on each other right now.”
“Sure thing, teach,” he said snarkily. “Just so you know, though, I wish that I had never met you.”
Jennifer started babbling. “Peb says I can just live with him. This is some seriously crazy shit. We might never find out who’s doing this.”
“I thought you liked chicks?” Ace asked, confused.
“Not that it’s any of your business, old man, but I like everyone equally. You got a problem with that?”
“I don’t give two hoots in hell what or who you’re into. Just make sure you deal straight with my friend or things are gonna get ugly for you real fast.”
“It’s kind of sweet that you look out for him that way.”
Barbara smiled at her and got back to the subject at hand. “We’re dropping you two off, and then going to the morgue. I want to see my ex and see if I can figure out what really happened.”
Ace didn’t take his eyes from the road. “You’re not leavin’ the clubhouse until we get this figured out.”
“You’ve only known me a few weeks. We’ve been exclusive for a few days. I guess now is as good a time as ever to break the news.”
“What news is that, sweet cheeks.”
Trying not so smile, she stated flatly, “No matter how long we’re together or how close we get, you do not own my ass.”
“I don’t like it when you throw my own words back in my face.”
“I’m going to do what I should have done in the first place, instead of hiding behind you and the club. I’m going to get off my lazy ass and try to figure out what’s going on.”
“Fine. Me and Ryder will take you wherever you want to go, but you gotta listen to what we say.”
She took a moment to consider it. “Fine. Deal.”
“Wow, you’re a pro at whipping your dude into shape,” Jennifer quipped.
Ace responded without missing a beat. “You’re better suited to Jack than Peb. Jack can’t seem to manage his mouth any better than you can.”
“Forgive me if I’m not wild about taking feedback on my social skills from a dude who can’t conjugate his verbs and uses double negatives.”
Grinning at her in the rearview mirror, Ace teased, “I ain’t got no idea what you’re talking about, girlie.”
They bantered back and forth, and Barbara tried to tune them out in an effort to piece together what might be going on. They went into the clubhouse long enough to settle the students in and have a short conversation with Darkness.
“Intel on your dump site is hard to come by.”
Ace tensed, taking a deep breath. “What exactly have we discovered?”
“Nothing useful. The natives finally responded to our pleas to talk. They pretty much told us they have no idea what in the hell we’re talking about and politely asked us to fuck off. About thirty percent of the people in that area could be described as racist or racist sympathizers, so that doesn’t narrow the pool of possible suspects down by much.
“The farmer uses the same attorney as David’s father, but the law office is huge and they have their fingers in about every pie in the state. Also, there was a hospital admission for a dumb hick by the name of Dwane Jeffery Dixon around the same time as the two guys from the Seven-six were gunned down, but didn’t offer a very convincing explanation for his injuries and called his doctor a ‘commie wetback.’ Just to be clear, his doctor was black.”
“That makes less than no sense.”
Darkness shook his head. “Like I said, we ain’t got shit. We did put two brothers on the student at the hospital, though. He’s in stable condition. I guess we fucked that situation up royally.”
“Hindsight’s always twenty/twenty, brother.”
“Good luck figuring out what happened to David. We’re taking up a collection for his widow.”
Shooting her a quick smile, Ace explained, “No need. I’ve got her nailed down. I’ll be clearing out my stuff from the clubhouse in the next few days.”
Grinning, Darkness grabbed his hand and shook it. “Congratulations, to both of you. You bagged yourself a real nice lady, Ace. Well done.”
Turning to Barbara, his expression turned serious. “Being an old lady ain’t as easy as fallin’ off a log. You seem real nice, but Ace is a brother to me. You treat him right, and he’ll do right by you. I don’t want to see you doing anything to publicly humiliate him, and don’t even think of screwing him over. I ain’t above givin’ a bitch a dirt nap.”
Although she understood it was coming from a place of love, Barbara didn’t appreciate his tone and turned it around on him. “It’s a good thing that I’m no bitch. Just so you know, he might be your brother, but he’s my everything else. I’ll support him and this club for just as long as he wants to ride with you and your crew. If I even get the smallest inkling that you’re doing him wrong, I turn into that bitch you fear me being so much. You need to remember that hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.”
Stroking his chin, Darkness replied, “Well now, that ain’t never happened to me before. Usually the bitches just cringe and promise to do everything I say.”
“I’m sure you’re a nice guy, Darkness, but I am not going to put up with being called a bitch to my face.”
“Not even if I put sexy in front of it?”
“No. You can all me Barb. That’s about as friendly as I ever plan to get with you or any other man.”
“Loving the loyalty, Barb.” Turning to Ace, he shook his head. “You had to have a classy one. Well you sure as hell got her, and I think she’s gonna keep you on your toes.”
“I damn well agree about that. We’ll let you know what we find out at the morgue.”
“You taking your bike?”
“Hell no. Not with people gunning for us. I’m taking our company van, if you have no objections.”
“We armored the cage for a reason. Take it the hell on. Protect your lady and yourself.”
“Thanks, brother.”
“Be careful and make sure you have a back-up weapon.”
Ace smirked. “Ryder’s coming.”
Darkness responded smoothly. “Great, you got your backup weapon right there.”
Barbara wasn’t sure what Darkness meant until she saw Ryder. Unlike the last time she’d seen him, he was wearing body armor under his shirt and had two more vests lying on the hood of an older van. He was openly carrying a pistol on his waist and cramming another one in a specially designed holster under his pant leg.
“Come on, professor,” Ryder snapped. “Gear up. We ain’t got all day.”
Ace spoke up sternly, taking a step closer to the other man. “You are gonna be nice to my lady.”
“Why should I? You’ve been treatin’ mine like shit lately.”
Ace looked contrite. “Sorry about that. I didn’t have my head screwed on straight that day.”
“You might want to correct that oversight. My Tiffany cried herself to sleep over that shit.”
Ace popped his brows up. “I’m surprised it took you so long to sound off about it.”
“Fucking hell, I ain’t supposed to be talking about it now. She didn’t want me to make you feel bad.”
Jerking his chin at the man, Ace assured him sincerely, “I’ll talk to her as soon as we get back.”
Stopping to point a thick finger in Ace’s face, Ryder added smugly, “And you’re bringing your new bitch to dinner.”
Barbara crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not a bitch. What is wrong with you guys that you call all women bitches?”
Ryder shrugged. “Men are horndogs and women are bitches. It’s just how we were raised.”
“Is that what you are going to teach your kids? The boys are going to be horndogs and your pretty little girls are going to be bitches.”
The mouthy biker took a step back. The stunned look on his face was one Barb would remember for a nice long time. “Christ, I never thought about that.”
Barbara turned her back, unbuttoned her shirt, and let Ace hold it up to block the view while she struggled into the armored vest. It was thinner than the one Ryder was wearing, and she wondered if it would actually stop a bullet.
A loud whistle came from across the lot. Cork yelled, “Are we gettin’ new whores. I do love redheads.”
Ace held out his hand and Ryder slapped a pistol into his palm. Before she could object, he turned the gun on the quickly approaching man. “Did you just call my old lady a whore?”
The man’s face fell. “Shit. Sorry, brother. I’ve been out in the field and didn’t know you bagged a sexy redhead.”
Lowering the weapon, Ace grumbled, “Get your fuckin’ eyes off my woman.”
“Sorry, man, old habits die hard.”
Ryder asked excitedly, “What did you find out when you were hanging tough with the Outlanders?”
“Those brothers are screwed the fuck up.”
Suddenly interested, Ryder and Ace stepped forward. “Exactly in what way are they fucked?”
“They’re Christians. Everything is all God this and God that.”
“And?”
“And I got real tired of hearing it.”
Ryder frowned. “In other words, they ain’t fucked in the least. You just don’t like having the Lord in your life. Is that about right?”
Cork snarled, “Let’s just call it a little too much of a good thing.”
Ace asked curiously, “Were they racist at all?”
Shrugging, Cork replied, “They had one black brother, and some of the guys had wives from south of the boarder. I’m gonna have to say no to that one.”
“That’s another dead end” Ryder groused. “We’re going to the morgue. Wanna drive?”
“Sure. Do I need my vest?”
“You’re not getting out of the armored van, so no.”