Chapter 17

Faith

The knock on the door scared the shit out of me. I was lying in the bed, naked, without a clue what I was going to do. Jackson had abandoned me. I had no money, no vehicle.

Evening was setting in, the villa was beginning to get a little spooky in the darkness, and then, bang, bang, bang on the door.

I turned off the light in the bedroom.

“Hey,” I heard. It was a man’s voice. It wasn’t Jackson, but I didn’t recognize it as any of Wolf’s men either.

“Who is it?” I called, and as soon as I spoke I regretted it.

“My name’s Grant Lucas. I’m part of the Brotherhood with Jackson. I’m coming in.”

“Don’t come into the bedroom,” I called, directing my voice at the window.

“Don’t worry,” he said.

I climbed out of the bed and got dressed quickly. I guess Jackson hadn’t completely abandoned me. He’d sent someone, which I was grateful for, even if I was still angry at him.

When I entered the den, a big, muscular man with a broad chest and intricate tattoos was lighting the fire with the wood Jackson had gathered.

“Well, well, well,” he said when he looked up at me.

“I’m Faith Shepherd,” I said.

He stood up. “Grant Lucas. I’m a friend of Jackson’s.”

“Me too,” I said.

“So I hear.”

“He spoke to you?”

“He called from the road.”

“Do you know where he was headed?”

“Sounded like he was on a mission to face up to your ex.”

I nodded. I looked at Grant. He wasn’t judging me, but I felt guilty for the danger I’d put his friend in.

“I didn’t want him to go,” I said.

“I can imagine.”

“I asked him for help, but I meant help escaping. I didn’t expect him to square up to Los Lobos on his own.”

Grant shook his head, as if to say there was nothing either of us could do about it.

“Jackson’s got to do what he’s got to do. We have a strict code. We back each other up in any situation. But when it comes to women, we have to act alone. ”

“What do you mean?” I said.

Grant bent down to the fire and lit a piece of paper with his lighter. He blew on the fire until the wood caught light.

“I’m sure he told you about the Brotherhood.”

“He mentioned it.”

“Well, we do jobs of a certain kind. We get away with a lot of money, and it’s dangerous work. But we calculate every risk. We never move unless we’re certain we can get in and out without losing a brother.”

“But you don’t apply the same caution when it comes to women?”

Grant laughed. “When it comes to women, the rules go out the window. We forget all our logic, all our better judgement.”

“Sounds chaotic.”

“You get a group of four, woman-crazy criminals like us, emotions can get pretty passionate.”

“I suppose so,” I said.

The wood caught fire and Grant piled bigger logs onto the flames.

“Jackson told me to come up here and get you,” he said. “I’m going to take you to our home tomorrow.”

“No one spoke to me about that.”

“If you don’t want to come, I won’t force you,” he said.

“I thought I might head for Los Angeles.”

“If you don’t come back to the valley with me, Jackson will string me up from a post, but I won’t take you anywhere you don’t want to go. That’s all between you and your man.”

“How do you know Jackson’s my man?”

“Well,” Grant said, hesitating, “forgive me for being forward, but he said you were carrying his child.”

I sat on a sofa close to the fire. The warmth of the flames was comforting.

“He doesn’t know that,” I said. “We only spent two nights together.”

“It’s not like Jackson to say something unless he means it,” Grant said.

“Well, I’m sure he means it, but you tell me how a man can know if he’s made a woman pregnant or not? Even a doctor couldn’t tell me yet.”

“I guess what he meant,” Grant said, “was that he hoped you were pregnant.”

“I guess so,” I said.

Grant looked me over, head to toe. He wasn’t leering at me, but he made no effort to hide that he was looking. “He always had good taste,” he said.

“Excuse me?”

Grant laughed. “You heard me.”

“Is that supposed to be a compliment?”

“It’s just a fact, Faith. Don’t worry, I’d never make a move on a brother’s woman. You’re safe as long as you’re with me or anyone else from the Brotherhood.”

“Good to know,” I said.

Grant stood. The fire had grown strong.

“I saw a deer hanging in the pantry,” he said.

“Jackson shot it yesterday.”

“I don’t suppose he’d mind if we cut into it.”

“I don’t suppose he would.”

Grant left. I looked into the flames while I waited. I thought about my next move. I’d go with Grant to the ‘valley’, wherever that was. If I was ever going to see Jackson again, that’s where he’d find me.

He returned with two large cuts of meat, skewered and seasoned, and he put them to roast above the flames. The smell was delicious. It reminded me how hungry I was.

“So, are you coming back to the valley with me in the morning?”

I looked at him seriously. “If you were in my position, would you?”

He didn’t answer.