Chapter 12
I’m leaning against the diner bar when it hits me. I gasp as a lady walks by and she reminds me of it. I pull my phone out and with shaking hands, I dial Vice.
“You okay, sweetheart?” he answers on the first ring.
“I don’t know, I just thought of something,” I breathe.
“Okay?” he asks.
“Do you have a prospect named Chris? He would have come along the same time of Stewart and Anne,” I rush out.
“Chris…,” he repeats.
“Yeah, if I’m thinking right, they all have the same last name, Martin.”
“Fuck!” he bellows and I have to pull my phone from my ear. “Big spider tattoo on his neck?”
“Yes,” I say as my heart starts to beat faster.
“How do you know him, Schuyler?” he asks, his voice is hard to place.
“They are part of the Strykers. They go by the name SCAM. Whenever my dad needed to plant a spy, he would call his SCAM team. Chris, aka Spider, and Stewart are brothers. Anne is Stewart’s ol’ lady, but he lets her run from bed to bed in order to hear any slip-ups from the members. Stanton, you need to get them out of there. They know too much to help my father, not to mention that Anne saw me, too.” I start to panic. “I don’t want them to let my father know how to get in to hurt, Vice.”
“Calm down, babe. We already have them under watch. We have their phones tapped and I’m following Anne now. We are watching their every move. The Avengers are on Stewart, and you don’t have to worry about Spider,” he ends with a darkness to his voice.
“Okay,” I whisper.
“Don’t worry. T is watching your diner,” he also tells me.
“I don’t need a babysitter, Vice,” I grumble as my thumbs run along the top of my blades in my waistband.
“He’s not babysitting. He’s watching,” he says exasperated.
“What’s the difference?” I ask, annoyed.
“The difference is, a babysitter tells you what you’re allowed to do, someone who is watching just keeps an eye out for danger. Do as you please. Schuyler, but it makes me feel better knowing there is an extra set of eyes watching out for you,” he says. “Just deal with it for me, and my sanity, please?”
“Only if you do me a favor in return,” I tell him with a grin.
“Hmm... I can think of a couple things I could do,” he replies as my smile gets wider.
Before I can comment back, the bell dings on our front door and I have to go back out and get back to work.
“I gotta go. Someone just came in and I have to go be a proper waitress and take some orders,” I tell him while looking out of the tiny window trying to see if I can see the customers.
“Okay, sweetheart. I’m going to come in after a while for something to eat,” he says, his voice holds a hint of lust.
“I’m waiting,” I smolder.
“Fuck it. I’ll be there in a few minutes,” he says as he hangs up.
I giggle to myself and put my phone in my back pocket. I fix my hair and walk out of the kitchen. As the swinging doors close behind me, I look up and the smile I’m wearing melts off my face when I see who is sitting at my counter.
“Anne,” I say, my mind reeling wondering who Stanton is following if she is sitting here right now.
“Schuyler,” she says in a sing-song voice as she peels the paper off a straw, not even looking at me.
I lean my shoulder blade against the wall and cross my arms over my chest.
“What can I do for you?” I ask.
“Well, I’m not really sure,” she pouts.
I just want to reach over and strangle her. She has always been a problem when she was in my father’s MC. She wants to be the alpha female, but in all reality, people use her to get what they want. She will do anyone’s bidding for them, thinking it gets her one step closer to being the ultimate ruler. Her puppet master just sits back and laughs while their hands stay clean, and Anne’s gets dirty. You can see on her face she doesn’t want to. She wants to be the one calling the shots. But she never will; she will always be number two, at best. I would feel bad for her, but it’s her choice in the end.
“How about you think real hard and tell me,” I say with an arch to my brow.
“Your smart mouth is only going to get you in trouble,” she says in that sing-song voice again.
I lower my head and blow out a breath, completely annoyed. I can’t believe I didn’t pinpoint her that day in Vice’s room. Her hair is cut shorter, and she colored it dark. I didn’t really look at her face that day. She has a heart-shaped face, and green eyes. She is shorter than me with an hourglass figure. She’s wearing short shorts and wedge heels with a tank top that says “Fallen Angels” across the chest.
“I can’t believe you have the nerve to wear that tank,” I huff.
“I can’t believe you have the nerve to fuck a rival MC member,” she taunts.
“My personal life has nothing to do with you. Also, I’m not a member of the Strykers. So, it’s not a rival member for me,” I say with mock boredom.
“Oh, but it is, and you know it. Too bad they are onto me, or else I would have enjoyed putting more roofies into your drink.” She winks.
My heart beat slows down and I look her in the eyes and see her twisted way of thinking. She was there that day when I got out of the bathroom. She was sitting right next to me and I remember seeing Nathan out of the corner of my eye before I blacked out. I thought he was winking at me, but he wasn’t now that I think back. He was winking at her.
“You fucking cunt,” I tell her on a breath.
“Ohh!. You’re putting it together now, aren’t you!” She laughs with glee and claps her hands.
“You drugged my drink,” I say with shock.
“Well yeah, you know when your daddy needs anything done, he calls in his SCAM team,” she says like I should have known better.
I should have known. She was sitting at the bar. Stewart was bartending, and Chris was at the door. I’m so fucking stupid.
“Well, guess what? I’m not drugged now. What do you think is stopping me from gutting you right now?” I ask.
“I am so scared. Not.” She points to the door and snickers. “If you even try to touch me, those two will be in here faster than I can cough.”
There were two members at the door from my father’s MC. I groan thinking of the backlash that’s going to come from this. The war is starting. And I’m going to be the one to shed someone’s blood first. But at least it’s not as soon as everyone thought. It’s been three days since we had that meeting in the bar. Three days everyone has been preparing for someone to make a move. Three days of being with Stanton and growing to love him. And then this twat walks in my diner trying to scare me.
I lift my head up and blow out a breath. Then I walk closer to Anne and smile as I do it.
“Here’s the thing, you cold hearted bitch,” I whisper while shaking my head. “You see those guys out there?” I point to the doors again, “They just want their money. The loyal members in the Strykers are close to my father. The ones he lends out to his puppets, like you,” I point to her, “are only money loyal. So, he pays them a very tiny fee, and they do whatever he says. They make their money by the job, rather than doing an actual part and being an actual member of his MC.”
Anne furrows her brow and you can see the wheels turning in her head.
“Keep thinking. You’ll get it one of these days. Sadly though, you won’t be here for that moment. Because I’m going to gut you, and when you are bleeding out, you’ll watch me pay them more money than my father ever did and they will zip their lips, go back to the Strykers and tell him they couldn’t find you, or me.” I wink.
“They are devoted members. They would never do that.” She laughs nervously.
“Have you ever taken a look at their patches?” I nod to their cuts. “They don’t say Strykers MC. They say Strykers HH.”
I watch her face and her angry eyes gaze back to me.
“So? Still says Strykers.”
“Right, here. I’ll let you in on the secret; it stands for Strykers Hired Help. The name Strykers is on it for my father’s benefit, not theirs.” I tell her while walking to the door. “It’s so when he hires them to do something, whoever they are hurting, threatening, or very rarely helping, they know to listen and follow through because it’s the Strykers after all. And that is as far as a member they will ever get. Watch and learn how this game is played.” I open the door and see the two HH members. They turn their heads and the one’s eyes flash with recognition when he sees me.
“Hi, Carl. How much were you paid to come here and stand guard to make sure nothing happens to sweet Anne in here?” I ask while pointing with my thumb at the woman behind me.
“Two hundred each, Miss Schuyler,” Carl tells me.
“Really? Wow. He isn’t paying you guys well enough.” I tsk my teeth.
“No, ma’am, but we need to feed our families,” he answers with embarrassment.
“Right, I understand that. I ain’t mad at ‘cha. But listen, if I give you five hundred each, will you go back and tell the boss that Anne never met you here? I can promise you, she won’t be able to tell him differently.” I smile a wicked grin and Carl gets it. He was always nice to me when I was with my father.
“Miss Schuyler, you don’t have to do that. If I had known she was meeting you, I wouldn’t have agreed to this job.” He shrugs.
“I know, but I still want to do something good for you. Here, take this, and here is my number.” I write it down on an order sheet for him. “Go back and tell my father Anne didn’t meet you, and you found a new job. Then give me a call, and you can come work for the Angels. They pay more.” I wink on that last part.
“You can’t do this!” Anne screeches.
“But I can,” I tell her.
“I’ll call you later, Miss Schuyler,” Carl says as he smirks at the other woman. “Have fun, Anne.”
As they leave, I shut and lock the door. My wind chimes sound and I smile.
“It’s just you and me, Anne,” I tell her. “Why do you do the shit you do?” I ask.
“The cook is still here. He is going to call the cops on you if you hurt me.” She starts to panic.
I tsk again and shake my head. “No, he’s not. See my cook called in today. And I didn’t call anyone else to take his shift yet, seeing how we are pretty slow.” I wave my hand at the empty diner. I flip my open sign to closed and start walking toward her.
“You’re not going to hurt me. You’re not that type of person, Schuyler,” she says as she tries to backpedal.
“You’re right. That’s why I’m going to call Stanton, and he’s going to come and get you, and he’s going to take you to our Prez.” I shrug as I walk back behind the diner and pull my phone out and call Stanton.
As I listen to the phone ring, Anne gets this twisted smile on her face.
“What?” I ask her
“Your game just ended,” she says excitedly.
Just as Stanton answers, “Hello” on the phone there is a hand wrapping around my mouth, and an arm going around my neck.
“Put the phone down.” His hot breath in my ear makes my heart rate spike.
I put the phone down on the counter and I try not to whimper when he licks my earlobe.
“Anne, pick up her phone and hit the end button, then turn it off so it can’t be traced,” he tells her.
“Sure thing, babe.” She giggles. “I’m a little pissed off, you didn’t tell me about the hired help thing, Nate. It would have been nice to know.” She huffs.
He drags me backward and sits me down on a barstool.
“Well, I didn’t think Miss Schuyler would have bribed them more. I should have known though. She does have her father’s DNA. That’s a move her daddy would have made,” he says in my ear again.
“Fuck you,” I spit out.
His face transforms into a smile of pure evil.
“Tsk, tsk, Schuyler.” His eyes roam my body. “Falling for the bad boy from across the tracks.” He runs his finger across my chest and I smack his hands away.
“Anne, go get me something to tie her hands with,” he tells her.
“On it, baby,” she sings, and runs into the back.
“Why does she keep calling you ‘baby’?” I ask to get his mind off of me.
“Ohh, are you jealous?” he asks excited. “She’s my best kept secret.” He smiles.
“I think I might have some feelings for her,” he adds as he looks me up and down again. “Her body isn’t as good as yours, though.” He trails his fingers across my chest again, and I slap it away once more.
His hand comes out and grabs my throat, choking me. “Stop slapping my hand away, or else I will make this so much worse for you,” he grits out as I try to breathe. He lets my throat go and my hands fly up and rub it while I swallow gulps of air.
“Do your worst. I’ve lived through it once, I can do it again. Except this time, I have somewhere I can take my mind to, to help me escape.” I tell him with all the taunting defiance I can muster.
“Because of that, I’m going to make it that much worse for you,” he starts when Anne comes out of the back with rope she found in the kitchen.
“Will this work for her, Nate?” she asks.
“That’ll do. Tie her hands behind her,” he instructs.
“Is that all you ever do?” I ask her. “Do whatever someone tells you? You’ll never be looked up to, only looked down on. Grow a fucking backbone,” I tell her as she ties my hands. She has done a shitty job, because the rope is already too loose. I can nearly get my right hand free already.
She stands up and dusts her pants off and her eyes meet mine.
“I got the man you kept turning down. That’s all I ever wanted. Everyone was so fucking worried about you. Daddy's princess,” she grits out before she backhands me across the face.
My face throbs where she hit, but I don’t make a sound. My pain tolerance is pretty good, that mixed with my pride. They will never hear me cry out because of them.
“You had it made!” she screeches. “I had to kill, fuck, and manipulate my way to your spot,” she seethes.
“What a shitty spot to sell yourself out for, too,” I say laughing at Nate. “When he gets you so hooked on heroin, you can’t depend on anyone but him, remember – that’s the life you chose. That’s the life you’ve killed for. Fucked for. Manipulated for. Sold yourself for.” I spit out blood from my mouth where she hit me. Just as I raise my head, she swings out again and hits me again.
I groan and laugh at the same time.
“You stupid bitch! He won’t do that to me because I’m his ol’ lady!” Her crazy is starting to show and I laugh harder.
“Obviously, you haven’t been fucking watching anything other than the long list of people you have to fuck to get to where you want to be. He gets everyone addicted. That’s what he fucking does. That’s why I said no to him and my father.” I see her wheels turning. “Because, I mean, yeah, he is hot, but come on, girl. He’s fucking crazy, and he wants everyone to have to depend on him. That ain’t gonna include me.” I spit more blood.
“Alright, girls. That’s enough gossip right now. It’s time to get down to business.” He cracks his knuckles. “Anne, sit down, baby. Let me show you what happens when people say no to me.” He chuckles.
He walks up to me and grabs the front of my shirt and pulls me forward, making me stand up off the barstool. He rips my shirt open and trails his fingers over my chest again. I grit my teeth and look forward. He walks behind me and pulls me to his front. His hands slide down my arms and when they get to my waistline, he yanks my jeans down. I grit my teeth and keep my face straight, and I focus on the wall of windows.
“What do we have here?” he asks as he pulls out my twin blades and looks them over. “Still deadly with these, I assume, so we better put them over here where you can’t reach them, yeah?” he says as he places my blades on the counter.
He walks back behind me and as his arms go to grab my chest, Stanton walks out of the kitchen. His gun is drawn and he has it pointed at Nate’s head.
“Well now, look who joined us for this show!” Nate exclaims and his grip tightens on me.
“I’ll snap her neck, Stanton. Put the gun down, and sit over there and I will make sure she walks out alive when I’m done,” he says as he nods his head to the table where Anne is sitting, picking her nails in boredom.
“Maybe we can have a go around while they do, Stanton. I’ve always wanted to take you for a ride,” she purrs and my blood boils hotter.
“He won’t fucking touch you, you cunt,” I grit out at her.
“Why do you like him so much anyway?” Nate grumbles. “It’s his fault I’m even here right now. His junkie mother owes me money, and since she didn’t pay, here I am, taking my payment the way I want,” he tells me, his mouth too close to my ear.
“The fuck you are,” Stanton says as he pulls the trigger.
I am sprayed with the blood from Nate’s head and I hear Anne gasp. Her eyes turn deadly as she pulls out a knife aimed for Stanton. T comes through the back door, surprising Anne. That gives me the extra second to rip my hands out of the loose rope, and rush to the counter top. Grabbing my blades, I fling them both to her. One hits her chest, and the other, her neck. Stanton turns around to look at her and turns back around and his eyes are wide looking at me.
“Damn, sweetheart. You weren’t kidding when you said you were good with knives.”
I sob as I take the few steps that separate us. I throw my arms around him and he picks me up at the waist and my legs go around him. The tears start to flow into his shoulder and I don’t even try to stop them.
“Shh,” he says as he rubs my back in small circles and rocks me from side to side. “He can’t hurt you anymore.”
I laugh and sob at the same time as pick my head up. I put my hands on his face and shake my head.
“It’s not him I am worried about. I saw her with a knife, coming toward you. The man I’m falling in love with was nearly stabbed,” I say with a shaky voice. “I am just happy you’re okay. I’m not worried about me.”
His lips come crashing to mine and when he ends the kiss, his eyes roam my face.
“How did I get so lucky to find someone like you? Someone who loves me as much as I do her?”
My heartbeat is racing and the tears start to flow again.
“You love me, too?” I whisper, not wanting to take away from the moment.
“I do and I didn’t want the first time I tell you that to be surrounded by death, but I would give my life for you, Schuyler. I have all kinds of instincts telling me what I should do right now,” his voice is raspy.
“What are they telling you to do right now?” I ask as I run my fingers through his hair.
“That I need to get you the fuck out of here, and back home so I can make sure, with my own eyes, you are alright,” he growls out, while looking around at the mess.
“Call the Avengers and I will call Sabrina to tell her not to come in today. We will close up shop and head out. I also need to change my shirt, and wash this blood off my face.”
“Will you get in trouble for shutting this place up for the rest of the day?” he asks.
“I’m the supervisor, of course, I won’t.” I wink at him as I pull out my phone to shoot Sabrina a text.
I walk to the door and tape a note on it, saying we are having cash register issues, and to come back tomorrow. When I turn around, Vice is ending the call, and he makes his way to me.
“When I got your call and I heard his voice tell Anne to end the call…,” he trails off.
“Shh, Vice. I know. I’m okay. Take me home, and see for yourself,” I tell him.
“I plan to. However, first we have to make a pit stop,” he grumbles as we walk out of the diner.
“What the hell…?” I trail off as I see blood spots on the sidewalk.
We follow them as I see Carl lying on the ground bleeding out from his stomach.
“Oh my God, Carl!” I gasp out. “Vice, we have to call someone. He’s only hired help. He’s not a member. Nathan must have gotten him.” I panic.
“Hold on, Schuyler. I’ll get him help,” he says as he pulls out his phone.
My hands are on Carl’s stomach and his eyes flutter open.
“Miss. Schuyler, I’m sorry. He came out of nowhere. Billy got free. He was able to run”, he coughs out.
“Shh, Carl. We have help coming for you,” I tell him.
“Doc, we need you at Schuyler’s diner. It’s a friend of hers,” Vice says into his phone.
“How long until he gets here?” I ask.
“He’s right around the corner.”
“Thank, God.” I breathe as I hear footsteps running to us.
“Who is this?” a tall blonde guy asks. His arms are huge. And his blonde hair is shaved on the sides, but long on top.
“It’s a friend of Schuyler’s,” Vice answers before the blonde turns his blue eyes to look at me.
“Hi, Schuyler, I’m Doc Doug. I’m a member of the Angels. I can help your friend, but do you know what happened?” he asks me.
“He was stabbed,” I tell him, my hands still holding Carl’s wound.
“Okay, I’m going to cut his shirt open, then I want you to remove your hands, but not until I say, okay? It looks like you have enough pressure to stop the wound from flowing.”
“Okay,” I breathe, not knowing what to say.
He takes his scissors out of his bag and cuts Carl’s shirt down the front. He has a huge chest tattoo of a graveyard, and there are four tombstones with initials on each of them.
“Carl, you still awake?” I ask him.
“Still here, Miss Schuyler.”
“Carl, I’m going to give you a shot. It’s a strong drug that might knock you out. But I’m going to need to stitch this up, and I don’t want to cause you any more pain than I have to, alright?” .
“No drugs,” he coughs out.
“Carl, it’s going to hurt like a bitch,” I hiss.
“I don’t care. With all due respect, Miss Schuyler, I’ve been clean for five years now. I won’t relapse because of this,” he pushes out.
I suck in a breath and tears prick my eyes. “I understand,” I tell him, looking at his chest piece.
“Alright, Carl. Deep breath, because she’s right—this is going to hurt like a bitch,” Doc Doug says.
“I’m ready.” He nods.
Doc Doug pushes the needle into his skin and Carl doesn’t even make a sound. He never flinches, and his eyes never close. He takes the pain like a shot of whiskey, straight with no chaser.
When he finishes, we help him up and we get him into Doc’s truck.
“I’m going to take him home so he can rest up some,” he tells us.
“Thanks for coming, Doc.” Vice hits his knuckles on Doc’s.
“Always, brother,” Doc replies as he gets into his truck and leaves.
I rest my head on Vice’s chest and blow out a breath.
“Can we go home yet?” I ask.
“Not yet, we have one pit stop to make,” he says before he kisses my temple.
“Where’s that?” I ask with a groan.
“To the lockup. It’s time I ghost my mother,” he replies with strength.