Chapter Twenty-Two
Paco sat in front of Steel’s desk, watching his president’s face go from scowling to contemplative. He’d decided that if Steel wasn’t gung ho about him escorting Chelsea to Ohio, he was going to do it anyway. There was no way he was going to send her off without making sure she made it home safely. It was killing him enough to see her go, but to not know if she arrived safely would eat at him. Besides, he wanted to be there to see if Bobby or Victor was lurking around. There was no way in hell either asshole was going to walk away from all that money. To them, Chelsea was property to be bought and sold.
“You have to take a couple of brothers with you to Ohio. I suspect this pimp of hers will try and get her back,” Steel said.
“I’m good with that. I was gonna ask Chains to come with me anyway, since he’s buddies with the guys in Twisted Warriors and I may need their help. I don’t trust Victor Bustos one fucking bit.”
“Neither do I. He ran his pussy ass out of Silverado. I’m not sure if he got wind of what was going down or if there was another reason he left.”
“I think it had to do with Chelsea. He paid money for her and he doesn’t have her. He’s not going to let this go. I just don’t know if that Bobby fucker told him she’s in Alina or not.”
Steel leaned back in his chair. “I doubt it. Bobby has to get the money first before he contacts Bustos.”
“I think you’re right about that. It’s driving me fucking crazy not knowing where he is. I’m gonna check out all the motels today. I need to know if he’s still in town.”
Steel nodded. “I hear you. With the lockdown, Chelsea hasn’t been around town. I bet he thinks she went back home.” He picked up a can of Dr. Pepper and took a drink, then fixed his gaze on Paco. “After you drop her off, are you done with her?”
Paco wiped his hands on his jeans. “I’m gonna stick around and make sure she’s safe.”
“I meant after all that. I can see she’s gotten to you. I’ve never seen you like this with a woman before.”
Paco shifted positions. “I don’t think I’ll ever be done with her.” He scrubbed his face. “She does something to me. Fuck… I don’t know.”
“Does she want to stay in Findlay?”
“We haven’t talked about it. She’s messed up from the shit that happened to her. It’s real important that she sees her family and gets some therapy to deal with all of it. I guess I’ll just see what happens.” I don’t want to lose her.
“Just let me know if you need anything.”
“Thanks, bro. What’s going on in Silverado?”
“Pandemonium with the badges and the fire department.” He chuckled. “The West Avenue Bandits don’t have a clue it was bikers. They think Los Malos double-crossed them, and with Bustos leaving, it cinched it with them. That asshole leaving made it easier for the Fallen Slayers. Chains talked to Hawk and he said no one suspects bikers, even the fucking Satan’s Pistons.”
“I guess the Pistons just got put outta business for a while. Cueball said the women followed the club’s instructions about keeping quiet on where they were at. They’re so damn scared of Los Malos and the other gangs that they’re not going to give out too many details.”
“I’m just glad we were able to free them,” Steel said.
Paco stood up. “Me too. I need to talk to Chains.”
“When are you leaving?”
“Tomorrow.”
“I’ll see you then. Lockdown ends tomorrow morning, so I’ll be around.”
“I bet Breanna’s happy about that.”
Steel laughed. “Yup. She did better than I thought she would.”
“It’ll be good to have the club back to normal. I’ll see ya.”
Paco saw Chains sitting at one of the tables with Lucy on his lap. He came up to them and tapped Lucy on the shoulder. She craned her neck and smiled widely when her gaze fell on him. “Hiya, stranger,” she said.
“Hey.” He pulled a chair out and plopped down.
“You’ve been hanging out a lot with your friend Misty.” She uncurled her arm from around Chains’s neck. “She still has to give me back my lavender sweater.”
Paco chuckled. “She likes that one a lot. You want to sell it to her?”
Lucy’s eyes widened. “For real? I mean, I like it, but if she wants to buy it, I’ll sell it for forty bucks.”
“Forty bucks?” Paco shook his head. “You know you only spent thirty on it.”
“How do you know what I spend on my clothes?”
“Because I’m the one who usually takes you, Ruby, Alma, and Kelly shopping, and I collect the receipts to give to Sangre.”
She rolled her eyes at him. “Whatever. Anyway, I changed my mind. I like the sweater, so have her give it back to me.”
Paco nodded. “Now disappear. I got some business to talk about with Chains.”
Pushing out her bottom lip, she slowly climbed out of Chains’s lap and sauntered away.
“Hope you don’t have a major boner, dude,” Paco joked.
Chains laughed. “If I did, you’d be the one disappearing, not Lucy. I’ll just catch up with her later. What did Steel say about Ohio?”
“He’s cool with it, but he wants two brothers to come along in case there’s trouble. I was gonna ask you to come because you’re a wiz at computers and you know the Twisted Warriors. You up for the trip?”
“I don’t have anything to do. I can work on writing code anywhere. How long are we gonna be gone?”
“Not sure. I’d say at least five days or a week. We leave tomorrow morning. That work for you?”
“Yeah.” Chains was a freelance developer who specialized in real-time web applications and software. “I got that information you wanted.”
“What did you find out?” Paco picked up the beer the prospect put in front of him.
“Tyler Tarleton died in a car crash the year after Chelsea was kidnapped by his dad. And his old man, Russ Tarleton, is doing a forty-year stint at Mansfield Prison. Seems like the fucker finally got caught for human trafficking, kidnapping, and a shitload of other charges.”
“Too bad it’s not here. I’d have a job for Scorpio if the fucker were in Canon City.”
Chains laughed. “He’d like that.”
“Thanks for the update. I’ll let Chelsea know. It’ll set her mind at ease.”
“What time in the morning?”
“Around six. It’s a little less than sixteen hundred miles. I figure with three of us driving, we can go straight through or crash overnight. We’ll see how it goes. I already gave Sniper the heads-up that I’d be going. He’s offering their clubhouse if we need to crash.”
“That’s cool.”
“I’m gonna ask Army if he wants to join us,” Paco said.
“Since he’s always on the lookout for fresh pussy, I bet he’ll be game.”
Paco pushed his chair back. “You’re right about that. I’m gonna see if I can find out if that fucker Bobby is still in Alina.”
“You need some help with that?” Army asked as he came over.
Paco nodded. “If you don’t have anything else to do. Do you want to go to Ohio with Chains and me? I’m taking Chelsea home.”
“We’re gonna crash at the Twisted Warriors’ clubhouse. Hear they got some fine-looking club women,” Chains added.
Army’s eyes brightened. “Count me in. I’ve never been to Ohio, but those Warriors can party. Last year at Sturgis, they were off the charts.”
“I know. We had some good times,” Paco replied.
“Remember that cute brunette with hair past her ass? She was really into you, dude. You spent most of the trip with her. What was her name again?”
Paco shrugged. “I think it was Mandy.”
“She was all over you. Fuck, those VP patches are chick magnets.” Army laughed.
Paco chuckled. “I’ve noticed. Maybe you should put a temporary one on your cut when you go to rallies.”
Army patted him on the back. “Don’t think I haven’t thought of it.” Chains and Paco guffawed.
“I’ll help you check out the motels. Let’s see if we can find this asshole and beat his ass,” Chains said, rising to his feet.
“More like kill his ass,” Paco replied.
The three men went out into the chilly air, laughing and talking as they ambled to Paco’s SUV.
* * *
“So Bobby’s not in Alina anymore?” Chelsea asked. She sat facing him on the bed with shoulders hunched and legs crossed.
Paco leaned against the headboard, his legs stretched out. “Army found the motel he was staying in. The manager said he took off a couple of days ago. Probably thought I took you away right after you saw him at Flanigan’s since neither of us has been around town.”
Her face slackened and her pallor intensified. “Do you think he’s in Findlay? I have to call my mom and warn her. And my sister.” She clutched the base of her throat. “If something happens to Kate, I’ll never forgive myself. I’ve got to call them.” She reached for her phone and punched in the numbers.
While she spoke to her mom, he watched her, a feeling of loss punching his gut. He didn’t want to dwell on her leaving, even though he knew it was for the best; she had to get her life back together, and he had a club to focus on. Whatever thing they had going on between them would go away once they were apart.
“My mom’s super excited that I’m coming home, and my sister has a bunch of plans for us. I can’t wait to see them.” The color returned to her face and her eyes sparkled. “I feel better now that I described the asshole to my mom. She promised to call the police right away.”
She’s gonna be fine. What we had was a pause in our lives. I love seeing her happy. A slight thump on his leg broke in on his thoughts.
“You’re a million miles away. Did you hear anything I just said?”
“Yeah. Your family’s excited you’re coming home and so are you. I’m happy for you. And don’t worry about the fucker, the club’s got you covered.”
“What does that mean?”
“We got your back.” A soft knock on the door stopped the next question he knew was coming. “Come in.”
Lucy walked in, her eyes darting from Paco to Chelsea and back to him. “Hey.” She stood by the door, shifting from one foot to the other.
“What do you want?” Paco asked.
“I know you’re leaving tomorrow, so I came for my sweater.”
“Fuck. I forgot about it, Lucy,” he said.
Chelsea scrambled off the bed and hurried to the closet. “I’m so sorry. I’ve been meaning to give it back to you.” She pulled out a hanger with the lavender sweater on it and handed it to the club girl. “Here you go. Thanks for letting me borrow it.”
Lucy snatched it from her. “No worries.” She ran her eyes over the bed, then locked gazes with Paco. “So you’re going home for good?”
“Yeah.” Chelsea closed the closet door.
Lucy smiled and the fine lines under her eyes crinkled. “That’s cool. Have a good trip. See you later, Paco.” She ran her tongue over her top lip and winked at him.
When the door shut, Chelsea came back to the bed and resumed her sitting position. “She’s glad I’m going. Now you can go back to your old life.” She pulled at a loose thread on the blanket.
“Lucy’s got plenty of brothers to keep her happy.” He waved his hand, pushing the idea way. “I bet you’ve got a few friends who can’t wait to see you.”
“I’m scared to see any of them,” she said softly. “I know they’re going to judge me, wonder why I didn’t just run away. They won’t say it to my face but they—my family included—will think I liked it and wanted to stay. They won’t get that my whole identity was robbed, and unless they’ve been in that position, they can’t understand. People’s whole idea of prostitution is that the woman wants to be there. They think sex trafficking is about illegal immigrants smuggled into this country and forced to work in massage parlors to pay off a debt, or that it only happens in faraway countries.” She shook her head. “They don’t think it involves the teen next door or the college girl down the street. Before it happened to me … I didn’t either.”
She locked gazes with him, her black eyes drilling into his. Those eyes. He’d never seen such darkness with so much light in them. They were the sweet silence before dawn and they pulled him in. But it wasn’t just her eyes, it was every part of her, and he was falling… falling fast… falling in love with her. He brushed his hand over her knee. “As I told you before, it’s gonna be tough.”
Still holding his gaze, she grasped his hand. “You’re the only one who hasn’t judged me. Not even from the first time you saw me at the diner… before you knew. You thought I was just a lot lizard and you still treated me like a person. It was that night, with that small gift of normalcy and kindness, that you won my heart. I’m going to miss you so much.” She blinked rapidly. “You don’t have to say anything, but I want you to know that I love you. All my dealings with men have been horrible and I don’t trust them at all, but you made me see that the men I came in contact with were the scum of society. You made me see that there are good men out there, and you’re a good person. I’ll never forget what you did for me.” Before he had a chance to respond, she jumped off the bed and went to the bathroom, mumbling, “I have to pack up my stuff.” From the steady stream of water in the sink, he figured she was trying to mask her sobs. Fuck.
“You got to me too, baby,” he said under his breath. But she has to go home and pick up the pieces. She hasn’t dealt with all she’s been through, and it’s gonna bite her in the ass. I’m her rebound or her fucking stepping stone to regaining her life. For a long time, he just sat there with his thoughts and the sound of cascading water. Nighttime had crept in, and long slivers from the moon provided the only light in the room. He pushed off the bed and switched on the lamp. He needed to hang with his brothers, get away from his thoughts and the ache he’d felt all day in his gut, so he pulled his boots on and went over to the door, knocking softly. “Are you okay?” he asked.
The doorknob jiggled and she opened the door a crack. “I’m good.”
“I’m gonna go downstairs for a bit. Do you want something to eat?”
“I’m not hungry. Don’t mind me. Just do what you’d normally do if I wasn’t here.”
“Text me if you want me to bring up some food, or you can come down and hang with me. The old ladies are still here, so you could talk with them. I’m sure Raven’s gonna beat Brutus’s ass at pool—that’s a lot of fun to see.”
“Thanks, but I think I’ll just get things ready for tomorrow. We’re leaving early, and I have a lot to do.”
“Okay. If you want anything, text me or come down.”
“Gotcha. And sorry for the meltdown. I’m just nervous about going home.”
“I know. Don’t sweat it. I won’t be back too late.”
“Have fun.” She closed the door.
He stared at it for several minutes, then turned around and left.