Chapter Three

Taz

Riding back to the clubhouse I keep going over everything that Anna told me. I know that she has not told me the whole story. There is something important that I am missing. When it hits me what she wasn’t saying, I begin to pray that I am wrong. If my line of thinking is right, I will have to tell Voodoo. I will help him kill whomever hurt her. I’m just hoping that I am wrong. She might get upset, but I only promised if it didn’t affect the club. Anna getting hurt affects the club.

When I get back to the clubhouse, I head to the bar to get several shots of whiskey. Skid, the prospect I met this morning, is working the bar and quickly refills my glass when he sees it empty. I keep drinking until I can feel the warm burn ease the turmoil I am felling, ideas start to take form.

“Hey Skid,” I ask him. “How often does the club host big parties?” I’m wondering if I can get some answers without anyone realizing that I am looking for information.

“Big parties are only for patching someone in or something like that. We do party about every weekend but it’s just us, the club girls, and friends of the club usually. Family comes sometimes but most of us don’t have much of that you know,” Skid informs me as he wipes the bar down. “Last big party was probably about ten to eleven months ago. Don’t repeat this,” he leans in to whisper “but I am kinda hoping that a patching party is gonna happen sooner than later.”

This information is like flipping a lightbulb on in my head. I know that something happened at the last big party to Peaches. My mind is racing. If I tell anyone, she is gonna be pissed. On the other hand, if I don’t say anything and the club finds out that I knew, I would be a dead man walking. I try to figure out how to tell someone what I think without hurting her or the club.

Prez and Voodoo walk into the clubhouse and head over to me at the bar. They both get a beer and take a seat next to me.

“How was the ride today” Prez asks, taking a large gulp of his beer.

“Did the bike run well?” Voodoo asks, genuinely wanting to know how the garage did with the repairs.

“It was a good ride,” I tell them both, motioning for another drink. “The bike ran like a dream. Don’t know what you fixed besides the rim and tire, but she was perfect.”

I am running through every idea I can come up with on how to talk to them about Peaches. Finally, I go with the old tried and true, “Do you feel up to taking a ride this week Voodoo?” I ask, turning to look at him. “Maybe you can show me some cool places to ride when I need to think. Somewhere that I can go to clear my head and be alone for a while.”

Voodoo gives me a side look before answering. He knows something else is going on in my head. As VP though, he has to see what is going on and he has no real choice but to accept my offer.

“Sure, we can take a ride to the next town and get a beer before we head back,” he says.

This is exactly what I need to get him away from everyone and have a talk that could change everything for him and the club; not to mention Peaches. Hopefully he will let me brainstorm with him to figure out the next step we need to make things better for her. We won’t be able to get her daughter back for her, but we can do something to let her know that she’s not alone.

I finish my shot and tell him to let me know what works for him. I know I am not gonna be starting at the garage until next week, so I am spending this week getting to know my new home. For the most part, I just ride around so that I find stores and other things that I’ll need to locate. It’s going to take a while, but I don’t want to be the guy that’s constantly asking where things are. It gets old fast and if no one is around, I’m stuck at the clubhouse.

A few days later Voodoo and I are riding out of town. We have the open road in front of us and I am using the time to figure out how to tell him what I think without saying what I know. Peaches is gonna be mad at me, but I know this needs to come out for her and the club. If one of the members is responsible for her situation then he will have to pay. I know that whatever happened that night, the club is unaware of or heads would have already rolled. None of these guys tolerate any man hurting a woman. When that woman is a member of the family, the punishment is even worse.

Voodoo pulls into a little hole in the wall bar and it looks empty which will make what is coming easier. I am not looking forward to this, and I hope he doesn’t shoot the messenger. Telling my VP that I think someone hurt his baby sister and no one noticed could get me beat down. I’m willing to take that chance though if it means that she can get her secret out in the open. Peaches needs someone to talk to about this and if I’m not around, she needs to know her brother and everyone else has her back. Anna is not alone and something needs to make her realize that fact.

“This place has the best tacos in five counties,” Voodoo tells me, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

“Taco’s should be their own food group,” I quickly reply, even though the thought of eating anything right now turns my stomach.

“So, what is it you want to talk about? My sister I’m guessing” Voodoo throws out as we find a table to sit at.

“What? How?” I stutter. I am surprised that anyone has noticed this obsession I am developing for her. She is in my every thought it seems.

Voodoo laughs and says “I have seen you watching her since she dropped you at the club. She has had a rough few months. I don’t know why exactly, but she doesn’t sleep or eat enough, and it shows. You know if you hurt her, I will have to kick your ass!”

“Well,” I pause trying to slow my racing heart, “I did wanna talk to you. Anna told me a few things. I told her I would not tell anyone unless it affected the club. I think that it affects the club, but it will affect you even more if I am correct with what I read between the lines of her story.”

“Tell me everything!” he demands, with concern. “We can worry about her being mad later.”

“Anna had a baby,” I blurt out like a fool.

“What in the hell are you talking about?” Voodoo yells, his face turning red as a vein begins to pop out in his neck.

“Ok, let me back up,” I begin, this sounds like the same way she told me I think with a snort. “You remember last week I went to test my bike after you fixed it? Well, I saw Peaches going down the road and wanted to say thank you for the lift. I followed her out of town, to this town actually, and she stopped at house. When she got to the door, a lady handed her a baby.”

“That don’t make it hers,” Voodoo interrupts, trying to think of any reason he can that a strange woman would be handing her a baby.

“Let me finish,” I tell him, pausing until the waitress leaves the table after taking our order. “I hung for a few hours until your sister came back out. At first, she freaked out. Then we went to a park where she could tell me what happened. Anna gave me the basic story of people drinking at a party ten months ago or so. She said that someone was drunk, and later found out that she was pregnant. Your sister said she hid it from everyone so that no one would be embarrassed. She left, had the baby, and when the adoption was final, she came home.”

Voodoo is taking deep breaths trying to control his reaction. I am waiting to see if I need to duck and run or not. I’ve never seen anyone fill with so much rage as quick as he just did. Anyone can see that he’s extremely protective of Anna, but this is not what he was expecting to hear today. In all reality, he probably thought I wanted to talk to him about being with her.

“Did she fucking tell you who?” Voodoo asks me, his entire body shaking with the rage he’s barely containing.

“No, she did not,” I tell him honestly. “I think that there is more to this than she is telling me,” I take a deep breath before I add the part that could break this man. “I think that she was assaulted to tell you the truth.”

I am waiting for Voodoo to throw something or hit me. He stands up and walks out the door without a word. After throwing some money on the table, I follow him outside. Voodoo is on the side of the building kicking the crap out of the dumpster and calling it names that I think he just made up. I stand there, watching his back while he figures out what to do next. Without another sound he walks to his bike and takes off down the road. I run to my bike and speed off to follow him back home. Neither of us noticed the bike sitting on the opposite side of the building nor the person who was listening to us talk the entire time.

Skid

I followed Voodoo and Taz when they left the clubhouse. Neither one of them saw me following them and I am happy. At this point, I’m not sure what I would’ve said to explain my actions. But, I had to know what they were talking about and how much they actually know about what happened that night.

The night that I was with Anna, I didn’t know a few things. One that she was a virgin, and two that she would get pregnant. Hell, I don’t think I even remember what fully happened that night, but I know that I took advantage of her. That doesn’t explain my actions at all and I know that I’m going to have to pay at some point with the members of the club. That’s the only reason that I need to know what they’re talking about today. If it was club related, then I know they’d have no problem staying at the clubhouse.

I hide back in the shadows as a commotion catches my attention. Voodoo comes storming out of the diner and I can see the rage filling his face as he makes his way over to the dumpster. There’s no stopping him as he takes out his emotions on whatever is in front of him. Even Taz doesn’t try to get in the way as he lets out words I’ve never even heard before.

Finally, they get on their bikes and leave. I stay in the shadows for a little while as my heart calms down and the sweat stops pouring from every single part of my body. Now I know that he knows what happened that night and that I’m going to lose more than I originally thought. I’ll be lucky if I don’t lose my life at this point. It’s time for me to do something about the situation and take care of this before anyone else finds out. No one can prove anything if there’s no evidence.