The next morning, I was standing in Cal’s kitchen helping him make omelets. We were up earlier than I would have liked for a Monday, but we had turned in really early the night before. By five-forty-five in the morning, I couldn’t sleep another wink. Cal noticed my tossing and turning, and declared it was time to make breakfast. I pulled on his discarded grey Sturgis t-shirt, and he pulled on a pair of black pajama pants. While we were putzing about the kitchen, Cal had turned the television on to listen to the local morning news, specifically listening for the weather.
“Might not be in Daytona, babe, but if you’re up for it, we’re still gonna get on my bike and ride, even if we only go through Fruit Cove and shit,” he told me, as he whisked the eggs.
I was chopping a tomato when the newscaster proclaimed, “The Clay County Sheriff’s office has released the identity of a sixty-eight-year-old woman who was found dead inside her car outside the Best Bet poker room in Orange Park early Sunday morning.”
My head snapped up and swiveled to the side. I felt my jaw drop as a still picture of Gwen filled the screen. The newscaster recited Gwen’s pertinent information, and tears stung my eyes. I absently put the tomato on the counter, and flattened my palm on the counter edge to steady myself.
I heard Cal murmuring into his phone. “Sorry to wake you, brother. Leventon made his move. Gwen was found dead outside the OP poker room.”
There was a lengthy pause, Cal gave me an assessing stare, and then said, “She’s shocked, but we just saw it on the morning news. Later.”
Cal put his phone on the counter. He wrapped his strong, burly arms around me and I turned, planting my face in his chest. Tears flowing freely. Gwen and I hadn’t been exceptionally close, but she was still family. We had weathered a tragedy together, and Greg was part of her.
I pulled back from Cal’s torso, asking, “Do you really think it was Leventon? All because of money? It’s so senseless. I mean, racking up six figures worth of debt is a bad thing, but was it worth her life?”
Cal looked down at me with gentle eyes.
“You don’t know men like Leventon. I do. Volt does. Razor does too. He’s got money to loan, and if he lets a woman like Gwen pull the shit she was pulling, it sends a message to his customers. That message isn’t good for his business. She doesn’t pay up, he’s gotta make sure everyone knows that shit won’t fly.”
I tried to pull out of his hold. “What do you mean doesn’t pay? I gave her sixty grand!”
“Fuck,” Cal muttered.
“That should have been worth something to the asshole.”
Cal brought me back to him. “Some loan sharks demand an all-or-nothing type of payment. I’m just happy you aren’t the leverage being used to get the payment.”
A couple of hours later, the doorbell rang. Cal was in the shower; I was waiting on him to finish so I could take a shower. I was still lounging around while wearing his Sturgis t-shirt. I tip-toed my way to the foyer and even through the stained glass I could tell one of the people at the door was Jackie. I opened the door and peeked around to see Natasha was with her.
“Girl! Do not hide behind that door. I don’t care if you’re naked as a jaybird. I need a hug and I need it now. You scared the bejeebers out of me, and I don’t like being scared during spring break,” Natasha decreed, shoving the door open and barging inside.
I opened my arms wide, and hugged Natasha. I felt hair tickling my arms when Jackie hugged us both from the side. We pulled away from one another, and Natasha’s eyes were bright. I could feel the moment was going to turn awkward, but Jackie spoke.
“I love the manly biker shirt you’re wearing, Mal, but we brought you your stuff. Your phone has been ringing constantly, and I wasn’t sure where you stashed your charger, so it’s dead.”
Natasha said, “Right. Just to let you know, I got a few licks in on Starla for you.”
“You what?”
Movement from upstairs could be heard and Natasha lowered her voice. “You heard me.”
“How did you manage that?”
Jackie giggled. “You don’t want to know, but it was epic.”
I chuckled, and then said, “Well, Cal’s in the shower, but you guys come on in. Need some coffee or something to drink?”
Natasha followed Jackie and me into the living room and she whistled, “You were not kidding about his house being kick-ass. That is some view, and quite a pool out there.”
In the kitchen, Jackie put my two bags down next to the counter, and Natasha gasped when she came fully into the kitchen.
I threw her a smile and said, “Yep, he’s got a wine fridge. Sweet, huh?”
Her response was cut off as Cal came down the stairs. He was wearing only jeans, and was roughly running a white hand towel over his hair. As he approached, Natasha let loose a low-pitched, “Mmmm.”
I threw her a quick look, and Natasha just shrugged at me with a smirk.
Cal continued toweling his sexy hair and said, “Mornin’, ladies. Mallory, if you’re up for it, there’s a number of brothers and their women who want to come by today. You wanna have ‘em over for lunch? Or you feel like just hanging with your girls, here? I’ll play it either way you want to, but I won’t be able to keep ‘em away more than a day.”
I thought about it, and figured today was as good as any other day. I had kept my dinner down last night, and the omelet Cal fixed for me wasn’t bothering me. The professional-grade ibuprofen did its job well yesterday, so as long as it worked well today, I could deal with an onslaught of Cal’s biker brethren and their women.
I shrugged. “Sure, the more the merrier. Do the three of us need to get crackin’ on cooking some food?”
A wayward thought struck me and I quickly asked, “Melissa isn’t coming too, is she?”
Natasha and Jackie looked at Cal and the three of them shared a look. When they were done, pure anger washed over Cal’s face, Jackie looked uncomfortable, and Natasha looked outraged at my ignorance.
After looking back at Jackie and Natasha to make sure they weren’t going to interrupt, Cal said, “Of course she fuckin’ isn’t. She helped Starla, and wanted to try to split us up. You think I’m lettin’ that cunt into my home, your head needs to be re-examined.”
Jackie sighed. “Volt made it clear to all members, Jacksonville and support chapters, Melissa is unwelcome. Hell, it got spread so far and wide, she’d be lucky if she can be a club skank with any club in the southeast. She’s either got to leave the life entirely, or she’s gonna have to haul her ass north or to the west coast.”
I looked between Cal and Jackie and asked, “So, about the food? I need to get crackin’?”
Cal scoffed, “Fuck, no, woman. These people want to come see you, they can damn well bring some food to the table. Hope you’re feelin’ lucky, cause it’ll be a potluck.”
* * * * *
Trixie cast a stern glare at me and said, “No fuckin’ way. You didn’t. I don’t believe you. Hell, I don’t believe any of you, and even if Blood and Abby were here, I wouldn’t believe them either.”
Trixie was perched on a bar stool on Cal’s patio wearing skin-tight jeans with a tattered hole at the upper thigh and a neon orange tank top that said “Do you see me now, Asshole?” I was sitting on the bar stool next to her, and I had just corroborated Jackie’s account of our impromptu chicken match a few weeks back when I shed my bra to everyone’s surprise. Unfortunately, Blood and Abby had stayed in Daytona during my drama because the RV belonging to Abby’s father was valued at over a million dollars. No joke. I had no clue that a vehicle of that nature could run that high without belonging to a rock and roll group.
Roll called Cal to say Trixie wanted to apologize to me, and Roll himself wanted to try and get to know me better. They were the first two to show up after Jackie and Natasha. Cal and Roll went out to his patio almost immediately, and they started hooking up a keg to the beer tap outside. Trixie had brought lumpia. How she managed to bring so many of the Filipino eggrolls on such short notice, I did not know, but I did not care either. It was fantastic lumpia. She and Natasha had struck up a friendship during my abduction. Trixie helped Natasha get to Starla after Vamp and other brothers had nabbed her from the house in St. Augustine. While Cal and Roll were out on the patio, the four of us girls had plenty of time to chit-chat and eat some food inside. As more people arrived, the party moved to the patio, which brought us back to Jackie’s recounting of the chicken fight.
I shrugged at Trixie and said, “Believe what you want, but why would we lie to you?”
Trixie looked from me to Cal, Volt, and Jackie then she said, “Guess I pegged you wrong, Mallory.”
I gave a shy smile and said, “It’s okay. You were just looking out for Cal and his brothers. I get it, believe it or not.”
Trixie shook her head at me. “No. It’s really not okay. So you know, I’m really sorry that you were kidnapped. Nobody deserves that. Came to find out, Starla told Melissa to wrap Cal’s arm around her and whisper in his ear. They both knew this would piss off Cal and would get some kind of reaction from him. She was proud of it, tellin’ me about it. Sayin’ Starla made sure you were in her line of sight for the whole thing. That’s some whacked bullshit. I can’t deal with such a backstabbing bitch. Not worth the hassle or the drama.”
Roll was standing behind Trixie. Beneath his cut, he was wearing a grey t-shirt with a crimson capital A for Alabama. His jeans were sagging under his beer belly, but his arms were thick and corded with muscles and veins. His light brown hair was loose today, and waves of it hung down to his shoulders. His beard looked like it was trimmed recently by a barber. He was shaking his head at Trixie and me.
“You women would be better off if you solved your shit like men. Throw some punches or cat-scratches and call it a fuckin’ day.”
Patch, who was lounging with Cathy on a wicker loveseat in a corner of the patio, guffawed at Roll’s declaration.
He lifted his bottle of beer at Roll saying, “That’s what I’m talkin’ about! Wednesday! Trixie, girl, you got a title to defend. Tell me you’re goin’ after the five hundred smackers in two days!”
Trixie looked to Roll, but he just shrugged at her as if it wasn’t his problem. I thought this was odd but remembered Trixie wasn’t anyone’s old lady. Though, Roll certainly seemed protective of her in that way, but I wondered why he didn’t claim her. Now that she and I were getting to know one another, I knew Cal was right. She was good people.
Before Trixie could respond to Patch’s demand, Vamp came around the corner of the patio. He was the lone brother who had not shown up for lunch. It was close to dinnertime, so I had figured we weren’t going to see him at all.
Roll grumbled. “Look what the cat finally drug in. You know this was supposed to be a lunch deal? What are you, on west coast time? It’s four-thirty.”
Vamp slugged Roll on the bicep and said, “Had shit to do, man.”
He came straight to me and wrapped me in a tight hug. Vamp put his mouth to my ear and whispered, “I am so fuckin’ sorry, Mallory. Can you forgive me?”
He leaned away from me and I shook my head to whisper, “You didn’t club me over the head or haul me to St. Augustine. There’s nothing to forgive.”
Vamp’s blue eyes roamed my face and he looked at me hard for several beats. His hands on my shoulders squeezed me, and then he said, “Not too sure of that, Mal. We’ll talk more later, though. Okay?”
I nodded and after Vamp wandered away to mingle, I felt Cal’s arms come around my front from behind. His warmth was reassuring and then his stubbled cheek was next to my ear.
“Make sure you give him time later, babe. He needs to talk that shit out, and he needs to talk to you about it.”
I tipped my head back and turned my neck to look at Cal. His hazel eyes were gentle on me, and I said, “Sure. But seriously, it’s not his fault.”
By five-thirty, Roll, Trixie, Patch, and Cathy had to leave. Jackie and Natasha had already left with Volt a little before five, since Natasha needed to cross the river. It left Cal and me with Vamp.
Cal came in from the patio with a large Pilsner glass in each of his hands. He handed one to Vamp, who was sitting at the breakfast bar in the kitchen. Cal took a sip from the other glass and leaned his bulk against the bar with his eyes on me and Vamp. Vamp’s tongue kept darting out to toy with his lip ring. It seemed a nervous gesture. Cal and I let the silence drag on, waiting on Vamp to break it.
Finally he said, “I can’t believe none of you are giving me shit about Starla.”
Cal rumbled, “Why the fuck would we? You didn’t know she was after Mallory. None of us did. It’s the only reason she pulled it off.”
Vamp rubbed his hand over his gleaming scalp. “But I kind of did know. I had a bad feeling in my gut about her, and I fuckin’ ignored it. No, that’s not true, either. Hell, I didn’t want her camping with me, so I foisted her ass onto you since you had Natasha and Mallory already. I’ve got to stop ignoring my fuckin’ gut!”
This last sentence was said with Vamp’s non-beer holding fist hitting the countertop in front of him.
“Seems you’ve only ignored it once, if you ask me,” I said, with furrowed eyebrows.
Cal shook his head once. “Second time, woman.”
Vamp cast a sharp look at me and said, “You remind me of her. Lorraine “Rainey” Ingram. She was dark-haired and dark-eyed like you. Maybe not as headstrong as you, but she knew me when I was prospecting with the club. She was supportive. My gut told me she could be the one, but I was in my mid-twenties at the time, and she had only just turned twenty-one. It really wasn’t right what I did to her. The pussy at the club parties when I was tending bar as a prospect, God, I couldn’t wait to have my patch so I could get in on all of that prime action. But, cheating was Rainey’s hot button. She didn’t have any intentions of sharing a man she considered hers. I knew it, and I still fucked it up. I knew she was probably the one for me, I knew her issues with men cheating, and I let her find me in a damn threesome.”
I put a hand on Vamp’s tattooed forearm. “Honey, don’t beat yourself up so much. You actually did listen to your gut, but your gut said Starla had bad intentions toward you. Besides, she’d have found a way to do what she wanted, regardless. Bottom line, the people to blame are her, her father, and Melissa.”
Cal put his Pilsner glass on the counter and said, “Mal’s right about the whole Starla thing, man. You need to listen to that. But, you’re right about Rainey. She was a good chick. I liked her, hell, almost all the brothers liked her. Hard to come by a girl-next-door type who’s cool with the brothers and the demands of the club. Hell, prospects get next to no time for themselves, and she saw you through that whole year or however long your time was. I didn’t know until now what happened to make her get shot of you, but you’ll damn sure know when the next one comes along and you won’t fuck it up.”
Vamp drained his beer, and stood up. He slapped Cal on the arm and said, “Let’s hope so, brother. Thinking I gotta find a chick who’s not a skank or a hang-around. I need to find a chick like Rainey.”
We walked Vamp out to his bike, and he nodded to me. “Mallory. You get better, hear?”
I nodded and said, “Drive safe, hear?”
He shook his head at me, started his bike, and he left.
Cal hooked me behind the neck and guided me back inside. Once he locked the door he said, “We didn’t get to ride today. Let’s hit the sack early, and when we wake up early –”
I interrupted him to say, “I’m not going back to Daytona, mister.”
Cal closed his eyes and exhaled through his nose. He opened his eyes and said, “We’ll go out on my boat for the day. But, hear this woman, we’re going to Daytona. Maybe not this week, but we damn sure aren’t stayin’ clear of that town just because of the Leventons.”
The next morning, my phone rang as Cal was loading up his boat with bait and a cooler full of drinks and our lunch. Standing in the kitchen, I picked it up, didn’t recognize the number, but answered it anyway.
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Pierce, Detective Davidson JSO. I’ve also got Detective Henson from the Clay County Sheriff’s office with me. You’re on speaker. Have you heard from Gwendolyn Pierce?”
It was a strange way to start the conversation, but I said, “I had a voice mail from her on Saturday. I called her back, but it went straight to voice mail. I saw on the news that she was found dead in her vehicle.”
After a couple of beats, another male voice said, “This is Detective Henson, Mrs. Pierce were you aware your mother-in-law owed over one hundred grand to Allen Leventon?”
“Not until Monday morning, sir.”
Detective Davidson spoke again. “Do you know if she paid Leventon any of the sixty grand you gave her?”
I sighed. “I don’t know for certain. She called me and said she lost some of the money I gave her at the poker room, because she was trying to turn it into more. For all I know, her losing ‘some of the money’ actually meant she lost all of it.”
Detective Henson spoke up, “We’re not aware of any other immediate family for Mrs. Pierce. Just to let you know, you can expect to get a call from the coroner’s office about releasing the body. If you know of any final plans your mother-in-law might have had, you should start setting those in motion.”
Arranging Gwen’s funeral was not an activity I was looking forward to, but it had to be done. Maybe I’d be able to contact Greg’s absentee father.
Detective Davidson pulled me out of my thoughts when he said, “We’ll be closing your case, Mrs. Pierce. The death of Gwendolyn Pierce prevents us from moving any further with it.”
We wrapped up our conversation, and I put my phone on the counter and let out a long and deep sigh. I jumped when Cal’s arms wrapped around me from behind and his lips came to my neck.
“God! You scared the hell out of me.”
“Sorry, Mallory,” Cal rumbled. “Who was on the phone?”
“Detective Davidson and a detective from the Clay County Sheriff’s office. They had more questions about Gwen’s debt and advised me that the coroner would be calling me to release her body.”
Cal gently turned me around to face him, and then he said firmly, “No. You aren’t handlin’ that shit. I told you I had your back where your problems with Gwen were concerned. I’ll get it taken care of. Let’s get on the boat. Need you to let go of this jumpiness and stress.”
A week and a half later, Cal and I dropped by a graveyard in Mandarin, not far from where Jackie and Volt lived. Gwen’s body had been cremated, and we just had to drop a check to pay for the interment. Cal repeatedly said I could just put it in the mail, but I felt the need to do it in person. We were advised on where her urn would be stored, but I didn’t want to visit just then. Maybe in time, but at the end of the day, Gwen was the reason I was abducted. It never should have come to that, and I was still angry. It wasn’t healthy, but I knew I couldn’t stand in front of her urn with so much ill-will in my heart and mind.
We mounted Cal’s bike, and he drove south down San Jose boulevard. I thought we were headed to Jackie and Volt’s place, but then he made a sharp left and we wound up eating at Tijuana Flats. I was halfway done with my quesadilla when Cal asked me what seemed to be a bizarre question.
“Think you’ll do it again?’
I looked around just to make sure Cal was definitely talking to me. Then I asked, “Do what again?”
Cal put a hand on top of mine which was resting on the table near my bottle of beer. He gave me a gentle, steady gaze and said, “Kids. Or maybe just kid, singular. Think you’ll have kids again?”
My breath left me in a whoosh and I thought I could feel the blood drain from my face. I looked at him, knowing I looked as flabbergasted as I felt.
“What do you mean? Will I have kids again? With you?”
His hand squeezed. “Of course, with me, woman. Do you think you’ll wanna do that again?”
I gave a shrug with one shoulder. “I can’t say I’ve thought about it. I mean, we don’t even live together. It’s a big decision, and I’m getting older. I’m in decent shape, but pregnancies get harder the older a woman gets.”
Cal nodded. “Know all that, Mal. It’s why I’m askin’. You turn thirty-two in May, but that’s still plenty young to have a kid. Weeks ago at trivia, you said that the insurance money wouldn’t give you the chance for another kid with Greg. I’m serious about you. Just to say, lookin’ at those pictures the night of the break-in, I could see you were damn good mother. I wasn’t sure if your sense of loss was so deep that you would shy away from building another family.”
I blew out a sigh. “This is kind of out of the blue. Do you want kids? I mean, what brought this on?”
After another hand squeeze, he said, “Woman, hours I spent not knowin’ where you were or how you were doin’ were sheer torture. That kind of shit puts things into perspective. Do I want kids with you? Shit, yeah. Want two, but one could be enough. Especially if it’s a girl and she’s anything like you.”
I yanked my hand out from under his and smacked at his outstretched arm. “Stop it! It’s not like I’m a drama queen, you know. We could start at one and see where that takes us.”
Cal halfway stood up and leaned into me, he planted a soap-opera kiss on me right in the middle of the restaurant. He broke away from me with a huge smile on his face.
“Can’t ask for more than that, sweet cheeks.”