“Hash, man…I need to see her.” Zack was nursing his second glass of whiskey as they sat at the bar in the club. He was set to go back to court on the drug charges in two days. The club was working overtime trying to find a cop that might be willing to make the evidence disappear, or a someone in the D.A.’s office that might be able to get it thrown out altogether. He should have already been back on the road weeks ago, but as long as he was out on bail, he was stuck. He didn’t admit it to anyone other than Hash, but as much as he hated being grounded, he was almost glad this time. It was hard enough not seeing Nicole and Liam as it was. If he was hundreds or thousands of miles away, he might just lose his mind. He already felt like he was losing it, and it had only been a month since he’d seen them, at least up close, anyways.

Hash shrugged and downed the last of what was in the glass in front of him. He motioned at the club girl behind the bar and after she had refilled his glass, he looked at his friend and said, “I guess you have to ask yourself if it will do more harm than good.”

“Spider has Liam this weekend. They’ve been at his mother’s place in Clarksville since last night.” Zack hadn’t meant to say that out loud, and the look he got from his friend when he did said it all.

Hashtag sat the glass he hadn’t taken a drink of down and said, “Jesus, that’s why you look like you haven’t slept in a fucking week or more? I thought you’d just been drinking and picking fights again. You’re really stalking them.”

“I’m not stalking them, and the drinking and fighting only happened once.”

“Twice. The first time was the day of the hearing and you were so drunk by the time I hauled your bloodied ass out of that bar, you didn’t remember shit the next day. You’re lucky that bartender called me and not Skid or Stone. Then, the other night when you beat that preppy kid to a pulp for calling his own girl a whore, we passed the cops less than a mile away on our way out. You’re not clear of the charges you’re going to court on in two days yet, man. You’re making this shit worse. They’re going to lock your ass up and then you won’t even be able to stalk them.”

“It’s not fucking stalking. I’m just making sure that the baby is taken care of and Nicole is safe.”

“You were supposed to stay away, completely away. That was the deal. The judge only gave them fifty-fifty custody based on his promise not to have the kid at the clubhouse, and Nicole’s that she wouldn’t let you around Liam. You not only made a promise to the court, but to this club. You know I’m not a stickler for rules, man…hell, I break them daily…but in this case, all I can see in your future right now is that turning out all bad.”

Zack only heard the part of Hashtag’s words that his brain wanted to focus on and it gave him an idea. “She hasn’t seen me, none of them have. But you just gave me an idea. The provision was that Liam couldn’t be around when I saw her, not that she couldn’t see me at all, right?”

“Dude, she’s scared to death of losing her kid. You told me yourself that you promised her you wouldn’t come around…at all. With all of Spider’s money and family connections, I wouldn’t doubt he has someone stalking her too. They get one photograph of you going in that apartment and manipulate it so that a judge thinks Liam was there when you did…you’re so fucked.”

“I’m already fucked without her,” Zack said after downing his drink. “But, you’re right, going to her is too risky. That’s why I’ll need you to bring her to me.”

The glass was at Hashtag’s lips again. He didn’t take a drink, but instead sat it down on the bar so hard that the amber liquid splashed out all over his hand. “The fuck you say?”

“You have the hots for her roommate, right? Invite her here for the party tonight and when you pick her up, pick up Nicole too. They might be watching her apartment and work, but they don’t have the balls to send anyone up in here.”

“And what do I say when Stone and Skid ask what the fuck I’m doing inviting her up in here? No fucking way, man. You know I’ll do just about anything for you, but I’m up for the next sergeant at arms spot and that shit will put an end to that in a heartbeat.”

“Just get her here, and I’ll take it from there. Stone and Skid will never know she was here. They don’t know Stacey and I’m not taking Nicole to the fucking party. Nobody’s using the cabin right now….”

“Fuck, this just gets worse and worse.” The cabin was an old, one-room wooden building that had been on clubhouse property since before the Invaders even existed. When Stone first founded the club, it was where he lived. Once the main clubhouse was built, the teenagers used that old building for their sexual trysts and to just hang out and get high. Hashtag once told Zack that he and Stone’s kid Jeff had even lived in it for a while. As far as Zack knew, the only part of it used now was the basement. Stone had several safes installed there, and that was where the club kept things they didn’t want discovered in the event of a raid. The cabin looked like an old, rotting building that no one would find anything in if they searched. The entrance to the basement was well-hidden and if you didn’t know it existed, you’d never find it. “Stone made that cabin off limits, unless we were specifically sent there to leave or pick something up, years ago. So, not only would my neck be on the fucking chopping block for bringing that woman here, but…”

“No one will know she’s here and no one will know I’m at that cabin and I swear to fucking God if there is any fallout from this at all…no one will know that you had any part in it. I know I’ve asked a fucking lot of you lately, and if you say no, absolutely, to this, I will understand. But I’m not going to stop trying to see her. So far nobody is stepping up to help with these charges I’m facing. The best deal they’ve offered is five years. If my ass is going away for five years, and I’m going to survive it, I have to see her…one more time.”

Hashtag shook his head and finally picked up the glass and drained his drink. When the club girl tried to refill it, he shooed her away and said, “What makes you think Nicole will go for this?”

“She won’t…easily…but I have faith that you and Stacey can come up with something to get her in that car,” Zack said with a grin.

“You’re a manipulative son of a bitch, you know that?” Hashtag said as he tried to suppress a grin of his own.

“Good genes,” Zack said. Being manipulative was not something he was proud of, but at a time like this when he felt like everything was riding on his ability to convince someone to do what he wanted them to do…he was almost thankful to Mona.

* * *

Nicole didn’t want to go out. She wanted her baby…and she wanted Zack. She knew that she couldn’t have the latter, but without Liam there to keep her occupied, her desire for Zack was even worse. She fought the impulse to call him daily and the urge to see him almost every minute of the day. Spider’s lawyer had wanted a provision in the paperwork that said she couldn’t see him at all, but the judge would only agree to barring Zack from being around Liam, and only as long as he was facing the drug and weapons charges. She told herself that there was nothing Spider could do to keep her from seeing him, but then the voice of reason would tell her that pissing Spider off was not a good idea. Until there was a custody arrangement written in stone and she was sure they couldn’t take her baby away for good, she’d have to make nice with him whether she liked it or not. Unfortunately for her broken heart, that meant keeping her distance from Zack. “You haven’t gone anywhere but to work in a month,” Stacey was saying.

“That’s not true. I go to the grocery store. I got my hair cut last week and Liam and I spent the day at the park just a few days ago.”

Stacey rolled her eyes and continued to hold dresses up to Nicole, sizing them and her up. She was obviously primed to not take no for an answer. “Errands and time with Liam don’t count, babe, you need some time for you.”

“I’m still adjusting to sharing Liam with Spider and that awful woman that calls herself Grandmama to my baby. He cried like his heart was broken last night when they took him. It’s been a month of weekends and he’s still not used to it. He doesn’t understand why I keep sending him away.”

Stacey sighed and put the blue dress she was holding down. Taking Nicole by the hand she led her over to the bed and made her sit. “Look, babe, I hate that Spider has rights to that baby too, but as unfortunate as it is, there is nothing either of us can do to change that. His mother is a bitch, I agree wholeheartedly with that. But, there is no reason to believe that she doesn’t take care of Liam when she has him. He is clean and happy every time they bring him back. We know that mansion is clean and filled with servants and maybe even a nanny to take good care of him. It sucks because I know you miss him and I do too, but we have to focus on the positive. Spider doesn’t have him at the clubhouse and I can’t imagine that if he gets wasted, his mother would be stupid enough to let him have Liam at all. She made a commitment to the court that she would supervise his visits. She has a reputation in this community and in all the years her son has been a piece of shit, she’s managed to hold onto it. Just keep focusing on that. Liam is safe and warm and fed, and for tonight there is nothing you can do but appreciate that.”

Nicole knew that Stacey was right – she was killing herself, stressing out over things she couldn’t change. It just hurt so badly to be away from Liam and to know that the people who had him were not capable of real love or warmth. She had to keep reminding herself to be thankful that they were at least capable of taking physical care of Liam and that she still had the opportunity to show him unconditional love. “Okay,” she said with a resigned sigh. “I’ll go out for a little while, not too late because I work tomorrow. Where are we going?”

“To a party.”

“A party where?”

“I’m not sure exactly where, my friend is picking us up. I’ll make sure we get you home at a decent time. I think the apricot color looks really great with your coloring.”

Stacey wasn’t looking her in the eye, and Nicole got the feeling her friend wasn’t telling her something. She was tired of arguing, however, so she said, “I like the apricot one.”

Stacey had a smile on her face when she turned and handed it to her. The dress was just a casual bohemian, but it was brightly colored and pretty, and Nicole was grateful that her friend hadn’t tried to get her to put on one of the dresses she wore to her club. Most of those were form-fitting and skin-revealing, and as cute as Nicole thought they looked on Stacey, she didn’t feel comfortable in them. Besides, the only person she wanted to show any skin to was off limits, at least in her mind.

She took the dress and both women finished getting ready. Nicole was tempted to ask Stacey more about who they were going with and where, but she didn’t, telling herself to trust her best friend. She had just finished putting on her brown leather, ankle-high boots when there was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it,” Stacey said. The nervous look on Stacey’s face was Nicole’s first clue that she had made a mistake agreeing to this night. Her second clue was the sight of Hashtag on their doorstep.

“What is this?”

Hash and Stacey looked at each other and Stacey said, “Don’t be mad, Nick. Zack wants to see you. You trust him, right?”

“I trusted you up until about ten seconds ago.”

“He’s got a plan,” Hashtag said, not looking too excited about it himself. “He’s worried they’re going to lock him up on Monday, Nicole. He really wants to see you, just in case.”

Nicole felt a pang in her chest, stronger than the one that had been there every time she thought about Zack for the past month. She’d been so wrapped up in her own problems that she’d almost forgotten about the charges he was facing. She’d been willing to stay away from him, for Liam…but her head couldn’t process that it might be forever. “Is that a real possibility?” she asked. “That he’ll do real time?”

“We haven’t been able to come up with a solution yet and so far, the best they’ve offered him in terms of a deal is five years. He has to plead on Monday. If he takes the deal and pleads guilty, they’ll take him away then and there.”

Five years was a long time, but not forever. Nicole wondered if Zack might be smart to just take that deal even though she knew he wasn’t guilty. With his affiliation, the D.A. would be pushing for a lot more than that if he pled not guilty and went to trial, she was sure. The idea of him locked up for five years made her sick to her stomach even as she said, “If he doesn’t take the deal and pleads not guilty, what’s he looking at then?”

“Then it will go to trial and he could feasibly end up with ten years or more. He doesn’t want to complicate things for you, Nicole, he just wants to see you. If you feel uncomfortable at any time, I’ll give you my number; you can call me and I’ll get you out of there.”

“And you agreed to be a part of all this?” she asked, looking at Stacey. She was trying to process ten years in her head. It seemed like a lifetime. She’d pacified herself with the thought that sooner or later the custody battle would end and she and Zack could start over…but not if he was in prison.

“Yes, I did,” Stacey said, “and I’m not apologizing for it. Babe, you’re miserable without him. Even when you’re with Liam I can see it. Think how miserable you’ll be if he goes to prison and you passed up on a chance to see him one last time.”

Nicole’s good sense was screaming at her to tell them both to go fuck themselves, but her heart was quickly overriding it. She hadn’t been able to eat, or sleep, or sometimes even think in the past month without him. She told herself that maybe she just needed closure. Her good sense knew that was a lie. She didn’t want closure. She wanted Zack. She was rational enough to know that she couldn’t have him the way she wanted him…but maybe just a taste wouldn’t hurt…

“Okay,” she said, at last. “I’m trusting you…all of you.”