Emily slowed her car and turned into her driveway. The street was quiet and peaceful, but the flutter of her curtains indicated that horror and fear awaited her despite the beauty of the day.
Good thing she planned to move. No way could she live in this house again, knowing how easily Snake came and went. Her next house would rival the security of a military base.
Three deep breaths in a row did nothing to calm the furious beating of her heart, or settle the angry butterflies in her stomach. With a final breath she stepped out of the car and toward her and Johnny’s fate.
The door to her house swung open before she reached it and a pale hand pulled her inside. The creepy egg-like man stood before her with a twisted smile on his pasty face.
“So lovely to see you again, Emily. It was unfortunately that we couldn’t speak yesterday, but I’m so glad you’ve been successful in your task.” Across the room, Snake leered, tall and imposing.
She didn’t respond, her attention riveted to her brother, sitting in a kitchen chair much as he had two weeks ago. This time, thought, he wasn’t bound to the chair. There was no need. He didn’t look like he could manage to blink, let alone escape from Snake and Casper.
If he hadn’t been sitting somewhat upright in a chair with his swollen eyes partially open, Emily would have thought he was dead. Corpses looked better than Johnny.
She would have a difficult time getting him out to her car, and they couldn’t risk a stop at a hospital until they were well out of town. It would be the first place anyone would look. Emily sent up a quick prayer that he’d make it that long.
“As you can see, I brought Johnny for you. I can’t say I’m sorry for the condition he’s in.” He shrugged as though he were telling her he broke a dish in her kitchen. “It’s really no more than he deserves. Now, I played nice, tell me what you know.”
Emily swallowed past the lump in her throat and rubbed her damp palms on her thighs. She just had to get through her rehearsed speech, then she could take her brother and go. The car was gassed up, her suitcase in the trunk. Whatever Johnny needed, they would get on the way.
“They know about the drugs you’re buying tomorrow, and they plan to steal them.”
If it was possible, Snake’s black eyes grew even darker.
“Do they know where?”
“No.” She drew in a shaky breath. “And they’re pissed that they can’t figure it out. They are aware it’s happening at eleven tomorrow morning. They know you need a lot of manpower so your clubhouse will be unprotected. The plan is to invade and be waiting to ambush you when you arrive back with the drugs.”
He had to believe the lie. She’d given him just enough truthful information to seem plausible. If he left men back to guard the clubhouse, the No Prisoners had a better chance at success in their plan. The deception was the only idea she’d had that stood a chance at protecting Jester after she left with Johnny. She’d still lose Jester, but at least the two men she loved would be alive and unharmed.
Of course, Snake had to buy into the deception first.
He drew in a deep breath, the expansion of his chest filling the space in the room. He glowered as he blew it out. “And I’m supposed to believe they want my drugs. You should know by now, teach, that they don’t deal in drugs.”
She nodded, forcing herself to relax and sound uninterested. “Money is a powerful motivator and I hear the drugs are worth a lot. I imagine a saint would be tempted.”
Snake grunted, still piercing her with an assessing glare. One wrong move, one extra blink and she’d be caught. “How’d you find out? How’d they find out for that matter?”
As she’d lain awake all night, every possible question he could ask had rolled through her head. She was prepared. “I sneaked into the chapel when everyone was partying.” She shrugged and looked Snake right in the eyes. “By the end of the night everyone was passed out. Maybe you have a rat.”
If he didn’t believe her soon her false bravado would fade. Throwing up at his feet would be a dead giveaway that something was amiss with her story.
After a few more tense moments of scrutiny Snake shifted his focus over her shoulder, she assumed to his eggy minion. They men seemed to communicate silently until Snake nodded and addressed her again.
“You’ve done good work. But how do I know this isn’t all bullshit? How do I know you didn’t tell Jester everything, and he fed you this story to lure us into a trap? He sure seemed protective of you yesterday. I’m supposed to believe you’d betray him?”
Tears filled Emily’s eyes and spilled down her face. Pretending wasn’t necessary anymore. She had betrayed Jester. She met him under false pretenses, lied to him for weeks, spied on his club, and now she’d leave him without a word. The sorrow was real and deep.
“Yes.” A sob broke from her chest and her knees knocked together. The upside to her breakdown was that Snake appeared satisfied.
“You wouldn’t have lasted anyway. Too soft for our world. At one tomorrow you can pick up your brother, here.” Snake smirked, completely unaffected by her emotional outburst.
Emily staggered backward as though she’d received a physical blow. “What?” She didn’t even try to disguise the panic in her voice. He wasn’t leaving Johnny?
Snake laughed and Emily’s world crashed around her.
“I told you that you’d get Johnny back after my business was done.”
“No. No please, you can’t.” She took two steps toward Johnny, but halted when she caught the look on Snake’s face. He’d have no problem ending Johnny right now.
Casper gave Johnny a nudge and, to her amazement, her brother stood and stumbled toward the door. He hadn’t uttered a word, or even looked in Emily’s direction. The boy she knew was gone.
“Count to sixty before you leave the house, Emily. You go running out of here making a scene and I’ll shoot Johnny right in your driveway. Got me?”
She nodded. Speaking was impossible. She was too busy screaming at the top of her lungs inside her head.
What the hell was she supposed to do now? She stood frozen, staring at Snake. If she told him she’d lied, he’d kill Johnny, probably kill her and he’d have the information about the No Prisoners’ plan. If she didn’t tell him, he’d find out tomorrow, after his money was gone. He’d kill Johnny for sure and probably hunt her down.
Either way, Johnny ended up dead.
There was one final option. She had to come clean to Jester. Come clean and beg him to help Johnny. He’d never forgive her, and she wouldn’t ask him to, but there was a chance he’d be willing to help rescue Johnny if he knew she’d tried to steer Snake off their trail.
Snake disappeared and she started to count. When she hit sixty, she wiped at the drying tears on her face and raced out of her house. There wasn’t enough time to think about what a bad idea confessing to Jester really was. She was out of hope and would get on her knees and beg if need be.
~ ~ ~ ~
Jester rolled his bike to a stop out of view from the quaint house Emily disappeared into. Who the hell lived there? The quiet street reminded him of a nineteen fifties movie—or at least it would if any of those had taken place in the harsh desert climate.
Grateful it was the middle of a work day, and no one seemed to notice the large biker slinking down the street, he made his way toward Emily’s house. Questions came in rapid fire succession.
Who owned this house?
Why was Emily keeping secrets?
Was she in some kind of danger?
The vibe Emily had given since the previous night screamed trouble. For some reason she didn’t trust him enough to share her burdens. Maybe it made him an asshole, but he was a man of action and felt compelled to follow her today.
Jester stepped around the side of a house diagonally across the street from the one he spied on. The house had a raise porch with a wooden railing he pressed himself against. Hidden from view, he waited.
Of course Emily didn’t trust him with her problems. They’d known each other for two weeks and he’d given her no reason to believe she was anything more than a passing fuck. He shook his head at himself and refocused on the house.
After just a few minutes the door swung open and his stomach dropped to his booted feet.
Christ, no.
His first instinct was to charge across the street and wrap his hands around Snake’s throat for daring to be in the same space as Emily, but he gripped the wooden rail of the porch and held fast. Snake wasn’t stupid, he’d have back up stashed somewhere.
“Load Johnny in the car then go back to the clubhouse. I’ll be there soon,” Snake instructed his bastard VP, Casper.
Jester’s entire body vibrated with a rage he hadn’t known was possible. He gripped the rail so hard his hand ached, but the pain was welcome. Physical pain to match the emotional.
After Casper shoved a man who looked like he’d been worked over good into the waiting car, they sped off. The door to the house flew open a second time and Emily raced down the walkway to her own car. She gunned the engine and peeled out of the driveway. She wasn’t here under duress. No gun was pointed at her. No one held her down. She walked in and out of that house of her own free will.
Emily was working with Snake.
He let the words roll around in his head, but they were hard to comprehend. Jester’s vision blurred as his world crashed around him. A loud crack startled him out of his trance and he glanced down at the broken porch rail in his hand.
With a primal roar he threw the splintered lumbar toward the street and ran, full speed toward his bike. Blood seeped from a small shard of wood embedded in his palm. The sun scorched him, and sweat poured off his body like rain. He ignored it all. Nothing mattered beyond getting to the clubhouse before Emily could destroy what was left of his life.