Shayla’s voice shakes slightly, and her glances in our direction show she’s clearly unnerved by being faced with two, let’s admit it, overbearing men. But she stands her ground which makes her go up in my estimation. “I don’t understand. Why is it such a problem?”
“Can’t hide what she is,” I say, bluntly.
I’ll give her one thing, she cares for that kid. It’s obvious as Shayla bristles. “She’s—”
“A lovely girl,” I put in fast, softening my voice again and making an upward curve of my lips. “Pretty as a picture,” adding, “Ain’t you, sweetheart?” when I see her peering at me through her fingers. “Bet you’re pretty bright too. Just, you’ve got something different to bring to the table than most other people.” I doubt she understands me, but her rocking ceases, and that smile reappears.
“They’ll help, we’ll help,” Vi tells her. While Shayla doesn’t know it, Vi means the club, not just the men but the old ladies too. “But to do that, they,” she points first to Mace, then indicates me, “need to know your story, that of Esme too. I’ll keep her amused so you can go into details, I guess you may not want her to hear.”
“You’re free to go, Shayla. We’ll not keep Esme or you here if you’d prefer to leave, but I’ll hazard a guess you’ve got yourself into something you need help getting out of. Something isn’t right, that’s fuckin’ obvious.” Mace’s voice thunders out again, making Shayla jump and turn around. I indicate with my hand; he should calm his tone down. Shayla’s like a cat on a hot tin roof, and she’ll run if we don’t keep things quiet.
He takes my cue, and offers more gently, “You don’t know us, darlin’, but we know the half of it now. We’ve seen the name…” He doesn’t repeat it, knowing how it set Esme off before. “Now we know it, what happens if we start asking around?”
“You can’t!” comes her horrified objection. “Please…” Shayla draws her hands down her face and looks at the girl by her side. When her eyes meet mine, there’s defeat in them, but she nods. “Esme?” She waits for a moment until she gets the girl’s attention. “Why don’t you go with Violet? Violet draws pictures. You can show her what you can do if she has a pencil and paper you can use.”
Esme looks around at Vi who’s smiling and holding out her hand. “What do you like to draw, Esme?”
Esme checks in with Shayla and mouths something.
“Dogs. Cats. Any animal really,” Shayla answers for her. It’s clear she’s making an effort to hide her fear from the girl. “Go on, Esme. Go show Vi what you can do.”
“I like drawing animals as well,” Vi tells her. “Shall we both draw unicorns?” Vi puts her arms up to her forehead. “They’ve got two horns, haven’t they?”
Esme shakes her head violently, and holds up just one of her hands, with her forefinger pointed straight up.
Vi giggles. “I’m silly, aren’t I? Unicorns only have one horn. I must be thinking of a cow.”
Esme seems comfortable to go off with the woman who clearly wouldn’t recognise a unicorn if she met one.
As soon as the door closes behind them, I ask, “Doesn’t she speak?”
Shayla draws in a deep shuddering breath, then her eyes find mine. “I’m scared. Scared of talking to you, scared of not in case I’m turning help down. I’m scared to get up every morning, scared to breathe. I’m scared for Esme… Scared all the time.”
Resting my hands on the desk, I try to gentle my features. “We can help you, Shayla. Or we’ll give it a fuckin’ good try. Reckon you need someone on your side.”
Shayla looks like she’s having an internal battle. Sitting back again, I fold my arms. The ball is in her court now. It’s her decision whether to trust us or not. I see the moment her shoulders slump, as if the offer of having someone to share her burden is too much to turn down.
She speaks so quietly, I struggle to hear her. “Esme can talk, but she won’t. Not now. When… when I first met her, she was chatty. Too talkative. Well, let’s say she was told to shut up one too many times.”
I hear Mace’s growl. Then he finds his voice. “Who’s this fuckin’ Major?”
Shayla’s eyes glisten.
Mace moves away from his place by the door and instead takes the chair Esme had vacated. “Darlin’, I can think of only one reason why two women have the same ‘Property of’ tattoo, especially when one is a minor.” I watch her face as he speaks and know we’ve got one part of our answer by her expression. He continues, “What we don’t know is who this motherfucker is, and whether you’re still in danger. So, here’s one question for you. You come to the end of your journey, or are you still on the run?”
She seems relieved we’ve supplied our own answer. “We don’t stay in one place long, if that’s the answer you’re looking for. I don’t even know if he’s still looking, but I can’t risk him finding out where we are. The less anyone knows, the better for us.”
Mace nods and looks thoughtful. “Satan’s Devils understand property patches all too well. If one of our brothers finds a woman he intends to spend his life with, and she’s of the same mind, she gets his tattoo. She’s proud as fuck to wear it. You know why?” When Shayla looks incredulous and raises and lowers her shoulders quickly, he continues, “Because it shows he loves her and so much more. She’s protected, not just by him, but all of his brothers. They’d die before anything happened to her. Anything happens to him? They’ll be there for her. It’s more than a wedding ring in our eyes, it’s more of a commitment.”
She stares at him for a moment, her eyes wide and disbelieving. “Does Violet have a property patch? She said she was married to your prez.”
“She does,” I reply. “She designed it, I did the ink.”
She looks dumbfounded that anyone would wear such a tat voluntarily. “My experience of property patches is different.”
I place my elbows on the desk, and my chin on my clasped hands. Watching her carefully, I tell her, “Vi loves her property patch as it shows she belongs to her man, and her man, as he wanted her to wear it, belongs to her. She’s got a leather cut with the same words on it. So, any fucker can see who’ll he’ll have to take on if he lays so much as a hand on her. Now, if someone wanted to remove or cover her tattoo, Demon would shred him to pieces.”
“Vi would probably help,” Mace puts in, to lighten the mood.
I throw him a quick grin before continuing, “A property patch is important shit. That’s not to say they’re never covered or removed. Relationships break down in all walks of life. A man might die, his woman might move on. But if a man still regards a woman as his, then the removal of the tattoo is as fuckin’ serious as a heart attack.”
“Why are you telling me this?” She’s gone tense. “Are you telling me you’re not going to help after all? That if Major has marked me as his, you think I should return to him?” Her hand goes to her mouth. “Oh, my God. Are you going to send us back?”