“Where are you parked?”
“There.” I point out the modest model car which is all I can afford. It’s good enough, getting me from A to B.
He looks at it and shakes his head. “Fuck, this must have been a new model when Cas was two, Vanna. You had it all that time?”
“No, I had our old Honda, you remember that? Well, it died, and this was cheap. It runs okay, so it suits us.”
“My friend’s dad’s car’s amazing. Does everything automatically,” Cas excitedly tells him, getting onto one of his favourite subjects. “Automatic wipers, lights which dip themselves. All-around parking sensors and blind spot warnings.”
“Sounds like a load of useless crap to me,” Liz complains. “All a car needs is an engine, gearbox and steering. Long as it starts and stops that’s all that matters.”
As I pull out of the parking lot and onto the main road, Cas sits back in his seat again, his arms folded. Guess all that sounds like science fiction to Liz, and Cas’s attempt at conversation had failed.
“Can we have the radio on, Mom?”
Well, listening to music would be better than trying to make small talk with a son in a bad mood and a husband who doesn’t seem much better. I’m just reaching for the knob when I hear a motorcycle engine. No, more than one. Then at least a dozen appear in the mirror. A couple overtake us, I wait for the rest to go past, but they don’t. They arrange themselves all around us, in front, to my rear, and one in the lane outside of me.
“What the fuck is going on?” Liz sits forward, his head moving in all directions as he takes in the threat that surrounds us.
Damn it. I indicate right, and one of the bikes blocks my turnoff lane. Glancing to my side, I see Beef, and he’s pointing ahead. It doesn’t take a genius to understand what they want of me.
“That sign said Denver,” Liz says tersely. “Knock that asshole off his fuckin’ bike.”
“Don’t you dare, Mom. That’s Judge!”
“How the fuck do you know who they are?” Liz snarls over his shoulder at Cas, but just as quickly looks back to me. “Where’s your phone, Vanna? I’ll call the police.”
Quickly I reach down, pick up my purse and throw it in the back seat. Cas picks it up and holds it tight in his hands.
“No police.” The last thing I want to do is summon the law on our friends.
“Vanna,” Liz growls. “Unless you mow those fuckers down, they’re going to direct us where they want us to go. That’s fuckin’ kidnapping.”
“There’s another turnoff up here,” I tell him calmly.
But no, the bikers are ahead of me, and again foil my attempt to get on the right road.
“They’re not letting us go, Mom.” Cas’s voice sounds full of glee, and a glance in the rearview mirror shows him grinning.
If I didn’t sense it would annoy my husband, I’d be grinning as well. But I keep my face impassive. “Guess we’re going to the compound.”
“Cas. Give me your mom’s phone. Now, boy. Fuckin’ obey me.”
But Cas doesn’t, and I give up trying to get back on the correct route. Well, we’re almost there now, let’s see how this is going to play out.
I don’t know what Demon has in mind, or whether he’s prepared for just how angry the man at my side is going to be.
The gates slide open. Surrounded by bikes, I drive through. Knowing what to do, I continue driving around the back, and park next to the club’s SUVs and trucks. When I turn off the engine, silence descends.
“Don’t fuckin’ park, Vanna. Turn around and drive out. Ram the gates if they’ve closed them.”
I sigh deeply. “Lizard. This is your home, your family. Give them a chance.”
“They’re a criminal gang,” he hisses. “What’s this all about Vanna? You like the biker lifestyle? You been fuckin’ around on me?”
Tears come into my eyes. This wasn’t where I planned to end up today, but in God’s honest truth, I don’t know the man sitting beside me.
“I don’t care what relation you are to me,” comes an irate voice from the back seat, “but you don’t make my mom cry.”
For an answer, Liz opens the door and gets out. His attempt to storm off fails when his right leg gives way, and he ends up sprawled on the ground.
“Way to make an entrance, Brother,” Demon’s voice booms, then he reaches down to lend him a hand up.
“Get off me. Give me my crutches,” Liz demands, his eyes spitting hatred at the man trying to help him to his feet.
But in the end, he has to reluctantly accept assistance. When he’s upright, he balances on his wooden supports. “Told you before, I don’t know who the fuck you are, and I don’t want anything to do with you. Now if you’ll get out of our way, Vanna can take me and Cas to Denver.”
Beef has come to my door and opened it. When I get out, he wipes a tear from my eye, and pulls me in for a brotherly hug. Until his arms surround me, I hadn’t realised how much I needed it.
Whether Cas expected Liz to magically get his memory back as soon as we arrived in Liz’s old home, or whether his dad being this way had simply upset him, he gets out of the car, looking lost.
“Come here, lil’ Bro.” Mace waves him over, and pulls him in, then lets him go with a back slap.
Liz’s eyes go from me in Beef’s arms to Cas standing next to Mace, then his shoulders slump. “So that’s the way of it, is it? Well there’s no fuckin’ way I’m staying here. Vanna.” His focus comes back to me. “Too much has obviously happened. It was a fucking dream I could step back into your life.” He pauses, then looks at Demon. “Look, I’ve got no argument with you man, as long as you let me go. Just give me a phone and I’ll call Hatch. He’ll come and collect me.”
His president doesn’t attempt to sugarcoat what I’ve kept from my man. “Hatch is dead, Liz. He died ten years back. His death is what brought you to us.”
Lizard is stunned. Flummoxed, he doesn’t seem to know what to do with that piece of information. After his mouth opens and shuts a few times, he queries, “Dead? Hatch is gone? He can’t be.”
“Come inside,” Demon suggests, his tone softened. “If you want to know how it happened, I’ll tell you about it. We came to the funeral with you.”
“He’s dead?” Lizard repeats. He looks at me. I don’t have to say anything, he can see the truth on my face.
It seems Lizard’s sorrow over the death of his friend at least temporarily trumps his distaste at being here. When Demon steps back and indicates the back entrance to the club, the one that leads in through the kitchen, Liz follows him as though in a daze.
“Who’s Hatch?” Cas asks, quietly.
“Your dad’s friend. Another Marine.”
We’re right behind him as he steps inside. It’s Saturday and from the delicious aroma Mel’s here and baking.
“Well you’re a sight for sore eyes, Liz.” Steph makes a beeline for him. “Will you break if I hug you?”
Her eyes aren’t quite looking at him. “You blind?” he says bluntly. “If you are, how the fuck do you know it’s me?”