“Yo,” he says, picking up on the first ring.
“Did you see the weather?” I inquire.
“You’re so fucked, man. So fucked.” He laughs and if I could, I’d punch him in the throat.
“Whatever. I’ve got what I need. Everything good there?”
“Yep. Shop’s doing well and Brooks just got a fucking ace contract for another club’s bikes. They saw his work down in Destin and reached out to see if he could paint their bikes with their logo.”
“What’s the club name?” I question. I’m okay with our custom shop working with other clubs because their money is green, but I wanna make sure it’s someone who isn’t gonna try and fuck us over.
“Some club here in Georgia, believe it or not. Heaven’s Sinners MC.”
I don’t say anything for a minute as I think over the clubs I know of, at least in our neck of the woods. “Christian MC that has two charters? One in North Georgia, one in South Georgia?”
“Fuck, we shoulda called you Steel. Your brain is like a steel trap.”
“What-the-fuck-ever. Well, I get a decent signal out here, so if y’all need me, call.”
“We got it, Poseidon. See ya when we see ya.” He disconnects the call, leaving me staring at the blazing fire. Seeing the stonework sends me down memory lane to a time that was a lot slower and still had my granddad on this side of the grass.
Lillianna
“Fuck, the snow’s coming down harder,” I yell out as I see the snow dancing on the windshield. Right now, it’s coming down so hard, I’m barely moving along on some back road in the mountains. Maybe I should’ve headed south, but the mountains have always been where I’ve felt at home, so I went north instead. “This wasn’t your brightest idea, Lillianna Rose,” I tell myself. The radio stations are getting shitty reception, so I’m now talking to myself out loud.
Isn’t that the first sign of insanity?
“You’re not going crazy, you’re pissed off. Big difference. Huge difference.”
When I see several lights flash on my dashboard panel, I groan. Looks like I’m gonna be hoofing it from here. I pull over as far as I dare, then turn the car off. Reaching over to the passenger seat, I grab my backpack and open it. When I feel my hoodie, I pull it out and slip it on. Hopefully, I can find help pretty quick, because I’m not dressed for a long trek through Mother Nature’s temper tantrum, that’s for damn sure.
“I’m lost,” I admit an hour later. I’m also soaked to the skin and beginning to realize that I might not survive this getaway. Of course, if I had stayed put, I wouldn’t survive what Kassidy and Anson were planning either. I hope that what they’ve given me so far has done no damage. Guess I need to find a doctor and get that sorted out, but right now, I’ve got more pressing issues. I keep putting one wet foot in front of the other, praying that I’ll come across a house or a cabin. Something. Anything.
Another thirty minutes go by before I spot smoke coming from a chimney and see lights in a window. “Thank the Maker!” I shout, my teeth chattering so hard I’m pretty sure I’ve cracked a few at this point. I’m cold, so fucking cold, and I really want to just curl up under a tree, but I know that means certain death for me.
Not today, Satan. Not today.
It takes longer than I expect to get down to where the cabin is and by the time I step onto the porch, I can no longer feel any of my body parts. My tears have frozen on my face and I’m pretty sure that the devil himself could be behind the door and I’d welcome him with open arms. I knock but it sounds weak, even to my own frozen ears.
Taking my backpack, I swing it at the door and wait.
Poseidon
I hear something strike the door. Standing, I make sure I’ve got my gun in the back of my waistband, then head to the window. The snow is blowing hard, I can barely make out a small, shadowed shape standing in front of the door.
Opening up the door, I catch a glimpse of chocolate brown eyes staring right up at me, then hear, “H-h-help me,” before the petite woman drops at my feet. My body instantly reacts to the collapsing woman.
This isn’t the way I envisioned a woman falling at my feet.
Quickly picking up her limp form, I close the door after glancing around to make sure she’s alone. The cabin isn’t exactly on a main road, so the fact that someone found it, let alone on foot, is a bit troubling. I’m so far off the beaten path, that someone needs to know the area well in order to find me. Shaking my head, I carry her over to the couch. “Shit, you’re half frozen,” I murmur to the passed-out woman in my arms, getting my first true glimpse of her. She’s petite, with dark hair, and based on her outfit, she wasn’t planning on a trek through the woods in the deep snow. “Let’s get this off of you.” I keep up a running commentary since she’s still out, more to have something to do than anything. The hoodie is the first item to go, then her boots. Her feet are so cold through her socks that I grimace.
“I need to get you warmed up, pretty girl,” I say. As much as I don’t want to let her go, I lay her on the couch for the time being and cover her with the blanket before stepping over to the fireplace. I toss on a few more logs until the flames have the wood crackling. Heading back over to where I laid her, I notice that everything she’s wearing is soaked through. The fact that she hasn’t woken up yet also concerns me. I search my memory banks and recall when we went through training, how Orion became hypothermic during our ocean swim. Trident, who had been an emergency room trauma nurse before enlisting, knew what to do, and we were able to get him back to shore safely and get him turned around without our superiors knowing and booting him from the program.
I add a few more logs to the fire, even though I just added some, then head into the bathroom to start a lukewarm bath. Right now, I’m grateful that when I inherited the cabin that I upgraded everything because there’s no way my guest can be in the tub by herself. Once I have the copper tub filling, I grab some towels and head back into the main room and lay them in front of the fire to warm up. “C’mon, pretty girl, let’s see if I can get you warmed up,” I murmur as I pick her up and carry her into the bathroom. I try not to notice her lush curves as I strip us both down, but I’m not blind, and I see that while she’s petite, she’s been blessed with some serious curves.
Stepping into the tub with her, I get her situated in front of me and start rubbing her arms while my legs do the same against hers. I don’t know how long she was out in the storm, but based on the fact that her clothes were virtually frozen, it was too long. Her teeth begin to chatter, strongly enough that I worry about damage to her jaw. Furiously I begin rubbing her body with one hand while cupping water with the other to pour onto her. “So, c-c-cold,” she manages to grit out through shivering teeth and with her eyes closed; she’s still incoherent, which scares the fuck out of me. The same words my childhood best friend uttered to me once upon a time.
Memories of that one girl I couldn’t manage to save begins to surface to the forefront of my mind and I wince. I miss Winnie and often wonder if we would have become an actual couple if she had lived. We got along so well; she was the yin to my yang in so many ways and not a day goes by that I don’t think of something I want to tell her, only to come up short when I recall that the only way she’s going to hear me is if I send a message through prayer. And that’s not gonna happen; I haven’t prayed again since the night she died in my arms. Call me an asshole, but the fact that her fucking stepfather is still alive, albeit in prison for the rest of his life, while that vibrant, generous, caring girl I grew up with is dead and buried pisses me the fuck off. I’ll never understand a God that would allow someone evil to live while letting an innocent die. That’s okay though, I have contacts inside that are more than willing to execute the sonofabitch for me. Wish I could be there to watch him cry and piss his pants, but at this point, I’m willing to take what I can get. As long as justice is served my way; I won’t complain… too much.