Blood in the Water(109)
“Miss Ashleigh. It’s good to see you awake.”
“Where am I?” That was the most pressing question. If she was going to try to run, how far did she have to go to get home?
He smiled wider at her question. The Chief leaned back against the door, his arms folded across his chest as if anticipating her train of thought.
The unknown man spoke again. “You’re still in Louisiana. Don’t worry; you’re not far from home. Please, let me introduce myself. My name’s Spike.”
She didn’t recognize the name, either. “You’re not one of the Rabid Dogs.”
“No, I’m not. I’m President of the Satan’s Tails.”
Ashleigh nodded. She’d heard her father mention that club when he was talking to the other boys, but they’d never had anything complimentary to say about it.
She didn’t believe for one moment the look of concern that suddenly creased Spike’s face. “Miss Ashleigh, I’d like to apologize for the uncouth way in which you’ve found yourself here tonight. We didn’t exactly plan for this.”
He pulled out the chair that was pushed under the faux wood dresser and sat on it back to front, resting his crossed forearms over the back.
“You see, Jimmy saw you and Shark leaving the clubhouse together. He’s been tellin’ me how tight the two of you are. We were gonna pay you both a little visit, just to have a little chat, thought we’d take the opportunity of us all bein’ in town. But then Shark’s bike was missin’ but your car was still there. So, we called the Chief, we were reckonin’ that you’d open the door to him quicker than you would to us, and we were right.
Ashleigh cast her eyes over to Chief Hooper. She wasn’t a fool. She knew he and her father had a business arrangement.
“Oh, don’t worry your head. The Chief just knows when to look for a better deal is all. Now, I’ve told Shark you’re here and he’s bringin’ your daddy and Terry over just like I asked him to. He’d do anythin’ to save you, darlin’.
“Of course, none of this would’ve been necessary if he’d done what he was s’posed to do in the first place. We’d have left you alone, mostly, maybe.”
“What was he s’posed to do?” Her voice creaked. She could really do with some water to unglue her tongue, but she’d be damned if she’d ask. She’d read somewhere that it was better to keep people talking in situations like this, to stall them. It could have been something from TV or a movie and been complete and utter bullshit, but she didn’t have any better ideas just now.
“He was s’posed to kill your daddy and his VP.”
Her stomach flipped again and she had to throw her hand to her mouth to keep the bile from escaping. “No, that’s not true. It can’t be. He wouldn’t.”
“I assure you, darlin’, he could’ve and he should’ve. He didn’t seem to be puttin’ too much effort into it, though. Havin’ seen for myself what was distractin’ him, I can appreciate that a little better now. But still, Shark’s s’posed to be more professional than that.”
“You’re lying.” Even as she said it, Ashleigh wondered how well she really knew the man whose bed she’d been sharing. Surely she would have caught a sign or a clue that he was planning to betray her and the club, that he was planning to rip her heart out. No matter how hard she flicked through the memories, she couldn’t find anything, not one piece of evidence against him. But why was this man telling her otherwise?
“No.” She hated that her voice shook.
“What other reason did you think he transferred for? He was happy in Texas, had no need to move. We sent him out as a wolf amongst the sheep.”
She felt blind and dense, stupid and used all over again. The bile rose again and she swallowed hard to keep it down. She grabbed handfuls of the cheap comforter, needing to hold onto something, anything, before she fell back into the void.
“Mind you, he’s off the res now and we can’t trust him. You must have a solid gold pussy, darlin’, to turn a man from his brothers. He’s just as dead as your daddy and his friend.”
It was hopeless. If what this man said was true, then her daddy was on his way over, walking right into the trap. Spike was right; her daddy would do anything for her. She wondered if anyone else knew what was going on, Dizzy or Chiz or Crash, but her mind was whirling with Paul’s betrayal, her body was sick with it. The gaping wound that had been threatening to swallow her whole all day had developed teeth and was shredding what little of her that had been left, the part that Paul had been sustaining. The emotional agony was so acute it was a physical pain. She couldn’t hold back the tears that spilled over her cheeks. She folded over, trying and failing to keep the pieces of her soul together.