Bounty:Fury Riders MC(73)

"Such as what?"

"They were all under suspicion. The police used it as an opportunity to  get a closer look at the club. Bad publicity. Very bad. It was probably  exactly what the cops needed, when you think about it."

"You mean they needed a reason to get close, because they weren't  getting anywhere waiting for evidence of illegal guns being bought and  sold."

"Exactly." Amy nods emphatically. "Marissa was just the thing. It gave  them a chance to question everyone involved, right down to the most  random fangirl. Everyone. Rumors flew for months."

"It all came down to Jax at the end of the day, though. Right?"         

     



 

Amy nods again. "Right. As soon as they announced the caliber bullet  used? Forget it. Case closed, as far as the court of public opinion was  concerned."

I shake my head. "Maybe it's a matter of Jax not coming to town because he brought so much bad publicity to the club, then."

"That was my assumption, yeah. I've always had the impression he's not  closely affiliated with the club anymore, too. Maybe if he were, they'd  be more willing to have his back."

I think about this. That makes sense, doesn't it? They're shunning him,  just as much as the town is. Oh, he's so alone. I wish he would call  back.

I hear a noise outside. My head turns automatically. Amy smiles, a little sadly.

"You're waiting for him, aren't you?"

I nod, miserable. I can't deny it.

"Why don't you go to see him instead of waiting for him to call you?  Take matters into your own hands. You have the right. I mean, it's your  life. Isn't it?"

She has a point. Why can't I go to him? What's the worst that could  happen? He could throw me off his land. Big deal. I'd leave if he wanted  me to. I know he wouldn't hurt me. I know more than ever he's not  capable of that.

"I guess I will," I agree. "Once we close up. I refuse to leave you holding the bag. I've done enough of that lately."

"It's okay," she says, waving a hand. "What else would I be doing? Nothing. I love coming here."

I smile. She's such a rare treasure. "Then maybe you should leave early. You handled the entire rush by yourself today."

"That wasn't such a big deal either. Customers know when I'm here by  myself, they need to calm the hell down and wait their turn. I don't go  for impatience. I'll deliberately go slower if you give me a hard time."  I laugh. She can get away with that. She's known them her entire life.

"So you're staying? That's what you're telling me?" She nods. "Why do I feel like you're guarding me somehow?"

"I'm not!"

"Yes, you are. What's up? Do you think I'm in trouble or something?"

Her eyes cloud over. "Not in trouble. Just … you need a little time to  recover from the stuff that people were saying in here earlier today."

We haven't gone into this yet-in fact, I'd forgotten entirely. "Right. What were they saying?"

"Oh, come on … "

"You can tell me!"

"People always say that, until they hear."

"Wow. Is it that bad?"

She shakes her head. "Not terrible," she says, "but not very nice."

"Please. I think I have the right to know what they were saying."

"Chris … you can't un-hear things like this. I don't want it to color your  opinion of the people here. They're genuinely great people. You've said  it yourself a million times. It's just they've been living with this  club hanging over their heads for a long time. They tend to jump to  conclusions because, let's face it, there's not much you can put past  those guys. There's literal proof of the things they've done."

"I get it," I tell her. "I'll take it with a grain of salt."

"Okay." She takes a deep breath, looks at the ceiling. "The main thing I  heard was a ‘still waters run deep' joke. You know. This whole time,  everyone's been wondering about you. Why you don't date, why you're so  quiet. Such a pretty girl, why doesn't she have a boyfriend? Now it's,  oh, because she likes bad boys. Who'd have imagined that from her? Still  waters run deep. You know, with the wink and the nudge. The rolled  eyes. It was kind of stupid, especially after the first or second time I  heard it."

"That's it?" This seems tame considering the way she built it up.

"Yeah, I mean, with different variations every time. See, one version of  the story was he spent the night. Another is you two have been shacking  up together since you moved here. There are a dozen shades of gray in  between. Get it?"

"I get it," I say, my voice grim. "Well, let them say anything to me. I'll very firmly but politely put them in their place."

"Chris … " Amy looks concerned.

I hold up a hand to stop her protests. "Listen. They need to know the  sort of person he is. I'm not just talking out of my ass here either.  I'm not some lovesick schoolgirl. Facts are facts. He saved my life. He  saved me more than once, honestly." My face clouds over as I remember  the way it felt last night. I was so scared. Jax came and made it all  better.

"What's wrong?" Amy stands, walking around the counter. My memories are  clouding my mind at this point. "What are you talking about? More than  once-what does that mean?"

I look at her, sizing her up. I've trusted her before. Can I trust her  again? Then I remember how good it felt to finally get my past off my  chest when I confessed everything to Jax. There's shame in secrets. Once  those secrets are out in the open, the shame is gone. You might even  wonder why you were ashamed in the first place.         

     



 

"Sit down," I tell her. "I'll pour you another tea. I have a story to tell you."





Chapter 27

Amy has tears in her eyes. I've told her everything, every last detail.  Most of the time, my eyes have been on my coffee cup. Some of the  memories are still pretty raw, pretty painful. Like that last night. The  last time he hit me. The time I decided was the last time.

"I can't believe you've been carrying this around inside you for so  long," Amy says quietly. "I can't believe you've been walking around  with this in your heart. You poor thing." She reaches across the table,  squeezing my hand.

"It's okay," I tell her.

"It's not! You went through hell. Now … now I guess I understand a little  more. Why you weren't dating. Honestly? I used to question that myself.  Why such a nice, pretty person didn't have a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend,  whatever. Why you were alone."

"Now you know." I shrugged. "It happened. It happens to a lot of people.  We just don't talk about it. Jax was the first person I told."

"Why did you tell him?"

"Because … he found me. Tommy."

Amy's rocked to her core. She covers her mouth with both hands. "Oh, no! I can't believe it!"

"He was texting me, sending me messages on social media. He's insane, point-blank."

"Uh, yeah. He sounds that way. When's the last time he reached out to you?"

I look over at the wall behind the coffee machines. There's that  article, framed. Right where I hung it the day I opened the place. I  point to it, explaining what I got in the mail yesterday. Why I called  Jax, why I didn't come in this morning.

"Jesus. You should have called the police, too!"

"I wasn't thinking clearly. Honestly, he just happened to call me a few  minutes after I opened the mail. I was desperate. I needed him to  protect me."

"And he did."

"He did. He came running."

"Oh … " Amy's eyes light up. "Even though he's not supposed to be in town?" I nod. Now she gets it.

"You can see, then, can't you? Why I feel the way I feel? I can't turn  my back on him. Within minutes, he was at my door. In the house.  Inspecting every last inch, just so I would feel safe. Even the  crawlspace." We giggle. It's so nice to have a girlfriend to talk these  things out with.

"I was too afraid to come in to work today," I explain. "It was too raw, too fresh."

"Why did you come at all?"

"I had to talk to you. More importantly, I can't let Tommy rule my life.  I can't. He wins if I let him do that." I shake my head, pointing to it  as I do. "He's in here. So deep. I have to get him out. He could be  hundreds, thousands of miles away. But he's planted seeds, you know? He  might as well be right up in my face all over again, screaming about the  butter being too cold to spread on his bread. That's what he wants,  too. I can't let him have it."

Amy gets up, gives me a hug. "You're good people," she says with a smile once she releases me.

"So are you," I say.

"And so is Jax," she adds.

My eyes fill with tears. At least she gets it. One down, the rest of the town to go.



***



We finally close up shop. It's much later than we have to, I realize. We  sat talking for hours, long after closing time normally occurs. It felt  so good to get everything off my chest, I completely lost track of  time.