"You're not serious." She laughed nervously.
"Aren't I? Let's see. He's probably conscious by now, probably came to by the time we got here. He's back with his crew, and he's telling them all about the blonde girl who caught him on camera when he stuck his knife in some other guy's gut." I walked back to her one slow step at a time. She started shaking.
"Then," I said, "assuming the man he killed wasn't one of his own men, he knows the other crew is gonna be coming after whoever killed their guy. And there's evidence out there somewhere of what he did. And he let you go-with the camera. And you were with me. And he got a good look at you, and a good look at me. Somebody's gonna be watching this place now. They're going to keep an eye out for when you leave."
She started shaking harder. I wanted her to. Somebody had to show her how deadly serious this was. She was treating it like a game.
"Oh, my God," she whispered.
I nodded my head. "Yeah, oh, your God. See why it's not a good idea to leave?"
"But … what happens with my life? My job? My parents?"
I shrugged. "I guess that's why you'd better hurry the hell up with that thing." I glanced at the camera. "Otherwise, you won't be seeing any of your life for a long time. Get my message?"
She nodded her head, looking like she might cry again. I turned away and left the room before she could start. Once she did, she would know I was putting on an act for her.
Sure, she was in big trouble. I hadn't lied about that. But she needed to keep thinking of me as a brutal guy to be afraid of. If she was afraid of me, there was less chance of her coming face-to-face with someone who was really out to hurt her. I was nothing compared to them.
Chapter Six
Erica
I was still shaking long after Vince left the room. I allowed myself to sit back down, my head spinning.
Did he mean it? Was I in serious trouble? I didn't doubt it, remembering the way that savage had glared down at me. He'd wanted to kill me. Vince was right-he would have gone back to his club by now. Men like him didn't go to the hospital when they got the crap kicked out of them. They went back to their den and licked their wounds. I imagined him now, in a place like this, blabbing to everyone about me. About my camera and what I'd picked up on it. I wasn't out of danger yet.
This was so unfair! I slammed my hand on the desk. These criminals got to run the city while people like me had to live in fear. I had never hurt anyone, and I never planned to. I didn't run in the circles in which these men ran. I had no experience. I didn't even know what a kutte was. I didn't deserve any of this. I was only trying to get my life moving forward.
Now, I was in a position where it might be ending sooner than I'd planned.
I slammed my hand again, and again, the pain focusing me for a moment. Otherwise I would have gone off the deep end, spiraling out of control with my thoughts. I looked at my palm, still scraped and dirty. There was a small powder room attached to the office, and I went in to wash my hands.
I looked at myself in the mirror as I did. I could have been a totally different person. There were dark circles under my eyes. My skin was white as a sheet of paper. My eyes looked huge and bloodshot.
My life had changed forever, all because I was stupid enough to go to the city at that time of night, alone.
I thought about the cab driver who dropped me off there. Would he go back for me? What would he think when he didn't see me anywhere? Probably that I was just some stupid kid who paid for her stupidity. Well, I was. I was paying, too.
My phone! I hadn't thought about it. Where was my brain? I pulled it out of my back pocket, and groaned. Yeah, it had been in my pocket-when I fell on my butt. I crushed the screen when I did. It was useless. Great. Another chance to reach out for help gone.
But what good would it have done me? As much as I hated to admit it, Vince was right. This was the safest place for me, in his headquarters. He would protect me there until he got tired of me and threw me out, I guessed. I had to work fast to get the pics off the camera.
But none of it would make a difference if I didn't have a computer to put the memory card in. I still had no computer. There was nothing in the office. I wondered how any work got done, then wondered again what sort of work would get done in the first place. What did they do, these club members? How did they live? I never even watched shows about biker gangs on TV.
He wanted me to stay put, but I was dying to get something more to drink. I left my ginger ale on the bar when he pulled me out with him. I had to admit to myself, too, that I wanted to get a look at these people. Who were they? What were they all about? I would never get a chance like this again. Oh, if only the damned camera worked! I'd get some amazing shots in here!
I turned the knob, slowly, not even expecting the door to open as I did. Knowing a caveman like him, he would have locked me in. But no, the door was unlocked. That was something.
I peered into the lounge, biting my lip. There were a few girls there now. Where had they been before? I wasn't sure I wanted to know. The building was big, with many rooms. They could have been servicing other members for all I knew.
Did they service Vince?
The thought flashed across my mind before I had the chance to squelch it. Well, so what if they did? It was none of my business. He was nothing to me, after all.
Untrue, I thought. He was the person who saved my life. He'd put his neck on the line by doing it, too, since now his club would be under scrutiny by the Vicious Wolves. I wondered about the history there, and remembered the fight. There had to be bad blood between them.
But why did I care if Vince was getting blown by these girls? It didn't make any difference in my life. I didn't know him, or them, and I would see any of them once this nightmare was over. I might even move far, far away to keep as much distance between myself and them as possible.
There were three girls there, and they all swung their heads around to look at me. They were pretty, in a flashy sort of way. I felt so intensely out of place in my baggy clothes, with my red eyes and pale skin, that I wanted to die of embarrassment.
But one of them looked at me with a warm smile. "Hey, you the girl Vince found tonight?" Her voice was smoky, rich, knowing. She looked young, but her voice was that of a much older woman. One who felt jaded after everything she'd seen in her short years. She had a lot of chestnut colored hair in thick waves down her back, and heavy eye makeup.
"Yeah, that's me." I smiled shakily, walking to the bar and climbing onto a stool. The camera was in my shirt pouch, and I pulled it out.
"What's that?" another one asked, climbing from her stool to move closer. This one had black hair and was wearing a shirt so low-cut, it was nearly pointless to wear anything at all. It was a struggle to pry my eyes from her breasts-they were just out there, and it was surprising to me.
"A digital camera. I, uh, got some photos tonight of things I probably shouldn't have. And it's broken now, and I have to find a way to open it to get the card out."
I had an attentive audience now, all three girls crowding around to watch as I struggled with the broken camera. They were Samantha, Tyler, and Brett. And they all seemed friendly enough. Intelligent, even. I wondered how they ended up where they were.
Brett went behind the bar. "You want a drink?" she asked.
"Yes, please. Some water would be amazing."
"After the night you had, girlfriend?" Samantha laughed her smoky laugh. "This girl needs something harder than water. Maybe Scotch and water, or gin."
I wrinkled my nose. A drink did sound good, though. "I'll just have a vodka," I said, choosing the one liquor with which I was familiar. "And a water, please."
"Maybe a knife?" Brett asked, watching me.
"Huh?"
"A knife, to sorta jam in there."
I considered it. "I don't know. It's a good idea, but I'd hate for it to slip and hit something inside the camera. Might give me a jolt. I'm really not sure. But I might end up having to go that route … or I might use it to slash my wrists."
"Aww, why, sweetie?" Tyler put a hand on my back. "It'll be okay. Vince will make sure you stay safe."
"You think so? He doesn't like me very much. He might just throw me out and let the other guys have me."
Brett laughed, shaking her head. "Not Vince. He's true blue."
I must have looked skeptical, because the girls laughed. "She means it," Samantha said, taking a seat beside me. "He's the real deal. He pretends to be all tough-and he is, in his way."