“Where’s the fucking letter, old man? I need to make sure you’re not lying to me.”
He shook his head and chuckled, but didn’t say anything else. It was almost as if he knew I was starting to believe him, but he still knew he wouldn’t tell me where the letter was.
It left me wondering if I could kill him. If I could do this to the man that Harold had entrusted to save the MC. With a deep breath, I grabbed one of his hands.
“I’m gonna need these,” I said quietly as I started to rip up his fingernails. One by one, I pulled up all ten off of their beds, leaving his fingertips looking like bloody stumps. Then I did something I never thought I would do. After gathering up the fingernails and tossing them onto the table, I got up and went behind him.
“I’m not doing you a favor right now,” I warned him as I started to cut the ropes that held him in place. “I’m giving you time to bring me that fucking letter and then maybe I’ll think about if you’re worth keeping alive. Now get the fuck out of here. I don’t want to see you again until you have that letter.”
I sighed and rolled over onto my side. I had taken his fingernails because Pardon always snuck around Leon’s old workshop to see if I did what I told him I did. He didn’t think I knew, but after coming back one night to clean up and seeing the door slightly ajar, I caught on quickly.
It had been a couple of months and I hadn’t seen Warner since. Maybe he left Bend, maybe he didn’t. Either way I still didn’t have that letter and it ate at me a lot.
Then there was Alaska. I still didn’t know why she had barreled into the clubhouse that night. I still wasn’t sure if I gave enough of a fuck to ask Ricki. I couldn’t ask her now without some repercussion falling on Dallas for trying to keep me alive.
I ran my hands irritably over my face.
“FUCK!”
To hell with waiting around for Dallas and his band of heroes. I was going to get some answers before I was forced to leave Bend. I got off of my bed and went into the living room where my phone was still sitting on the table.
Looking at the blinking light in the top left corner made me roll my eyes. I brought the screen to life and saw I had six missed calls from Dallas. When I went into the call log, I saw they must’ve been within seconds of each other by the times that were displayed.
I jabbed the call button with my forefinger and waited for him to answer.
“Where the hell have you been?” he asked.
“In bed. What’s up?”
“We’re coming to get you now. Pardon didn’t buy my story and he’s trying to get ahold of some of the nearby charters to come after you. Be ready, Nero. We’re on our way.”
With that, the line clicked and the screen eventually faded to black. I stood there for a moment feeling angry. Someone who didn’t earn the chair was in it and the person who should have it, would have to go on the run.
I’ll be back soon for you, old man, I thought grimly as I went into the closet and pulled out my backpack.
I’ll be back for you real soon.
Nine
I was standing inside the spare bedroom of my new apartment staring at the wall. It had been about a month and a half since Dallas and the guys got me out of Bend and everything seemed to be quiet. I had a drop phone that he would call me on from time to time to update me on the Pardon situation.
I honestly thought that the reason he called me was to make sure that I was still alive and in Poulsbo where they had left me. I hated this place. It was a smallish town that I stuck out like a sore thumb in. I understood why he took me so far away; there were no charters of Tidals & Anchors MC for at least two hundred miles.
It’s safe to say that life was boring, but because I looked like I did, it was an endless parade of pussy too. On the nights that the boredom made me more restless than usual, I would go to one of the local bars and bring a lady home with me.
I had decided to make a game out of it. I had drawn out the bars in the downtown area on mural paper and pinned it to the wall in my spare room. Every time I fucked a girl from a different bar, I would cross it off.
It wasn’t exactly my style, but it kept me out of trouble and kept me occupied on the nights I wanted to go home to Bend. I ran my hands back through my hair and decided I’d go to Coasters tonight. I had passed by it a few times and it seemed to be a little seedier than the other bars, which had me really wanting to check it out.
The cool thing about this town was that I could go out dressed exactly as a I was, in a white v-neck shirt, a pair of blue jeans, and some sneakers, and I’d still get laid.
Actually, I think I will wear this, I thought as I left the room and went into the small kitchen. I pulled open the fridge and grabbed my jug of water, taking a healthy swig before putting it back and closing the door. I went over to the counter I kept my apartment keys on and put them into my back pocket. I checked the other pocket to make sure that my wallet was in there and headed out.
The downtown area was a mile or two from where I lived for now. Usually I walked it, but I wanted to take the bike out today since I hadn’t ridden it since I got here. Part of it was wanting to give it a break and part of it was wanting to make sure that we hadn’t been followed. Dallas’ paranoia was contagious as hell.
I went out to the small garage space I managed to rent from the landlord and pulled the door up. It was just big enough to hold my Harley and a few boxes of shit I hadn’t unpacked yet, but as long as I had somewhere to put it, I didn’t really care.
Using my foot to bring up the kickstand, I walked the bike out, balanced it again, and then went back to close the garage door. A happy sigh escaped me as I sat down in the leather seat and put the keys in the ignition, bringing my one true love to life. I reached up and pulled my sunglasses down from where they had been sitting on top of my head, over my eyes, and pulled out to the end of the small driveway. When I was sure that no one was coming down the street, I pulled out and headed toward downtown Poulsbo.