Chapter 6

Mace

W ithin a few hours my club brothers showed up in force. The Dark Slayers don’t skimp when it comes to taking care of each other. And although I was only a prospect, they treated me like a brother, bringing a medic and all the supplies we could need along with a cell phone booster, so there would be no more breakdowns in communication.

The medic, David, had a good bedside manner. He joked with me, “Look, it’s practically a flesh wound.”

I looked down to see that he’d poked the end of his gloved finger into the wound and wiggled it around. It felt weird, but he’d numbed the area beforehand, so it didn’t hurt. “I’m going to pack it with gauze after I’ve cleaned it out and let it close on its own.”

Alicia spoke up, “Doesn’t he need to go to the hospital?”

David shrugged. “Not really. We can get our club doctor out to have a look at it, but I don’t know that she would do anything differently.”

Alicia raised one eyebrow, “She?”

I quickly explained, “One of our club brothers is married to a doctor. She’ll have a look at it, if David thinks she needs to.”

Storm stalked into the room, all boundless nervous energy. Standing over me while the medic worked, he gave me an update. “We filled the fridge and freezer, so you should have enough to eat for weeks.”

I shot Alicia a quick glance. “I sure hope we don’t end up staying here for weeks.”

“Well, if you do, you’re set with food,” He responded mildly. “I wanted to let you know that Hacker got the cell phone booster installed and as far as we can tell it’s working just like it should.”

“I’ll send Grit and Celt to stay here for added security.”

“I don’t need help, we’ll be fine. I’ll be back on my feet tomorrow,” I told him.

My club president gave me a long, hard stare. I guessed if he decided I needed a babysitter then I was gonna get one whether I wanted it or not. He stood up and paced around the small living area, “The big question is, what do you want to do about finding that burial ground? We talked amongst ourselves and have no idea what we’re looking for. I’d hate for us to go trampling through it without realizing what in the hell it is.”

“It would probably be better to wait a bit until I can go with you,” I told him. “I’m really anxious about those interlopers finding the site but I doubt they’d know what they were looking at, even if they were standing on top of it.”

When the medic was finished with me, Alicia and I sat down with the club officers, and I talked about everything that we went through. I went into details about what drew me to their encampment and how her father was screaming at her and jerking her around to the point that she ended up bruised. Then about how the man her father chose for her threatened to rape her and had his hand around her throat.

Alicia moved closer to me as she told them about being pulled out of bed in Mexico and brought to America. She told us that she’d been born in the US and her father took her to his home back in Mexico when she really young. She’s been mostly raised on a farm until he decided that to bring her to the States three months ago, where he’d been making her take care of him and his men under pretty primitive conditions.

When everyone cleared out, and it was just the two of us, she got emotional. I put my arm around for her moral support. “I know that was a lot. It probably felt like getting interrogated, but the good part is you only had to do it once.”

She nodded through tear filled eyes. “Thank God for small favors.”

She glanced up at me and then away before asking timidly, “Can you hold me. I mean really hold me?”

I nodded and pulled her against my bare chest. The only thing left to indicate my injury was a bandage and clear protective covering. What once seemed like the end of my life as I knew it, now looked pretty minor. David even gave me something for the pain, so that was no problem either. Truth be told, that was probably why I felt fantastic right now.

We sat together on the sofa, curled up together for what seemed like a long time, not talking or anything. Nine laid at our feet, sensing that now wasn’t the time to be jumping all over me. I swear that he had almost a sixth sense when it came to shit like this.

By the time night came, I was too exhausted to think of anything except sleep. Alicia insisted that I take the bed. I wanted to argue, because I should be the one looking after her, but I found I didn’t have the strength. My dreams were filled with danger, fighting, and protecting Alicia. I woke up still exhausted, knowing those dreams were because I ended up getting shot trying to protect her. I rolled over and went back to sleep, thinking the medications our medic gave me might be the reason I didn’t feel compelled to get up bright and early like I normally did.

Hours later, I finally crawled out of bed when I smelled food. I stumbled to the small kitchen and found Alicia making bacon, eggs, and toast. I’d give anything for a nice big piece of my grandma’s frybread, but I didn’t say that. A man should be grateful for the food he’s given. Those were wise words from my grandfather.

Alicia glanced over her shoulder at me and asked, “Are you feeling better today? How’s your side?”

“It’s okay. I’m doing better,” I said without really thinking about it. I’d been injured many times over the years and this injury didn’t feel like the worst I’d had.

“How about yourself? Are you settling in here?”

She shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. I’m a bit worried because I tried to call my mom and couldn’t get her to answer.”

I eased down in a chair at the kitchen table and asked, “Do you think she might have gone to town or something like that?”

“Anything’s possible, but it was my understanding that she had been doing poorly after I left. My aunt said she wasn’t eating or sleeping and had lost a bunch of weight.”

“No wonder you’re worried. Can you call your aunt and get her to go check on her?”

She shook her head, “I last spoke to her when I was still with my father. I don’t want to call her in case it causes more trouble. I’ll just keep trying to get a hold of my mom. ” She put a platter full of food on the table and sat down. I watched her put food on my plate and then some on her own, before she asked, “Do you think we’re going to make it out of this alive?”

I frowned at her. “Yes, of course we will. You’re in good hands, Alicia.”

“I know. I guess I’m just nervous. My father’s very clever and manipulative. I just don’t see him giving me up quite this easily.”

“He likes to play dirty, does he?”

She nodded, looking all kinds of uncomfortable. “Yeah, I guess you could say that. It’s just that I’ve never known him not to get his way.”

“Well, he’s clearly not gone up against the Dark Slayers MC before. I think you’ll find we’re more than capable of giving him a run for his money.”

She glanced around the room before taking a bite off the end of her crispy bacon.

“You hate it here, don’t you?”

She barely nodded. “It just feels claustrophobic because we’re locked in and it’s underground. I know I’ve only been here just over a day, but I miss seeing the sky.”

“The only other option is the Dark Slayer’s clubhouse. I didn’t think you’d want to go there because it’s where all my club brothers congregate.”

She stated quietly, “I feel like I’m between a rock and hard place here. I’m worried about my mom and what my father is going to do if he ever gets his hands on me. Let’s just say it’s a lot.”

“Do you feel like you need someone to talk to, like a professional therapist?”

She laughed, but it wasn’t mocking, “I’m not in any kind of situation where I can keep a therapy appointment. I’m under lock and key in an underground bunker at the moment.”

I pushed my food around on my plate and tried to eat a few bites, feeling like an idiot for even suggesting it. Before I could think of what to say, Grit came bolting through the door. I guessed that Storm had decided I wasn’t up to the job of protecting Alicia right now, “We’ve got big problems.”

I got to my feet and took a step in his direction. “What’s going on, brother?”

“We located that compound you were talking about. There were five men, all dead.”

Shock lanced through my chest. “What do you mean they were all dead?”

“Dead. As in not breathing anymore. It looked like there’d been a gunfight of some kind. There were five bodies, no evidence of drugs or gun running that I could see.”

“Wait,” I said as I tried to get my head around what he was telling me. “You’re saying they were dead, but we didn’t kill them?”

Grit didn’t bother answering and pulled out his cell phone and gestured towards Alicia. “Storm wanted Alicia to have a look at the faces and see if she recognized any of them. Maybe to let us know if her father is among them.”

I opened my mouth to object, but Grit cut me off, “Look prospect, figuring out if the ringleader of a cartel wound up dead is an important part of understanding the situation.”

Alicia immediately spoke up, “I get it. I’ll have a look. If I’m honest, I’m hoping one of them is the asshole my father wanted me to marry.”

I’m shocked that she came right out and said that. In the short time I’ve known her, Alicia had always seemed so kind and gentle that’s it hard to believe she would wish someone dead.

Grit pulled up the images on his cell phone and showed her one after another. Her eyes went wide, and she snatched the phone out of his hand and went through the five images several times. “I don’t recognize any of them. None of them are my father’s men.”

Grit shot me a dark look before asking Alicia, “Are you entirely certain of this?”

“Of course!” Alicia exclaimed. “I cooked and cleaned after his men day in day out for three damn months.”

“If what you’re saying it true, it looks an awful lot like your father went on a killing spree and then bailed.”

The color drained from her face. “What do you mean by bailed?”

Grit gave his cell phone a little wave, like he didn’t quite know what words to use. “You know, fucked off to parts unknown.”

I suddenly got with the program. “Yeah, like a drug deal gone wrong. The important thing is they’re no long here and posing a danger to you.”

Alicia stammered, “That would sure be nice but something about this feels off.”

I agreed. There was something going on here, but I couldn’t put my finger on it.

Grit added, “Storm thinks you two should sit tight for a few more days until we can figure out what’s going on here.”

When Grit wandered off, Alicia and I sat there looking at each other for a brief moment. “This was the last thing I expected,” I told her.

“Me too,” she admitted. “I can’t help but wonder who those men were. They didn’t look like the kind of men who associate with my father. It makes me wonder if it was a hunting party or some campers that showed up at the wrong place at the wrong time and saw something they shouldn’t have.

“Our IT guy is good at tracking down shit like this. I’d bet my bottom dollar that he’ll solve this mystery within a matter of hours.” I thought the situation over. “Once we get the all-clear to leave, if you want, we can go to the clubhouse, or you can stay with my family.”

Alicia gave me a worried smile. “I think your mom and grandmother actually hate me for thinking you were a serial killer.”

I waved away her concern with a joke. “It gave them something to be outraged about, and that alone probably made their day.”

“Have you called your mom since you got shot?”

“No. I’m not stupid. They’ll lose their minds and talk my ear off.” I came to my feet and looked down into her sweet, upturned face. “I’m supposed to be resting. I think I’ll get right on that.”

She called after me, “You’re not fooling anyone, Mace. If I knew your mom’s number, I’d call her myself.”

I chuckled at her empty threats, as I headed back to the bedroom. If my grandmother found out that Alicia had to sleep on the sofa last night, then I’d hear no end of it. Later I’d decided I’d turn one of the cells into a makeshift bedroom for myself. But right now, I had zero intention of sleeping. Instead, I was going to search aerial maps for evidence of that burial ground I was so eager to find.

I was a man with too many balls in the air, but this was one that I would never let go of. My tribe, family, and club were critical to my existence and letting any of them down was not an option.

Still, I’d be lying if I said that I didn’t want to spend the day on the sofa with Alicia. She was soft and pretty. A woman who needed a strong man to fight for her and protect her from all harm. My protective instincts rose when she was in distress, making me want to do whatever it took to keep her safe and happy.

The problem was, the more time I spent with her, the more I wanted to draw her close and maybe make her mine. Unfortunately, she wasn’t from my world. She was focused on getting back to her family in Mexico. I, for sure, wasn’t trying to move to Mexico anytime soon. My whole family was here on the outskirts of Griffinsford. Getting close to this woman was asking for a massive heartbreak for both of us. Even if I was willing to suffer a broken heart myself, I wanted better for her. So that’s why going forward I needed to try to keep my distance.

That’s also why I decided to take a cold shower. I had waterproof dressings over my wounds and our medic hadn’t said showers were off. My cock was far too interested in Alicia to lay right and that pissed me off, so I needed to deal with that matter quick sharpish. I shouldn’t be thinking about her sexy curves, her pretty hazel eyes, and the way my name sounded on her lips. Even the chill of the water cascading over my heated flesh couldn’t cool my desire for her. It was a gnawing need that clawed at my resolve not to flirt with her, and not to take advantage of her vulnerable situation.

It was situations like this that separate decent men from assholes. So far, I had avoided the asshole category by virtue of the fact that I hadn’t hit on her. As for being a truly decent man, I was falling short because I kept fantasizing about what it would be like if she took a liking to me as more than the guy who rescued her from a bad situation.

I knew it wasn’t polite to stroke myself to thoughts of her, but I did it anyhow because it was more important to curb my need so I could be appropriate when we were together. For that my rock-hard cock was thankful.

The moment I gave myself permission to let my imagination run wild, my mind created images of her approaching me with a welcoming smile, of her touching me, wanting me. Of us naked and wrapped in a warm embrace, of her wrapping her legs around my waist and clawing at my back. In my mind’s eye she made sexy sounds when I plunged deep inside her wet, welcoming heat. I thrusted into my tight fist, like I wanted to thrust into her, imagining how her tight pussy would feel gripping my shaft and it didn’t take me long to shoot my load. I rinsed away my seed, feeling cleansed and ready to get back to work on my project.