Chapter Twenty-Two

Kelly

Mel told me all about Lori, and which other of the club girls liked to cause trouble. She also told me a few home truths about Talon. How it was pretty much common knowledge that his wife was cheating on him—or at least attempting to, as she'd tried it on with a few of the brothers. His club brothers were worried about how he'd take it, so no one had broached the subject with him, though she thought that deep down he knew. He'd actually volunteered to take the rap for a legal misdemeanor a few months back, saying that six months jail time would give him a break.

After that I feel really bad for instantly thinking the worst. When he comes back from his ride, I'm going to make it up to him.

Mel leans over the bar and whispers "You and Talon have loud sex. Is he really that good?"

My eyes get big, but I don't want anyone to think he's not the best brother in the club, so I affirm her suspicions. "He is. I didn't think anyone would notice something like that in an environment like this."

Mel giggles as she leans on the bar across from me. "It's all anyone is talking about. The club girls are pissed that he wouldn't fuck them while he was married, and you locked him down before they could enjoy his many talents between the sheets."

Shock fills every corner of my mind. "I thought all the brothers were smoking hot in bed."

"Oh they are—at least so I've heard—I don't mix business with pleasure. It's just that Talon is the mystery man that no one has gotten a chance to sample."

"Well, he's all mine and I don't share so they'll just have to get over it."

"You got a good one. I hope it works out for you."

"I know it's early days, I'm just worried that I'm some kind of rebound. I know all the old ladies wear property cuts, he's never mentioned anything like that and it makes me wonder if he's serious with me or just playing around. I mean, I'm not talking marriage or anything like that, that would be crazy right now…" My voice trails off, actually the thought of being Talon's wife is really appealing, but I push that to the back of my mind.

"Anyone with eyes can see how protective he is of you. The thing about property cuts, wives are entitled to a property cut. Girlfriends get one only if the guy wants to claim her publicly. Talon, well he's not had a lot of experience claiming women."

"I told him to slow his roll when we first met," I say, wondering if he's following my instructions to the letter.

Mel rolls her eyes, "There you go. That's your answer, you just need to give him the go ahead."

"What if I've blown it now?" I ask. I shouldn't have gone on the attack, but when Lori said that stuff to me, I just saw red.

"Don't worry, Siege and Rigs will set him straight," she fixes me with a smile.

I really like this woman, I don't know what her story is, but she's a smart cookie. I don't notice her wearing a property cut, so I get curious, "Are you dating any of the bro—"

The house phone starts to ring cutting me off and Mel rushes to pick it up. Turning to me, she looks confused. "It's for you."

"Sorry, the cops took my phone as evidence. I gave the shelter this number in case anyone needed me urgently."

She hands me the cordless phone across the bar and I say, "Hello. This is Kelly."

I can barely hear the whispered voice on the other end. "It's Anabel. I've need you to pick me up. Just you. No one else. Can you do that?"

"Yes. Of course, Anabel. Belinda and I have been so worried about you. Are you okay?" I wonder for a moment how she got this number, but I'm so shocked at hearing from her I don't think too much about it.

"Just really tired. I haven't slept in days and water is hard to come by when you're on the streets."

"You should have called earlier, how did you find me?" I ask.

"I tried your number, and it went to voicemail. I called the shelter and spoke to the receptionist. I said I needed to speak to you, and she gave me this number."

While I'm a bit annoyed at Mrs. Demetriou giving out a number so easily, I'm relieved that in this case she did. "I'll bring you some. Where are you right now?"

"I'm behind the strip mall on forty-second street."

"I can be there in twenty minutes."

"And I can come back to the shelter, right?"

"Yes. Of course," I wonder why she's asking permission. Of course we would welcome her back.

Her next words sound relieved, "Promise you'll come alone."

"I won't bring anyone else with me. I promise. Why did you leave?"

My question is met with the dial tone. I hand the phone back to Mel.

"Was that the woman you've all been looking for?"

"Yeah. She's had a really hard life and wants me to pick her up and take her back to the shelter."

"You said you were going to bring her water." She slides two bottles of water across the counter and gets a few protein bars from beneath the counter for me to take.

"The going alone part is not a good idea. You already got kidnapped once," Mel says sounding concerned.

"If I don't come alone, she might get spooked. She's got a lot of problems, I don't think she'll last very long on her own."

Mel pulls her cell phone out of her pocket, along with her car keys and hands them to me. "Take my phone and vehicle. The locator app our club uses is activated on my phone. If you run into trouble, type out a text in the club chat. Whichever brother is closest will come right away."

I cram the phone in my back pocket and nod as I pick up the water and nutrition bars. "Thanks Mel. You're probably helping save a life today."

"Or helping you get yourself abducted again. I can't tell which. Talon's not going to be happy that you're doing this."

"I'll be okay. Some risks are worth taking in life."

She nods. "I'll remember that. Get going before one of the brothers realize what's going on."

We both know these overprotective bikers won't allow me to go alone. So, I take her advice and beat feet outta there. I can't let any of them get in the way of saving my client today. It seems like the entire world has let this woman down. I'm not going to be another person who does that to her.

***

I rush to the location Anabel gave me and find her slumped on the ground beside a dumpster. She looks absolutely awful. When she sees me, she makes a run for the car. I lean over and flip the door handle so she can dive in. Once the door slams shut I take off. My natural instinct is to take her to the clubhouse where I know she'll be safe, but she would freak out at being in such close proximity to so many men.

As we head for the shelter, I try to get information out of her. "I brought you some water and nutrition bars. I know you've got to be hungry as well as thirsty."

She grabs for both, and I'm surprised at how rapidly she eats and drinks. Usually, she only eats a few bites at each meal.

"Do you mind if I ask why you left the shelter?"

"I wanted to see my doctor. They take walk-ins if you get there early enough in the morning." Glancing nervously at me, she adds, "When I tried to come back, I couldn't because Jerod was waiting, I saw his van."

"How did you manage to survive in the streets? It's been cold at night."

"I survived, it's what I'm good at."

"Why come back now?"

She looks scared and I hope I haven't pushed her too far, "I saw it."

I'm confused, "Saw what?"

"I saw Jerod take you."

My heart is racing, part of me is wondering why the hell she didn't call the cops. But I have to remember this is a traumatized woman who has been let down all her life. I have to let her finish, "That was almost two weeks ago."

She nods, "I knew you got away safely, but I just wanted to be sure he'd gone. I know it's not for good, he'll come back, he always does, I don't know if I'll ever be free."

"Jerod Cooper is odd," I respond quietly. We've been so careful around this woman afraid of triggering her trauma, but I can't avoid the subject. "He's obsessed with you being the only one who got away from the Carver Killer."

Her head jerks up to look at me. I can see the fear and anxiety in her eyes. "What makes you think I escaped from him?"

"Your boyfriend, the miscarriage?" I was still confused. We hadn't wanted to pry in case we caused her trauma to worsen. But we'd all assumed that the baby was Jerod's. Whose was it—the Carver Killer's? So, Jerod really was trying to keep her safe?

What was she saying?

"I didn't know at first. When it happened, I was just a kid, only ten years old. I met Jerod when I was eighteen and just out of foster care, he seemed like everything I ever wanted. He was older and I guess after what I'd gone through, I wanted someone who could protect me. He seemed to know stuff about me, like we were soul mates or something. Looking back, I should have realized."

"Jerod Cooper is the Carver Killer?" I ask, I'm not sure if I'm understanding correctly.

"We were together for almost two years, he was nothing but kind to me. Looking back, I realize it was more like an obsession. He always wanted to know where I was at every moment. It was only when I fell pregnant, his mask slipped—one night he was reading a children's story to my bump, it was the Three Little Pigs," she stops, and I can see this is traumatic for her.

"Go on," I coax, "You're safe here."

She's shaking as she speaks, "He got to the part that goes ‘Little pig, little pig let me in,' and instantly I knew. I recognized his voice. That's what the man who slaughtered my family said when I was hiding in the basement. I was so scared, but I couldn't let him see it."

Fear runs down my spine, as I realize just how close I had come to being the Carver Killer's next victim.

"The next day I ran. I ran and ran. That's how I got in touch with CPS. I didn't know who I could tell, no one would believe me, but I couldn't raise his child. That monster had ruined my life so I wanted to see if I could get the baby adopted, and then? I don't know what. Try and disappear. He must have tracked me, found out where I was, because he turned up at my motel one night. He attacked me, kicked me in the stomach and I was bleeding. I got out and a neighbor called the police. I wouldn't let him come with me to the hospital, I was still too scared to tell anyone who he really was, but told them all he was my abusive ex."

I feel like my entire body has gone numb. My hands tighten on the steering wheel, and I ease up on the gas. It takes my troubled mind a second to realize why I did that. It was because a car is blocking the road. It doesn't have anyone in the driver's seat. I come to a stop and look over my shoulder as I try to back out. That's when another car pulls into place blocking me in. The minute I realize it's Cooper, I begin to panic.

"Lock all the doors. No matter what he says or does, don't unlock the door."

We manually check to make sure the doors are locked, and I group texted the words:

Cooper is the Carver. He's got us. Help.

The next thing I know he's beating on the windows and screaming at us to open the doors. I hate to mess up Mel's nice car, but our lives will be in jeopardy if this evil man gets to us today.

I press my foot against the gas and surge into the car in front of me, trying to plow it out of the way.

Anabel says, "Do whatever you have to do. I'd rather die than be under his control again."

She grabs onto the dashboard tight and after a couple of tries, I manage to escape from between the cars and drive away. It takes me a second to realize that I'm driving the wrong way, down a one-way street. I make a right turn and head towards the interstate. I think that I'm just about home free when a car comes plowing into us from the back. It sends us headfirst into a telephone pole and then everything goes black for a minute and the air bags deploy.

I can hear Anabel screaming, and Cooper pounding on the windows some more. When I force my eyes to open, I barely catch the throaty roar of multiple motorcycles riding to our rescue.

Anabel and I watch in absolute horror as Cooper tries to make a getaway on foot. He pulls a gun out of his jacket pocket and begins shooting. I wonder why he didn't use it on us, but then I reason that he wanted Anabel alive. I see Talon step out of nowhere, take aim and shoot him right in the face. I almost throw up from the shock, I hear screaming, and I realize it's me.

Anabel bursts out crying as she rocks in her seat.

I do my best to console her, but I'm in shock myself. I see Talon motioning at me, and I wonder why he's not helping me out, then I remember the locks. I release them and Talon pulls the door open and wraps me in his arms and just holds me for many long moments.

It doesn't take long for the police to swarm us. Anabel gets taken to the hospital and the rest of us get diverted to the police station to give statements.

I make a quick call to Belinda to meet Anabel at the hospital because she's going to need support. Everything about the police station is so familiar to me now and I really hope this is the last time I'll be visiting it. At least this time the Savage Legion isn't looked on as criminals. Nope. This time they're the heroes who saved the day. Clearly catching the man at the top of their most wanted list was pretty exciting for them.