chapter One
Roni Walker sighed deeply as she stood outside the city jail. Unfortunately, in the past few months the employees had come to know her by name. Every time she turned around, someone in the MC was getting into trouble. Being a female, she wasn’t privy to club information, so most of the time she flew in the dark and under the radar. This, however, was beginning to piss her off. Grabbing a peppermint from her pocket, she waited for the two members of the MC she’d been dispatched to bail out. This place gave her the heebie jeebies and she bit down hard on the candy, cursing as a sharp edge sliced her cheek.
Trying to keep her mind off of what could possibly be going down inside the jail, she took in her surroundings. The beautiful South Central Kentucky day belied the butterflies in her stomach. The warmth of the sun beat down on her head, and the sky was a deep blue and cloudless. If she had been someone else, part of another family, she might be out on a picnic. She might be parked in a field with a boyfriend, enjoying some quiet time. Any of those scenarios would be better than what was happening at this moment. Instead, she paced back and forth, waiting for something to happen.
The entrance opened, and she looked up expectantly, smiling as she saw her brother and his best friend Tyler Blackfoot walked out.
“Thanks for coming to get us,” Liam grinned.
She walked into the arms of her younger brother and squeezed him tight. It hurt her that he seemed to spend so much time going in and coming out of this building. “I wouldn’t let you stay in there, Liam.”
“Tyler and I were fine, just like we always are. Did the guys get our bikes before they could be impounded?” he asked, looking up and down the street to see how she had arrived.
“They did,” she nodded. “Everybody is at the clubhouse waitin’ on us to get there, but we gotta be movin’. Some guys heard on the scanner that the local news media has picked up on this. You know what that means.” She rolled her eyes in disgust.
Both men groaned. That meant hometown reporter, Meredith Rager, would be trying to get the scoop. Young and hungry, reckless and sometimes stupid. They’d had run-ins with her before, and after this long day she was someone they all wanted to avoid.
As they made their way up the street to Roni’s car, they saw a news van pulling up next to the jail. Keeping their heads down, they walked swiftly and with purpose, hoping to deter the reporter. They had just made it into the car and shut the door when she caught up to them and knocked on the window. All three sent her a pointed glare as they drove off.
Hours later, Denise sat in the break room at her job watching the local news. She had called her thirteen-year-old twins and explained to them she’d had to pick up an extra shift. Neither of them had complained when they realized there was nothing more than a pound of hamburger in the fridge and some noodles in the pantry. When they told her to be careful on her drive home, tears had flooded her eyes and she realized that she didn’t deserve them. They didn’t deserve this lifestyle. When she first found out she was pregnant, the picture of what her life would be like had been so clear to her. She had known she would have to work hard, but she had also known for her offspring she would do it and like it. Denise knew that there would be tough times, but she never thought they would be this tough. What she had envisioned was struggling but making it through. For the first time ever, she now thought about giving up. It was a scary thought, but life had given her a hand she wasn’t sure she could beat.
“Happy birthday,” one of her co-workers yelled as he saw her. Glancing up at the news, she saw the date in the right-hand corner. It was August 1st. Was it sad she hadn’t even remembered? What an amazingly shitty way to spend her birthday. Being served with foreclosure paperwork and getting called into her job. Happy f*cking birthday to me, she thought.
Even more down than before, she turned her attention back to the news, which she watched mindlessly. She had no money, and God knew she was hungry. Hopefully watching the local anchors talk would help her keep her mind off the gnawing in her gut. Bottles of water were provided free of charge, and she’d already downed three of those. They hadn’t helped, only made her have to go to the restroom a couple dozen times.
“In breaking news, members of the Heaven Hill Motorcycle Club were apprehended today as they were attempting to exit onto I-65 South. Sheriff’s deputies found that William Walker Jr. and Tyler Blackfoot were wanted on outstanding warrants and in possession of narcotics with intent to distribute. Both were lodged in the county detention center where they were released on bond. A court date has not yet been set.”
Denise grimaced. Roni would more than likely be upset about this turn of events. In the short time they had worked together, it was obvious that there was a lot of love for the outlaws she called family. Love, however, couldn’t seem to hide illegal activities. Checking her watch, she realized her break was over.
It took everything that she had to get out of her seat and go clock back in. Life had dealt her some heavy blows today. Ones she would have to overcome, but that didn’t mean she didn’t want to lick her wounds for a little while. It seemed her whole life had been spent dealing with blows and licking wounds. That was neither here nor there at this point. Life went on no matter how the participants of said life handled it.
Four hours later, she clocked out for the night. Time had flown and dragged by at the same time. Her stomach growled loudly. Maybe she could find enough change in her car to buy a frozen pizza. It was her birthday after all. She was pretty sure the menial amount of food at home was now gone. Payday came in two days, and she wasn’t sure how they would survive.
Walking out to her car, she realized that one thing had gone right. She had parked under a light. That would make it easier to look for and count her change. Her thoughts were so deeply consumed with praying that she had enough money for that frozen pizza, she didn’t even notice the rest of her surroundings. As she unlocked her car door, a hand clamped down on her shoulder. Stifling a scream, she whirled around.
“Relax, I’m Roni’s brother.”
The man stood back from her with his hands up, away from his body. Her heart thundered, and she breathed heavily as she tried to calm down her racing heart.
“I didn’t mean to scare you, but I yelled your name a few times and you didn’t hear me.”
She put her hand to her chest and focused on him, trying to slow down the beating of her heart. It was so loud, she was afraid he might hear it.
Pictures and far away glances did not do Liam Walker justice, she decided. Straight black hair hung almost to his shoulders, framing a face that held a few days growth of beard, blue eyes stood out brightly against the dark backdrop of his tanned face. Glancing down his body, she was almost disappointed that his arms were covered with a long sleeve shirt. She knew from conversations with Roni that he had one complete sleeve of tattoos on his left arm and the beginning of another on his right. His cut fit over his shirt and she could see his patches. Not sure what any of them meant, she pulled her purse closer to her body in a protective gesture, not that she had any money in it. The gesture wasn’t missed by him. The eyes that had held compassion earlier now hardened. Obviously he took offense to the reaction deeply engrained in her psyche.
“Look lady, I’m not about to mug you out here in the open at the busiest piece of shit store this town has to offer. You’re relatively safe. The only thing I’m here to do is offer you a thank you from my sister and the club. We appreciate you coverin’ her shift so she could come get us out.”
He held out two twenty dollar bills towards her.
Normally pride would keep her from readily accepting his money, but survival and the gnawing hunger in her gut strongly out-weighed pride and common sense.
Swallowing hard, she grabbed the money and shoved it into her pocket. Shame made her look around to see if anyone had witnessed her accepting his charity. Finally she found her voice. “I was happy to do it for Roni.”
It didn’t escape his attention, the words that went unspoken. That she didn’t do it for him or his club.
“Either way, it’s appreciated. Just wanted to let you know that. Roni would be here herself, but since she called in, she didn’t want anyone to get suspicious.”
The two of them stood in awkward silence. Both afraid to move, but each had very different reasons.
“Well thank you,” she whispered, gesturing towards the money that now rested heavily in her pocket. “But please, don’t bother me again. She’s a co-worker and I was happy to help, but this isn’t me.”
“Same to you, maybe I’ll see you around sometime,” he said, grabbing his helmet and hopping on his bike.
As he roared out of the parking lot, she wondered if this would indeed be the last time she saw him. Something told her probably not. When she could no longer see the tail light of his bike, she turned around and went back inside to buy what groceries she could now afford.