Jessa grabbed her cell. She had a piece of a paper tucked away in her nightstand drawer with a phone number on it. It was the last thing Blaine ever gave to her. As he stood at the edge of the cemetery wearing black jeans and a black t-shirt. His hair had been messy and when he took his sunglasses off, Jessa saw the pain. The betrayal. The hurt. The guilt. The anger. She had never understood Blaine and really never liked him. He was an asshole, a fighter, a loud mouth, and way too touchy for his own good. He loved Meghan fiercely though, that was for sure. Even when they had some serious problems, he stayed true. There had been a few times when Jessa and Blaine had been alone…
Rolling her eyes, Jessa told herself not to do that. Not to even attempt to go back to something like that. Temptation was a fantasy best left right there. As a fantasy. Fun to think about but never to go after. Especially with Blaine. And now that he decided to give up the good guy side and go straight into the arms a motorcycle club, Jessa couldn’t imagine what happened to him since. But right now, he was perhaps her only hope.
She dialed the number and shut her eyes.
It rang and then disconnected.
“Shit,” she whispered.
She tried calling the same number for an hour straight, all resulting in the same thing. It would ring eight times and then just disconnect. Somewhere inside herself, Jessa knew not to be completely surprised. It was Blaine, after all. He was tied into the MC. So they probably used the cheap phones that couldn’t be traced.
Jessa swung her legs off the bed and stood up. She walked to the window and looked out. There was still plenty of daylight left in the day. And hell, even if it was night, then what? She’d just go to sleep and pretend like nothing was happening?
What if Vin was just messing around? What if Vin was going to go after Blaine?
The images started to pop into Jessa’s mind again. Walking through the doorway and seeing the hands first. On the floor. Blood on the floor. Meghan’s hand just an inch from her daughter’s.
Jessa saw it when she shut her eyes and she saw it play out when she opened her eyes. There was no escaping it. There was only running.
There was only one choice left.
Jessa grabbed a bag, her purse, and her keys.
She was going to pay a visit to Back Down Devil MC.
five.
“Want to stick a finger up my ass?” Blaine asked.
The cop swung a back hand, sending Blaine stumbling to the hood of the police cruiser.
“Hey!” Miller yelled. “That’s not how we do this.”
Ethan stepped forward and took his sunglasses off. “This is not how we do this? Who the fuck is we? You’re Miller, right?”
“Go fuck yourself,” Miller said.
Ethan reached and flicked at the President’s patch. “What’s wrong, Prez? You don’t like this?”
Blaine grabbed at Ethan. He knew the risk and he paid the price. Ethan threw an elbow and hit Blaine in the gut.
“It’s okay!” Blaine yelled. “He’s never had any strength.”
The last thing Blaine wanted was for Miller - or anyone in the MC - to lose their cool and pull out a gun. Ethan was waiting for something to go wrong here.
“You’re attacking an innocent man,” Miller said.
Ethan chuckled. “The words innocent and Blaine have never been used in the same sentence.”
“You’ve got nothing on him right now,” Miller said. “He was clean last night.”
“Some of the girls weren’t,” Ethan said. “Makes me wonder what other side deals you’ve made around this town that point back to you.”
“Get the fuck out of this lot,” Gaige said. “Unless you have a reason or a warrant.”
Blaine got between Miller, Gaige, and Ethan. “Look at me, Ethan. You want my ass, right?”
“I want it all,” Ethan said. “I want this place shut down.”
“Then where will all the great people of Frelen take their junk?”
“I can’t argue that. This place is full of junk. Look at yourself, Blaine.”
“I’m looking at you, Ethan. The bigger the badge the smaller the cock, right?”
Ethan wound up and Blaine caught his fist and pushed. As Ethan stumbled back, two of his officers pulled out guns.
The scene got ever hotter. Blaine didn’t stand down either. He walked right to the weapons drawn, no fear in his eyes or heart. Some told Blaine he was brave. Others said it was stupidity. Blaine liked to live in some blurry area between the two.
“We’re done here!” Ethan yelled.
“Listen to what the President said,” Blaine warned. He stood chest to chest with Ethan. “Unless you have a reason, stay the hell away from us. You want to break our balls because you’re the new law? Try it.”
“This isn’t going to work like before,” Ethan said. He put his sunglasses on and walked to his SUV. “I’m not Jerry. I’m not going to end up dead. Suicide? Come on, guys. You think I’m stupid?”
“What does that mean?” Blaine asked.
“You know exactly what that means. Just know I’m not going to be on your payroll. I’m not going to do you favors. I’m not going to look away. You fuck up, I’m there to take you down. There’s a reason I got this call.”
“This town is going to eat you alive, Ethan,” Blaine said.
“Don’t forget where you came from,” Ethan said. He chuckled. “Couldn’t cut it on the street so you went to the dogs.”
Ethan got into his SUV. He started to back up and Blaine hurried to find a rock. He knew he could bust the windshield with one throw.
“Brother, hold up on that,” Gaige said and grabbed his wrist. “Let them leave. We have a bigger issue.”
“What?” Blaine asked.
“Eight Under,” Nate yelled as he hurried to his motorcycle.