GHOST: An Evil Dead MC Story (The Evil Dead MC Series Book 5) (27 page)

He grinned at that. “Yeah, I want you to stay, Jess.”

She kissed him, hugging him.

He stood, tossing her over his shoulder and slapped her ass. “Come on, woman. You’re ol’ man needs a back rub.”

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

Ghost stood at the picture windows overlooking the view, sipping on a cup of coffee, his thumb moving over his cell phone. Then he put it to his ear telling Boo that he and Yammer were on party cleanup duty and to get their asses over here.

He smiled as he slid his phone in his pocket, thinking he’d make an extra tall stack of pancakes to make it up to them.

He took a sip of his coffee as he watched the sun coming up. He felt settled inside for the first time in a long fucking time. And he knew how crazy that sounded, especially when shit was hitting the fan from seemingly all sides. But as happy as he’d always been with his life in the club, something had always been missing. Now, having Jessie in his life felt like he’d finally found that missing piece.

Yeah, they still had problems to work through. The Death Heads problem had to be dealt with for one. That ball was currently in the DKs hands. They had to find that damn snitch. Once they did that, both clubs could make their move. Ghost just hoped it didn’t take too fucking long. He had no control over that, so he had to take a breath and let it sort itself out.

His problem with Jessie, on the other hand, was totally in his control. There was shit he hadn’t told her. And it was eating at him, especially when he was demanding that she be up front and completely honest with him. He saw the irony, the paradox. And he knew he had to set it right. He just needed to find the right time. Things had finally started to smooth out between them, and the last thing he wanted to do was rock that boat.

He took another sip of his coffee and felt Jessie’s arms slide around his waist and her lips press to the bare skin between his shoulder blades. He dropped one hand to hers and squeezed. “Get back in bed, babe. I was just about to bring you some coffee.”

She stole the mug out of his hand and took a big sip, moaning. “Hmmm. That’s so good.”

He turned, taking her in his arms. “You sleep okay?”

She grinned up at him slyly. “You didn’t let me sleep.”

He dipped down and kissed the tip of her nose. “Then get back in bed.”

“I need to get all these rental chairs back.”

“Prospects can do it.”

“I told Tink I’d help her with her nails today. She’s got a hot date tonight. And I don’t think the prospects want to do
that
job for me.”

He grinned. “Nope. Even I draw the line on putting that off on ‘em. So, Tink’s got a hot date, huh? With who?”

“I’m not telling.”

“Bet I could get it out of you.”

“You probably could, but do you really want to know?”

“If it’s not Hammer, then probably not. I’d feel a responsibility to my brother to tell him, and then the shit would hit the fan. And I’m in too good a mood to fuck it all up trying to keep Hammer from killing some guy.”

Jessie grinned at his logic. “Good. Then you’ll take me?”

“To Tink’s house?”

“No, I’m supposed to meet her at the clubhouse.”

He huffed out a breath. “Shit, I was hoping I’d have you all to myself today.”

“Take me to the clubhouse, I’ll do her nails, we can return the chairs, and then you can have me all to yourself.” She kissed him on the nose. “Deal?”

“Finish your coffee, and we’ll work out this deal in bed.”

She grinned up at him. “I can work with that.”

***

Outside the clubhouse, Blood stood by the open back gate smoking a cigarette and shooting the shit with Yammer. Over on a nearby picnic table Hammer sat talking with Tink, who was admiring her newly painted nails. It was a pretty sunny day, unusually cool for this time of year in Alabama.

Blood’s eyes moved to the end of the alley, which was actually just a dirt road that ran behind the clubhouse, cutting between two short side streets. The clubhouse took up most of the block, a vacant lot the other half. A junkyard butted up to the alley on the other side.

A dark panel van was pulling into the alley.

“You get much traffic comin’ down this alley,” Blood asked as he tossed his cigarette.

Yammer followed his eyes to the van. “Not much. Just the club.”

A moment later they were both diving to the ground as the side door of the van slid open and several assault rifles opened fire on the clubhouse.

As Blood rolled and pulled his Glock out, he saw Hammer flip the picnic table over to its side, shoving Tink behind it. Then Hammer was up over the top of it, returning fire. Blood scrambled to the fence and peeked around the open gate. He was able to fire off a couple of rounds into the van.

Then his heart dropped as he saw the end of what looked like a goddamn grenade launcher poke out the open door. It fired straight into one of the clubhouse windows.

Inside the clubhouse, Ghost, Jessie and Griz were at the bar laughing with Boo a moment before they heard the gunfire. Bullet holes began piercing the backside of the clubhouse that faced the alley.

Ghost grabbed the back of Jessie’s shirt and yanked her off her barstool, shoving her to the ground and covering her with his body. Then he, Jessie, and Griz all scrambled around behind the bar.

They all sat with their backs to it.

Boo hunched over and ran to a cabinet. A moment later he was tossing shotguns to both Griz and Ghost.

“That’s some high-powered rounds, bro. They’re gonna make Swiss cheese of this place,” Ghost observed.

“Let’s flip the pool table on its side. The slate will give us some protection,” Griz suggested.

“That thing’s gotta weigh over eight hundred pounds.”

“Boo, get over here,” Griz yelled.

The three men were able to flip it to its side. It crashed to the floor with a boom that shook the whole building, and Ghost was sure, cracked the foundation.

They all got down behind it.

Ghost pointed to the window on the left and pulled his 9mm and handed it to Jessie. “Keep watch on the side yard, can you do that?”

She nodded, taking the gun.

“Anything moves, shoot the shit out of it.”

“Got it.”

“Stay with her,” he ordered Boo.

“You got it.”

Ghost grabbed Jessie by the back of the neck, pulled her close and kissed her forehead. Then he was scrambling toward the back door with Griz.

Ghost got in position with his back to the wall under one of the windows, and Griz under the other. The walls were being punctured by rapid fire in a zigzag pattern over their heads. He saw Jessie pop her head up and look out her window.

“Stay the fuck down, Jess,” he yelled. She dropped back down. He looked over at Griz as he busted the pump on the 12-gauge, slamming it down and up with a ratcheting sound. “You ready?”

Griz nodded, and they both rose up to shoot.

The blast was deafening when Ghost pulled the trigger, the recoil slamming into his shoulder. He got a look at the van where the fire was coming from as he and Griz both dropped back down.

“Death Heads?” Ghost asked.

“Gotta be,” Griz replied. “Guess they’ve moved on from the
capture plan
to the
kill plan.”

“Jesus Christ.”

A second later the glass above them exploded, and a projectile went skidding across the floor. It spun in a crazy circle, and Ghost’s heart stopped as he saw it was a grenade. His eyes connected with Griz, and they both dove into the side hallway.

The explosion was deafening, a white flash searing through the air. When the percussion faded, they both staggered to their feet. Half the back wall of the clubhouse was gone as was the ceiling to the second floor.

There was debris everywhere, some of it smoldering.

Ghost scrambled across it, clawing his way to the other side of the pool table. Both Boo and Jessie were lying on their stomachs, Boo covering her, protecting her, half buried under the debris.

Ghost scrambled to dig them out, with Griz stumbling up to lend a hand.

“Jessie! Jessie, are you okay?” Ghost shouted frantically, his own voice sounding deaf in his ears. All he could hear was a large roaring noise. He clawed his way through the debris and everything seemed in slow motion. He couldn’t lose her. Not now.

Griz pulled Boo off her, and Ghost rolled Jessie over to her back. She began to cough, and he grabbed her up hugging her to his chest.

“Thank you, Lord.”

She pushed back on him. He watched as her lips moved, and he knew she was saying something, but with his hearing messed up by the explosion, he couldn’t hear a word.

He studied her, his eyes moving over every inch, checking to make sure she was okay. He determined she must have had the wind knocked out of her. Her forehead was cut, blood oozing from it, but it didn’t appear too deep.

“You okay, baby?” he asked, cupping her face and brushing her hair back.

Finally, his hearing started to return. Slow at first, like the sounds were coming down a long tunnel. But he could make out the words, distorted as they were.

“I’m okay. Are you hurt?”

He shook his head. “I’m good.

Griz was rousing Boo, who was moaning, holding his head.

“You took a blow to the head by that two by four, Boo,” Griz told him.

“Fuck, that hurts.”

Jessie pulled at Ghost’s vest. “Tink and Hammer! They’re outside.”

Griz looked at Ghost. “Blood and Yammer, too. Let’s go.”

Ghost looked back at her. “You okay?”

“I’m fine. They may need help.”

The two of them moved toward the door, but the men were already tearing in through the rubble, trying to see if they were hurt.

“We’re all okay,” Griz shouted to them.

“Tink. Is she okay?” Jessie asked, looking up at Blood.

He squatted down in front of her. “Yeah, babe. Hammer’s with her. She’s fine. Are you okay?”

“I think so.” Her eyes took in her arms and legs, looking for wounds. Then they moved to Blood. “You’re bleeding.” He glanced down.

“Just a knick. I’m good. You’re the one that needs a bandage.” He pointed at her forehead.

She reached up to touch her head, pulling her hand away and seeing the blood on her fingers. Before she could comprehend that, Ghost bent and scooped her up in his arms carrying her to the bar that, surprisingly, was still standing. He sat her ass on the bar top and nodded toward the hall.

“There’s a first aid kit in the closet.”

Blood moved off to get it.

Ghost ripped a piece of the bottom of his tee shirt off and pressed it to her forehead.

“Ghost, your shirt. You ruined it.”

“Think that fucking matters? Look around, sweetheart. The place is blown to shit, and you’re worried about my shirt?”

Blood chuckled. “Maybe she got knocked in the head.”

She glared at him. “I’m fine. It’s just a scrape.” Then she looked at Ghost with a pouting face. “I didn’t even get to fire off one round.”

Ghost and Blood burst out laughing.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

After a long day of dealing with a fire department and police department that responded to the gunfire and explosion, then getting the prospects started boarding the place up, as well as a long meeting that involved a phone call to the DKs to set a meeting for retaliation, Ghost finally brought Jessie home, and she was so happy to be there.

They were out on the terrace, watching the planes land as the sun set. He stood behind her, his arms folded around her shoulders. His mouth at her ear, he said softly, “When that blast went off today, I thought I’d lost you. Never been so scared in my life.”

She nodded, reaching up to squeeze his forearm, feeling safe in his arms. “Me, too. We were all so lucky. I’m so grateful no one was hurt. I’d feel responsible. I feel to blame for all of this.”

“No, babe. You’re just an excuse, a pawn. Hatred between clubs is deep and goes back a long way. You did nothing to start any of this.”

“Still, I feel like maybe I shouldn’t have come here. I wanted to find you, but I’ve been nothing but trouble to you.”

He turned her around. “Look at me. That’s bullshit. Get it out of your head. I’m glad you came. Glad you found me. And I don’t want you to worry. We’re gonna take care of this. Understand?”

She looked up into his eyes, and his strength melted into her. She nodded, “I know. I just wish I’d told you everything right away. Maybe things would have been different. Maybe none of this would have happened.”

“You don’t know that, brat, so don’t drive yourself crazy wondering what if.”

She nodded, but it was easier said than done. “I just want you to know there’s nothing else. There’s no more secrets. I promise I won’t ever keep anything like that from you again. Do you believe me?”

He searched her eyes. “I believe you, Jess.”

“Good. Thank you.” She went into his arms, pressing her head against his chest and felt his hand at the back of her head. He kissed the top of her head, holding her. And then she heard his voice, soft and serious.

“There’s something I need to tell you. Something I’ve wanted to tell you for a long time.”

She nodded, perhaps knowing what was coming. He was going to finally tell her that big thing that he said would drive her away when he revealed it. Well, at least after her talk with Skylar, she felt a little more prepared and hoped she handled it well.

“Okay,” she whispered.

“Do you want to sit?”

She shook her head, her hair brushing across his jaw. She felt him take in a long, slow breath.

“Jessie, I’ve been lyin’ to you about something, and I need to come clean.” He blew out a breath. “Shit, it’s so hard for me to tell you this.”

“Just say it, Ghost,” she encouraged in another whisper, her head still buried against his chest.

He blew out another breath. “I’m the one that talked Robert into that recruiter’s office.”

“What?” She pushed back to look at him. That was the last thing she expected him to say.

“You remember the day Robert went to enlist?”

She nodded. “Yes. Why?”

“I went with him.”

This was news to her. She frowned. “You did?”

“Yeah. I was supposed to enlist with him.”

“You were?”

He nodded. “Remember back then how he practically idolized me? I don’t know, maybe you were too young to know that.”

“He did. We both did.” She felt his arms tighten in a quick squeeze.

“He’d been out of school for a year or two and just sort of floundering for what to do next. That’s the summer I found the club.”

“The MC?”

He nodded. “Yeah. I knew. Immediately. Everything just sort of…clicked into place for me.”

“I didn’t know.”

“I kept it from you. Your mom, my dad, no one knew, except Robert.”

“Robert knew?”

He nodded. “And I knew he’d follow me. Whatever path I led him down, he’d follow, if for nothing more than to have my back, even if it wasn’t right for him. And the club wasn’t right for him. Robert was always more the hero type. That’s why the military was perfect for him. He got to save people. He got to stand up for right. That wasn’t me.”

“That’s not true,” she protested. “You saved me. So many times.”

He squeezed her again, snorting, “Saving you from a schoolyard bully? That’s not exactly the same thing. I was never cut out to be anyone’s white knight.”

“You were to me.”

He looked off at the horizon for a few minutes, his head turned toward a plane landing in the distance. He was quiet for a few minutes. When he spoke again, she heard the emotion in his voice, as if her words had affected him.

“Maybe. Anyway, I knew I couldn’t let him follow me down that road. I had to make sure he took the path he was always meant to take.”

“The military?”

“The military. Maybe you don’t remember, but he used to talk about it all the time.”

“I didn’t know. It was such a shock when he signed up.”

“I was supposed to go with him that day, to the recruiter. I knew he wouldn’t sign up if I didn’t sign up with him.” He paused, and she could sense he was struggling with his next words.

“And?” she prompted.

“So I went with him.”

“You did?”

“When it was time to sign on the dotted line, I told him to go first. So, he did.”

She swallowed, pain knifing through her. “You didn’t do it, did you? Obviously, you didn’t.”

He shook his head.

“You just hung him out to dry.”

He didn’t deny it.

“Once he signed, I told him the truth, that I never had any intention of signing up. I knew, even then, that my life was drawn to a different path, one that never would have been right for him. He needed to take the right path. I made sure he did.” He paused, staring at the ground, perhaps reliving the moment. “He’d felt so betrayed.”

When she didn’t respond, his eyes lifted to hers. She knew her eyes must give away the pain she felt.

“You look like you just found out Santa Claus isn’t real. Or maybe that I’m not the knight in shining armor you made me out to be. I’m not, Jess. Hell, I never had been. And maybe it’s time you open your eyes to that. You’re not a child anymore.”

“No I’m not. So why don’t you explain it to me.”

“I thought I’d been protecting him. Thought I was doing the right thing. I couldn’t let him join the MC. And that’s the road I was headed down. I couldn’t let him follow me down that road.” He shook his head. “I don’t know. Maybe I was wrong…maybe if I’d kept him with me, I could have looked out for him.”

She pushed away from him, spinning as fury consuming her. “He trusted you.”

Ghost nodded, his jaw locked tight.

“All this talk about him wanting to have your back, what about when he needed you to have his back? You could have saved him. If you had been there with him, you could have saved him.”

“Baby.” He reached for her, but she stepped back, as if his touch was poison. And perhaps right then, to her, it was.

“I can’t even bear to look at you,” she hissed. As the words came out of her mouth, all his warnings flooded over her. He’d told her this would change things. That this would change
everything
. That this would
destroy them
. She shook her head, tears spilling over her lashes. He was so right about that. This had changed everything. And maybe it
had
even destroyed them. It felt like it at that moment.

She took a step back, her brain scrambling for what to say, what to do. She glanced toward the road before returning her eyes to his. He didn’t miss it.

“You’re thinking of leaving, aren’t you?”

She stayed silent, her eyes locked with his as she felt her heart breaking in two.

“Aren’t you?” he repeated with a little more bite.

She nodded, giving him the truth he’d always asked for. “Yes.”

He ran a hand through his hair, stepping away. And then he whirled back to her. “You want to leave, I can’t blame you, and I won’t stop you, but before you do, before you go, I have something to show you.”

She shook her head. What could he possibly have that she would want to see
now
? But then Skylar’s words came back to her.

Give him a chance to explain fully. Hear him out.

“Please, Jessie,” he asked quietly.

She found herself nodding once. “All right.”

He led her inside, and surprisingly stopped in front of his computer, hitting some keys until he had pulled up what appeared to be a saved file. He clicked on it, and an email popped up. Then he stepped back, nodding toward the screen.

“I saved this. You should read it.”

She frowned at the screen. “What is it?”

He lifted his chin toward the computer. “You’ll see.”

And then he walked away. Going to stand in front of the wall of windows, his hands in his pockets. Her eyes followed him, and then, as if draw by a magnet, they returned to the screen. She sat in the chair and started at the top.

Billy—

You and I are through. You made sure of it that day in the recruiter’s office. And I get it. You probably had a good laugh about it, huh? How I bought it, hook, line and sinker. You in the military? Right. Only a fool would think you could ever be cut out for that kind of brotherhood, the kind that really counts.

So I’ll never contact you again. And I’ll never ask anything of you again. Except for one last thing. If something should happen to me over here, I want you to make sure she’s okay.

I’m asking you, as a brother, to watch out for Jessie.

You do that and we’re square.

Robert

She turned and looked back at him. “He never told me any of this. He never told me you’d had a falling out. He never let on. Not once.”

Ghost nodded, not turning around.

“He told me…he told me if I ever got into trouble, if I ever needed someone while he was gone, I was to go to you. That you’d help me.”

That had him turning. And she could see that his eyes were glassy. He nodded. “You know I’ll always be there for you.”

They studied each other for a long moment. All the feelings she had for him warred within her.

He lifted his chin toward the door. “And if you walk out that door, that’s still true.”

She stood frozen. And then her legs were carrying her to the door. When she reached out for the knob, she heard his voice, gruff and thick.

“I love you, Jess.”

She paused and looked back at him. “I love you, too. That’s what makes this so hard. What you did? I lost my brother, Ghost. Because you talked him into joining.”

“You lost your brother because of a roadside IED.”

She shook her head.

“Jess.”

“I’ll call a cab.”

“Fuck. Babe. You don’t have to do that. I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.”

She shook her head again and slipped out the door.

***

When the cab pulled up to collect her, Ghost sat listening. He heard the the sound of the car door opening, then slamming, and then the tires crunching on the gravel as it pulled back down the drive. And suddenly the house felt so empty, and he felt more alone than he’d ever felt before. Maybe even more than when his mom died.

He strode out onto the terrace where he collapsed in a chair and stared at the runway lights, watching the planes land and take off in the darkness for what must have been hours. His mind going over every word they’d said. Wondering if he’d lost Jessie for good. If he’d ever see her again, ever hold her in his arms again or taste her skin or hear the breathy sound she made as he slid inside her.

He loved her, down to his soul, and to sit here imagining he’d never see her again drove an ache inside him so deep that he worried the pain might kill him.

Eventually, he heard the rumble of a set of pipes roll up the long drive. His hand automatically went to the gun he’d set down on the side table, his palm resting lightly over the cold metal. Most likely, it was a brother. But it could also be a Death Head, come to settle the score.

A dark shape moved around the side of the building.

“Ghost, you out here?”

Blood.

Not even in his top ten of who might come see him.

“Yeah,” he called out, taking his hand off his piece. He was slouched back in his chair, his fingers laced together when he looked up at his visitor.

Blood’s eyes move to the pistol, and then back to him with a grin.

“Expecting me?”

Ghost huffed out a laugh and eyed him. “There might be a round in the chamber with your name on it.”