Sanctum: A Motorcycle Club Romance Novel (3 page)

“
Henry didn’t say a word
about you coming back,
”
said
Will.
“
I
thought you two were still on the outs.
”
The
expression on her face must have answered his curiosity, because Will made a
little
“oh”
noise and nodded almost imperceptibly.

Maggie lowered her voice, insecure of
being overheard by these MC boys she didn’t know.
“
I
haven’t talked to Henry yet. He doesn’t know I
’
m
back.
”

Will was thoughtful and quiet for a
moment. The Black Dogs began to grow bored watching the conversation and
started going back to their own.
“
You
know, there
’
s still an
unofficial APB from the club out on you. Dogs aren’t supposed to engage with
you, just report back to him any word of your location.
”

Maggie swallowed against a tight throat
and nodded.
“
Yeah, that sounds like
the old man. Controlling enough to supervise, but too proud to do it himself.
”

Will
’
s
half-smile returned for just a moment. Then he grew serious and locked eyes
with her.
“
I
don’t
want to make anything harder for you, Maggie. But you know I have to report
this to him. I don’t know what you have planned for this homecoming
…
I
’
m going to guess it
didn’t involve Henry and Beck kicking down your apartment door before you even
got settled into town.
”

“
No, no it did not,
”
said Maggie with a sigh.

“You’ve
always been smart. I
’
m
sure you have a plan. If you want to get it going, you need to do it now. Henry
should be at the clubhouse. You should go talk to him now, while you still have
the element of surprise.
”
Will
looked around at the members in the diner.
“
I
outrank all these goons in here, so I can keep them quiet. But I can only give
you until sundown to make your move. Then I have to tell Henry myself.
”
He blinked a few times and put a gentle hand on her
shoulder.
“I
’
m
sorry.”

“
I understand,
”
said Maggie immediately, stiffening her back and
taking a deep breath.
“
I came here
half-hoping he was here to get it over with, anyway.
”

Will smiled again.
“
Henry
would never blow his top in Dot
’
s.
Smart girl.”

“
Not smart enough,
apparently,
”
said Maggie more to
herself than to Will.

He gave her shoulder a squeeze.
“You’ll
be fine. You
’
re his daughter.
No matter what he says to you, he’s glad to see you.
”

Maggie returned the smile.
“
Thanks
Will. I
’
m glad I found you
first.
”

“I
’
m
glad to have you back,
”
he
said.

Maggie gave him one last small hug and
turned to head out of the dining room. Before she could, Will grabbed her arm
and turned her back.

“
One last thing,
”
he said, and now his eyebrow was raised, his brown
eyes filled with genuine worry.
“
Jase
will probably be there.
”

Hearing his name again made a shiver run
through Maggie
’
s bones. Her heart
skipped. She felt the blood drain from her face. She couldn’t find the words to
reply to Will, so she simply nodded and squeezed his hand one last time before
she walked off to face her fate.

~ TWO ~

The clubhouse of the Black Dogs MC
relocated twice since Maggie
’
s
grandfather began the club after he returned from the European theater of World
War 2. The first clubhouse had been nothing more than a dingy shed in a field
outside of the community that would eventually grow to become LeBeau. Once more
vets started heading home and the town become more settled, the club began to
grow in membership. It was the late 60s when they were finally able to purchase
an old storefront off Main Street to hold their meetings and drink in peace.

Not long after Maggie was born, her
grandfather and a few other members were killed in a shootout with corrupt
members of the state police. The shootout went down at the storefront
clubhouse. Understandably, the members didn’t exactly want to hang around a
place with such terrible memories, and the townspeople were threatening to run
the MC out of town, blaming them for the violence. Maggie
’
s
father, abruptly shoved into the role of MC president, had put his nose to the
grindstone, gathered investments and support, and built the place that would
become the permanent den of the Black Dogs. It was an unassuming, two-story
building set back from the road, well away from the high-traffic civilian areas
of LeBeau.

Maggie had been born not long after it was
built, and it became as much a second home to her as it was to any man who wore
the cut.

Despite the place being almost thirty
years old, Henry made sure it always got the maintenance and upkeep it needed
to look its best. As Maggie pulled through the open chain link gate and into
the long parking lot, memories began flooding through her mind, stronger than
any d
éj
à
vu she had ever experienced. On this midday during the
week, most of the members were likely out at their day jobs or other such
errands. The parking lot was nearly empty, but a handful of bikes cooled in
front like a shiny vanguard. She spotted the bikes of her father and his vice
president, Beck Dillon, but the rest of the bikes were unfamiliar to her.

After she parked, Maggie sat in the driver
’
s
seat and tried to gather herself and her courage. She went to reach for the
door and saw her hand shaking, so she killed the engine, cracked a window, and
lit up the last of the joints she had brought in her purse. The weed took the
edges off her anxiety, but even the highest-grade chronic wasn’t going to fix
this. She smoked half of it before she stamped it out in the ashtray and
immediately pushed out of the SUV, not giving herself a chance to hesitate any
longer.

Maggie had learned from years of watching
the most alpha of alpha dogs how to hold herself to gain respect. She squared
her shoulders and held her head high, eyes straight ahead, as she walked calmly
through the parking lot and to the front door of the clubhouse. She didn’t let
herself get spooked at the door. She didn’t knock. She wrapped her hand around
the knob and pushed her way in as if she had always belonged.

She did her best not to become flooded
with nostalgia at the sight of the long wooden hallway, the framed photos on
the walls, the smell of cigar smoke and whiskey. She didn’t even take off her
sunglasses as she marched down the hallway towards the den, from which floated
the faint sound of talking and the soft click of billiard balls. She stood in
the wide doorway and surveyed the room for a few moments before anyone noticed
her. Someone she didn’t recognize was shooting a lazy game of pool with
himself. Beck sat at the bar with a beer in his hand, talking with another
member. It took her a few moments to recognize him as Tommy Castillo. Tommy had
been just a kid barely old enough to drive the last time she saw him. He was
still a dark and gawky looking man, but he had grown at least a foot and was
not the skinny whelp she remembered. Faint sounds of sex floated from one of
the bedrooms down the hallway.

“I
’
m
looking for Henry Oliver,
”
said
Maggie. She was endlessly pleased to hear her voice come out strong, not
shaking as she had expected.

All the men stopped what they were doing
and looked over to the doorway. The one at the pool table frowned as if he smelled
something rotten, burning cigarette dangling from his thin lips. Tommy was
staring at her, trying to place her face. But Beck
’
s
face immediately lit up and he jumped up from the barstool.

“
Christ almighty. Maggie?
Is that you?
”
he said, moving across
the den with his arms open wide. He looked like a big, gray-haired Santa Claus
—or
Santa
’
s brother, maybe, who
took a darker path than the toymaker. He was always a large man, but
post-middle age had made him even bigger. Her father used to joke about how unbelievable
it was that the Viet Cong hadn’t spotted such a
“
redwood
of a dude
”
in the midst of their
jungles.
“I can’t
believe it!
”
Beck wrapped her in a rocking hug that would have
suffocated anyone smaller. Maggie couldn’t help but laugh and accept his
affection.

“Hi, Beck,”
she said, though
it came out muffled, stuffed as she was against the fabric of his shirt and
cut.
“It
’
s
good to see you.
” 

“
Let me get a look at you!
”
He pulled back from the hug, his face shining and
bright, and looked her over. Behind him, the one at the pool table was
exchanging not-so-secretive questioning looks with Tommy behind the counter. 
“
What
a beautiful woman you’ve grown up to be. You look just like your ma.
”

Maggie knew very little about Sara, the
woman who had somehow charmed the infamous Henry Oliver and gave birth to her.
She died when Maggie was a baby. She had no memory of her. But she knew the MC
had loved Sara, and so accepted the compliment with a smile.
“
Thanks,
Beck. Listen, is Henry here?
”

“
Maggie?
”

The sound of Henry Oliver
’
s
voice was still enough to conquer a room. Everyone turned to look at him,
halfway down the stairs that led to the MC
’
s
more private and official meeting rooms. Beck moved away from her slowly as
Maggie locked eyes with her father. His hair had begun to gray at the temples,
and his belly was a bit bigger than it had been when she left, but aside from
those minuscule details, he was still the dark, powerful man she remembered.
And unlike Beck or even Will, his face gave no indication that he was happy to
see her.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl as she and
her father stared each other down. She could feel the tension in the room
rising. Maggie had the passing thought that it was perfectly appropriate to
begin this reunion in this position
—
with
her father standing over her, staring down in judgment. It was exactly the way
their entire relationship had always been.

“Henry,”
said Maggie. Her
voice cracked, despite her best attempts otherwise. She removed her sunglasses
and cleared her throat.
“I hope I
’
m
not interrupting anything.
”

Henry stared down at her a few moments
more, expressionless, quiet. Then he seemed to blink out of his own mental
trance.
“
Not
at the moment.
”

Maggie licked her lips.
“
Can
we talk in private?
”

Again, Henry hesitated, making her wait
and squirm. Then he finally nodded once and headed back up the stairs without
another word. Maggie looked over at Beck and saw an expression of sympathy, but
he also said nothing to her. She headed towards the stairs.

As she passed Tommy at the bar, he
couldn’t help but let out a whisper to her.
“
Maggie
—
hey!
”
He even waved a little, as if she hadn’t noticed him
there before. Usually Tommy
’
s
obliviousness was a bothersome joke, but at that moment she couldn’t help but
crack a tiny laugh at him. How a man could be in her father
’
s
MC and still be so pleasantly naive was a mystery, but he relieved her tension
and she was grateful. She raised a hand at him as she passed by, and then
headed up the stairs.

Henry waited for her in his seat at the
head of the conference room table. It was his throne, his seat of power, from
which he made all the pertinent decisions of the MC. This choice of meeting
spot was not lost on his daughter. Maggie put her purse in an empty chair and
took up the spot usually reserved for Beck, at Henry
’
s
right hand.

A few moments of silence passed. Maggie
waited to see if he wanted to begin. She knew immediately launching into her
story would make her look and feel powerless. She realized then how much of
their interaction was exactly that
—
one
of them trying to hold power over the other; strategy; tactics in place of
connection.

Finally, Henry cleared his throat and
leaned back just a bit in his chair.
“What brings you here,
Maggie?”

She hadn’t expected anything less from him
than straight to business, but the question stung regardless. Maggie took a
breath and said,
“
I need your help.
”

Henry let out a little scoff. Her father
was a predator and Maggie had learned from him, and from the club, how to read
other people. He didn’t have to say that he was disappointed. She could see it
all over his face, all over every little mannerism in that moment.
“Isn’t
that typical? It
’
s been what
—
four
years? Five?
”

“
Five and a half.
”
She didn’t bother to accuse him of knowing exactly how
long it had been since she ran away from LeBeau.
“
Five
and a half years next month.
”

He scoffed again, leaning forward on the
giant conference table.
“
What kind of help
is it you
’
re looking for?
Must be a big favor if it got you back to this town.
”

Maggie nodded. It was too difficult to
look at him in that moment, and so she stared at his big hands, at the wedding
ring he still wore after all these years.
“I
’
m
in danger. I need to get protection from you
…
from
the MC.
”

She thought she saw his shoulders soften a
bit. Henry took a pause and then asked,
“
From
who?
”
There was an edge to his voice she recognized all too
well. She took it as a good sign that he was listening and taking her
seriously.

“I…”
Maggie had to pause,
because she could feel tears welling up in her eyes, and she was not about to
cry in front of her father.
No, not now
. She took a breath before she
continued.
“
I was working at a
pharmacy in Eagleton. I got targeted by some low-level thugs looking for a
connection to get access to prescription drugs. I didn’t want to help them, but
there’s just
…
. it wasn’t safe. I had
to get out or they were going to kill me. And I didn’t know where else to go.
”

She looked up and saw her father
’
s
calm face watching her, listening. Some of his anger had melted away, and for
that she was grateful. She said nothing else, waiting for him to respond.

When he did, Henry
’
s
voice was almost as quiet as Will
’
s.
“
You did the right thing,
”
he
said.
“
No
one is going to bother you here. Do you have a place to stay yet?
”