Sanctum: A Motorcycle Club Romance Novel (9 page)

~ SIX ~

Maggie was on her third cup of coffee when
Jase and her father returned from Hot Tamales. She waited with a large group of
men from the MC, all gathered to hear updates and receive orders. It had been a
very long time since the quiet din of LeBeau had been shattered by anything
more than a drunken fist-fight; Henry worked hard, and sometimes with the
police, to keep it that way. It was as much self-preservation as it was
philanthropy. Large-scale violence, no matter the real cause, always blew back
on the MC. 

Maggie felt emotionally
—
and
a bit literally
—
hung over from the
night before, and did her best to sink into the crowd unnoticed. Between the
painful pulses of the headache brewing at the back of her neck, she could
occasionally hear Jase
’
s
voice, clear as a bell.
I
don’t care about you anymore.
When it would echo
through her head, she would rub her face and eyes like she could wipe the
thought out of existence if she found the right spot. Henry
’
s
arrival acted as a welcome distraction from the broken record of heartbreak in
her mind.

Leader that he was, Henry came right into
the den with Beck and Jase at his back. Henry launched immediately into it.

“We’ve
got six wounded locals
from the shooting at the roadhouse last night. Witnesses said they were masked,
three or four of them, and that they came in after midnight. Plenty of armed
folks were there, but no one was ready for it. Tamales never got hit this bad,
even in the old days.
”
Henry
cleared his throat before he continued.
”
No
one is totally sure what they were after, but they definitely ran around like
they were looking for something, and they didn’t take a single bill from the
registers. Witnesses say they were targeting bikers wearing cuts. And we have
some suspicion that this is related to my daughter.
”

Every pair of eyes in the room turned to
look at her, this newly arrived stranger hunkered over her cup of coffee at the
bar, looking a hot mess that hadn’t seen a mirror or a hairbrush that morning.
She felt her exhausted heart skip a beat.

“
Related to Maggie? Why?
”
asked Tommy from the crowd.

“
That
’
s
a good question, Tommy,
”
said
Henry as he took a few steps towards her.
“
You
tell us, Maggie. Why does someone want you dead bad enough to open fire on a
packed roadhouse?
”

Everyone was staring at her. She was
grateful she had kept her sunglasses on; at least they couldn’t see the fear in
her eyes.
“
I told you why, Henry.
”

“
You want me to believe a
couple of street-rat opiate pushers had the time or money or fucks to give to
follow you over three-hundred miles to your hometown, just because you wouldn’t
play ball with them? I might have believed that story yesterday, young lady,
but today there are folks in the hospital right now who tell me you
’
re
holding back.
”

The room fell quiet and still as the
grave. Like any good predator, Henry had layers to his anger, and the one he
was revealing now came straight from the core. He was many men in this
instance. He was a citizen distraught by violence. He was a soldier upset at a
tactical error. He was a general on display for the morale of his troops. And
he was a father, disappointed in his offspring, yet driven to defend her
regardless.

Maggie took a deep breath and turned on
the barstool to face him. She recognized what he was doing.  She knew she had
to be honest with him now or lose his respect forever, even if that meant
having this conversation in front of Jase and the entire MC. Henry had always
reacted to her rebellion by forcing her to prove herself in the most vulnerable
of ways. Throwing her into the fire now, at this moment, didn’t faze her; it
just felt like old times.

At the rear of the room, Jase couldn’t see
the quick glances of him she stole from behind her sunglasses. Like everyone
else, he made no attempts to hide his own staring.

She found a spot on the floor to stare at
as the spoke.
“
When I ran from here, I
ran because I felt like I didn’t belong,
”
she
said.
“
So
when I got to Eagleton, I tried to do what you had told me I should do my whole
life. See if maybe I did belong somewhere. I found an apartment and got a job
at a pharmacy. I found new, boring friends to do normal things like go to the
movies and have dinner parties. I paid my bills and wore my seatbelt. I did everything
you were always trying to push me into, Henry. I tried to rise above this life
that was always good enough for you and mom, but never for me.
”
She stopped for a second to quell her rising anger.
“
But
I guess I
’
m your daughter no
matter what either of us wants, because before I knew it, I was hanging out at
dive bars and making dangerous friends.
”

Henry moved to speak and she stopped
talking. But he swallowed whatever he was going to say.

She continued.
“
The
crimes started small and harmless. They got the shit I snuck them from work,
and I got my thrills, and extra money too. I started getting romantic with one
of them. Things were fine until the pharmacy caught on to my scam and fired me.
We blew through my savings in a couple of weeks and started doing riskier
robberies to make up for it. Everyone was crashing at my apartment by this
point, and Evan
… my ex…
as
soon as I lost my connection to the pills, he dropped any act that he had ever
cared and started beating me.
”

If there was one way to make a roomful of
tough-guy bikers tense up in discomforted rage, it was wife-beating. Nearly
every pair of boots in the room shifted at the sounds of that confession. Wood
creaked under their feet. Maggie looked up and saw Jase biting his lip, gaze on
the floor.

“
When I realized he was
planning to force me into prostitution as a new way to make money, I knew I had
to get out. It took some maneuvering and longer than I wanted it to, but I was
finally able to sneak out one night. At first I didn’t know where I would go
even if I did leave
…
but
where else could I go? I had to come back here.
”

The room was heavy and tense after she
finished. Henry spoke first.
“
Your
ex and his cronies, do you think they could have done the roadhouse shooting?
Does it seem like their MO?
”

Maggie frowned as she thought.
“
Evan
is certainly crazy enough to not care about killing innocent people
…
he popped off rounds during robberies before just
because he could. And he was controlling enough to want to get back at me for
running. But they’ve always been small-timers, easily distracted. Maybe I just
underestimated them.
”

“
Or maybe they’ve got big
friends,
”
said Beck.

“I
’
m
sorry I didn’t tell you all this before. I thought I would be safe once I was
out of Eagleton. I really didn’t think they would follow me.
”

Henry watched her for a few moments. 
“You
’
re
going to need to give the names of these bastards to the sheriff, but I
’
m
going to make sure it
’
s
us who finds them first.
”

“
Something doesn’t make
sense though,
”
said Maggie.
“
Evan
and the gang didn’t know anything about my life before Eagleton. I never talked
about the MC. If they were the shooters, how would they know to be looking for
bikers at the roadhouse?
”

“
I
don’t know,
”
said Henry.
“
But
however they found out, it sounds like they know you
’
re
getting protection with an MC.
”
He
turned and addressed the group.
“
Everyone
needs to be on high alert. These bastards might shoot at any one of us if they
think it will get them to Maggie. Keep an ear to the ground about any out-of-towners.
Tommy, run up to my gun cabinet and grab the 12-gauge and the Bersa 9mm with
some rounds.
”

Jase finally spoke from the doorway.
“
What’s
the plan?
”

“
Maggie
’
s
going to give us all the info on these assholes she has, and we
’
re
going to send it out through our contacts until we track them down. This just
turned from a friendly chat into something else,
”
said
Henry. When Tommy brought him the guns he requested, Henry took them and walked
over to where Maggie still sat at the bar. He held them out for her.
“
Take
both of these. The shotgun stays by your bed, and the handgun is on you at all
times. No discussion.
”

She carefully lay the 9mm on the counter
before using both hands to take the shotgun. It was heavier than it looked.
“
I
never got to actually
use
the guns in our robberies, Henry.
”

“Jase,”
said Henry, and waved his
fingers. Jase hesitated only a second before he pushed through the group and
came to stand before Henry.
“
Our
arrangement remains
—
you stay with
Maggie at all times, day and night. And you need to make sure she gets practice
with these.
”
He pointed to the guns.

Jase and Maggie looked at each other. He
seemed to look as tired and resigned as she felt. His anger from the night
before was completely washed away by something new, something deeper, but just
as dark.

“I’ll
take care of her.
”
The words dropped from Jase
’
s
lips sincere and quiet. Maggie was glad he couldn’t see her eyes behind her
sunglasses.

~ SEVEN ~

After Henry had handed out some individual
assignments to the MC, he adjourned the meeting and all Maggie wanted to do was
get back to bed. She had even procured a few joints from Tommy, and she was
looking forward to a day of lying around, napping, and seeing Jase as little as
possible.

She waited at the bar, smoking and
finishing off her coffee until Jase came to get her and the new weapons Henry
had gifted her. She had no energy to deal with what had happened the night
before, or even to be feisty with him. She knew control of this situation was
no longer hers
—
if it ever had been. To
be frank, she was almost relieved to be letting someone else strong and
decisive take the wheel. Where had her own decisions led her to, anyway?

A few other bikers followed Maggie and
Jase out to the parking lot, lighting up cigarettes and rumbling generally
about the shooting. Maggie let Jase take the shotgun and shoved the unloaded
9mm into the waistband of her pants. Still feeling the general vulnerability of
telling her story to all the men, she tried to distance herself from the group
when she noticed a woman walking to the porch from the parking lot along the
driveway. There was something familiar about the pattern of clothes she was
wearing, like Maggie had seen the outfit before. The woman held a box in her
thin arms.

“
Hey, state your business!
”
came a gruff male voice from somewhere in the group.
Instantly all the men turned and faced this potential threat. The woman froze
in her tracks, her eyes wide.

Maggie started.
“
Oh
my God-- Julie?
”
She
said as she took a few steps forward.

“
Maggie, stay back,
”
said Jase.

Maggie ignored him and continued towards
her friend. Julie stared at her in half-confusion, half-fear. She was a waif of
a woman with gorgeous bone structure and a sweet personality. Maggie hadn’t
seen in her in months.
“
Julie, what are
you doing here?
”

Julie’
s
eyes began to flit from Maggie, to the gang of bikers looking ready to pounce,
and back. The shotgun in Jase
’
s
hand couldn’t have been comforting.
“
I-I
brought you some of your stuff
…
your
landlord called me to pick it up. He said he hadn’t seen you in a while and
your
…
friends
…
they
weren’t paying the rent.
”

Of course
,
Maggie thought. Her whole focus had been on escaping Eagleton. She hadn’t
thought of what she was leaving behind
—
like
poor Julie, her emergency contact, having to pick up the slack. The landlord
’
s
threats of eviction in the week prior to her escape had been the last thing on
her mind. It occurred to her that this wasn’t the first time she had made such
a mistake. Judging by the feeling of eyes burning into the back of her head, it
was probably occurring to Jase at that moment, too.

Maggie blinked a few times and looked
down, ashamed.
“
Julie, I’
m
so sorry. I didn’t
mean to drag you into this. I was
…
.
I had to leave in a hurry.
”
She
took the box from Julie
’
s
arms and thanked her.
“
How the hell did
you find me here?
”

“
Well, I was
…”
Julie stopped, and made a few nervous gestures towards
the men.
“Can you…
can you tell them
to relax? I feel like I
’
m
about to get tackled.
”

“
Jesus Christ, guys, stand
down!
”
Maggie shouted, turning her head towards them. She
heard shuffling in the gravel and boots moving back up on the wood of the deck.
“
Sorry,
they
’
re a bit on edge. Shit
’
s
not going great right now. You were saying?
”

“
When I got the call from
your landlord, I tried getting in touch with you again. I only had your cell
from when you worked at the pharmacy. I wasn’t even sure if it was working. I
left voicemails that never got returned. But I was really concerned about you
just disappearing and leaving things behind,
”
said
Julie, twisting her rings around her fingers as she talked.
“
I
thought I remembered you telling me where you had moved from, so I went back
through my journals to see if I had written it down, and I had: LeBeau.
”

“
You and those goddamn
journals,
”
said Maggie with a grin.

She smiled.
“
I
took a few vacation days and thought I should come down and see if I could at
least find your family
…
let
them know what was going on. Or maybe they had even heard from you. At the
least, they probably wanted your things.
”
She
gestured to the box.
“
I asked at a few
places when I got into town if they knew the Olivers, or Maggie Oliver, and I
got sent here.
”
Julie eyed the clubhouse.
“It
’
s
not what I was expecting.
”

Maggie wanted to hug the woman.
“
You
are too damn sweet for your own good, Julie. This was beyond thoughtful. I
’
m
sorry to have worried you, and put you through all this.
”

“I
’
m
just glad you
’
re okay,”
said
Julie.
“
I
really thought something had happened to you.
”

“
Well, things did, but not
that
thing,
”
said
Maggie with a genuine laugh.
“
You
should come back to the house and we can talk some more
—
if
you don’t have to head right back, that is.
”

“
I would like that,
”
said Julie.

Maggie turned at the sound of approaching
boot-steps on the gravel of the lot. Jase was sauntering up to them. Without
asking, he took the large box from her in one arm, shotgun still in the other.
“
She
should ride with us. Her car will be safe here, and we don’t want anyone
connecting her with that house.
”

Julie’
s
eyes widened again and she looked at Maggie.
“
Wow,
you weren’t kidding about things happening?
”

“I wish,”
said Maggie.
“
Jase,
this is Julie Montgomery. She
’
s
a good friend that worked with me at the pharmacy. Julie, this is Jase
Campbell.
”

Hands full, Jase made an awkward
closed-mouth grin and gestured with his fingers. Julie smiled and nodded at
him. He took the lead to the SUV.

Once he passed, Julie caught Maggie
’
s
eyes. Her eyebrows were raised. She gave an obvious look at Jase
’
s
back and mouthed without speaking,
“
That
’
s
Jase?”

Maggie felt the blood drain from her face.
Julie couldn’t see how wide her own eyes were behind the big sunglasses. Maggie
shook her head and waved her hands in thick motions that could not be
misunderstood. In her head, she cursed herself for having actually acquired a
friend that became close enough to tell some of her secrets
—
even
if she was also very grateful for it.

Julie took her by the arm as they walked
to the SUV and gave it a playful, knowing squeeze. Maggie couldn’t help but
chuckle to herself, feeling better than she had in days.

The ladies let Jase drive them back to
Maggie
’
s house. When shit
started to really go down with Evan, she had cut off all contact with the few
friends she had, with Julie being the closest.  She felt guilty about it at the
time, but then things got so intense that even that feeling was lost. Now,
sitting in backseat together, they were able to chat and catch up as if they
hadn’t lost months of time together.  Maggie thought she saw Jase smirking at
them from the rear-view mirror a few times.

Julie was a big fan of the Golden Age of
Americana, and she immediately began gushing over Maggie
’
s
temporary pre-war house. Maggie gave her the short tour while Jase hauled in
the box of possessions Julie had brought down. He waited for them in the
kitchen when they finished, drinking one of the beers Drake left. Maggie
offered one to Julie and teased Miss Cabernet Sauvignon when she actually
accepted.

After a few minutes of light conversation,
Julie said,
“
This place is so
beautiful! How long are you going to stay here?
”

On instinct, Maggie turned and looked up
at Jase. He was looking back at her with questions in his eyes. They both
turned away with a bit of embarrassment.
“I
’
m
not sure,
”
said Maggie before she
took a swig of beer.
“
For the
foreseeable future, at least.
”

“
At least you could ask
for a worse place to stay,
”
said
Julie.
“
This
is certainly an upgrade from the apartment.
”

Maggie laughed.
“
Yeah,
it is that.
”

Julie’
s
question had more or less killed the playfulness of the atmosphere. Jase
cleared his throat and mumbled that he was taking a cigarette outside. He
wandered out to the shady backyard with his beer.

Julie gave Maggie a look she had been
holding in the whole drive over. It was that wide-mouthed excitement that only
women seemed to express, and it made Maggie laugh despite herself. She felt a
deep flush moving over her face.

“I can’t
believe that
’
s
Jase!” 
Julie whispered, though still too loudly
for Maggie
’
s comfort.

Maggie rolled her eyes and tried to
contain her quiet laughter. She didn’t know what was so funny. Maybe just
having Julie
’
s wide-eyed joy
around all this death and pain was relaxing enough. After the years of horror
she had spent with Evan, giggling about boys seemed like a rare, sweet
surprise. She grabbed her beer and one of Julie
’
s
hands and led her through the house back to her bedroom. She left the door open
a just a crack.

“
Keep your voice down,
”
said Maggie when they were alone.
“
Things
are not great with that, either.
”

“He
’
s
so hot
, Maggie!
”
said
Julie with a little clap of her hands.
“
And
you can tell he
’
s still into you.
”

Maggie scoffed, digging through her pocket
for the joints Tommy gave her.
“
Whatever.
”
She stuffed one in her mouth and lit it before taking
a long, satisfying drag. She offered Julie a hit. At first, Julie hesitated,
but then she seemed to shrug and accepted it with a giggle.