Seeking Vengeance (18 page)

A sick feeling of dread coiled in Molly’s stomach. “He told me he was going out with you.”

“Dammit. I knew he’d go without me.”

“Go where?”

“The Bike Rally over in Kendall. I called him a few hours ago and said I wanted him to take me, but he said no, he was beat and was just going to hang out here with you and Sam.”

“Well, Sam isn’t here. In fact, he’s out with your brother.”

Victoria put her hand to her forehead, and then drew it through her hair, shaking her head with apparent frustration. “My
brother
? He’s not even in town.” She crossed her arms, her lips thinning. “Molly, I think our men are up to something.”

Our men? “Well, Sam’s not exactly my man, but I think you’re right. The guys lied to us about who they were going out with, but why?”

“I have no idea. If it was just Johnny, I’d chalk it up to him being a typical biker and out playing the field. A Bike Rally is a great place for a guy to pick up chicks.” Victoria gave a sarcastic chuckle. “But I don’t see Sam like that. You say you and Sam aren’t together, but every signal I’ve seen you guys send to each other says differently.”

Molly felt heat rush to her face and her first impulse was to deny it, but instead, she said, “Yes, I suppose all the signals are there, but it would never work.”

Victoria looked confused. “Girl, if I had a guy like Sam looking at me like he looks at you, I would
make
it work.”

Shrugging, Molly turned to go into the kitchen. “It’s complicated. Come on in and have a seat.” She motioned towards the table. “Want something to drink? We have beer, iced tea, and lemonade.”

“See? You’re already playing hostess in Sam’s cabin.”

“I’m not playing hostess. If Sam was here, he’d be the one offering, so I’m just doing what he would do.”

“Whatever. I’ll have a beer.”

Molly took a beer, along with the pitcher of iced tea, and withdrew two glasses from the cabinet, adding ice to her own. “Here you go.”

Victoria poured her beer, setting the bottle nearby. A small amount remained in the end, not quite filling the glass. She took a long swallow. “So, tell me what’s so complicated about it? You’re attracted to Sam, and he’s attracted to you. It’s a no brainer.”

Molly wished she could tell someone, but she didn’t know how much Victoria knew about Sean’s death and it wasn’t her place to talk about it. “Let’s just say that there’s someone in our history. If Sam knew about my background with this person, he’d hate me and worse, he’d hate Kelsie. I have to protect my daughter.” She took a sip of the iced tea and it wasn’t nearly strong enough to dull her emotions.

“Listen, Molly. I don’t know you very well, but I’ve known Sam since I was a little girl.” She gave a short, harsh chuckle. “Hell, I’ve been crushing on him the whole time, even when I was married to my sad sack of a husband. In all that time, I’ve never known him to be cruel to anyone, let alone a child. What kind of man do you think he is that he could hate a sweet little girl?” Victoria took another drink of her beer, but the look she gave Molly was filled with resentment.

Embarrassed, Molly glanced down, folding her arms and resting them on the table. “I didn’t mean it as a slight to Sam. He’s been wonderful to Kelsie. It’s just, I wouldn’t blame him for his feelings.”

Victoria leaned forward. “Does this have something to do with Sean?”

Molly swirled her iced tea, the clink of ice cubes on the glass loud in the room. She didn’t reply, just glanced up at Victoria and then gave a half-shrug.

“I have a confession to make.”

Molly’s head shot up. That was the last thing she expected the other woman to say. “Confession?”

“When Sean died, I thought
I
could be the one to comfort Sam. I was never in love with my husband, and started divorce proceedings when I heard about Sean’s death.” Victoria shook her head, her mouth twisted into a rueful smile. “It seems so cold-hearted now, but I wasn’t thinking. I had this whole little fantasy about Sam needing me, but he wasn’t around. I came back home because I had nowhere else to go. Then I heard Sam was back in town.”

“And you thought that was your chance?” Molly felt fear, as cold as the ice swirling in her glass, grip her heart.

Victoria shrugged. “What do you think?” A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. “But then I saw how he looked at you, and I literally wanted to claw your eyes out.”

“Oh?” Molly sat up straight. When Victoria said confession, she really meant it.

“Yeah, but then I met Kelsie and Sam clearly adores her, too. I wanted to hate both of you, but I couldn’t.” Victoria poured the rest of her beer in the glass and downed it. “Besides, your brother is cute and he looks at me the way I looked at Sam.”

Molly didn’t know whether to be relieved that Victoria had given up her dreams of being with Sam, or worried that she was now interested in Johnny. While she hated to do it, feeling like she was betraying her brother, she had to be as honest as Victoria had been. “I love my brother, but he might not be the best guy to get mixed up with. He’s had some problems of his own.”

Victoria threw back her head and laughed. “Don’t all men?”

“I suppose, but seriously, right now, Johnny has some motorcycle gang after him. It’s why we came up here and how I met Sam. Johnny was already the target of a couple of attempts on his life, and in one of them, Sam saved Johnny, but was injured. Johnny and a couple of buddies brought Sam to me because Sam refused to go to the hospital.”

“Oh, so that’s what happened to his back.”

“Yes, and he had to stay at my place a few days while he healed up. Then Johnny showed up with the Ravens hot on his tail and, well, it’s a long story, but Sam brought us here thinking it would be safer.”

“The Ravens?” Victoria had an odd expression on her face.

“Yes…why?”

“I saw some bikers wearing jackets that said that. They were in town earlier—probably going to that rally.”

It felt as if every drop of blood drained out of Molly’s head. “Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure.”

“Oh no. You think the guys went to the rally?”

Victoria looked at Molly as if she was a simpleton. “Two guys—bikers no less — mysteriously lie about who they’re with on the very same day that there’s a big biker rally just a few miles away? I thought you were a smart lady.”

Molly rubbed her temples. Sam wanted to kill Howard, and likely, the leader of the Ravens was here with his gang. “I have to stop Sam.”

“Stop him? From doing what?”

“The leader of the Ravens was the one who ordered the torching of Sam’s mother’s house. He’s the one responsible for Sean and Sam’s mom’s death.”

“Oh crap.”

“Exactly.”

“Sam’s going to kill that guy.” Victoria shook her head. “What are you going to do?”

“Me?”

“Yeah, he’s
your
guy.”

Molly bit her lip. “He
can’t
be my guy.”

“Why not?”

Victoria had already confessed her feelings for Sam and had admitted that it was one-sided. That took a lot of guts, but could Molly trust her with this secret? No, she couldn’t—not now and probably not ever, if she was honest. “He just can’t. There are things about me that he doesn’t know, and if he did, he would hate me.” That was the gist of it. Victoria didn’t need to know the details.

“Well, whatever you’re hiding isn’t gonna matter when Sam’s arrested for murder.”

Dipping her head, Molly massaged the back of her neck. “I know. I can’t let that happen, and then there’s Johnny. He might as well have a red bulls-eye painted on the back of his shirt.”

“Maybe that’s what Sam is counting on.”

Molly looked up. “What do you mean?”

“Listen, I watch cop shows. Sam probably talked Johnny into being the little worm on the end of his hook.”

“Sam wouldn’t do that.” But she remembered the hatred in his eyes when he spoke of Howard. He wasn’t rational where Howard was concerned.

“Oh, I don’t think he’d let anything happen to Johnny.” She gave a dismissive wave of her hand. “My brother knew I liked Sam and would always tease me with news of his accomplishme
nts. For instance, I know he’s an expert marksmen. I don’t know if that’s what they call it, but he’s a crack shot.”

“I still can’t let him kill Howard.”

“The guy deserves it, but yeah, you’re right. Sam would probably be charged with something.”

“What if Howard
’s friends turn on Sam? It’s not like Howard is there alone. Meanwhile, all Sam has is…
Johnny
.”

“
Johnny!”

They spoke in unison.

“Okay. I have to go find Sam and stop him.” Molly jumped up, running to the door, but then jerked to a halt, slapping a hand to her forehead. “I can’t do it.”

“Why not?” Victoria had trailed her into the living room.

“One, because I can’t just leave Kelsie alone, and two, I don’t have a car. I let Johnny use mine.”

Victoria fished in her purse and pulled out a set of keys. “Here. Take mine, and I can stay with Kelsie.”

“Are you sure?”

Victoria shook her head. “I’d go myself, but…” She shrugged, her eyes moist as she confessed, “I don’t think Sam would listen to me.”

“Do you think he’ll listen to me?” She prayed Sam would, but he had been focused on revenge for a year. Molly knew whatever she and Sam had going, it could never compete with a father’s love for his son and his need for vengeance. She only hoped he’d listen to reason. It was a slim thread of hope, but it was all she had to cling to.

Victoria bit her lip, and nodded, swiping a finger beneath an eye. “Yeah, I do.” She raised her chin. “Besides, it’s about time I paid attention to some of the other guys out there who’ve been chasing me since I got back into town, including your brother.”

Molly smiled. “I’m sure any man would be thrilled to have your attention.”

Digging in her purse again, Victoria found a pen and scrap of paper, and jotted down her cellphone number. “And here. Call me when you get there and let me know what’s happening. Do you know how to get to Kendall?”

Molly shook her head. “No.”

“It’s easy. Go into town and take the main highway straight west. It’s the next village over; about ten miles. I’m sure you’ll see lots of bikes on the way there.”

* * *

True to Victoria’s directions, the rally was easy to find. She just followed the stream of motorcycles and soon found herself in a small town not much different from Sa
m’s town. Everywhere she looked were bikers riding all manner and style of motorcycles. She wished she’d paid more attention to what Sam’s bike looked like, but she knew she’d never be able to pick it out among the hundreds. As she found a lot and paid to park, she realized it would be easier to find her own car here somewhere. It was pretty clever of Johnny to use her car instead of taking one of Sam’s motorcycles. It kept the charade up that he was going out with Victoria.

Her car
wasn’t in this lot, and she crossed the street to another, but didn’t have luck. Not that she knew what to do if she found it, unless Johnny was there. The noise of the crowd and the roaring of bikes cruising past made it difficult to think. Hold on a second, she could call Sam and see if she could hear anything in the background. Pulling out her phone, she tried to call him but it went straight to voice mail. Next she tried her brother, but couldn’t reach him either. Exasperated, she shoved the phone in her pocket. Why did they bother carrying them if they weren’t going to use them?

She wound through the crowd, wondering where she’d have the best chance of finding either Sam or her brother. Most of the acti
vities seemed centered in a clearing just west of the quaint downtown area. White tents and vendors’ booths dotted the expanse of open area and she headed for it. Bikes themselves were restricted to entering the grounds, probably due to the crowd, but people seemed to be happy to park on the street and mingle in the large field.

Molly made her way through the park searching for Johnny or Sam. While there was ample
lighting, it was still shadowy and hard to make out anyone’s face until she was close. It spooked her and she wished Sam had answered his phone. She wanted to ask around and see if anyone remembered them, but there was too great a chance that one of the Ravens might be about and she didn’t want any of them to hear her. She moved through the crowd, and when she’d gone through the grounds once, she turned around and headed back, this time stopping at a few booths, once for an ice cream cone and then for a soft drink.

Each time, she had an opportunity to stand still and observe people chatting, drinking and generally carousing. For the most part, the atmosphere was easygoing and friendly, but there were pockets of bikers who remained apart, mingling only with each other. They looked harder and more dangerous. She decided it wasn’t the number of tattoos on their skin, or even the amount of leather t
hey wore, but instead, it was the lack of smile and warmth in their expressions. Howard had mastered that same look of cold amusement and she couldn’t believe she had ever spent time with the man.