Beautiful Outlaw by Emily Minton
Show No Fear
Shay
Pulling the old truck into the driveway, my hands are shaking. Bowie left on club business two days ago, and this is the first time I’ve driven without him. I’ve been scared to death since Tag and I pulled out of the driveway. There were a few close calls, but we made it to the store and back again in once piece.
“Did I do okay?” I say as I turn the key and the engine backfires, finally going quiet.
“Other than nearly side swiping the big rig, you did fine.” Tag chuckles under his breath as he reaches for the door handle to open his door.
He’s out of the truck before I can reply. Grabbing my purse, I follow behind him. I walk to the back of the truck to help him unload groceries and say, “He was in my lane.”
He shakes his head without looking at me. “Nope. That was all on you, Shay.”
Tag has turned out to be a great friend. I’m so glad he has been here with me since Bowie left. I probably would have died of boredom without his company. “Whatever,” I mumble out, grabbing a bag from the back of the truck.
“I can’t wait to tell Bowie you nearly demolished his baby,” he says with a laugh.
I narrow my eyes at him and grab another bag. I take a look at the old battered truck, a truck Bowie told me he’s had since he was in high school. To me, it looks like it belongs in a junkyard, but it’s special to him. “You better not say a word.”
He laughs as he walks away. I follow behind him, lugging a bag in each arm. The sound of a motorcycle pulling into the driveway hits my ears as I step on to the porch. Looking over my shoulder, I see Bowie’s father parking his bike behind the truck. Bowie’s warning runs through my head, causing fear to fill my body. Instinctively, I try to force Tag into the house. “Get inside.”
“I’m not leaving you out here alone with that man.”
I shake my head. “Let’s just get inside and lock the door.”
He looks into my eyes and grabs my arm then leans down to whisper in my ear. “That man is a mean son of a bitch. You can’t let him know you’re scared. He’ll enjoy it too damn much. If you run from him, he’ll come after you.”
My voice sounds weak as I say, “Bowie said to stay away from him.”
Tags eyes go hard. “Bowie’s right, but he’s not here now. If you disrespect the President of the Savage Outlaw’s without Bowie around to watch your back, you’ll pay in ways you can’t even imagine.”
His words cause my fear to ratchet up a notch. I look over my shoulder to see Cash moving toward us with a leer on his face, and my skin prickles with disgust. When I turn my eyes back to Tag, his body is taut, as if preparing for a fight. My fear of Bowie’s father changes into worry for the young man I’ve grown to care about.
Reaching out, I place my hand on his arm. “Please don’t do anything stupid. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“I won’t, but I’m not gonna let him hurt you either.” His face is still hard, but he tries to crack a smile as he goes on. “If I did, who would make me dinner?”
I know he’s trying to calm my fears, but it’s not working. I step in front of him, look to the man stalking toward us, and say, “Hello.”
“Well, I see you’re wearing Bowie’s colors now,” Cash says as he steps onto the porch, nodding to the ink on my arm. “Guess I won’t get a chance to have you in my bed after all.”
I stay quiet and simply nod, afraid anything I say would come out wrong. I know this man is powerful, and he is also dangerous. Not in the way Marcus is, but something even more sinister.
Bowie’s father’s eyes move to Tag; he stares at him for a second before a cruel smile spreads across his face. “Took me a minute, but I remember you. You’re Domino’s little brat.”
I can feel Tag’s already tense body turn into stone next to mine. Anger is pouring off of him, clogging the air around us. I squeeze his arm, attempting to calm him, and draw in a breath for courage. “Is there something I can do for you?”
Cash’s smile never leaves his face as he says, “Nah, baby. I was hoping you could, but now I see you can’t.”
Again, he is looking at my arm. Thank God I followed my gut and didn’t fight Bowie about the tattoo. I can tell that without his name on my arm, this man wouldn’t have taken no for an answer. I tug the bag in my arm against my chest. “If there’s nothing I can help you with, I have to get my groceries in the fridge.”
He raises a brow, letting me know that he knows I’m running scared.
“I’ve got ice-cream,” I explain lamely.
He stares at me a moment, his smile turning into a sneer. Finally, he nods and turns away. He walks back to his bike without another word. I stand still, waiting for him to pull out of the driveway. When he disappears down the road, Tag speaks. “You need to let Bowie know about this.”
I nod, agreeing completely. “I’ll call him tonight.”
Tag shakes his head. “No, you’ll call him right now.”
“Okay,” I whisper out as I unlock the door and go inside.
Setting the groceries on the kitchen table, I pull my phone from my purse. He answers after the first ring. “I don’t have time to talk right now, Shay.”
I can hear loud music in the background, and voices shouting. I’m not sure where he is, but I know he’s not on the back of his bike. “Uhm… It’s important.”
“Babe, I told you I don’t have time for this shit. If you got something to say, say it.”
I close my eyes, saying a silent prayer for patience. Why I want to be with a man that is such a jerk, I’ll never know, and I sure in the world don’t know why I’m trying to spare his feelings. I am attempting to think of the right words to tell him what happened, but how do you tell someone that their father is an asshole that scares the crap out of you?
“What’s wrong?” I can hear the tension in his voice, and I’m about to make it worse.
My voice is just above a whisper when I say, “Your dad came by.”
“What the fuck?” he shouts out, causing me to pull the phone from my ear for just a second. “What the hell did he do?”
“Nothing,” I rush out my explanation. “He just stopped by.”
“That fucker had a reason for stopping by, and I can guarantee it wasn’t to chat with your ass,” he growls out before lowering his voice. “What did he want?”
“I’m not sure.” He really didn’t hurt me, didn’t even threaten me. Still, I know his words were meant as a threat. I just don’t know how to explain this to Bowie.
“Is Tag with you?”
I nod to myself. “Yeah, he’s right here.”
“Let me talk to him.”
I hesitate a second too long, so he barks his order out again. “Let me talk to the fuckin’ kid.”
Without saying goodbye, I walk over to Tag and hand him the phone. As soon as it’s at his ear, he’s explaining everything to Bowie. “He wants her, but your claim kept him back for now.”
“Fuck!” I can hear Bowie’s roar, even though I’m no longer holding the phone.
They talk for a few more minutes, while Tag mumbles ‘yeah’ time and time again, followed by a promise to keep me safe and hangs up the phone. His eyes come directly to me, and he says, “Follow me.”
I do so without a word, down the hall then through a door. He leads me down to the basement and walks to the corner where a key pad is placed beside a metal door. “If he shows up again, you go in here. Don’t wait for me, just get your ass inside.”
“I can’t leave you out here to get hurt.”
The boy that was in the truck with me is gone, and a man is in his place. His eyes are full of determination as he says, “You can and you will.”
He starts pushing the keys. “The code is 44295. Memorize it.”
I hear a click right before Tag pulls the door open. He walks inside and motions for me to follow. For some reason, the thought of going in there sends a chill down my spine. Marcus would lock me in my room for days if I did something that he didn’t approve of, but I doubt this room is going to have a cushy bed and an attached bathroom.
Tag calls out for me to come on, so I force myself to step inside. The room we enter is nearly as large as the entire first floor of the house. Every single wall is lined with wooden crates. I’m not sure what’s in them, but I doubt I want to know. Other than that, the room is completely bare.
Tag points at another key pad, this one placed on the inside of the room. This one is similar to the one outside, but this keypad has two large buttons below it. “When you come in here, you press the red button. Once you do, the system is armed. No one is getting through that door unless you push the green button.”
“How long do I have to stay in here?” Just imagining myself locked in this room has bile clawing its way up my throat.
“You stay in here until Bowie or Tin-Man shows up. I don’t give a shit who in the hell is at that door- you keep the fuckin’ door armed. You wait for one of them to give you the all-clear before opening it.”
Knowing they are out of town and that I could be stuck in here for days is making the idea of being in here even more frightening. “What about you? Can’t you tell me when it’s safe?”
“No, don’t trust what I say. A man will do a lot of things when he’s in pain that he wouldn’t do normally.” He shakes his head, looking almost ashamed.
I close my eyes and try to block out the image of Cash hurting Tag to get to me. I draw in a cleansing breath before opening them again. I don’t tell him I will leave it locked, because I know I could never allow anyone to hurt him, so I offer another suggestion instead. “Maybe I should leave. I could just stay at a hotel until Bowie gets home.”
He shakes his head again. “If he wants you, he’ll find you no matter where you go. For now, this is the safest place for you.”
I look around the room and wonder what in the hell I’ve gotten myself into.