Page 60 of Jagger
Molly sat in stunned silence as Miranda stopped speaking, and I crouched down in front of her and grasped her hands in mine. Her fingers were cold, and she was shaking again, so I tightened my grip and tugged her hands to get her to focus on me for a moment.
“It’s OK, Angel. You’re safe. He can’t get to you with me here, I promise you that. As soon as the police finish with us, we’re leaving, so finish packing your bag really quick while I talk to Miranda for a minute, OK?”
I watched carefully as Molly nodded, her eyes still widened in disbelief at the turn this evening had taken. I rose to my feet and took a step back, holding my hand out to help her up from the couch and giving her a nudge toward her bedroom, before turning my attention to Miranda.
“Thank you for looking out for my girl,” I told her gruffly, and she looked up at me, giving me a careful once-over.
“Who is he?” she asked.
At my questioning glance, she elaborated. “You said‘he can’t get to you with me here’, so who is he? Somebody after you and taking it out on Molly?” she asked warily, eyeing my cut with suspicion.
“It has nothing do with me, or my MC, Miranda. Molly had to call CPS on a parent, and the kid’s mom got arrested. The stepdad is running from the cops and called earlier to threaten Molly. I’m guessing he’s the motherfucker who went apeshit on her car,” I answered gruffly, trying not to take it personally. She looked abashed after my explanation, and I appreciated that she was looking out for her neighbor, even if it meant pissing me off. “What did the asshole look like?”
“White guy, kind of tall, real skinny, maybe thirty or so. He was wearing a white T-shirt and jeans, and had on a dark baseball hat, so I’m not sure what color his hair was. He dropped the bat and ran off the minute I hit the horn. I didn’t stick around to see where he went.”
Well, that was something anyway. I excused myself and stepped out onto Molly’s small balcony for a bit of privacy before calling my dad back. The balcony overlooked the building entrance and part of the parking lot, and I gritted my teeth at the sight of Molly’s car sitting there. I could see damage to her windshield and at least one headlight from here.
“Change of plans,” I announced as soon as he answered the phone. “The motherfucker just slashed Molly’s tires and took a bat to her car. I need some back-up to cover us so I can get her to the clubhouse once the cops finish up here. It will be safer than my place.”
“Fucking hell! Send me the address and I’ll be there in thirty minutes with reinforcements.”
“Make sure someone brings a cage. I have Molly packing her bags, so we’ll need to be able to move some shit.”
“Will do, Jag. You armed?”
“Just my knife on me. My Ruger is in my saddlebag. The cops are on their way to get a statement, so I’ll grab it once they leave. No sense inviting trouble by carrying it around them.”
Before I could say anything else, the buzzer sounded to announce someone at the building entrance. Twenty minutes later, the police officer finished taking down statements from Molly and Miranda and had announced he would forward the information on to the detective handling the neglect case. I wasn’t going to hold my breath that anything would come of it, given the fact that the Officer Do-Little clearly didn’t give two fucks about Molly or her car within seconds of realizing my MC affiliation.
Miranda left the same time as the cop did, and I quickly filled Molly in on the change of plans. Not five minutes later, the entry buzzer sounded again, signaling the arrival of the cavalry. I buzzed them up, and opened the door to find not only King, but Rome, Trick and Lucky standing there ready to do battle for my girl.
King strode in with the others trailing behind him and made a beeline for Molly as she stood near the kitchen counter. He folded her in his arms and gave her a squeeze before stepping back and holding her at arms’ length as he peered down at her.
“You OK, sweetheart?” he asked gruffly, nodding, and dropping his hands from her as she softly responded that she was fine. Rome, Trick, and Lucky each swooped in to hug her as soon as King stepped back, with Lucky murmuring something which got a small laugh out of her. As he moved away from her, his eyes swept the room, stopping briefly on the door leading to the balcony before he headed my way.
“You doing OK, man?” he asked, clapping a hand on my shoulder.
“Other than wanting to rip the fucker apart, I’m doing just fine.”
He snorted, then tipped his head toward the balcony. “I’m gonna stand watch out there while you guys finish up in here, just in case he’s fucking stupid enough to come back.” I nodded my thanks.
“Jag, what did the cops have to say?” Rome asked, causing me to roll my eyes in aggravation at the memory of the cop’s less-than-helpful attitude.
“Not fucking much, after he caught sight of my cut. He kept questioning whether this was ‘gang-related’, even though we gave him the low-down on that Laskey fucker,” I told him derisively.
“Sonofabitch,” King muttered under his breath, shaking his head and scowling.
“He really wasn’t terribly helpful,” Molly piped up to add, and I snorted at the understatement. “I’ll follow up with the detective on the case tomorrow, because I’m not altogether certain the officer will bother letting him know.”
“You need to follow up with the detective as soon as we get to the clubhouse, Angel. You’re also gonna need to call the school to let them know you won’t be in to work tomorrow,” I told her, knowing my words were probably going to piss her right the hell off.
“Excuse me?” she said calmly, and oh-so-very politely. Too politely. Yep, she was pissed off. Did I know my woman, or what?
I took a deep breath as I walked toward her and took her hands in one of mine, pulling her the last few inches so she was all but resting against me. I lifted my other hand to her neck and ran my thumb along her jawline.
“We can’t protect you easily at work,” I told her softly, then shifted my hand so my thumb covered her lips when she started to argue. “We also can’t take the chance that the sonofabitch tries to go after you with all those kids around. If he knows you’re in the building, the kids are in danger, too.”
I felt like shit when her shoulders slumped and tears filled her eyes, but I knew that hadn’t occurred to her. I also knew she would likely miss more than just tomorrow, unless we or the cops found Laskey soon, but we would cross that bridge later. I wrapped my arms around her and dropped kisses on the top of her head as she clung to me for a few minutes, then pulled out of my arms and took a step back. She swiped her fingers under each eye to catch the tears that had fallen, and I smiled as I watched her gather her strength and mentally compose herself. She looked up and met my eyes, then gave a decisive nod.
