Page 62 of Jagger
Chapter 17
Molly
My call to the detective didn’t take long. Surprisingly, the rather unhelpful officer who had responded to Miranda’s call had already contacted him to let him know about the vandalism to my car. He asked me to recount the events surrounding that incident, as well as the threatening phone call I’d received, and asked a few questions once I’d finished. Before hanging up, he assured me that they were taking the matter very seriously, as they considered Chad Laskey to be a violent individual, whose behavior was made even more unstable due to his suspected drug abuse. He was pleased that I wasn’t staying in my own home for the night, although he did seem surprised when I explained that I was staying at the 5thCircle Guardians’ clubhouse. I’m guessing I didn’t look the type to hang out with bikers. I did appreciate that he didn’t seem to be judgmental about it.
My call to Michelle took much longer. My principal was horrified to hear what had happened this evening and wavered between cursing and crying during much of our call. She heartily agreed with Cole that I should not come in to work until the threat was managed.
“I just hope he’s caught soon. I don’t have that much vacation time available, and I can’t afford to be off work without pay for long.”
Michelle clearly understood my worries. “I know, Molly, and I will try to get the administration to approve the time off to be paid in full. It’s the least the school district can do since you are being threatened as a direct result of doing your job. I’ll do my best to make it happen, but I can’t promise anything though. Ultimately, it’s up to them.”
“Thanks,” I sighed in relief. “Anything you can do would be appreciated. Hopefully, it won’t come to that though.”
After a demand from Michelle for me to stay safe and let her know if anything else happened, we ended the call, I flopped back on Cole’s bed and heaved a sigh, absolutely dreading the next two calls I needed to make. Resigning myself to the inevitable, I scrolled to Brad’s name in my contact list and hit the button to connect the call.
As expected, Brad went ballistic when I told him about the threatening call and the damage to my poor little car. He was ready to start scouring the streets looking for Chad Laskey, but between Drew and I, we managed to talk him down off the ledge. He was relieved to know that I was staying at the clubhouse with Jagger.
“You make sure Jagger guards your bodyveryclosely, baby doll. In fact, I suggest you two remain attached at the hip, or better yet, attached at the naughty bits.”
I snorted a laugh at my pervy friend, and I was grateful for his ability to make me laugh even during the most difficult of times. I could practically hear his eyebrows waggling suggestively at the ribald comment.
I was still grinning moments later when we hung up, before remembering that I needed to call my parents next. My mom worked for the same school district, and I knew it wouldn’t take long for news to reach her.
My dad answered, and I had him put my mom on the speakerphone with me so I could tell them both at once. Mom was in tears by the time I finished telling them about Anna’s injuries, and Dad sounded a little choked up. That emotion quickly turned to rage when I explained about the threats and the damage to my car. I hurriedly assured them that I was safe and told them about Jagger and his family looking out for me.
“Your mother told me about your new guy, Molly, and I must admit, I’m a little leery about the whole biker lifestyle. I don’t know that I’m thrilled about the idea of you staying in a clubhouse full of strange men. I appreciate them trying to help, but maybe you should consider staying with us, or even with Brad and Drew until this asshole is found.”
I wasn’t altogether surprised at my dad’s concern. “I get it, Dad, but I promise you, I couldn’t be safer than I am right here. Jagger and his family are good people, and so are the guys in the club. Yes, some of them are a little rough around the edges, but they’re all going out of their way to protect me. I’m OK, really.”
Dad sighed heavily and I could hear my mom speaking softly to him in the background but couldn’t make out what she was saying. After a few long moments, his gruff voice came across the phone again. “All right honey, we’ll trust your judgement on this. I want to see you tomorrow though and meet this Jagger guy for myself. I’ll call you in the morning and we’ll figure out how to make that happen, OK?”
“Yeah Dad, I’m sure we can do that.”
“You call us right away if anything else happens tonight. Love you, my girl.”
“Love you both. I’ll talk to you in the morning.” I ended the call, relieved that my parents hadn’t taken the news too badly. After a quick trip to the bathroom to freshen up, I headed downstairs and found the main club room empty, apart from one of the prospects sitting on a stool near the bar. He jumped up when he saw me, and I recognized him as Jagger’s cousin, Lincoln. I’d met him briefly at the party the other night when he’d been stuck slinging drinks behind the bar.
“Hey, Molly. The brothers are still in Church, but I don’t think they’ll be too much longer. Can I get you something to drink?”
I flashed him a relieved smile. “A Diet Pepsi would be great.”
“Sure thing, just grab a seat and I’ll get it for you.” He hustled around behind the bar as I sank down on one of the other stools.
“Here you go. Have you eaten yet? I can find you some chips or something to snack on, or call in an order for you?”
“No thanks, Linc. I’ll just wait until Jagger’s finished. I appreciate the offer though.” When he smiled at me, I noticed he looked an awful lot like his father. He had Cowboy’s tall, lanky build, strong jawline, and dark blonde hair. He must have gotten his eyes from his mother though. They were the same melted chocolate brown as the other Morgan men.
We sat there making small talk, mostly about his duties as a prospect. It was clear that he loved the club and couldn’t wait to become a fully patched member. After just a few minutes, I heard women’s voices, and glanced over toward the kitchen. There was a large pass-through opening that ran down the length of the wall between the kitchen and the main room, with a countertop directly under it. Jagger had explained that when they had big gatherings at the club, they would set up the food buffet-style on that countertop. Through the large opening, I could see three scantily dressed club bunnies walking into the kitchen, presumably from the back door of the clubhouse. I knew their living quarters were out back, over the garages. One of the women opened the refrigerator door and started rooting through the contents, while another wandered into the pantry. The third one just stood there with her hands on her hips, looking like a straight-up bitch.
“I don’t know what’s going on. All I know is King came in with them, hollering that the clubhouse was closed for the night.” I recognized the skinny blonde with her head in the fridge as the woman who had been straddling Lucky’s lap on Saturday night.
“Whatever it is, it must have something to do with that chick Jagger’s been fucking. King said we were closed to outsiders, but she was with them, and I saw Trick carrying some suitcases in.” This was from the not-quite-as-skinny blonde in the group, as she wandered back out of the pantry with a bag of chips in her hand.
“I’ll bet that bitch is messed up in some kind of shit and expects Jagger and the rest of the boys to drop everything and handle it for her.” Ah, the charming Paisley, owner of the oddly high-on-her-chest DD’s, and Jagger’s formerly frequent fuck-bunny.
Lincoln leaned over the bar and whispered, “Oh, shit. Sorry about that. I’ll get rid of them.”
I flashed him a grateful smile but shook my head. “No, I appreciate it, but they don’t bother me.” And they didn’t, mainly because I refused to let them.
