Page 75 of Malice and Surrender
“That fancy crest you have on your back. I’m pretty sure your parole officer would love to know that you’ve been hanging out with a motorcycle gang.” He thought he was invincible. That much was clear as he took another step forward. “I’m pretty sure they would send you back to where you belong, with the rest of the animals.”
“Ironic coming from you,” I said, and purposely stared at what was most likely a cheese stick imprint on his shirt. Before Dave could say anything else, I smiled and continued. “I guess you’re not in the family loop anymore. Did poor, sweet Raine not tell you? I’m shocked you weren’t the first call she made,” I drawled and leaned against the freezer door.
I suddenly wondered what Raine’s relationship was with the Collinses. Did she still speak to them, or had she left them behind and never looked back?
“What the hell are you spouting off about?”
“Raine went and had my name cleared. She remembered a lot more pieces from the night of her attack and realized it wasn’t me.” Dave stepped back like I slapped him, and I watched him carefully. He was actually shocked, which meant that Raine made the decision and either didn’t call them or didn’t speak to the Collinses at all. Then again, maybe she planned on sharing the news when Christmas came around. There was something else under the shock, though…fear…maybe, it was hard to tell.
“You’re lying,” Dave growled, his hands balling into fists. At one point in my life, if he’d done that, I would have immediately gotten up in his face, but I was older and wiser now. I also had no idea how long it took for charges to be cleared, but I doubted it was the same day. It wasn’t like a fast-food drive-thru, so it was best to mind my P’s and Q’s.
“Not at all.” I opened my cell phone to show Raine’s name on my contacts list. Courtesy of my stalking, but again, Dave was on a need-to-know basis. “Did you want to talk to her and ask her yourself?”
I could see Roach milling about on the other side of the store, making sure that the guy at the counter didn’t get too antsy or Dave didn’t try anything stupid.
“I don’t need to talk to her. I fucking know you did those things. I just wonder what you did to her to make her recant her story.” Dave pointed a finger at me.
His buddy must have seen the look on my face as I wondered about cutting it off Dave’s body here in the store. His friend didn’t look as smug as Dave and grabbed his shoulder. Probably a smart move. It had been a few days since I killed anyone, and I felt the weight of my blade strapped to my back.
A grin pulled up the corner of my mouth. “Oh, come now, Dave. I didn’t say anything about Irene. In fact, I don’t deny fucking your wife. She did have a fine wet hole.”
Dave’s face turned a violent shade of red that made him look like a cartoon character, and his friend took a firmer hold.
“But manipulating Irene into it, that’s a no. She was quite the needy cougar,” I said, unable to help myself.
Roach slowly moved closer until I could feel him standing behind me. Dave may have been oblivious to the danger he was in, but his buddy looked like he was going to shit his pants.
“The truth is, Dave, she threatened to kick me out if I didn’t ‘service her,’” I said, making little air quotes with my fingers. “Apparently, your limp dick didn’t stack up to a hard eighteen-year-old cock. That’s pretty sad, man, but at least now you know your wife is a cheating whore and wasn’t pressured into anything. Better to know late than not at all, I guess. Now Raine, on the other hand…naw, I never touched her, and now she knows it, too.” I rubbed at my chin. “In fact, she says she has a few theories on who the three attackers were,” I lied, but it made me look like I knew a lot more than I did. I also didn’t think Dave was on the up and up. There was something about the uneasy look in his eyes that said he knew something.
I could see the muscle twitching in his jaw as he ground his teeth together. I sighed and shook my head. “You should be more concerned that Raine’s attackers were never found. That’s disturbing, isn’t it?” I asked, and the weight of that statement firmly planted itself in my brain as the scars she showed me danced behind my eyes.
I sucked in a steadying breath as I pushed my shoulder away from the freezer. “Well, Dave, this has been a wonderful reunion. I can’t wait for the next one. I hope the two of you have a pleasant day. I know I will.”
Smiling wide as much for his benefit as the store cameras, I stepped around Roach and let him have the final stare-down as I made my way to the register. The guy behind the counter looked relieved when I pulled out my wallet. The bell rang, announcing that Dave and his friend had decided to move along.
“I’ll also pre-pay forty on each of the two bikes out there,” I nodded outside.
“That was intense,” Roach commented, dropping some chip bags and candy on the counter.
“Yeah, but there was something weird about it.” I pulled out two hundred in cash and dropped it on the counter as the guy put our stuff in bags. “Keep the change,” I said, grabbing my stuff.
“How so?” Roach asked as we made our way outside.
“Did you see how he reacted to hearing that Raine had dropped the charges? I mean, he seemed shocked, but not about that. I don’t know. The whole thing is strange as fuck. My gut is saying he knows something.”
“Are you sure that’s not just your hangover talking?”
I glared at Roach as I straddled my bike. I twisted the milk lid off and drank enough to pour the energy drink inside.
“Dude, you are fucking disgusting,” Roach said as he stared at my concoction.
“Says the guy eating onion rings with sour candies. That’s fucking weird, and I’m concerned you’re pregnant.”
I rested on my seat, staring at nothing, and let the conversation with Dave replay. The fact that the three men who hurt Raine were walking around scot-free while I went away for ten years pissed me the fuck off. I tried hard to ignore the anger that had nothing to do with prison and everything to do with Raine being hurt.
I’d loved her then. I loved her now, and they almost took her from me forever. If she’d died…I shook my head to rid the thought. No matter what words I said to Raine, she was mine. She always had been, and I was going to find the fuckers and give them the justice they deserved. It wouldn’t be in a six-by-six with three square meals a day. No, that was too good for them.
Their blood was already running red in my mind.
