Abandoned Angel (27 page)

Blaze watched from inside as he paid the bill. He gave her a few minutes before he walked up behind Angelina and wrapped his strong arms around her waist. He held her gently from behind for a moment before turning her around to tell her that it would all be ok.

“Trust me Angelina, that is all I ask. I am going to do everything I can to get you your son back. We just have to make sure you get him back for good.”

Angelina hugged Blaze tightly. She desperately wanted to believe him. She could hear the sound of his heart beating as she held him close and wished they could start the day over again, with her snuggled in his arms in bed.

“I just want to see my son Blaze - that’s all. I’m so worried about him.” She held on tighter. “I didn’t mean to get upset with you though.” She felt guilty, knowing that she had the opportunity to see her child again, where he would never be able to see his.

“I know Angel,” he responded. My little warrior, he grinned. “We better get going.”

By early afternoon, it had already felt like a full day of riding. The bright sun beat down on their faces vigorously; the temperature was hotter than normal for August, making Angelina all the more weary and restless on the back of the bike. The beauty of the land astounded her, though. What had been desert landscape a couple of days before was now foliage, fields, and beautiful trees intertwined with springs of water. Although Blaze kept to himself during the ride, he too enjoyed the serenity of the view. The inner tranquility that the peaceful beauty gave Blaze was part of why he loved to ride. He spoke as he pulled into a rest area on the outskirts of Iowa.

“Let’s take a break and get something to drink,” he said as Angelina pulled herself off the warm bike. The sore woman imagined she was quite an image with her bruised body, knotted hair, and sun burned face. Although her neck had colored finger marks draped around it, she figured most people wouldn’t notice. Once she let her long hair down, the marks
were hidden
pretty well. Blaze took her hand as they walked to the building, which made Angelina smile. He grinned back at her, as his cell phone rang. After looking at the caller ID he stated, “You go ahead, I have to take this call.”

Angelina sweetly teased, “Tell Doc hi for me,” and headed to the restroom.

------

Angelina expected to find Blaze waiting for her when she returned, but didn‘t see him. Assuming he was still in the restroom himself, she looked over the Iowa state map and visitor brochures while she waited. She became anxious when she realized how close they were to
Hawkank
. Maxine lived about three miles outside of the small farm town, and Angelina suddenly felt like the nightmare would soon be over. This brought a smile to her face, and butterflies to her stomach.

When Blaze did not come out of the bathroom, she headed to the bike thinking he must be waiting for her there. Blaze wasn’t at the bike, so she sat on the warm curb next to the Harley, waiting for him to join her. She was ready to get back on the road and wanted him to hurry. After about ten minutes in the hot sun, she began to worry, and decided to walk around the building. She had seen that there was a scenic bypass overlooking the river behind them. Perhaps Blaze was sightseeing. She was relieved to see him sitting on a boulder in the distance. He was next to a quiet walkway that overlooked the magnificent river below. His back was to her as he stared out over the flowing water. The sight was breathtaking, and although the air felt thick in the heat of the day, it was fresh, and comforting.

“Hi Babe, ready to ride?” asked Angelina as she walked up behind Blaze. She didn’t hide the fact that she was trying to flirt. Blaze didn’t answer. When she hiked around to the front of him, she could see that something was wrong. His face was red and twisted full of hurt and anger.

“What’s the matter Blaze? What’s happened?” she asked, alarmed by his appearance.

He looked up at her, cold and hard, and replied, “Doc is dead.”

His harsh words took her by surprise.

“What?” She stood staring into his hurt eyes, as if she had not heard him correctly. When he didn’t respond, she tried again. “What happened?” she asked, needing him to explain. Her disbelief turned into grief for the loss Blaze would feel. “I don’t understand, how can he be dead? What happened?” Angelina had seen the connection the two men had, and understood what a blow this would be to Blaze.

Blaze sat quietly, he had nothing to say to her. Nothing he
could
say to her without placing blame.

“Blaze, what happened?” she asked again. “How are Marge and Tiffany?” She allowed the tears to fall, understanding how hurt they would all be over the death of Doc.

“Angelina, please, just get away from me,” Blaze growled, using a tone that she hadn’t heard before.

Angelina did not understand why he was pushing her away, and was hurt by the way he was treating her. Blaze could read the confusion in her face, but was too angry to care. His friend was dead. Although he had no proof, he knew for certain, that Doc had died because he had helped Angelina and Blaze get away. Ultimately, Doc was dead because of her. Blaze wished Angelina had never come into his life. He needed to be alone, until that blame he felt toward Angelina disappeared. He needed the woman to get away from him for a bit. He did not want to do or say anything that he truly didn’t mean. It would take all his strength, plus some, to keep his temper under control. Angelina needed to leave him alone until he could do just that, but he was too full of resentment to explain it that way.

------

Marge, heartbroken and distraught, had managed to find a pay phone to let Blaze know what had happened. She was absolutely devastated, crying, and desperate for answers. She blamed Blaze for bringing Angelina into the club because although no one would admit to it, she too, realized what had happened. Spike had retaliated against Doc, blaming him for Blaze’s escape. As hurt and upset as Marge was, she would manage to stand by the club as always; Blaze would not. Marge explained that some of the bikers had stopped to have a drink at a local bar. The forlorn woman mentioned that nothing unusual happened during the night - no arguments, no fights, nothing. Some outsiders were in the bar, but they kept to themselves and left the bikers alone. It was a quiet night as far as things go. Marge was playing pool with a couple of others when she heard Tiffany screaming from outside. It was a horrid sound, one that Marge would not soon forget. She thought someone was hurting the young girl out in the back alley so she ran out thinking she would need to protect the child. When she found Tiffany, the girl was on her knees leaning over Doc’s bloodied body. She was screaming and crying, pleading for someone to help her save the limp man. Severely beaten, he was still gasping for air when Marge arrived. He laid there, choking on his own blood, as Tiffany held him in her arms with tears streaming down her wretched face. The gargling sound Doc made was one that neither Marge nor Tiffany would ever forget. They were unable to help him, it was too late, and Doc died as Tiffany and Marge cradled him, while the other club members scurried about trying to determine who had beaten Doc. In the end, they found no one to blame.

When Blaze asked about Tiffany, Marge was almost in a state of hysteria. She bawled as she tried to explain the horrible state that Tiffany was
in
. She had not said a word since the beating. Marge thought that maybe Tiffany had walked up on the fight, and was worried about both her emotional state as well as her physical safety. The girl would not eat, and refused to talk to anyone. She sat alone, in a state of disarray, afraid. Although most of the club members would feel the loss of Doc, Marge and Tiffany would take it the hardest. They had created their own family, the three of them, and now Doc was dead. Marge believed it was Spike’s doing and wanted him to pay for it, but she would only admit this to Blaze, and not to any of the other members. It was too late to do anything to help Doc. When it came down to it, she assumed Spike killed him, based solely on a hunch. She would more likely than not end up removed from the club, the only family she had, or dead if she insinuated anything of the sort. Blaze knew Marge was right and told her to keep her thoughts to herself for the time being. That was the only way she would be able to protect herself and Tiffany.

While sitting there alone, Blaze pondered the situation. Doc never started a fight, although he had finished plenty through the years. As an older member, outsiders would not target him without a reason. There was none. Considering that there were not any problems that night, there was no reason for a fight to have started outside of the bar. Blaze had been a part of the group long enough to know this to be factual.

The anger that overcame Blaze was tremendous. He fought to maintain control in front of Angelina. Broken, vulnerable, and on the verge of losing himself to the anger, Blaze needed her to back away from him for a while, until he was able to get his emotions under wraps.

“I just need some time by myself,” Blaze said to Angelina, trying not to snap at her, but doing it just the same. “Just let me have some damn time,” he ordered.

Blaze knew it was wrong to push her away, but he just could not seem to grasp what was happening. Doc had become his family. He was the one who had convinced the club to let Blaze ride with them after he helped with some legal advice. Although a couple of members didn’t think Blaze was worthy, Doc had stood by his friend, protected him, and even lied for him a time or two to keep Blaze out of the illegal actions of the club. Doc was a true friend, and Blaze hated himself for allowing Doc to have taken the toll as he had.

“Ok Blaze, I’m going,” stated Angelina, finally understanding why he did not want her around. He blamed her, and had every right to. “I’m sorry Blaze, I’m so sorry.” She turned and walked away, broken hearted, lost, and feeling extremely guilty for Doc’s death. She had no idea what to do, other than to leave him by himself as he asked.

Angelina wept, believing Doc’s death was her fault. She saw the hate in Blaze’s eyes along with the hurt. He had lost so much already in his life, and now he lost Doc because of her. Angelina walked back towards the motorcycle crying, her heart aching, wanting to give up on everything. There is so much bad in the world, and if it wasn’t for her son, she would not have been able to handle this latest incident.

------

After a long while of working at getting his emotions under control, Blaze was finally ready to get up and move on. It took about two hours of mourning before he was able to turn his anger towards Spike, and realize that it was not Angelina’s fault, or even his own fault that Doc was killed. Spike had done this, and Spike would pay.

Blaze sat on the hard boulder contemplating his next move. On one hand, he desperately wanted to catch up to the club members and take revenge on Spike. He needed to know for sure that Spike had killed Doc, and he was a good enough attorney that he would be able to tell once he confronted him. He also wanted to check in on Marge and see if she and Tiffany were ok. He was worried about them, and he owed that much to Doc. Doc had been tough as nails, with a heart of gold when it came to his friends. He loved and protected Tiffany because of Marge’s love for her, and with Marge broken, Tiffany was sure to be as well.

On the other hand, Blaze believed that he had to finish his journey with Angelina. For a reason that he could not understand, he felt as if this is what his wife would want him to do. He felt that he owed this to Michelle, because she had always been a loving, kind individual who was quick to help a stranger. He was determined to save Angelina and her son from a life of beatings and brutality. He had not saved his own family, and now, he NEEDED to save hers. He must return Justin safely to his mother, and experience told him that Rusty would not give the child up without a fight. Because of Rusty’s violent history, Blaze could only hope that Justin was not receiving the punishments that Rusty could no longer give to Angelina.

Reluctantly, Blaze decided that he would have to wait to take care of biker business until he was done with his “lawyer” business with Angelina. He headed back to the motorcycle. Although his soul was still full of anger, Blaze was now ready to react to what had happened with a cool head and a complete thought process intact.

Angelina was not at the bike when Blaze returned. To his surprise he found Angelina’s sunglasses lying on the hot black leather seat with a piece of paper folded underneath them. It was a note from Angelina.

“Thank you Blaze for everything you have done for me. I appreciate it more than you could ever know. I am so sorry for what has happened to Doc. I know he
was killed
because of me, and I hope that someday you will be able to forgive me for that. I don’t know what you are feeling right now, but I do know that I don’t want to cause you any more problems. I’ve caught a ride from a couple going in the same direction. I will be with my son soon because of you. Thank you for that
. 
Please take care of Tiffany.
”    
- Forever, Your Angel

After reading the note a couple of times, Blaze stood in disbelief, unable to move. He had trouble accepting that Angelina had left. Why would she try to take on Rusty without him? Regardless as to what happened to Doc, how could she just take off after all that he had given up for her? Did she not realize that his life with the club was over? He had grown accustomed to that life style, and now, because of what he did for her, his best friend was dead. It was this thought that made Blaze realize that it was because of these things that she left. She felt guilty.