Inside the "business center" as Rez liked to refer to the abandoned warehouse was nothing more than one
moderately sized storage area
that held
a lingering smell of spices, weed and booze.
The only furnishing
s
in the room
were three
tattered
leather couches as well as a few
metal
tables with accompanying
metal
chairs. Near the center of the room stood a newer entertainment center holding a hi-def television and stereo unit. In addition to meetings, the crew often partied here. In the rear left corner wall were several bullet holes courtesy of o
ne of the rowdier get-togethers just a few weeks ago. Two of the crew had tested some new AK47s.
Dele led Nailah
over
to
an empty chair
near the back
of the oblong space
. Si
d, one of the older crew
, held position on the couch along the right wall.
Nearing sixty and having survived more shit than a little bit, h
e was more
mellowed
than the
younger dudes
.
Sid
sat there, eyeing them without a word.
The silence made
Dele too aware that he and Nailah were on display. J
ust as she was about to sit
directly on the chair
,
Dele
stopped her, sat first then
began pulling
her down on his lap.
There was a momentary resistance
before
she
allowed him to maneuver her
.
Picking up his cue,
she settled into her role and placed an arm around his neck. Again, he was grateful that she was quick on the uptake. It would go a long way to saving their lives in the end.
He didn't know why he nuzzled her neck. It was just an instinctual thing, part of the pretense. Or so he wanted to believe.
The nape of her neck was warm and there was a trace of perfume.
He wasn't an expert on fragrances, but he'd known enough women to know the types of colognes and perfumes that
they called
pricey
, and this one smelled like money.
The scent
made him temporarily wonder
about her, about the life they had ripped her from.
What did she do for a living? What places did she go to
to
unwind?
More importantly, w
as there a man or
someone special missing
her right now?
Someone looking for her? Of course, there would be.
From the corner of his eye Dele watched Roach take a seat in
a
chair
just a few feet away, watch
ed
as the man
again ogled
Nailah.
Dele broke from his pantomime, sat
forward
.
He could feel Nailah tensing up.
"You got a problem, man?"
Dele asked.
"N
ah, man. Just enjoying the view,
"
Roach said with a widening grin.
"I'm
only going to warn you once
more
. You
look at her,
eye her in any way
,
you're
going to be missing
a pair of
orbs, and
because I'm
such
a
good
sport
, I'll let you choose
which pair."
Sid
wheezed
out a gruff chuckle, which was rare for the older gang member.
Roach reddened, stood abruptly, upsetting the
chair
which clanged on
the ground.
He
walked angrily
to the door, slammed out of it.
Dele heard the sound of a bike motor as it drove off.
"You do better not to aggravate the bug," Sid
said directly to Dele
. "Roaches
tend to
leave a whole
lot of shit in their wake. B
est to just get rid of 'em."
Those were as many words as Sid had ever spoken to Dele in the months
Dele
had been with the crew.
A succinct warning, but a warning just the same. Which made Dele wonder how much Sid knew about the missing stash and Roach's part in it.
Nailah shifted to whisper in his ear.
"How long
do we have to stay here
? I can't take much more of this."
He brou
ght his
mouth
to her ear,
whispered back, "
Be patient.
Like I told you
before
, we're playing this by ear."
He followed this with
a touch of
his lips
to the fleshy part of her lobe. He
felt
a small tremor run through her and h
is body responded
in kind
.
At that moment, he realized even with all the danger they were in, for the first time since he went "under" he was somewhat enjoying the role he had to play.
The
thunderous
sound of
a bike
just
outside brought him back to the gravity of the
present
situation.
There was n
o time for any distractions, no matter how attractive.
He half expected Roach to re-enter the room. Instead
Skeet entered with
Carolyn a few steps behind
him
.
Skeet
slit eyes at
Dele
clutching
Nail
ah.
Then
reached behind
him
to jerk Carolyn into a similar clutch as though to say: "Got your other lady here."
In the world of bikers, there was always some competition going down: fastest draw, fastest bike, fastest lady.
Dele knew better than to take the bait.
Dele knew Carolyn had
gone
with Skeet
last night in a last-ditch
attempt to make Dele jealous. The only thing he felt
though
was pity. If he had any say, he'd drag her away from this place,
away from these users and losers
.
Drag her b
ack to whatever small town she'd
run from
.
Carolyn spied him and Nailah in the chair and
any initial look of triumph
she had
immediately fell flat.
Actually h
er face morphed into several
expressions -
surprise, jealousy and
eventual
ly
the deadness
indicating
defeat. As far as she was concerned, she had been usurped.
Unlike
Clare
,
though,
Carolyn wasn't much of a fighter.
Nailah most likely could hold her own against the younger woman.
Clare
was another story.
Clare
consider
ed any attractive man fair game -
her game
.
And she'd long set eyes on Dele.
Within minutes came the thunder of more bikes outside.
As though the mere thought of the woman had summoned her,
Clare
prec
eded Rez into the warehouse
. A retinue of members and their w
ome
n immediately followed. All of the players were here now. Dele w
as ready for the drama to begin.
Nailah
shif
ted on Dele's lap, uncomfortable with the
forced
closeness.
Or rather, disturbed by her body's reaction to the closeness
.
And now
to make matters worse,
the blond bitch
had arrived and was
eyeballing her
with
a
n ugly
sneer.
That sneer said she want
ed to kick Nailah's ass. Despite her fear, Nailah was at a breaking point where she
was
tired of the insults, tired of her impotence. She
threw the woman a look
as good as she was getting.
"What the fuck you looking at?" the blond shot at her.
"From my perspective, some ragged ends and
some scary roots. Looks like you
're in
need
of
some
serious
touching up."
"You bitch
!
" the woman said, charging. In a second, a fist had connected with Nailah's jaw.
Pain has a way of dispelling reason. In her right mind, Nailah would have known better to make any sudden moves in a warehouse full of criminals, would have known how foolish it was to attack one of them.
But she wasn't in her right mind. T
he shock of the
sudden
pain galvanized the hidden tiger in her, the one that bided its time, waiting for a wrong
word, a wrong move. The tiger sprung, and Nailah followed suit, leaping from
t
he prison o
f
Dele's lap. She landed against her attacker
, knocking both of them to the floor.
Even as she began pummeling
the blond
, part of her fully expected to either be pulled off the woman or even worse. But no one intervened. If anything, there were hoots and laughter as she and her nemesis
rolled on the floor, trying to get an advantage.
Nailah's fist came down, made contact with the woman's nose.
A spurt of blood sprang and for these few seconds, after so many hours of captivity, she felt victorious, felt in control. At this point, she didn't care if they killed her.
She'd been snatched from the streets, hauled about like a sack of potatoes, taunted, leered at, and made to participate in her own debasement
, not barring that it had been an act to protect her from something worse
. All of the fear and anger rode a wave of other hardly discernable emotions and her fists were the ballast against these feelings that threatened to rip her apart. She wanted someone
to pay and this bitch would do.
Rough hands grabbed her shoulders and pulled her up
off the
w
oman, who lay
nearly motionless
.
Nailah
expected to see the
malevolent
features
of the gang leader
. Instead
it was
Dele's face
that
loomed in front of her. In her peripheral view, she saw that the leader simply stood within distance. He held a bottle of beer or some other liquor. Even in her daze she wondered at a man who would let his woman be beaten without intervening. For a second she actually felt sorry for the woman
lying bleeding on the floor
.
Still
raging inside
,
Nailah
fought
against Dele's restraining hands. But
his
expression
brooked no resistance.
His eyes
transmitted
a message which basically
told her
to cool the fuck down.
Through the fog of her anger, the message finally got through as s
he realized that she wasn't only risking her life but his as well.
With that sudden understanding, the fight seeped out of her. A
nd the fear inched back in.
"Nothin' like two bitches going at each other," she heard one of the
men snicker
. She didn't know which one. Not that it mattered. They were all the same as far as she was concerned.
"Looks like she tore
Clare
a new one."
"That's kinda good 'cause lord knows her other holes are practically used up."
Nailah winced at the raucous laughter, even if it were at her enemy's expense. The misogyny was rife, the inhumanity oozing from everyone in the room. Everyone that was except Dele. Even the other women had smiles on their faces. Nailah surmised that the one called
Clare
wasn't exactly popular with her own girls. The only one showing any humanity was the other blond, the younger one who seemed like a
lost
kitten in a roomful of predators.