Grace was so upset at me. My apology did nothing. She ran away and all I wanted to do was chase her down and hold her in my arms. But I didn't have time. I needed to get to the coffee shop. The MC needed me. Grace needed to time to herself anyways. I could always try again tomorrow.
I rode my bike down Main Street watching all the stores turn off their lights and close down. I passed by Java Addicts and saw that the lights were already off. I hoped that the MC had waited for me. I turned the corner, going down the alley behind the coffee shop. A white van and a few bikes were already parked there. I noticed all the members crouched down, checking their weapons.
I quickly turned off my headlight and parked next to them. “Did I miss anything?” I asked, taking my helmet off.
“He's in there with three other guys,” Caleb replied.
I checked my Beretta 92FS and the clip was full. I nodded to Caleb that I was ready to go and stuffed the pistol in my waistband. The rest of the MC nodded in succession. The adrenaline in my veins was pumping. This is what I lived for.
Slade took the lead and rushed to the back door with a crowbar. He jammed it into padlock and after straining for a couple seconds, the padlock broke and fell to the ground.
Mason whispered, “Remember we're only here to scare him. Leave your safety on.”
I pulled out my gun, checked the safety, and patted Slade's back. He swung the door open and ran inside with me following right on his tail. We entered the back room and found four guys sitting around a square table playing poker and drinking beer.
“Hands up!” Slade yelled with his gun drawn.
One guy was in complete shock and kept his hands under the table. I went around and pulled the chair out from under him, knocking him to the floor. Mike dragged the guy away and put him in the corner.
“Take all the fucking money, it's yours,” one man said.
Mason walked over. “You must be Mr. Kramer.”
“How do you know me?” he asked, his hands shaking above his head.
“You're wife described you in detail. Even the crooked nose,” Mason replied, running his gun down the bridge of his nose.
“Seriously just take the money and go. We won't say a thing,” one of his buddies chimed in.
“We're not here for your money, asshole,” Issac said.
“I want you guys to leave now,” Mason said, pointing his gun at each guy. “Everyone except Mr. Kramer.”
The men scrambled away, running with their tails between their legs. It was hard not to laugh.
“What do you guys want?” Mr. Kramer asked, his voice high and scared.
Mason flipped one of the chairs backwards and sat down to face Mr. Kramer. “We don't like men who beat their wives.”
Mr. Kramer looked at us nervously. “I don't know what that bitch told you but I didn't lay one finger on her.”
“Her broken face begs otherwise.” Mason raised his gun and pointed it right at him. Mr. Kramer shut his eyes and whimpered. I noticed the piss running down his leg and shoved Slade out of the way so his boots wouldn't get stained.
“Now we can do two things,” Mason began, “We can shoot you in the face and rid ourselves of a nasty rodent. Or we can leave you in peace with a warning.”
Mr. Kramer began to cry. “Please don't kill me. I'll never touch a woman again. I swear it!”
Mason looked to Caleb. “Did you believe that?”
Caleb thought about it for a moment, tapping his finger to his chin. “Seemed a little forced to me.”
Mason nodded. “Yeah maybe we should just shoot him and get out of here.” I loved the way he interrogated people. He played with them until they almost exploded.
“Fuck, fuck!” Mr. Kramer waved his hands. “I'll do anything you ask. Just don't kill me.”
Mason lowered his gun. “Fine. We'll let you off with a warning. You better thank your wife when you see her. We're only keeping you alive because she requested it.”
“I will,” he replied desperately.
Mason lowered his gun and nodded to me. I begun stuffing all the cash from the poker table into my pocket. There was probably only a thousand dollars but it would a nice addition to what Mrs. Kramer paid us.
Mason walked away and Slade approached Mr. Kramer. We weren't going to kill him but we weren't going to leave him unharmed either. Slade grinned and cracked his knuckles. Big Mike grabbed Mr. Kramer by the arms and hoisted him up. Two minutes later and Mr. Kramer was spitting blood and teeth onto the ground. His black eyes were going to be ten times worse than his wife.
We left Mr. Kramer and went back outside to our bikes. Slade was wiping the blood off his fists and Isaac couldn't stop laughing about the piss. In the corner of my eye, I spotted one of Mr. Kramer's friends. He had a gun pointed right at Isaac. I yelled for him to get out of the way but it was too late. The gun fired sending two bullets into Isaac's left chest and shoulder. I watched as Isaac fell to the ground, his mouth opened in shock
I lifted my gun and returned fire—the safety was still on. I cursed and flicked the switch. The shooter turned towards me but I let him have it. I emptied my entire clip into him as I walked forward, screaming at the top of my lungs. The man's head exploded like a watermelon, spraying massive amounts of blood everywhere. I pulled the trigger a few more times but the gun was empty.
I ran over to Isaac and Caleb was already by his side, holding his hand. Blood spat out of his mouth as he tried to talk.
“I couldn't warn you in time,” I told him, bending down on my knees. The rest of the MC members surrounded us.
“We need to get him to the hospital,” Caleb shouted.
Isaac shook his head and coughed hard. He tried to speak but nothing came out. I put my hands on his chest to apply pressure and tried to stop the bleeding. But with the way things looked, Isaac was in bad shape.
All I could think about was that the only one who could save him was Grace. I gathered Isaac's body in my arms and lifted him to the van. But it was too late. He went limp and when I laid him down in the van, he was already gone.
“No dammit!” I yelled at him. I slammed my hands on his chest, hoping to bring him back.
Caleb pried me off him. “He's gone, Tanner.”
I turned towards Mason, my eyes tearing up. “If only I had seen him a second sooner.”
Mason began to cry and hugged me. “It's not your fault, Tanner. There's nothing you could have done.”
Caleb went back into the coffee shop and shot off two rounds. Mr. Kramer was dead now too.
“We need to get out of here,” Slade said. “The cops will be swarming around here any minute.”
Mason nodded and released me from the hug. “We'll take his body to the clubhouse. Everyone meet back there.”
I stumbled back to my bike in shock. I couldn't believe it. Isaac was gone. Over something so stupid.
I arrived at the apartment and the smell of chicken and potatoes were in the air.
“I'm home,” I announced, throwing my purse on the floor next to the door.
“I'm in the kitchen,” Rachel replied.
I wandered in to a mess of pots, pans, and a lot of smoke. “Did you try and cook dinner?”
“Only the potatoes are burnt. The chicken came out really nice,” Rachel gave me a half-smile.
“You've never cooked dinner before,” I stated.
“I thought it would be nice after the hell you went through last night. And because I wanted to celebrate.”
“Celebrate?”
Rachel fixed the plates and set them at the small dinner table. I sat down with her and the smell of the food was a lot better than it looked. I took my first bite of chicken and it melted on my tongue. How could she make something so good?
Rachel took a bite of potatoes and spat them out. “So I went out today...and found a job!”
“What?” I dropped my fork on the plate. “You finally got a job?”
Rachel nodded. “Photographer's assistant at a studio.”
“I didn't even know you were into photography.” I took a bite of the burnt potatoes and spat them back out too. At least the chicken was good.
“I didn't know either. I saw a help wanted sign on the way to the grocery store. I popped my head in and they hired me on the spot.”
I wiped my mouth with the napkin. “We really do need to celebrate.” I went to the fridge and pulled out a bottle of wine that was half-f.
Rachel clapped her hands in delight. I poured our glasses and returned to the table.
“What's wrong, Grace? You seem happy but I can tell something's bothering you. Still thinking about Tanner?”
I was hoping I could hide my feelings. But Rachel knew me too well. “He came by the hospital today.”
Rachel slammed her glass down. “Seriously?”
I nodded. “He wanted to apologize.”
She rolled her eyes and took a sip of wine. “Of course he did.”
I sighed, trying not to stress out too much. “I didn't even really listen to him and walked away.”
Rachel smiled and returned to her food. “Good girl. Better to give him no satisfaction. Maybe he won't try the same thing twice with the next woman.”
Next woman?
I didn't even want to think about Tanner with anyone else but me.
I finished my red wine and grabbed the bottle and set it at the table. “But maybe I should've heard him out. I kind of ditched him at the bar without hearing his explanation.”
Rachel waved me off. “There could be no valid explanation for what he did to you. You just need to forget and move on. I was thinking about trying this pilates class next door to the photography studio tomorrow morning. We should do it together. It will keep your mind off all this bad stuff.”
“That sounds fun. It's been a long time since we've gone out and done anything together.”
“Beats watching the same movie over and over again.”
“I'll cheers to that.” We clinked glasses and giggled the night away. My sister always knew how to make me feel better. But now that she had a job, was she going to move out? There was a time that I begged her to leave. But we were so close now. The thought of living alone terrified me. I couldn't even bring up the question to her.
A knock at the door interrupted our girl time. “I'll get it,” Rachel said.
She left me at the table and I listened hard to see who it was. “What are you doing here?” Rachel mumbled.
My curiosity got the best of me. Who would be coming by at this hour? I got up and approached the door. Rachel kept the door open a sliver and blocked the way. “You need to go away now,” she repeated.
“Grace never wants to see you again.”
“Just please let me see her.” The voice was so familiar. I pushed Rachel to the side and opened the door all the way. Tanner was standing there, his head down, his hands and clothes covered in blood. This couldn't be the same strong man who saved my life.
I pushed Rachel out of the way. “Come in.” I grabbed Tanner's arm and pulled him inside.
“What are you doing, Grace?” Rachel yelled.
“Let me handle this. Stay in your room, Rachel.”
Rachel waved a finger at me. “If he lays a hand on you, by god, I'll kill him.”