Covert Identity (12 page)

Talk's cheap. Why did I let you in? You feel too good and I want to believe you so bad.

"I know this doesn't make any sense, but I really need to fit in just a little while longer. It'll be over soon one way or another, and if I ever upset you again I will stand still and let you shoot me with Mona's pink shotgun."

Couldn't he just deny having an affair, like a normal man would? Saying they meant nothing to him and that he needed to fit in sure sounded like he was humping them.

She always rolled her eyes at women believing any dumb lie from their man, forgiving even the most obvious missteps. She had promised herself never to be like them, and she should know better than forgiving him.

If she threw him out right now she wouldn't have to mourn losing him again. Getting pulled back in would not be smart.

I believe him. Why do I believe him? Is this exactly what happens to all women? Do I want you to be true so badly I choose not to see what's right before my eyes?

Jimmy said, "Babe?"

She was so deep into her own thoughts she didn't understand what he meant.

"Get your own beer."

It surprised her to feel a finger under her chin, pushing her head up until she looked into his eyes.

"Are you okay? Are we okay?"

The question was so atypical for him it rocked her out of her mood.

"I don't know. Are you having sex with more people than me?"

"No." The answer came without hesitation and sounded honest.

He kissed her temple. "If I could choose, I would stay right here, in the sofa with you for at least a week. After that I might want to take you for a picnic on the beach, drive up along the coastline, maybe go camping... Outdoors sex is the best."

I hate camping. Bugs in the tent, bugs in the sleeping bag...

He still made it sound appealing, and she could imagine sitting by a campfire with him, traveling around on that monster for a motorcycle. It would take them away from the city and all the strange people he hung with. They might not be able to bring Tiffy, but Mona would take the dog for a while.

"Okay. Take me camping. Let's go right now."

He smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes.

"Give me another week or so and I will."

His tone of voice sounded like he expected to be dead long before that.

She had been too preoccupied with nursing jealousy and a broken heart to pay attention, but there might be more to this than her hurt feelings.

"Why? What do you think is gonna happen?"

He avoided the question.

"It's in the middle of the night and I think I'm gonna take my woman to bed. It's overdue."

"If that thing has been touching those girls, it's not coming anywhere near me."

Jimmy laughed. "I'm assuming the
thing
is my dick? Don't worry, it's yours and yours alone, my sweet."

Trusting him was a bad idea, but she still let herself be pacified, and sleeping in his arms was heaven.

It was still dark outside when Jimmy slipped out of bed and pulled his clothes on.

She leaned on her elbow. "What are you doing?"

Why do you look so surprised? Did you think you could sneak out of here without waking me?

He leaned across the bed and pressed his lips against her forehead.

"I have to go."

"When will you be back?"

He sighed and came around the bed to sit on the edge on her side.

"I hope to be back tonight. If I'm not..." He frowned and took her hand. "If I'm not here, it's not because I don't want to be. It's because I can't come."

"But..."

He kissed her fingers.

"In case anything would happen to me, I want you to know I love you."

It was the first time he spoke about feelings, and she watched him in a state of near shock as he pulled his jacket on and left the room.

He loves me.

She finally got her body moving, pulled the sheet around her, and ran after him.

"Jimmy, wait."

He stood just inside the door and looked back with a quizzical expression on his face. She threw her arms around him.

"I love you, too. Please be careful."

"I'll try."

––––––––

J
immy rested the bike on the kickstand and looked at the club.

They were on to him, he could feel it. He didn't have anything tangible, not enough to justify pulling the operation, but it was an insistent feeling.

Maybe he was getting paranoid.

Let's go in and get drunk, just what I need early in the morning. I wonder if I'm an alcoholic yet.

As much as he wanted to get out of the job, he also dreaded telling the truth.

What could he say? "Hey babe, you know the guy you fell in love with? He's not real. My name's Paul, and after a few years with these bikers I might need rehab. Wanna hook up?"

What girl with any sanity and self-respect would say yes to that?

No one, especially not
her,
but he couldn't keep pretending to be Jimmy forever.

"Hey man, where've you been all night?"

He hadn't even heard the door open. Dangerous slip.

"With a girl. Needed some strange."

The other man laughed, "Nothing's stranger than what we have here, but I hear ya."

Jimmy stepped in and grabbed a beer from a cooler. Right now, Sharon would be having coffee. She probably sat in the sofa with her laptop.

He loved watching her in that silky robe that fell open just enough to show the curve of her breasts. In a different life, he'd make her pancakes for breakfast.

These thoughts needed to be buried, or they would give him away.

A girl sauntered in from another room.

She looks familiar. Who... Oh shit, it's the neighbor's cousin.

He turned away. Maybe she wouldn't look too closely if she only saw his back. All their backs looked the same.

"Hey, I know you."

What were the odds?

He turned slowly and made a point of looking her over, running a finger over her shoulder, down her neck, towards her breast.

"I don't think so, but you can
get
to know me real well if you want."

She slapped his hand away.

"You're the pain in the ass guy who hangs with Frank's neighbor."

He shook his head and reached around her to slap her butt.

"Turns me on when you say ass."

I'm so obnoxious you should walk away.

The girl stood her ground and shook a cigarette out of a pack. It looked good. He shouldn't, but who cared anymore. The way this was going, smokes wouldn't have the time to kill him.

"Hey, do you mind if I..."

She slapped his fingers. "Yes, I do."

"Okay, just sex then."

People around them seemed much too interested. Someone said, "What's going on?"

She raised her voice. "This dude, I know him. He knocked on my cousin's door one day to lecture me on how to raise my kids. Then, they took my babies away, saying a
cop
tipped them off."

Jimmy made a dismissive gesture.

"Never saw this bitch before." He inched himself closer and stared into her eyes. "I can give you new babies." Pulling a finger down her cleavage, he added, "We could go make one right now."

People were crowding in. They weren't buying it.

Damn it all to hell. She knows where Sharon lives. I should have warned her.

––––––––

T
o Sharon the hours crawled by, and by the time it seemed late enough to at least call Mona, an entire week could have passed.

Mona said, "He might just be melodramatic, but if he crossed those guys, he's dead."

"But why..."

"Honey, I'm coming over."

Wow, I think she takes this more seriously than I do.

Mona was quick; she knocked on the door twenty minutes later, and still had the time to pick up coffee. "Hold this."

Sharon obeyed, taking the mugs, and lifted an eyebrow when her friend returned to the car to get a large duffle bag.

"What's that?"

"I might be overreacting, but I will be staying here with you until Jimmy comes back. If he comes back."

"I love to have you, but you don't look like this is a social call."

Her friend unzipped the bag with a smirk. It held her guns along with a machete.

"What... Why?"

Mona snatched her coffee cup. "You are a sweet girl and you're not prepared for this. I'm not either, but more than you. Do you still have my Glock?"

"Yes, but..."

"Good. Keep it close."

"They're not gonna come here, they don't even know I exist."

"Hopefully you're right, and then we won't have any problems. Look, I've gotta go to work, but I'll be back here as soon as I get off. Until then, lie low, keep the Glock with you, and hope your boyfriend shows up."

"You brought enough guns to start a war. I've never seen Jimmy with a gun."

Mona shrugged, "Well... I don't know about him, but many of these guys have already been to prison once or twice. That means one more strike and they go away for good. They
have
weapons, probably enough for a small army. They probably sell them too, I mean, there's a lot of money going around."

"But..."

"They probably keep the big guns hidden in the back, or buried in the forest. For smaller skirmishes, these guys can kill someone just fine with whatever's lying around the house."

For normal skirmishes with other men, and we're just two girls. Great. Just great. An army of crazed people able to beat someone to death with a shoe might have captured my boyfriend.

"Unless they go to war, of course."

"War?"

"Yes. With another gang, or someone who betrayed them."

*****

J
immy woke up with a terrific headache.

What happened? Where the hell am I?

The room was dark and smelled from dying animals, their fear fused with the very floor. His searching fingers found chicken wire.

A dog cage. Great.

He could just as well have been on the moon, there was no way out. Some dogs tried to chew themselves to freedom, but only managed to hurt their mouths. If those powerful jaws couldn't break through the cage, his shaking hands wouldn't be able to. He was weak and queasy, and the stench didn't help much.

What did they use to knock me out? I probably don't want to know. At least there aren't dogs here anymore, I guess I did something good.

The faces of dying dogs would stay with him forever, pleading eyes in torn up faces. The prosecutor had a field day with accusations of animal cruelty, and a handful of gangsters landed in jail. Normally the judges might not care too much about animals suffering, but when it gave an excuse to get these people off the street, it worked just fine.

At least he saved Tiffy.

It was hard to keep his thoughts on the present; his mind wanted to linger on puppies. He and Sharon had a puppy, a small warm body with wagging tail, big paws, and puppy kisses.

Thinking of them made him relax, and he shook his head to clear the darkness that snuck up on him.

Good thing I saved the puppy, Sharon won't be alone.

His body might still be alive, but it didn't matter. He was a dead man.

*****

S
haron pretended to work, but she mostly browsed Facebook.

The day snailed by, and Jimmy didn't return. She forced herself not to call him; no one liked a clingy girlfriend. She didn't give in to the urge until late in the afternoon, but it didn't matter. No one answered.

Mona came by right after work and having her there helped, but Sharon still couldn't shake the sinking feeling. She kept listening for sounds of engines, but the world outside was just as peaceful as any other night.

Tiffy wanted to go for a late evening walk, and they could have been the last two living beings on Earth. Nothing moved.

Sleeping didn't go well, but she drifted off for a few hours with the Glock within reach. She felt silly putting a pistol on the nightstand, but silly was better than dead. When morning came, Mona hugged her and said, "Hey, I have to go to work, but I'll come back tonight. Call me if he shows up."

They hadn't been invaded by bikers at war. Yet.

She held out until lunchtime before trying Jimmy's phone again.

Another man's voice answered at the second ring. "Yeah?"

"I'd like to talk to Jimmy, please."

"There's no Jimmy here."

The line went dead.

She stared at the screen for a long moment, pulled up the list of recent calls and double-checked she called the right number.

Someone else had his phone. Someone who pretended he didn't exist.

"This can't be good."

Talking to herself didn't lead to any brilliant conclusions; the only effect her voice had was making Tiffy yawn.

He might be dead.

The thought struck like being hit in the stomach and she bent forward, hyperventilating. She sat down on the floor and struggled to calm herself. Tiffy came up to lick her face, and she wrapped her arms around the dog.

"I have to do something."

Tiffy wagged her tail. That probably meant agreement.

Doing something was a great idea, but what?

No matter how much she thought about it, she kept reaching the same conclusion: she'd have to go look for him. No one else would. No one else cared, or knew he was missing.

She slipped the gun into her purse, pulled on sensible clothes, and sensible shoes. The idea of a rescue mission seemed sound in the safety of the kitchen, but once she reached the car, it was preposterous. Jimmy had done his best to keep his distance from her, gone to great lengths to keep her away from the club, should she really go there?

What if Mr. Hate was there? He would recognize her and think she was a hooker. Some of the others had witnessed the scene when she went over there.

"This is a bad idea."

She waited a few seconds longer, but her body didn't get out of the car, so she could just as well drive. Her hand turned the key willingly enough and her feet took care of the pedals.

If her body wanted to go, she should trust it.