For Her Honor (13 page)

“
Doesn’t matter. My mother’s one of those ladies who keeps the kind of company where any little iota is shoved under the microscope.” She curled again on her side – facing him, but unable to look at him. “Had to pay through the nose to make sure Preston kept my name out of it. They wanted me to testify as a character witness, but it would’ve appalled my family, well, my mother, to have me connected to this. My sister’s husband’s a judge who got me this shark attorney who worked a deal with Preston’s attorney. Got him to sign a gag order and to agree not to call me as a witness, as well as pulled a lot of strings to be sure I wasn’t subpoenaed. I had to sell everything – my condo, which barely had any equity, car…..”

She pinched her temples and Taz felt like shit.
Poor chick. She literally had had her life packed up in the trunk of that clunker she now drove. “Hey.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close. He was comforting a woman. After talking. In bed. After sex. There wasn’t a manual for this shit. “It’s a’ight. Feel like an ass makin’ you talk about it, but like I said, people have been through worse shit.” He tipped her chin up. “You didn’t cave, sweetheart. You picked up and started over – on your own. Kinda like my ma.”

She smiled agai
nst his shoulder. “She had my back today.”

That really got his attention.
“How?”

She told him and his
mood went from curious to furious. “No offense, but your ma’s a bitch.”

“None taken.
Your mom really put her in her place. She saw how stressed I was and told me to come to the bakery after work. We talked, drank wine, told me a little about her past.”

“Did she
talk about me?”

“Other than
refer to you as a male bimbo? Not really.”

He deserved that.
They were right – he was. He loved women and wasn’t going to apologize for it. But was his ma also right about it being time for him to store all those wild oats away? Hell, even she’d done her groupie thing before she finally got her act together, but she was also a mother. Taz was single and childless. Still, were those viable reasons to continue living like a whore? When
was
it time to man up and settle down? Forty? Fifty? Before the need for Viagra kicked in? And then what? His ma was right. She wasn’t going to be around forever nor would he be able to sever tendons, pull teeth and break bones when he was sixty five, arthritic and alone.

Was he really considering all this while
still
cuddling in bed with this woman?

“Don’t know what would’ve happened if you weren’t there.
If she was alone when she lost her breath……”

Alone.
Just how his mother didn’t want him to be someday. Alone in a house with no family while choking on vomit after an alcohol binge. Yeah, not a dignified way for a Skull to go out. What the hell? Was he reconsidering fifteen years of rotating pussy for someone he met two weeks ago? Wasn’t that how long it took Ben to have Eva twist his shit around? Now he played handyman and grill-master while decorating a nursery.

“Your mom’s quite a l
ady,” she told him. “Her, Eva…,” She was silent for a bit and then he heard a hiccup. Was she, shit, was she crying? Cuddling crying females after talking and sex? Tippitt was going to tip over if this kept up. But Taz was the son his mother had raised him to be. He may’ve been a mischievous little turd who knotted her in fits, but she’d raised him to always be respectful and attentive – even to the biker tarts. He just held her, not quite knowing what to say. Sometimes it was best to shut up and let a woman cry it out. Finally, she sniffed and wiped her eyes. “Sorry. It’s just, they’ve shown more kindness in two weeks than my own mother’s has done this past year alone.”

“What about your dad?”

Her face lit up and so did those gorgeous green eyes. “I miss him the most. But he understood why I had to get away from that mess.”

“So does this mean you’re goin’ back?”
For some reason, it was important for him to know this now.

“To visit?
Sure. For good?” That question hung there as he held his breath. “I have to admit, I kinda like it here.”

Nighttime was really sinking in as he heard her yawn.
He wasn’t going anywhere, and neither was she. Not now. Not anytime soon. He had to admit, he kind of liked her here, too. “Kar?”

“Hmm?”

“Preston? What’d he do that landed him inside?”

“Had an
investment company,” she sleepily said. “Vine Holdings. Embezzlement.”

With that last word, she dozed off.
But the hair on the back of his neck stood up as he thought of Jackie Jones’ words earlier.

“Investments.
Lost it all. Guy embezzled every dime. Motherfucker took my money and hung me to dry.”

Too vague to be
more than coincidental, until he thought of what else he said:

“He’s in jail, but people are still pissed.
They’ll find some way to collect. Track down that rich bitch of his and milk it out of her.”

Son of a bitch.
What were the odds…….?

Chapter Thirteen

The first thing Karen did when she woke was bolt up and look at the clock.
It was nine a.m. Wednesday. She had to be at the bank by two.

The second thing she realized was that she was alone.

She got out of bed and went in search of her clothes, knowing Taz had to be around somewhere. He wouldn’t have left her alone in his mother’s house. Opening the bedroom door she immediately smelled coffee. Taking a detour to the bathroom, she washed up, got dressed then followed the aroma of coffee to the kitchen. As she got closer, she heard Taz talking on the phone.

“Don’t rush it,
Ma. You sure? A’ight, I’ll be there for noon. Yeah, I got your stuff.”
There was a bit of a pause.
“Yeah, she did.”
Another pause.
“Yeah, she is. Goodbye, Ma. See ya later.”

He was sitting on the kitchen counter with his cell in one hand, coffee cup in another.
All he was wearing were his jeans, which were barely zipped up. Barefoot and bare-chested and spattered with ink, black hair and various pieces of metal pierced to his face and body, he looked every inch the bad-ass he was. “Hi.”

He hopped off the counter
, then leaned against it. “Well, good morning there.” He was a bit chipper. “You sleep okay?”

Karen nodded.
“Yeah, I did. Um, why didn’t you wake me? I still have to go back to the motel, shower, get dressed then be at the bank for two.”

“Chill, sweetheart.”
He pulled a flowered cup out of the cabinet and went to pour coffee. “Wheeling’s only a half hour away. You got time.” He handed her the cup. “Sugar’s on the table, milk’s in the fridge. Hungry?”

She kind of was. And that awkward morning-after vibe wasn’t there. “You cooking?”

“Don’t push it,” he mused, opening the freezer and pulling out frozen waffles. “I can operate a toaster.”

“Go for it.”

After fixing her coffee, she sat at the kitchen table and watched as he popped four waffles from the toaster, slathered them with butter and syrup then served them up. “Faster than a diner.”

There was something different about him this morning.
He still had that charm and flirtatious manner, but seemed a bit more serious. Businesslike. She cut through the waffles. “Was that your mother?”

He answered with a mouthful.
“Yeah. Bein’ discharged at noon.”

“How is she?”

“Cranky and bored.” He swallowed a forkful of waffles and washed them down with coffee. “Normal. Hey, think you can give me a lift to the clubhouse first? Gotta get my bike and bring it back before pickin’ Ma up.”

“You sure?”
She put her fork down and grabbed her coffee. “Tongues may wag if they see us.”

She thought that would’ve raised a smile out of him, but he still kept a controlled face.
“Already are, sweetheart. Next to me, Doug’s got the biggest mouth in the club. I’m sure your presence at the medical center last night got around.”

“And you still want to be seen with me?”

“We’re gonna be livin’ in the same small town together, Karen. Better get used to it.”

That vague statement said a lot.
The fact she’d woken up in his bed said a lot. The fact he fed her the morning after said a lot. Taz Morrell planned on showing his pierced face around more often. But for how long? Until her ‘newness’ wore off and his case of ‘happy dick’ returned? Was last night and this morning the beginning of something more serious than the look on his face? She had no idea, nor was she going to pose a bunch of morning-after questions. She could play it just as cool. Her purpose here wasn’t to jump into anything with another man, let alone into his bed. But she had to admit those dark eyes and deep dimples were sexy as hell and, boy, could the man fuck.

“Karen?”

“Yeah?”

He turned a chair around and sat backwards, inked arms crossed on the table.
The early August sun was already blazing through the window above the table and highlighted every square inch of that sinewy upper body. “What you told me last night – about your ex. Think anyone’s gonna come after you?”

“Come
after
me? How?”

“This
Preston…..
Vine
? I’m guessin’ he fucked over a lot of people. Stole their life savings, kids’ tuition, whatever. For some people, jail time ain’t enough restitution. They want payback.”

Karen almost choked on her last piece of waffle.
“You mean?”

He nodded, his face stone serious.
“You know the names he stole from? They know you?”

“N
othing. Like I said, my attorney segregated me from all of that. I didn’t attend Preston’s trial, read the paper – nothing.”

He leaned over and took her hand.
His thumb bearing that silver ring rubbed the skin inside hers. “You sure?”

“Taz?”

“Yeah?”

“Why’re you asking this?
What do you know?”

He looked as if he
was calculating what to say. “Let’s just say that havin’ your livelihood ripped out from under you can cause someone to do things they normally wouldn’t. If there’s any way his victims can track you down……”

“If they do then that attorney owes me a huge-ass refund.”

There it was. A smile, albeit brief. “What about your family?”

“Of course they knew about me and Preston.
People I worked with too. Close circles. That was it.”

“Think any of ‘em would talk?
Give you up to someone askin’ about Preston’s woman?”

She shook her head.
“I know they wouldn’t. And only my immediate family know where I am. Be like looking for a needle in a haystack. I’m safe here.” Taz, on the other hand, didn’t look so sure of that comment. In fact, he looked more concerned than she did. “I am. Aren’t I?”

His fingers continued to play with hers
, which she found strangely erotic. Pretty much like the way she’d dragged her finger up and down his arm last night before falling asleep. It was a mindless touch which set her nerves on end. And right now hers were on alert as she waited for him to answer. “I think so. Could be no one’s lookin’ for you.”

“But why me?
If anything, they’d go after Preston’s family, but they’re simple, middle-class folks from Kentucky. They’re not rich.”

“But your family is?”

“
Well off
,” she corrected. “Doesn’t mean
I
am. Right now, all I have to my name is a ten-year-old car and whatever I can shove in the trunk.”

“They may not know that, sweetheart.
They may think you’ve got some of that money and expensive gifts stashed somewhere. Then again, you don’t have to have a dime. Like I said, desperate people do desperate things. If they can’t get money, they’ll get……”

Her heart skipped.
“What?”

“Nothing
.”

And then it stopped.
“Taz, you’re scaring me.”

“Good.
I want you to be scared. I want you to be alert and aware.” He held her hand in both of his now. “Karen, promise me. If you see anything strange or anyone lurkin’ around the motel, the bank, the card store….anywhere. I want you to tell me.”

She couldn’t help it.
She just couldn’t. Even though he scared her shitless with all his theories, she found a glimmer of irony. “You’re the second Morrell to champion me in two days.”

That struck something in him
, and his hand slid up her arm, behind her neck, then pulled her towards him. She felt his lips on hers, pliable, yet firm, as if sealing some sort of a deal. He pulled away. “Promise me, Karen. Promise you’ll tell me.”

He was really serious about this.
Maybe she’d been so caught up in picking up her life and moving it three hours away that she hadn’t thought of any possible repercussions from Preston’s crime. It was obvious Taz was trained to think five steps ahead. Was it possible some loon might’ve discovered her identity and had photos of her plastered on a wall with big red ‘Xs’ through them? Sheesh, she felt as if she’d fallen into a rabbit hole and wound up the star of some cheesy Lifetime movie where the heroine ups and moves away to escape a torrid past to start over, only for that past to catch up to her. But Tippitt was far from a movie set, and Taz was certainly no hero. She’d never had to think that far ahead before in her life. Then again, she was the ex-fiancée of a man who’d siphoned people’s lives. He was serious. She had to be, too. “I promise.”

He looked satisfied and nodded.
“Good.” He stood up, took their plates to the sink, then scooped a black t-shirt off the counter. “C’mon,” he said, pulling it over his head. “Let’s roll.”

The clubhouse was pretty much quiet when they arrived.
Through the gated entrance and up a gravel driveway, Karen noticed the two structures. One was obviously a car repair shop, the other the clubhouse. Janice had said this used to be a bar she’d tended in the late eighties, after the club arrived and took it over. There had to be some history there. It had dark, clapboard siding with a functioning water wheel on the side that was fed by a small stream and falls behind it. It immediately reminded her of the afternoon at the reservoir with Taz.

“Stop here.”
Karen came to a stop at the clubhouse’s entrance. Without a word, he got out and went to his bike to open the saddlebag. He pulled out his leather and put it on over his t-shirt as if he wasn’t complete without it. He then walked back to the driver’s side where she had the window down. He bent over and leaned his head in. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.
Give your mom my best.”

“You say that like you’re never gonna see either of us again.”

“No, I didn’t mean it like that. I just……”

She stopped talking when he cut her off with a kiss.
“Small town,” he said after pulling away. “Unavoidable.”

“That’s the excuse you’re using?”’

“For what?”

“To want to see me again?”

Those dimples deepened under his black beard. “That’s what you think I’m tryin’ to do?”

“Isn’t it?”

He smirked, clearly not going to get strung along by her answering his questions with questions, and gave her a quick kiss. “Go. Don’t be late for work.”

He straightened and backed up, allowing her to turn around and leave.
So much for laying low in a small town. She wasn’t exactly sure what was going on between the two of them, but she felt it impossible not to play the game. If anything, she could imagine the massive shit fit Betsy would have if she knew her daughter was getting nailed by a biker. That, alone, was enough of a reason.

~~~***~~~

“Busted.”

Taz turned on the gravel to see Aero standing in the doorway. “Ain’t got nothin’ to hide.”

The club’s V.P. took a sip of coffee as he leaned against the door jamb.
A hand casually went to his head to run over his hair, as it always did. The former Air Force captain still clung to his military-required length. “Is she the one from the medical center last night?”

“Doug?”

Aero shrugged. “Who else? Next to you, we rely on him for all the gossip. How’s your ma doing?”

“Bein’ released at noon.
Talked to her this mornin’. Infection and fever’s down.”

“Good to hear brother.”
Aero took a sip. “And I heard what happened before went even better.”

Taz nodded.
“Had my fun. Funds were wired. And Mr. Jones and his friend won’t be gamblin’ again.” He then scratched the back of his head. “He said he invested his money with some guy who embezzled it.”

“Maybe next time he’ll do his homework,” Aero said before catching himself.
“Oh, wait.” He smiled. “There
won’t
be a next time.”

“Don’t thin
k he’s the only one. Others were screwed over too.”

“That ai
n’t our problem.”

“That’s what I told him.”

“So why’re you so concerned?”

There was a reason Aero was V.P.
He read between the lines and picked up things that got past Vic’s crankiness. “Because there’s a slight chance this embezzler is her …..Karen’s ex.”

Aero let a deep sigh out.
“Shit. What do you know about her?”

Taz relayed everything Karen told him last night.
“We can have Wes run a search to see where her name pops up. If it ain’t connected to this Preston Vine, then she should be clear. She works at the bank a couple of days and for Eva on the others. Told her to be on the lookout for anyone….” He was cut off by Aero’s laughing. “What?”

“Look at you
, playing protector,” Aero mused. “Guess Mama Morrell’s finally gonna get her wish.”

“I think you’re all drinkin’ Mama Morrell’s Kool-Aid,” Taz shot back.