Jack of Hearts (Desert Sons MC Book 1) (3 page)

“Tina.”

“Okay, Tina. Where are you from?”

“Here. New Mexico. I was living in Santa Fe. I worked at the Honda dealer washing cars.”

“You had a steady job?”

“That’s right. I did. Up until tonight. I don’t want to go back inside. I was trying to turn my life around.”

“So why did you start a fight?”

“Who said I started it?”

“You didn’t start it? Then why did you run?”

“I was sitting there, minding my own business. I was getting a promotion at work and I was feeling good. I just wanted to have a beer or two and maybe get laid. And this bitch knocked my beer over. Got it all over me and her both. She got a little mouthy. I tried to walk away, but she grabbed me and … well … I hit her. Then the bouncer tossed us both out on our asses and she wanted to rumble. Her friend tried to stop her, but she wouldn’t listen. So I hit her again, harder this time. Knocked her ass down that time. Then I find out her old man is a cop. Now, you tell me, who is he going to believe? His own daughter with the bloody nose or me, the ex-con, without a scratch on her?”

“So you went from being involved in a petty bar fight to grand theft auto? Where’s the car now?”

“Yeah. Maybe in hindsight that wasn’t the smartest move I have ever made. I had to stop for gas in ABQ and a cop pulled up beside. I was inside the store, and I didn’t stick around to find out why he was there.” She had no intention of telling him about the other car or the gun in her back.

“And you walked from Albuquerque to all the way out here?”

“Yeah.”

He was silent for a moment. “Get out.”

“What?” Tina asked in shock.

“I should kick your ass, or turn you over to the cops, but I’m feeling generous. So get out.”

“You’re letting me go?”

“If you will get your ass out.”

“Why?” Tina asked, edging toward the door, but not turning her back on the man, afraid of what he might do if she did.

“Because I don’t feel like kicking your ass right now, and turning you over to the cops takes too much time, effort, and paperwork. But if I ever catch you here again, it will different. Understand?”

Tina nodded, then stepped forward and gave him a hug. “Thank you. I’m sorry. You will never see me again, I promise,” she said before backing away and hurrying to the door.

CHAPTER THREE

As she approached the bridge she would be sleeping under, she pulled the guy’s wallet out from her pocket. She removed the cash and credit cards, then pulled his driver’s license up enough to see what the mark’s name was. Jonathan Thomas Carter. She smiled before she chucked the wallet into the bushes. He never knew she had him.

She was still going to have to sleep under the bridge, but adding John’s $380 to her own funds gave her enough cash to get her to Texas. She had almost reached the bridge when she heard the scream of a laboring engine. She squinted into the bright headlights, making out the Audi from the warehouse just as it roared to a stop. She bolted, running as hard as she could, but as fast as she was, he was faster. He caught her in the parking lot of a fast food joint on the other side of the interstate.

“You’re not very fucking bright, are you?” he panted as he hauled her to a stop, holding her by the arm.

“Let go of me, you fucker!” Tina said as she lunged and struck, trying to break free of his iron grip. He held her, deflecting her blows until she stomped down hard on his bare foot, causing him to bellow in pain. Free from his grip, she ran again. She didn’t get far before he shoved her hard from behind, causing her to tumble and roll in the grass surrounding the parking lot.

Before she could regain her feet, he hovered over her as the spray from the sprinklers soaked them both. She kicked out hard at his leg and caught him just above the ankle. He roared in pain once more as he went to his knee, but he grabbed her leg as he fell. She rolled to her ass and kicked at him again, aiming for his face. He dodged the blow, but when her sneaker connected with his shoulder, she was able to slip his grasp. She had just gotten to her feet again when he tackled her from behind and knocked her down as he wrapped her up in his arms. She punched and kicked, but in moments he was sitting astride her, holding her arms to the ground as the sizzling sprinklers soaked them to skin.

“Okay, okay! Fuck!” Tina panted, trying to catch her breath.

“Don’t do that again or I’ll kick your ass. You got that?” he panted.

“Yeah, okay. Fuck. Let me up.”

He rolled off of her and hauled her to her feet by her arm.

“Where’s my fucking wallet, you bitch?”

“I don’t know what you are talking about!”

“Bullshit! Are you going to make me search you?”

Tina scrunched up her face and willed her tears to come. “You’re hurting me!”

“I’m going to hurt you a lot more if you don’t tell me where my fucking wallet is,” he said, not buying her charade for a moment.

“I told you, I don’t know what you are talking about!”

He tightened his grip just enough to let her know he wasn’t fucking around. “Don’t try me, sister. You won’t like me when I’m pissed off.”

Realizing that he saw right through her act, Tina’s tears disappeared as quickly as they had come. “If I show you where your wallet is and give you back the money, will you let me go? I promise I will just disappear this time. I can … make it worth your trouble.”

“Just shut the fuck up. I gave you a break and you shit on me. So save it. You have ten seconds to produce the wallet or I’m going to start undressing you until I find it.”

“Fuck you! It’s in the bushes on the other side of the interstate. There! You happy?”

“Show me,” Jack said as he gave her a shove and frog-marched her back to his Audi.

When they reached his Audi, Tina pointed to the bushes. “It’s in there … somewhere.”

“Then you’re going in after it.”

“I don’t know where it is! How am I supposed to find it in the dark?”

“That’s your problem.”

“Fuck,” Tina muttered. She waded into the bushes, wiping spider webs from her face as she searched. She was surprised to find the wallet lying on top of a bush not far in. She retrieved it and walked out, holding the wallet out to Jack. “Here, you bastard.”

As he reached for it, she threw it at him. He must have been expecting that, because as she tried to dart past him, he grabbed her by her ponytail. Tina cried out in pain as she was jerked to a stop and fell to the ground. She scrambled to her feet and held the hand that gripped her hair to try to relieve some of the pressure and pain.

“You fuck! That hurts, you son-of-a-bitch!”

“
Hand
me my wallet,” he muttered low and dangerous as he maintained his grip on her hair.

Tina gingerly crouched down and picked up his wallet and handed it to him. He thumbed it open and looked at the empty bills section.

“The money.”

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the wad of cash and cards she had taken from his wallet. Thank goodness her own stash was in her shoe. She meekly handed the money over.

“Into the car.”

“What are you going to do to me?” Tina asked, genuinely afraid now.

“I haven’t decided yet.”

She timidly crawled into the passenger seat. She already knew she couldn’t outrun him, and as he sat down in the car she turned over various possibilities for escape in her mind but rejected each one in turn.  

He drove the short distance back to the warehouse, closing the big door with a press of a button on the visor. As the Audi’s engine fell silent, a gorgeous woman appeared in the glare of the headlamps. Tall, leggy, and lushly figured, she was wearing nothing but a man’s shirt.
Probably the shirt he wasn’t wearing,
Tina thought.

“That’s her?” the woman asked as they exited the car.

“Yeah.”

“What are you going to do to her?”

“I don’t know yet. But you don’t need to be here for this. Get dressed and I will call you a cab, okay?”

“You said you would take me back to my Jeep,” she pouted.

“I know, babe. But this thing came up,” Jack said with a jerk of his head to Tina. “I’ll call you, okay?”

The woman sauntered up to Jack and kissed him lustily. “You’re wet. But see that you do. I was looking for a repeat this morning.”

Tina could feel a cold sweat breaking out as the woman swayed away. With no witnesses, the man had much freer hand. “John, you can’t kill me. That would be murder.”

“No, it would be self-defense,” he said. “And the name is Jack, not John.”

“There is a witness!”

“Her? The woman that was here when you broke in? That witness?”

“Jack! Please!”

“Shut up,” he snapped as he split his attention between his cell and keeping an eye on her.

Tina debated pulling out the gun that was still hidden in her back, but she had never shot a gun in her life. Jack didn’t appear to have his with him, but his could be hidden just as hers was … and he looked like he would know how to use his.

In a few moments, he had a cab on the way and the woman sashayed back into the garage out of the room at the back. She was dressed in cowboy boots, jeans, and a western style shirt. All she needed was a cowboy hat to complete the look. “You’re not going to hurt her, are you?” the woman asked.

“I think I’m just going to teach her some manners and a little respect for other people’s property.”

“Good. I hate fucking thieves. Somebody cut open my Jeep a while back and stole the stereo. I wonder if it was her?”

“If it had been me, you wouldn’t still have your Jeep,” Tina sneered.

Jack had to look away so the women wouldn’t see his smile.
This Tina chick is full of piss and vinegar,
he thought.

“She definitely needs a lesson in manners,” the woman sneered back.

“Why don’t you come over here and teach me some.”

“Just shut up. Jesus. Don’t you ever quit? You’re in enough trouble as it is,” Jack said.

They waited in silence for fifteen minutes until they heard the blast of a car horn. “Call me and give me
all
the details,” the woman said before she kissed Jack, took the money he pressed into her hand, and walked out.

“Now, what shall I do with you?” Jack asked as they heard the cab pull away.

“Look, Jack, I’m really sorry. I’m a fuck-up, okay? I know you tried to help me out and I fucked it up. But … I can make it up to you. If you don’t hurt me, I can make it up to you, okay? I … uh … I can make you forget all about Ms. Jeep there. Just don’t hurt me, okay? Please, Jack. I’m sorry.”

“You’ve already fucked me once tonight.”

“I know, Jack. I’m sorry! I really am. I’m just scared, okay? I don’t want to go back inside. Please, Jack…” She wanted to say more, to beg his forgiveness, but she couldn’t stop the tears. The exhaustion was back and it overwhelmed her. “I’m sorry, Jack,” she said, tears streaming down her face. “I’m sorry for everything. Just do what you’re going to do. I just don’t care anymore.”