Reinventing Mel: A Hellion MC Novel (26 page)

Once we were outside and the door was closed, Carly started talking.  "The Hellions are at war with the Ghosts and I heard you are already on those asshole's radar.  I need you and Julie to stay in the house or the backyard until you're given the all-clear.  I can't tell you what's going on and definitely none of the specifics but you might want to keep our girl away from the front windows as well."  Carly's eyes were dead on mine as she gave me my instructions.  "If you even suspect shit is going down, I don't care if its two fucking doors away, you call Huff or one of the other council members.  You get scared by something in the middle of the night, you fucking call.  Get my drift?"

Her words scared me and I found myself blinking as I absorbed what she said.  "Yes, Carly.  But is it really that serious?"

"You were friends with Grit, right?"

"Yes, I was."  At just the sound of my new friend's, my
dead
friend's name I could feel myself choking up.

"Well, it's
that
kind of serious, Lu.  Understand?"  Carly's frown emphasized what she'd said, the words she'd used.  Looking me over though, I saw her face soften.  "Need a hug, girlfriend?"

I nodded, unable to speak with the fear that filled me and the tears that had closed my throat.  I found her embrace helped me hold it together.

"Do you guys have everything you need to last you a couple of days?" Carly asked when we pulled apart and started back into the house.

"I-I think so," I countered though I wasn't really sure.  I hadn't really taken stock though I probably should have after Bishop told me I couldn't leave Mel's house.  But I'd just thought he meant I couldn't go to
my
place, not
any
place. 

"Good.  Julie?  Come gimme a hug, pretty girl.  I got things to get to," Carly called.

As I closed the door behind the other woman, I tried to turn my mind towards other thoughts so Jules couldn't see how terrified I was.  "How about you help me unpack my suitcases?  I've got lots of pretty things to show you," I said, forcing my mouth into the biggest smile I could muster.

"Yay!"  The little girl yelled as she ran towards Mel's bedroom leaving me to follow slowly behind.  But Julie's enthusiasm with my clothes, my costume jewelry and my shoes quickly pulled me out of my funk.  It wasn't long and we were in the dining room with me setting up my sewing machine as Julie pawed through the big box of fabric.

I'd promised her I'd make her a set of petticoats and a skirt to wear with them.  And my hoard of material included everything we'd need in order to make her a set.

"No, baby.  You pick the fabric for your skirt
first
then we'll pick up the petticoat stuff," I said with a giggle and watched her as she chewed her bottom lip as she tried to decide what she wanted. 

I probably could've completed the skirt, start to finish, in about an hour but Julie wanted to learn everything I was doing.  Soon I had her at the machine, running straight stitches for the casing at the waist.  By the time we stopped to reheat the leftover spaghetti, all her new skirt needed was a hem that I completed when we watched a couple of TV shows before we called it a night.

As I laid in Mel's bed, breathing the aroma of him in the pillow I had clutched to my chest I found myself reviewing everything Mel, Bishop and Carly had said.  And getting terrified all over again. 

So when I heard Julie's little voice in the doorway asking if she could sleep with me, I had no problem pulling back the covers and offering a very heartfelt, "yes".

Chapter Twenty Six

"That's him.  The fucker shaking the fuckin' robed guy's hand," Bishop murmured from his place behind the wheel of the Kia they'd rented in order to do business with Collins.

Mel got out of the car and looked the other man over from about 35 yards.  Older than Hart.  Bigger, too.  But just as out of shape.  It was Mel's job to ensure Collins got in the car with the Hellions without making a fuss and he went through the various methods he knew would ensure compliance without alarming bystanders.

As the man came down the steps walking next to a short, chubby woman who was yakking on the phone, Mel began his approach.  When Collins was four steps in front of him, Mel stopped and said, "Mr. Collins?  Is that you?" in such an incredulous way that the older man stopped dead in his tracks and looked at Mel as if trying to place him.

"How long has it been, sir?  Two years?"  the young man said, keeping up the farce of knowing Collins.  Mel stepped closer and grabbed the other man's hand as if to shake it but bent both the ring and middle finger towards the palm tightly causing a hiss of pain to escape from Collins' mouth.  Dropping his voice to almost a whisper, Mel spoke slow enough so the land developer could understand him over the pain he knew he was inflicting.  "I am a Hellion.  I am here to collect the money you owe.  You
will
be getting in the car that just pulled up in front of us.  Nod so I know you understand."

Collins' head bob was so fast the man's jowls quivered.   Mel helped the man into the back seat and waited as Donny zip-tied his wrists and ankles before closing the door and getting in on the other side.

"Are you going to kill me?" The older man asked at one point on the journey to his offices.

The Hellions acted as if no sound had been made. 

Mel used his knife to cut the tie on their captive's ankles before they all went into the small building.  He stayed in reception when Bishop guided the land developer by the back of the neck towards a door with a plaque that read 'Daniel Collins CEO'.   Donny followed Bishop in and closed the door.

So far, so good
, Mel thought.  He was sure the older man was gonna be a screamer but had been pleasantly surprised at not having to use his other skills, his expertise in causing pain, in order to keep his captive quiet.  Looking around the land development office, he saw that Collins seemed to be doing better than Hart had been.  Live plants instead fake, upscale computer system and quality furniture all spoke of a business that was successful.  So why had the fucker decided to stiff HC?

It took longer than it had in Wyoming but eventually the murmur behind the door became louder and there was a loud crack of a palm on a desktop.  Mel saw Donny open the door and ease himself out to join Mel.

"How's it going?" Mel asked eyeing the other Hellion for clues on what was happening in the office that he knew Don wouldn't provide.  If Transport had been quiet, Don was a guy that was as silent as the grave.

"Says doesn't have but, like, five large," Donny replied.  "Fuckin' declining to access his bank online in front of Bish."

Mel turned his eyes to the window behind the reception console and saw it had started raining again.

"Thinkin' you're, like, up next, man."

Something about the setup bothered Mel in a niggling, irritating way. 

It reminded him of one of the first Deschames jobs.  Same shit with the outward appearance of success but the claim of no money.  The man who owed Deschames, Mel thought the guy's name was Freeman or something, had been lying but it was the
way
one of the other enforcers found out that stuck in Mel's head.

He glanced around the large offices and saw one marked, 'Brad Harland, CFO' and moved towards it.  The door was locked. 

"Donny, can you get me in here?"

Without missing a beat, the tall silent man stepped to where Mel was and glanced at the lock.  Taking out a small case, his brother pulled out two small pick-looking devices and soon had the door open.  Mel had the Hellion perform his same magic on the file cabinets that lined one wall. 

It didn't take long to pull the most recent bank statement as well as the file marked 'Credit Cards - D. Collins'. 

"Take these to Bish," Mel instructed, shoving the papers into Donny's hands.  "The fucker has more than enough to pay us.  I'm willing to bet he's losing money on the project and is trying to bail on it."

Mel returned to the center of the reception area and went back to watching the rain as he waited.  From where he was, only the murmur of muffled voices could be heard.

Soon Bishop was the one joining him, pulling up his jeans as he walked to Mel.  "If I wasn't so deeply in love with pussy, I'd fuckin' beg you to marry me, man.  Genius, pure fuckin' genius getting the hard ev-ee-dence.  I've got the transfer going through now and as soon as it's done, you and Collins can dance.  I'll have Don stick around in case the old fuck tries any moves."

Mel just nodded.  When it came to enforcing, he had to shut his emotions off and keep himself steady otherwise he'd never be able to get the job done.

"We'll need more tequila," Mel mumbled just to try and appear not so robotic, so disconnected.

Bishop looked up from his phone and laughed.  "Yeah, buddy.  Tonight we fuckin' celebrate and tomorrow we get fuckin' gone."

Mel liked the sound of that. 

He couldn't wait to get gone, get home and get into the soft sweetness of his Lulu.

*.*.*.*.*

After a Jules and I got ready to meet the day, tidied our rooms and had breakfast we were onto phase two of our project:  the petticoats.  I showed my little shadow how to pick out the accent colors in the chintz fabric of her skirt and she chose a cute combo of lavender and pink for the ruffles that would help puff the full skirt out in a fifties bell shape.

I taught her how to make ruffles and the importance of having two layers of fabric between her legs and the stiff netting in order to stay comfortable.  Time flew by as we worked, her soft giggles when she accomplished something I'd showed her adding to the merriment of our efforts.

There was a knock at the door and we both stilled before I cautiously and as quietly as possible peeped out through the spyglass.  There was a younger guy on the porch wearing a hat from our local pizza place and carrying a large pizza box.

After dinner the night before, I done a quick scan of the pantry and fridge before shooting Carly a text detailing if the siege went on beyond Monday then we'd need groceries.  Maybe she'd misunderstood thinking Julie and I needed food right away.  But, I wanted to make sure before opening the door.

"We didn't order any pizza," I called out, hoping he could hear me.

"It's already paid for, miss," the delivery guy yelled back.

Glancing at Julie who was still in the chair by the sewing machine, I opened the door slowly but was shoved back so hard I fell on my butt as three men came barreling into the house.

And was screaming at the top of my lungs as one man grabbed me and another grabbed Julie only to hold a piece of cloth over her nose and mouth until she went completely limp.  The third man, the one I thought was pizza delivery guy, came towards me while pulling a black heavy piece of leather from his back pocket and slapped it against his palms a couple of times.

He smacked the edge of my jaw with the leather thingie and that was all it took for my world to slide to black.

*.*.*.*.*

Mel had never been so cold, so wet in his life.  The rain of Sunday afternoon hadn't stopped, but it had turned to snow overnight.  And with the warmer daytime temperature, had gone back to the sideways sheets of water again on Monday.

Terrible fucking shit to try and ride in.

Bishop kept pulling them off the freeway every couple of hours but the group wasn't making any progress to speak of in their effort to get back to Missoula.  So the decision was made to grab another room to try and wait the storm out. 

Which was more than fine by Mel since the night before he hadn't so much as slept as passed out after overindulging in tequila.  Something he discovered came with the morning after hangover of headache, nausea and a nasty tasting mouth.  Added to the lack of sleep to of Saturday night due to the shenanigans of his brothers and the hooker, his energy was depleted.

He was in the shower before the motel room door had barely closed and, after finally warming up, pulled his boxers back on, draped his wet jeans and shirt over his saddlebags before he crawled into bed.  He didn't care if his brothers stayed or went out, watched TV or even threw a fucking party.   Knowing the duo would wake him when it was time, Mel let everything else go and was practically asleep before he'd fully closed his eyes.

He felt a boot kick his covered feet and heard Donny mumble, "up, man," which was his cue the next day.  By his calculations he'd been asleep for fifteen hours but it was what his body needed.

"Yo' Cinder-fuckin'-ella!  Let's hit it, dude!" Bishop crowed coming out of the bathroom with his long brown hair wrapped in a towel.  Mel idly wondered if the man ever wore the long locks loose before digging around in his bags for clean dry clothes.  "According to the fuckin' app, we got nothin' but blue skies and clear miles all the way home."

"Don't you need the sun to be fully up to have blue skies?" Mel mumbled pulling on his clothes before sitting on the edge of the bed to put on his socks and boots.

"You wanna be home before two?  Then shut the fuck up and let's ride, asshole!"

Mel pulled his phone off the charger and saw he still hadn't received a reply to the text he'd shot Lu the afternoon before.  Even with the storm she should've gotten it even if it was later than when he'd sent it.

"Ah, Bish?  When was the last time somebody checked on my girls?"  Mel had to yell in order to be heard over the blow dryer the big biker was using on his long, thick hair.  Bishop's eyes captured his in the mirror as he kept the unit moving. 

Turning it off and putting it back in the holder, but not letting go of Mel's eyes, Bishop reached for his phone.

"Yeah, what's doing?  Just getting ready to head out.  Listen, who was the last one to check on Hardwood's place?  No.  I want a team over there immedioso, dig?  And I want a call fuckin' straight back, no passing go, no collecting two hundred.  Yeah?  Right back at you, baby.  Serious as shit, Dare.  Yeah, late, motherfucker."  Bishop looked back at his recruit and simply nodded.

Mel's phone rang but he didn't recognize the number.  "Hello?"

"Mr. Davis?  This is Mrs. Messerschmitt from Grace Elementary.  Julie wasn't in class today and we didn't receive the required call…"

"Excuse me?  Julie wasn't in class?"  Mel saw Bishop reach for his phone again as the big man rushed out of the bathroom .

"No, Mr. Davis, she wasn't and you were supposed to have called in if she was ill or unable to attend," the woman's voice continued.  "It is vital that we receive that phone call to ensure…"

"Mrs. Messershed?  Julie
was
supposed to be there today.  I don't know why she isn't but I'll get to the bottom of it.  Thank you for calling!"  Mel was roaring by the time he disconnected and ran back into the room to see both Bishop and Donny on their phones.  He tried calling Lulu direct on both her cell and at the office.  But both went to voicemail.

Oh fuck, oh fuck, oh fuck!

Mel's curses were being repeated by his heart as it beat heavy and hard.  He didn't know what to do or where to go.  Julie missing?  Lulu not answering?

"Okay.  Here's what we know.  Your place is empty though there was a pizza box and a delivery man's hat on the porch.  The front door was unlocked.  Your car and her car are still there."  Bishop pushed his hair back over his shoulders and bounced his cellphone on his knee.  "Trey is asking for the brothers to bring the Ghosts into the Hellion compound to see if any of them might know what's doing.  I've got Brand searching the hospitals to see if Lulu's fuckin' ex went to a hospital in Missoula or after he got back to Albuquerque."