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Adriana

“Do you have something to hide, Ms. Nikolas?
Because when someone brings up their lawyer, it usually means they do,” said Stone,
frowning.

 “I’ve got nothing to hide,” I said, glaring at
him. “And I don’t appreciate you making me feel like a victim.”

“A victim?” he repeated.

“Yes!” I cried. “Not only have I just found out
that my best friend was kidnapped, but I had this monster following me around
earlier, a man who scared the hell out of me, on purpose. Now, you’re looking
at me like I’m the guilty one around here? That’s a bunch of crap!”  

Just then the front door opened and my mother
walked in.

“What is going on in here?” she asked, staring
at all of us in surprise.

“Mom, Krystal’s been kidnapped,” I said,
rushing over to her.

“Kidnapped?” she repeated, as I threw my arms
around her. “By whom?”

“We don’t know,” I said.

She patted me on the back. “Honey, I’m so
sorry. That poor girl. Her mother must be worried sick.”

“I haven’t talked to her yet, but I’m sure she
is.”

“Ma’am, my name is Detective Stone and this is
Detective Williams. Your daughter has agreed to come down to the precinct for
an interview. You’re welcome to join her.”

“Of course,” she said, as I released her. “But,
I don’t understand, why does she need to do this?”

I explained what had happened, starting off
with Breaker following me this morning.

“That’s why you were acting so strange today,”
she said, looking upset. “This man was harassing you? The man that’s been
killed?”

I nodded. “Yes and they think that I might have
had something to do with it.”

Her face turned red. “Of course you didn’t,”
she said angrily. She looked at the couple. “My daughter wouldn’t hurt anyone!
This monster was obviously shot by someone else. How dare you even accuse her
of something like this!”

“We aren’t accusing her,” said Stone. “We just
need to interview her properly.”

“Why can’t you do it here?” she asked. “Adriana
isn’t under arrest, is she?”

“No, not at all. We’d just like to record the
interview,” he replied. “And see if your daughter might agree to a polygraph
test.”

“I can’t believe this is happening,” I moaned,
staring at Trevor who was very quiet.

“I’m going to call our lawyer,” said Vanda,
taking out her cell phone. “Before you start agreeing to anything, Adriana.”

“If she’s innocent, she doesn’t need a lawyer,”
said Williams. She looked at me and sighed. “Look, just come down, pass the
test, give us a statement, and you’ll be on your way. That will be cheaper and a
lot easier than bringing in a lawyer.”

I sighed. “She’s right,” I said, looking at my
mother. “I’m innocent. I haven’t done anything wrong. I’ll take the test and
give them a recorded statement. If it will get them off my back.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, looking concerned.
“I can call him. You remember Stanley Bruebaker, don’t you? He’s the lawyer I
used when your father passed away. I’m sure he can direct me to a lawyer that
will help us with something like this.”

“No, I don’t remember him,” I said. “Anyway,
Mom, I haven’t done anything wrong so it would be silly for us to fork out
money when we don’t need to.”

“Adriana, I’m sure that you haven’t committed
any crimes, either,” said Williams, digging into her wallet. “This is really
just nothing more than a formality. Here’s my card with the address to the
precinct. We’ll meet you there?”

I nodded.

She turned to look at Trevor. “I’d like you
down there too. For further questioning.”

“I’ll be there,” he said, moving to my side. He
put his arm around my shoulders. “Now, who’s going to be searching for Krystal
while you waste your time with us?”

“Don’t worry, Mr. Larson, we have people searching
for her,” she replied, smiling coolly.

“Tell me, Raptor, isn’t it? Do you think that
Krystal’s disappearance could have anything to do with what happened to Thomas
Kramer’s execution?” asked Detective Stone.

“Execution?” repeated Trevor. “Hmm… I don’t see
it.”

“You don’t think it might have been for some
kind of retaliation between the two of your…clubs?” he asked.

Trevor’s expression was stoic. “No. We’re all
good.”

“Even with Mr. Kramer harassing your
girlfriend?” asked Detective Williams.

He grunted. “Breaker deserved an ass kicking
for that. But murder? That’s extreme, even for us.”

“Well, someone sure felt he deserved it,” she
replied, studying his face closely.

 “I’m not saying that he didn’t deserve it,”
said Trevor. “He was the scum of the earth. A guy who enjoyed raping women. Now,
some of those women that he assaulted can sleep better at night.”

“That was the monster that was following you
today, Adriana?” asked Vanda, her eyes wide. “A convicted rapist?”

I nodded.

Her eyes were stormy as she turned to the
detectives. “When you actually do find out who killed him, call me. I want to
thank him personally.”

“For murder?” asked Detective Williams.

“For protecting my daughter and every other
girl that catches his eye,” she replied.

Raptor

When the two detectives left, Vanda turned to
me. “This is your fault,” she said, angrily. “If it wasn’t for you, none of
this would have happened.”

Before I could respond, Adriana got between us.
“Mom! It’s not his fault. He had nothing to do with this.”

“They’re both in gangs,” she said, waving her
hand at my cut. “Obviously, they hung around each other. Didn’t I tell you that
if you hung around biker scum that you’re just looking for trouble?”

“Wait a second,” I said, now glaring back at
her. “You have no right to judge me or any of my crew, for that matter and I
think you owe me an apology.”

She snorted. “An apology? Right. What are you
even doing in my house?” she said and then looked at Adriana. “Adriana, what’s
he doing here? Didn’t we talk about this, earlier? You promised that you
weren’t going to see him again.”

Clenching my jaw, I found myself hoping for the
first time ever, that a woman I was interested would grow a set of balls.

“I never said that,” she replied. “And he had
nothing to do with this. I met him through Krystal…”

“Who’s been kidnapped, God forbid,” she said,
making the sign of the cross. “How does Krystal even know any of these people?”

“She’s seeing Tank,” replied Adriana. “Who is
in their club. The Gold Vipers.”

Her lips tightened. “And you wonder why this
happened? Didn’t I tell you how dangerous these people were?”

“Ma’am, I wouldn’t let anything happen to your
daughter. You have my word,” I tried again, hoping she’d give me a break, for
Adriana’s sake. I could tell how much she loved her mother and I respected
that. I didn’t like the shit spewing out of her mouth, but I wasn’t about to
make a scene.

Her eyes burned into mine. “I don’t care about
your
word. It’s the word of the people you hang out with that I have a problem
with.”

I clenched my jaw. “My brother’s respect women.
Most of them.”

“And was this guy, Breaker, one of your
brother’s?”

“Fuck no. He wasn’t part of our crew.”

“Charming vocabulary, you have,” she scoffed.

“I never claimed to be a saint, Mrs. Nikolas.”

“Believe me, one would never mistake you for
one,” she answered.

I grunted.

 “Look, we don’t have time to argue about this
right now, Mom. We need to get down to the precinct.”

“I’m coming with you,” she replied, picking up
her purse.

Adriana raised her hand in the air. “No,
actually, I prefer that you stayed home.”

Vanda’s face fell. “Why?”

She let out a frustrated sigh. “Because I don’t
need to listen to you rail me about Trevor on the ride out there.”

Vanda looked at me, her eyes full of venom. She
turned back to Adriana and raised her chin. “Fine. I will drive separately.”

“You don’t need to come,” said Adriana.

“Of course I do. Someone needs to be there for
support,” said Vanda.  

“That someone is already going.  Me,” I
replied.

“If you want to look out for my daughter,
you’ll stay out of her life,” she said firmly.

“Mom!”

“I’m sorry, Adriana, but you know how I feel
about bikers. I’m not going to pretend I’m happy to find the both of you
together in my house.”

“I thought this was my house, too,” said
Adriana, now looking almost as angry as me.

“Of course it is. But, you are my daughter and
I am just trying to protect you.”

I sighed. “I’m going upstairs to get my
jacket,” I said, heading for the steps.

“What is his jacket doing in your bedroom?” said
Vanda shrilly.

Shaking my head, I went into her bedroom and
grabbed my jacket. As I was turning around, Adriana stepped into the room.

“I’m sorry about my mother,” she said, walking
over to the mirror. She ran her fingers through her hair. “She can be a real
pain in the ass.”

I walked up behind her. “Yeah, well she’s not
afraid to speak her mind. I’ll give that to her.”

“She doesn’t know you, though. So, don’t let it
get to you.”

I grabbed her around the waist and smiled at
her in the mirror. “The only thing that gets to me, Kitten, is you.”

She smiled.

I kissed the side of her head. “What a
nightmare, huh?” I whispered.

Adriana nodded.

Letting out a frustrated sigh, I let her go.

“I wish I would have waited for her to pull out
of the parking lot,” she said, looking teary-eyed again. “I feel like it’s my
fault.”

“It’s definitely not your fault, Babe. Don’t even
go there.” I reached inside of my jacket, for my phone. “And, don’t worry, I’m
sure Slammer and Tank will get her back.”

She wiped a tear from under her lash. “What do
you think happened?”

I couldn’t tell her about The Judge. She
wouldn’t understand. But, I wasn’t going to lie to her either. “Personally? I
think it was retaliation. I think the Devil’s Rangers believe that we had
something to do with Breaker’s murder and took her.”

“Did you?” she whispered.

I looked her in the eye. “I can honestly say that
none of us killed him.”

She let out a sigh of relief. “Okay.”

“Are you two coming?” asked Vanda, standing in
the doorway. She was glaring at me again.

“Yes,” said Adriana, grabbing a pair of socks
from her dresser.

I looked down and saw Adriana’s dress still
lying on the floor next to her bra. When I raised my eyes, I saw that Vanda had
noticed it too, and was not happy.

I couldn’t help but to dig into her. “Looks
like a bomb went off in here,” I said, grinning.

Vanda’s eyes narrowed. “I’ll wait for you
outside,” she said, walking away from the bedroom.

I walked over to the doorway and leaned out.  “Since
you’re not riding with Adriana, you can certainly ride with me.” I smiled
evilly. I just couldn’t help myself. “I don’t bite.”

She grunted. “Hah. I’d rather walk.”

Man, she was brutal
. “You
sure? Riding on the back of a Harley might just put a smile on your face.”

“Nothing that you could do for me would
ever
put a smile on my face,” she answered, heading down the stairs. “Unless, it has
to do with leaving my daughter alone.”

 I sighed.

Adriana

When we reached the station, Trevor and I were
ushered into two separate rooms. I reiterated everything that had happened the
past two days, only leaving out Jason and the fact that he’d almost date-raped
me. They recorded my statements, with my mother sitting next to me, holding my
hand. When she heard how I’d met Breaker in Griffin’s, she made the sign of the
cross and scolded me in front of the detectives. It was embarrassing.

“I didn’t want to go inside there either,” I
told her. “But, Krystal insisted.”

“Why did she insist?” asked Detective Stone.

“Because it was her birthday and she needed to
talk to Tank.”

 They began asking me questions about Krystal
and Tank’s relationship.

“I don’t know too much about it,” I said. “I
mean, they’ve been dating but she mentioned something tonight about breaking up
with Tank.”

Stone suddenly perked up. “She did? What was
her reasoning?”

“To be honest, I think she was getting bored.
Krystal doesn’t like to stick with one guy too long. Plus, he’s kind of bossy.
At least, that’s what she said. I don’t see him enough to know for certain.”

“You don’t think that she might have tried to
break it off tonight and he became angry?” he asked.

“No. I mean, I guess I don’t know. Um, didn’t
you mention that the person who called it in said that she was taken by two men
wearing masks?”

He nodded. “Yes, she did. But, we need to check
every angle. In case Tank is somehow involved.”

“To be honest, I can’t imagine that he is,” I
replied. I could tell from the look in Tank’s eyes that he really cared for
her.

“You just said that you didn’t know him very
well,” reminded Stone.

“I know, but…”

“He hangs out with a rough crowd,” said Stone.
“They certainly aren’t choir boys.”

“Indeed,” said my mother, sniffing. “Those
bikers are all nothing but thugs.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh, for the love of God,
Mom. You don’t know them so give it a rest.”

“I don’t have to know them. And neither do
you.”

Arguing with her was pointless. She was so
stubborn. Sighing, I turned back to Stone. “I just can’t see Tank doing something
like that. She said that most of the time he was like a big teddy bear, toward
her.” I left out the part of how she was afraid to break it off with him. I
just didn’t believe that Tank was the kind of guy who’d kidnap or hurt her.

“Yet, she wants to break up with him?” he said.

“Krystal gets bored. That’s the way she is and
always has been. In high school, she used to have a new boyfriend every month.
So, wanting to break up with him isn’t a surprise.”

 He began asking me about the Gold Vipers.

“Seriously, I don’t know very much about them,”
I said. “I just met Trevor, yesterday, through Tank. All I know is that they’re
a club and it’s like one big family.”

“What’s your relationship with Trevor?” asked
Stone.

My mother’s hand tightened on mine.

“We just met. I don’t know, yet.”

 “Can I give you some advice?” he said, staring
at me hard.

I shrugged.

“Stay away from him and the rest of his gang.
We’ve got records on almost everyone associated with the Gold Vipers.
Everything from narcotics to arson to theft. You don’t want to be involved with
people like that. They’ll bring you down with them if you’re not careful.”

“What about Trevor?” asked my mother, leaning
forward. “Does he have a record?”

“No, surprisingly, he doesn’t. That just probably
means he’s good at keeping a low profile. He knows how to play that game and
not get caught.”

“Or, he’s not playing any game and he’s just a
decent human being,” I countered, getting angry.

Stone smirked. “He comes from trash. His
father’s in prison for drugs and his mother’s been in and out of jail, most of
her life. He’s in a gang of hoodlums, which is right, by the way, Ms. Nikolas,”
he said, nodding toward my mother. “They are really nothing but a bunch of
thugs.”

“See,” she said, waving her finger at me. “I told
you.”

I sighed. “Just because they are doesn’t mean
Trevor is.”

“Defend him all you want, but ask yourself this
– why would he want to be associated with people who continually break the law
if he’s such a decent guy?” asked Stone.

“I don’t know, maybe because he has nobody
else?” I mumbled, rubbing my forehead. “You know, I thought we were here to
talk about finding Krystal and Breaker?”

“We are,” he said, shuffling papers. “Which
reminds me-”

Another officer walked through the doorway and
motioned for Stone. “We have some information.”

“Oh. Good.” He smiled at us and stood up. “I’ll
be right back.”

“You heard what that man said about this gang,”
said Vanda, after he left. “They are nothing but trouble.”

“I know what he said, but Trevor is a good
guy.”

“How do you know?” she said angrily. “You keep
defending someone that you don’t know, Adriana.”

“Because sometimes, you just do,” I replied
angrily.

“You’ve only known him for two days.”

“Yeah, so? It’s not like we’re getting
married.”

“You may as well after what went on in your
bedroom,” she mumbled, looking at me out of the corner of her eye.

I sighed. “So what? I’m twenty-one years old.
I’m not a child.”

“I know, but-”

“Mom, you have to learn to trust me,” I said,
grabbing her hand. “I know that Trevor is part of this gang but he’s much more
than that. I can feel it. I can also feel that he would never do anything to
hurt me.”

“You’ve just met. How do you really know?” she
asked, looking weary.

“I don’t know. It’s something in my gut, I guess.”

She sighed. “You’re all I have, Adriana. If
anything happened to you, I… I don’t know what I’d do.”

I squeezed her hand. “I know, Mom. But, you
don’t have to worry about me.”

“I will
always
worry about you,” she
replied, blinking back tears.

 “I know, but learn to trust me. Okay?”

She let out ragged sigh. “I do trust you. It’s
him I don’t trust.”

“Try? For me?”

 “I will try, but if he hurts you, so help me…”

The door opened back up and Stone walked in.
The look on his face was grave.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

He sat down across from me. “I have some
troubling news.”

My heart stopped. “What is it?”

Stone put his hand over mine. “We found your
friend, Krystal. She’s been murdered.”

“What?!” I shrieked, pulling my hand away. I
covered my mouth. “She’s been murdered?” I began to cry. “No! This has to be a
mistake!”

“Krystal’s mother has already confirmed that
it’s her,” he said. “I’m so sorry.”

“Where did they find her?” asked my mother, who
had her arm around me as I sobbed.

“She was found in the parking lot of Griffin’s.
She was… rolled up in a blanket.”

“Oh my God,” I cried, picturing it. “Those
bastards!”

“It gets worse. From what it sounds, whoever
left her there was sending a message. In fact,” he sighed. “I probably
shouldn’t even tell you this, but I want you to know what kind of people we are
dealing with.”

“Tell me what?” I said hoarsely, waiting for
him to continue.

“Someone carved the words ‘Revenge Is Sweet’ on
her stomach,” he said, his eyes hardening.

“What does that mean?” asked my mother.

“I believe that this was payback for Breaker’s
murder. Look,” he said, pinning me with his eyes. “This could have just as
easily been you. Hell, maybe it was supposed to be, since Breaker was obviously
obsessed with you.”

“What?” cried my mother. “You think they were
trying to target Adriana and got Krystal, instead?”

“It’s possible. There’s obviously a war going
on between these two gangs and an innocent girl was murdered.”

“That’s it!” cried Vanda. “You are never seeing
that man again. Krystal is dead and I’m not losing you, Adriana. Promise me
that you won’t see Trevor again. Promise me!”

Stone handed me a box of tissues. “I’d have to
agree with your mother. Especially now that there’s a murder investigation
going on. You need to stay as far away from this character as you can.”

The pain in my heart seemed unbearable as I
pictured Krystal’s beautiful, smiling face. We’d been best friends, for so many
years. Now she was gone, and for what? Revenge?
Because of me?

“Fine… I promise,” I mumbled, wiping my tears.
“I won’t go near any of them.”

“You’re making a wise choice,” said Stone. “You
know that, don’t you?” 

The only thing that I did know was that my best
friend was dead… and nothing else mattered.