Confessions Of An Old Lady (5 page)

Chapter 8

I woke up around eight the next morning after a somewhat restless night. I was nervous about my meeting with Sonny at eleven and was pacing the polished wood floors of the little rental house. The two cups of coffee I had already consumed were not helping my nerves at all. I was about to have brunch with one of the leaders of a notorious motorcycle gang—alone.

Well, not exactly alone. I had chosen a public place in the middle of the day. Not that I thought he was going to kidnap and murder me right there in the center of town or anything, but I didn’t want him to think I was easy. If he had me alone in a private place, according to his reputation, he might try to put the moves on me and I didn’t want that to happen…not just yet, anyway. I was playing a dangerous game of cat-and-mouse. Renley and Beauford had told me about his many conquests and how he would screw anything with two legs and I didn’t want him to discard and discount me so quickly. If I played it too loose, I might wind up in a precarious situation. The goal was to gain his confidence and the only way I was going to do that was if I could get him to think of me as someone to respect. Someone he’d have to work hard to get.

After nearly wearing a hole in the flooring, it was finally time to leave for the coffee shop. I locked up the house and jumped on my bike. I pulled up in front of the coffee shop and parked along the side of the road.

No big surprise—it was eleven and Sonny wasn’t there yet. I ordered my favorite drink, a double-tall caramel macchiato and a vanilla scone, and sat down on one of the couches in the front of the coffee shop. After ten minutes had gone by, I started to worry that he had changed his mind or that maybe he was too drunk last night to remember making plans with me.

Just when I was about to give up and head back home, I heard the rumble of a motorcycle engine and turned to see Sonny parking his bike next to mine. His, I knew from my research and training, was a black-and-chrome Harley Davidson Fatboy with ape hangers—meaning, the handlebars were high up so that the driver has to reach up high to hold them. It was actually pretty awesome looking.

He walked into the coffee shop with his confident swagger and started looking around the café for me. I couldn’t help but acknowledge in my own mind that he
was
very good-looking and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t the teeniest bit attracted to him, but it ended there. He was my mark. He was a convicted criminal and was accused of some pretty atrocious crimes, I reminded myself.

When he spotted me near the front window of the café, he turned and walked toward me with his notorious swagger. “Hey, Trish!” He nodded once and then plopped down on the sofa next to me. I had been expecting him to sit somewhere, I don’t know,
not
so close to me, but he was a little too close for my comfort. I scooted to my left just enough so I could see him better.

“I’m glad you actually came,” he said.

He was glad
I
actually came? He was the one that I expected would flake out and not show up. I mean, a coffee shop is not quite the typical hangout for a guy like Sonny. “Of course I came.” I batted my eyelashes at him a little and smiled. “What do you want to drink?” I asked, trying to get the waitress’s attention.

“No, that’s okay,” he said. “I don’t drink coffee.”

“Then why did you agree to meet me at a
coffee
shop?” I teased him.

“Baby, I’d meet you anywhere you asked me to.” He leaned over and put his arm behind me along the top of the couch.

“Whoa, now. Slow your roll, there, buddy. Remember, I said this was
not
a date,” I said with a smile on my face. I was still trying to play a little hard-to-get.

“Okay, okay. I get it.” He scooted a little further from me, to my relief. “But why won’t you go on a date with me?”

I had to feign ignorance. I couldn’t tell him that I knew of his reputation, since my story was that I was new to town.

“I don’t know. I’m just not really in a place where I could date anyone right now. I’m so busy with Dad’s estate and the house…”

“All right. Fair enough. But that doesn’t mean I’m gonna stop trying. Eventually, you’ll give in. They all do.”

“Oh, you’re really that confident, are you?” I looked him right in the eyes.

“Yes. I am that confident. When ya got it, ya got it. Ya know what I mean?” he said with a wry smile.

“I’d say it’s more cockiness than confidence, if you ask me,” I teased him with a shrug of my shoulder.

“Well, whatever you want to call it, I can get any girl I want, any time I want,” he said with a roguish smile.

This was going so much better than I had expected. He was enjoying our playful banter and was flirting with me relentlessly. “Really? Any girl? Prove it. See that waitress over there?”

He turned to look at the girl I had pointed out. She was young, probably early twenties. Pretty. Shy-looking.

“If you can get that girl over there to give you her phone number, I’ll go on a date with you.”

“That girl over there?” He indicated with a quick nod of his head in her direction. “She’s way too conservative for me. I can tell.” He waved my words off with a flick of his wrist.

“I didn’t say you have to marry her or anything. Just get her to give you her phone number.”

“Okay. Challenge accepted. But you have to hold up your end of the deal and go on a date with me. And you have to go no matter where I choose for the date…agreed?”

“Anywhere?” Now that made me slightly nervous. I didn’t want to get tricked into going to his house all alone. I wasn’t ready to be completely alone with him yet. Plus, if I let him think he could have me that quickly, he’d lose interest the next morning.

He must have read my mind. “Don’t worry. I’m not gonna to take you to a dungeon or lock you up in my cellar or anything like that. At least not yet.” He chuckled at his own joke and I got a cold chill. Had he actually done that before? “Ah, don’t worry. I would never do that. I’m just pulling your chain. It’ll be somewhere appropriate for a first date. I promise.”

“Cross your heart?’ I asked.

“Hope to die,” he replied.

“Okay. It’s a deal.” When we shook hands to seal the deal, I noticed how warm and strong his hand was. “But you’ve got to get that girl to give you her phone number first, remember?”

“Easy as pie,” he said with a wink. “Watch this.”

I watched as he sauntered from our little couch over to the register where the waitress was now standing, mixing a drink for a customer. I knew he would probably be able to get her number, but this was just part of the game.

“’Scuse me, miss?” he said loud enough for me to hear him. He turned to me and winked again.

I could barely hear the rest of their exchange, but I could see him schmoozing, leaning against the counter on one arm, tilting his head in her direction, and smiling. He did have a great smile, I observed again. I could see the dimple on his left cheek from where I was sitting.

The waitress started to giggle and covered her mouth with her hand. I assumed he said something that made her a little embarrassed or flustered. God knows what he was saying to her over there.

I watched intently with a smile on my face as Sonny reached across the counter and gently picked up the waitress’s hand with his hands. She blushed—I could see it from all the way across the room. Then, she pulled out the pencil she had stuck through her hair bun and started scribbling down something on a napkin.

He did it. Of course he did it. I knew he would get her phone number, but I was really just playing games with him, flirting a little. Anything for the job. Or at least that’s what I told myself.

He kissed her hand and then strutted all the way from the register to the sofa I was sitting on and handed me the napkin, which read. “Jenni Brooks,” with a little heart drawn over the “i” in Jenni. Her phone number was clearly written in bubbly numbers underneath her name.

“I told you. Any girl. Any time.”

I laughed out loud. Jenni with an “i” looked over at me, probably wondering what I was doing laughing with the man who just asked for her phone number. She probably hated me. That’s okay. I hated her too.

“Okay, okay. You win. But I will say this…next time I’m going to give you a more difficult challenge. I don’t really think this was a fair trade, but a deal’s a deal, so I
will
go out with you on one date.”

“One date’s all I need, baby.” He grinned and ran his hand through his wavy brown hair.

“Ewww…I don’t know what you’re thinking, but I’m not
that
kind of girl,” I said, genuinely shocked by his forwardness.

“I didn’t mean it that way. I just meant that one date is all I need to convince you to go on a second date with me…then a third…and so on. Next thing you know, you’ll be begging me to marry you.”

“Okay, see
that’s
the cockiness I was talking about.” I pointed right at him.

“I’m just messing with you, Trish. You’re too tense. You need to lighten up a little.” He patted my knee, which was the first time we had touched one another. It shot a strange sensation coursing through me, but I wasn’t sure exactly what I felt. I couldn’t be attracted to this man. He was a criminal and maybe worse. So what was it that made me feel so strange when he touched my knee, even for the briefest moment? I brushed it off.

“So where, might I ask, are you going to take me on this big date you’ve got planned?”

“I’m not going to tell you that,” he said, feigning offense at my even asking. “It’ll be a surprise.”

“I don’t like surprises,” I said. This was actually true, I had always hated surprises. One time, on my fourteenth birthday, my parents tried to throw a surprise party for me and I nearly fainted when everyone jumped out from their hiding spots in the living room. I screamed and ran crying to my room. It was a disaster, but they never tried to surprise me again…neither has anyone who really knows me.

“Like I said, ya need to loosen up a bit. Don’t worry. It’ll be worth it. But don’t get your hopes up for some big fancy dinner or anything like that. One, this poor boy barely has two nickels to rub together. Two, I hate fancy restaurants and going to the movies. It’s just not my thing, sweetheart.”

I thought about this for a second before I spoke. If we weren’t going to his house and we weren’t going to dinner or a movie…where could we possibly be going? “Okay, that’s fine with me. Whatever you come up with, I’m down for it. Within reason, of course.”

“Of course.” He nodded. “I already promised you I wouldn’t try to lure you back to my place or do anything that would make you feel uncomfortable. One thing you should know about me is that my word is my bond. I never go back on a promise and I never lie. With me, what you see is what you get. No games, no drama, no bullshit.”

“That’s good to hear,” I told him.

“So when can we do this thing?” He leaned back on the sofa and clapped his hands together.

“Well, today’s Saturday. You work during the week. So, the soonest we can do it would be next Friday or Saturday.”

He frowned. “Next weekend? I have to wait that long to take you out?”

I nodded and shrugged my shoulders.

“Okay, next Friday night it is, then. Should I pick you up around seven?” He leaned forward again, our faces now only inches apart. I could smell a hint of peppermint on his breath, mixed with the scent of tobacco.

“Seven’s fine,” I told him. We exchanged phone numbers and I finished off my double-tall caramel macchiato.

“I’ll see you Friday, then,” he said as he stood up and pointed at me. I watched as he walked out of the café, climbed on his bike, and drove away.

Chapter 9

I had a week until my big date with Sonny Jackson, but one thing I had to do before Friday was update my handler, Agent Renley, on my progress with Sonny. I opened the fake, hollow book I had added to the bookshelf, which was like a small safe, and pulled out my Agency cell phone. It was a white iPhone 6, pretty nice. I turned it on and told Siri to call Agent Renley’s preprogrammed number on FaceTime. It rang a couple of times and then his face appeared on my screen.

“Agent Rockford,” he said.

“Agent Renley. I just wanted to update you on the investigation,” I said.

“Yeah? How’s it going down there? Have you made contact with the mark?” he inquired.

“Oh, I’ve made contact, all right. In fact, I’ve talked to him three times so far, one of which was just this past Saturday morning, just the two of us,” I informed him.

“Just the two of you? So soon? I hope you’re being careful down there, Rockford.” He seemed to be genuinely concerned about my safety.

“Oh, I’m fine. He was the one who suggested we meet Saturday, but I had him meet me at a coffee shop…very public, very safe.”

“So
he
asked
you
to spend time with him? That’s great, Rockford. You’re progressing faster than I expected. Good job.”

“Thanks,” I said.

“What’s next?” he asked.

“Well, believe it or not, he’s asked me out on a date,” I said proudly. “He’s taking me out Friday night. I don’t know what we’re doing yet. It’s a surprise. His exact words.”

“So he’s into you. That’s amazing, Rockford. You’re doing a great job. Keep it up, but remember, be safe. Be careful. Be aware of your surroundings. Don’t be alone with him until you’ve established some sort of trust with him. You can never be too careful with these guys. Remember, they are very dangerous. Especially Sonny.”

“I know,” I said. “I’m being careful. I think he likes me.”

“Good. Tremendous. Keep it up. Do whatever you can to earn his trust. It’s not going to be easy. They don’t let just anyone into their circle. You’ve got to work for it. Show him you can be trusted. Do what you can to make him believe you’re a bad bitch, because that’s what he likes. He’ll toss you aside with all the other little girls he’s been through if he thinks you’re just a soft girl with no brains and no spine. You’ve got to be a tough woman. Got it?”

“Yep. I think I got that covered already. I’ve told him my whole backstory about the arrests and everything.”

“And he bought it? Good. We’ve manufactured files that will back that story up, in case he had anyone look into you, and trust me…if he starts to consider letting you in at all, he’ll check into you. They have people in their crew that can do that sort of thing. Former military and computer geeks.”

“I know. I’m handling it,” I told him.

“Good to know. Is that all? How’s the house?”

“It’s okay, you know. About what you’d expect if the government was footing the bill for your house. It works great with my story, though.”

“Okay. Well, keep me posted. Get back with me after your big date.”

“I will. Talk to you soon.” I started to hang up, but Renley spoke up before I could.

“Oh, and Rockford…” he began.

“Yes?”

“Remember…he’s the enemy. Don’t forget that. I know he’s a charmer, but you can’t fall for this guy. I’ve seen it happen before and it never turns out well.”

“Renley, give me some credit. I’m stronger-willed than you think. Plus, he’s soooo not my type.”

“Okay, okay. It had to be said. Get back to me.”

“Will do. Later, Renley.”

“Goodbye, Rockford.”

I clicked the
end
button on the phone, placed it back in the fake book, and put it back on the bookshelf next to
Wuthering Heights
.

Passing the time in this lonely, quiet little house was difficult. I couldn’t visit my family, who were only twenty minutes away in Lexington, and I knew no one in Nicholasville besides Sonny. Luckily, I had brought my laptop with me and my Rosetta Stone software. I’d been trying to learn Russian for the past couple of months, so I decided to work on this for a while. Being a DEA agent, I already spoke Spanish rather fluently, but the more languages you speak, the faster you can climb the ladder at the DEA, not to mention the possibility for more assignments.

Every day for the rest of the week, I worked on my Russian skills and took long runs around the neighborhood to keep in shape. I knew that once—that is,
if
—Sonny and I became an item, I would be spending a lot of time with him and hanging around with the crew. But until that happened, I was utterly bored out of my skull all alone in the tiny house with nothing to do.

***

Finally, Friday rolled around. I went through my usual routine of dressing in my new clothes, complete with a black leather jacket, since it was September and the evenings were turning a little chilly. I caked on the makeup and sprayed my hair until it barely moved. I looked at the clock—it was six thirty. Only half an hour until Sonny would arrive to pick me up for our mystery date. I had given him directions to my house by text early in the day. I was a little nervous, but not the same kind of nervous that a girl feels before a big first date. This was a different kind of nervous. The kind of nervous where you know your life is on the line. Everything was riding on tonight. If the date went well, I could easily be on the way to gaining Sonny’s confidence and trust. If it went wrong, not only could the assignment be jeopardized, but my life could be threatened. I had to do and say all the right things at all the right times. I had to walk a fine line between easy and hard-to-get, between demure and overly confident, between good girl and bad girl.

A little after seven, I heard the muffled sound of Sonny’s motorcycle pulling into my driveway. I couldn’t decide whether to meet him outside or to let him come to the door. I decided to wait and see what he would do. To my surprise, I heard the engine shut off and then a few seconds later, a knock on the front door.

I opened the door and saw Sonny standing on the front porch with a big goofy grin on his face. I don’t know what I was expecting, but he didn’t dress any differently than he had the last few times I’d seen him. “Sonny. You’re on time. I’m impressed.”

“I told ya darlin’, one thing about me is that I’m as dependable as they come. If I say I’m gonna do something, by hell, it’s getting done and done right.”

“I can appreciate that,” I told him, grabbing my leather jacket and locking the door behind me.

“This your old man’s house?” he asked.

“Yep. You like it?”

“Sure. It’s nice. I got a buddy that lives just down the road. This is a nice neighborhood. You should be safe here.”

“Oh, so you’re concerned about my safety, huh?” I made a mental note—
score one point for team Rockford
.

“Course I am.” He gestured for me to get on his bike. “I wouldn’t want to see anything happen to you. But somehow I have a feeling you can take care of yourself.”

“Yes, I can,” I told him. “Thank you for noticing. So where are we headed?”

“You’ll see. Hop on.” He handed me his spare helmet and I secured it to my head. I still hadn’t gotten used to how incredibly dorky I looked with these stupid helmets on my head, but safety first, and all that.

“Okay. I’ll just have to trust you,” I said.

“You can definitely trust me. And don’t ever forget that.” He winked at me, grabbed my hands, and encircled them around his waist. “Hold on tight.”

Sonny backed the motorcycle out of my driveway and turned down West Chestnut Street and then onto Third Street. He followed Third Street all the way down until it spit us out onto Highway 27, the main connecting road in Nicholasville. We continued down 27 for about twenty minutes and then turned right on some unfamiliar, winding country road. After turning down one final curvy road, he pulled off onto the side of the road where there was a small clearing in the trees. Sonny parked the bike and kicked out the kickstand.

We both got off the bike and pulled off our helmets.

“What is this place? It’s beautiful,” I said, looking all around me at the amazing old trees, mostly sycamores.

“Ya ain’t seen nothing yet. Follow me.” I followed him through the clearing in the trees and then I saw we were about to go down a little-beaten path. I started to get a little nervous. Here I was with a known criminal and suspected murderer, all alone in the middle of the woods and he was taking me to a more secluded part of this empty area, where there weren’t any other people to be seen for miles.

He must have seen my hesitation. “It’s okay. Seriously. Follow me.”

I decided to trust him and walked behind him down the path until he stopped at the edge of a small grassy cliff.

“Whoa!” I said. The scene before me was breathtakingly beautiful. The trees opened up to reveal rocky cliffs with waterfalls of varying sizes rolling over the rocks. It really was an amazing sight. “What is this place?”

“This, my darlin’, is Indian Falls.” He stretched out his arm and held out his hand as if he were a tour guide.

“It’s gorgeous,” I said, taking in the lovely scene before me. “How did you know about this place?”

“I’ve been coming here since I was a little boy. My friends and I used to jump off those rocks over there and into the creek. There’s a deep pocket of water right over there underneath that little waterfall.” He pointed and looked like he was reminiscing on his childhood days. I tried to imagine this big burly man as a child. Tried to picture him at twelve years old with his friends all yelling and laughing as they plunged off the side of the rocks into the water below. Watching him remember his childhood was the first moment I saw the human side of Sonny Jackson. In that one moment, he didn’t at all seem like a crazed criminal, more like a man who’d lived a hard life, but had this one memory to keep him grounded and remind him that life was once not so difficult.

“I love it. It’s beautiful. Thank you for bringing me here,” I said, looking up at him. He looked down at me and brushed a piece of hair from the side of my face and tucked it behind my ear.

“
You’re
beautiful,” he said. And just like that, Trish Sanders received her first kiss from outlaw biker, Sonny Jackson.

Score another point for Team Rockford
.