Authors: Carly White
Chapter 1
Tony
“Sir?”
I turned around and looked at Fungi. He didn’t have a real name or not one that I had ever heard of, but he was useful. The man could stay in one position, waiting and listening for hours. He was not birthed, but spawned from spores and that day, he looked every bit of his name. His dark brown hair was straggly and his face was spongy, eyes dead to the world.
“What is it?”
“Ronnie just got picked up off of Lancaster.”
I looked back down at the bags in my hands. Ronnie was a new runner, just out of high school with no hope of a job. I thought that he would do good with deliveries. He hadn’t even been with me a week and it was the second time he was giving me trouble.
The first time he was robbed and lost an ounce of snow. Now he was picked up and would cost me at least a couple thousand to bail out. I wouldn’t leave him in there, though he probably deserved it for being over on that side of town as it is. He really should have known better.
“With what?”
“Ten bags. He just called me and told me that were about to arraign him. Do you want me to go down there and get him out?”
I set down the scales and sat back. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with him. I should make him sit in there, test his loyalty, but I was on my way to that side of town anyways. “No, don’t worry about it. Let him sit for a while and I will go get him in a bit.”
Fungi waited, wanting something for his information and since it was worth it to always have an extra set of eyes on the street, I threw him a small dime bag. He smiled at me, showing off several teeth that were starting to rot. While he may look like he was falling apart, he was one of the better men that worked for me. In this line of work, it wasn’t what a person looked like or said, but loyalty and Fungi had never been short on that part of it.
I went back to weighing out the last few bags for Darren. He was supposed to already be here to pick up his product, but like always, he was late. It seemed as though the world was trying my patience and they were running out the longer I waited. When he finally did arrive, I threw him the duffel bag after he gave me the cut from the last batch. It felt short and when I asked about it, he started to looked down and stutter. He never could look me in my eyes when he was lying.
“Sorry boss. I couldn’t get what you wanted for them. No one would pay it.”
“If they can’t pay you keep it and bring it back. I would rather have my product back so that someone else can move it. No one else is having trouble getting twenty a gram for it.”
He wasn’t having troubles, not like he said anyways. The problem was that he liked the powder too much and instead of selling it, more than usual was going up his nose. He was going to become a problem and though I was starting to lose trust in him, I figured that with enough rope, he would figure it out or hang himself.
“That’s the price. Stop snorting it until you have sold enough to. Last chance Darren.”
The man’s darting blue eyes stopped for a minute on Tony’s face, a look of relief. “Thank you, boss.”
“Last chance Darren.”
He nodded and left out of the door. He was muscular and effective at scaring people and doing money runs. Maybe I would have to change him to an enforcer, because his brain capacity wasn’t enough for dealing it seemed. Not that his jobs were hard, but when it came to a product that he liked too much, it wasn’t working out so well. If his uncle hadn’t been with the Satan’s Angels for years, I would have let him go already. But I was trying to make it work for his family’s sake.
There wasn’t a lot of work in Chicago. The streets were filled with poverty and misery. I was just trying to make a buffer from it. Sure my product caused some misery, but I saw it as a mask of another problem. Most of my clients were in the business side of town, the financial houses could easily carry the whole business. They were the type of men that liked to work twenty hours a day and needed something more than their own energy to keep going at that rate.
I didn’t see the point of the rat race. I made more than enough selling, helping the community make money in a place where unemployment was one out of ten. I was doing the public a service in some ways, but not everyone felt that way. With one of my runners was picked up, it would be known that he was mine. He worked for me and every man with a badge in the city wanted to take me down for it. But they never could. I changed these people’s lives and they paid me back with loyalty.
But men like Darren and Ronnie weren’t very smart. Fungi was the type of man that most people would cross the street to avoid passing, but to me, he was a loyal soldier. If the women were as scary as the men that worked for me, I may have changed my ways, but for now, running the city’s largest motorcycle gang was enough. Half of the city got supplied by me and I was proud that I had expanded the business my father’s and uncles started years before. There were downsides to it though and going down to the police station to get another one of my employees out was one of those things.
I had two other runners come in and do their daily dump. Darren wasn’t the only one short. It was becoming something of routine and I knew that I was going to have to remind everyone what happened if you left my employ or my protection. An example was going to have to be made soon.
I got dressed like I was going to a business meeting. My gang hadn’t worn the jackets that were customary in years. It was a new world and there was not a lot of room left in it for leather in the city. There was still room for bikes though. Taking the ride through the Chicago was easier when I could just shoot through traffic jams and the rows of angry drivers that resulted. I saw the 12
th
precinct ahead of me and I slowed down to park in the front. I didn’t lock it, but left it as it was. I wouldn’t be long and everyone knew to leave our bikes alone.
Chapter 2
Emily
I was late for class, but I knew that I had to stop down at my dad’s work first. He had forgotten his lunch and with his cholesterol as high as it was, he couldn’t afford another cheeseburger from the local diner. His arteries couldn’t take it and it was exactly what he would do if I didn’t get the salad and sprouts that he was supposed to be eating. I called his phone again, hoping I could have him pop out front to meet me, but he wasn’t answering. Probably trying to avoid me and the new diet he was on.
Setting the phone down in the seat, I waited impatiently for the light to change colors. When it finally did turn green, it was almost another minute before I was able to take my foot off the brake. I watched a dark haired man cut in through the traffic and go around me, not bridled by the four wheels of space needed. I sighed to myself, wishing that my life had turned out differently. What it would be like to be on some country road on the back of one of those?
Getting to the police station finally, I noticed the same orange emblem on the bike parked out front. It wasn’t hard to notice the bike and my eyes looked around for the driver before looking for a place to park. I had to park in with the police cars in the back, the sign threatening to tow me in front of me. They wouldn’t tow me of course, my dad would have a fit, but I did hate to park so far away from the entrance. It took almost five minutes to finally get to the door and I had to push the hair from my face that had blown around on the way in.
Looking around, I didn’t see the tall man from the bike or my dad. Gripping the brown paper bag in my hand, I started past the receptionist and into the holding part that was lined with open cubicles. I caught the red hair from my dad almost immediately. He was in the only office with walls and he was having a discussion that did not seem to be going well. The man seated in front of him was not nearly as animated as James was. Something was not making him happy, his face getting red. All I could see was a man in a suit, his back to the clear glass wall as my father continued to yell. His words couldn’t be heard, but the expression on his face was pretty self-explanatory.
I sat down, waving to his partner Lance. He walked over to me, his eyes lingering on my legs as I straightened up. “Hey Lance. How are you?”
“Good. Haven’t seen you up here in a while.”
“Yeah, class has been crazy lately. Finals coming up and all of that.”
He nodded as if he understood, his eyes darting to the cleavage from my shirt. Though he was years older than me, I knew that he was aching for it most of the time. All I had to do was smile at him to get what I wanted. “So is there anything I can help you with Emily?”
Still he hadn’t made eye contact and I waited for him to drag his eyes up to my face. “I’m just here to give dad his lunch. He is not supposed to be going out and getting take aways anymore.”
Lance just shook his head like he was listening or concerned about anything I was saying. I could have been reading a phone book and he would have done the same thing. Every time I was around him he acted this way, making me wonder what was going through his mind, though I doubted that I actually would have liked to have known. It was not good, I was sure of it. Lance wasn’t my type.
“I will make sure he doesn’t.”
He was lying again, barely listening but I thanked him anyways. Putting my hand on his shoulder to get his attention, his eyes were back up to mine. “What’s going on in there?”
Lance looked where I was talking about. The closer I got to the office, the more I could hear the volume of my dad. He was usually a quiet man, so it was obviously something big if he was going to be carrying on like that. My mind went to his heart, hoping that he wouldn’t blow a gasket right there. He hadn’t been back from leave that long and it seemed like he was already proving that his job was too much. My curiosity turned to concern the more I thought about it.
“That’s Tony Castello.”
I looked at him blankly. By the way he said it, I was supposed to know what he was talking about, but I really had no clue. I had never heard of such a man.
“Let’s just say he is a bad guy and your dad wants him so bad he can taste it.”
I nodded, but it didn’t really answer any questions I had. It didn’t tell me why he was yelling at him instead of putting him in a jail cell. “So what is he doing here?”
“Getting one of his friends out. Your dad is just letting him have it a bit I guess. There have been a lot of overdoses this past weekend and James is just frustrated.”
“Ah.”
“Do you want me to give it to him when he gets done?”
I was already late, but my interest was piqued, especially when I realized that the man he was talking to was the one I had spotted on the bike earlier. I waited several more minutes until my dad stormed out and finally saw me after he had paced a few times. My eyes were on him, but then on Tony coming out of his office. He was dressed well, the suit fitting the man’s hard body nicely. It was the grin on his face when he looked at James that seemed to bother me. “See you around James.”
“Ma’am.”
There was a second, maybe less that our eyes met and I felt a little pitter patter in my chest as he walked past. He was several inches taller and dark depths that promised something that every woman needed in her life. Tony was the kind of sure man that was used to getting what he wanted and I was no stranger to men like him. But he made it look good and it took me a minute to catch my breath.
“Emily? What are you doing here?”
He broke through my thoughts and I gave him a quick hug. He was getting smaller, but dad had a long way to go. “I brought you your lunch. So you wouldn’t have to go out and have something bad for you.”
“That tastes good you mean?”
I shrugged. He liked to whine and I guessed that he still went and got something anyways, but I hoped one day my words would finally get through to him. “This will taste good. They are onion sprouts. You said you liked them.”
“I said they were the best, just because they had some flavor. It’s not the same thing as liking something.”
“Semantics. I have to go to class. I am already late. Calm down dad.”
He worried me, but I did have to go. I gave him another hug before I left out of the precinct. My eye cut to the place where the motorcycle had been parked. I was sad to see that it wasn’t there. Tony was already gone. Shaking my head, I wasn’t even really sure why he was on my mind. Men like him shouldn’t even be on my radar. I liked to think I had out grown the bad boy stage, but there were times, that I didn’t want to be. There was a draw to men like Tony, taking what they wanted and there were almost always very good at it.
Chapter 3
Emily
I went to class like I was supposed to. I was in pre-law, hoping to be a prosecutor when I got out of school. My dad had always tried to talk me out of law enforcement, telling me that there were things in life that he didn’t want me to see. The truth was I seen it all, waiting up most nights when I was younger listening to his police scanner before he came home. I was not disillusioned about the world I lived in. I knew there were bad people and that was just part of life.
So he had convinced me away from being a police officer, but there was more power in the law and learning the rules to fight in it. But the classes and all of the years that it took, was enough to make anyone run away screaming. With four years down, after the end of the term, I would still have two more years to go. That did not include the time that it would take to get the experience needed to be more than a state-paid defense lawyer.
As I listened to the professor drone on about the socioeconomic reasons for crime, I wanted to go back to bed. It had been a long night the night before and it was half the reason I was late. If it wasn’t for Glenda taking notes for me, I don’t know what I would do. She was next to me, listening with rapt attention while I couldn’t be bothered. The excitement was gone, had been for a while. I kept telling myself that I just needed a break. It would soon be time for the summer and to me, it couldn’t come fast enough.
The class was wrapped up with a few minutes longer till the bell rang. It was the sweetest sound that I had heard all day and I was debating if I was going to skip my evening class. I wanted to head back home and take a nap before the date I had later that evening. When I told Glenda of my plans, she looked at me as if I may have lost my mind.
“Aren’t you worried about your grades?”
I shrugged, not the least bit worried. I was getting a 98 in that class and there was nothing to turn in, so I was pretty sure I would be fine. “You should come with me. I was thinking of getting a little shopping in. I might have you back in time for the evening class.”
She looked doubtful and I was out of options for a shopping buddy. I hated shopping on my own and Glenda was better than nothing until Melissa was back in town. “I don’t know Emily. You know what happens if I get a bad grade in that class.”
I grabbed her arm, steering her towards my car. “Come on. You are going to ace it like everything else. I need a second opinion about what I am going to wear tonight.”
Glenda relented, she always did. I hadn’t known her until we started school around the same time. With the same major, we pretty much shared all of our classes together and she had been a life saver on more than one occasion. While I like to think that I helped in some ways, I know that my help to her didn’t go much further then shopping tips about her wardrobe. Glenda came from a small town and was still dressing like we were years behind.
She put her seatbelt on and I smiled at the action. I drove a little fast for her liking, but beyond white knuckles on the dash board, she wouldn’t say a word. But I could always hear the loud sigh of relief when we got to our destination.
The mall was pretty busy when we got there, but the parking wasn’t too bad. She followed me in through the canteen area, looking around at all of the people lounging around. There were a lot of college students, the younger school-aged teens wouldn’t be out for another couple of hours and it was the perfect time to be there.
I liked a small boutique that shared space across from the big box store that Glenda was more comfortable with. We went to my place first and I found a skirt, but no top for the evening. I followed her into Penny’s, walking around the mannequins wearing all forms of classic business wear. It was more her style. I liked my clothes a little edgier. Stopping, I pulled a dress away. “This would look perfect on you Glenda.”
She looked back and held it up to her body. Glenda was curvy and everything seemed to fit her better. I was slimmer and I always wished for knockers her size. She tried to the dress on and it fit her perfectly. I could tell by her face that she felt it too.
“Where are you guys going?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know. I still have to find a top. Where are you going to wear that number?”
She blushed a little and I wanted to ask about her new boyfriend, but she was just so damn shy. “Jacob isn’t going to be back home for another week. Maybe when I see him again.”
I knew what Jacob was going to want if he saw her in that dress, but didn’t mention it to the modest woman. I was just as excited to see Jared and it had only been a couple of days. I wished he went to school where I did, but he was in business school across town. He had a schedule much like mine, full of ambition, which came with the price of almost all free time. It had been days since we had done more than talk on the phone.
“I can’t wait to see Jared, so I know what you mean. I want everything to be perfect and I hate wearing something he has already seen me in.” I could have went on, if it was Melissa I would have, but me and Glenda didn’t really talk like that and I didn’t think it was time to start.
We walked around some of the smaller stores in the back side of the mall. I didn’t usually go down there, but I finally found what I was looking for. It was black, see through and low enough that I doubted the date would even leave my apartment.
***
Me and Glenda had parted ways. I invited her over to the house for some wine, but she wanted to go to the class. Since she was going to take notes, who was I to stop her. I never got the nap I was thinking about, too excited to see Jared later. My body needed some loving since the last time we had been together, we had been unable to do more than some light petting and kissing. It was never enough and tonight would be no different.
I got dressed in front of the mirror after I got out of the shower. Since my hair was wet, I ran gel through it and scrunched the dark brown locks into a mass of curls that fell down my shoulders. Jared always liked it kinky and I wanted to make him happy. The shirt looked great, showing off just enough to keep him there and hopefully in my bed pretty quickly.
Putting on my lipstick, I waited for a few minutes in the front room before I poured a glass of wine. I told myself it was to settle my nerves, but really I was just bored and a bit of a buzz always made the sex feel better.
Looking at my phone, I checked the time. Jared was already thirty minutes late and I was starting to get anxious. Quickly I was on my second glass of wine and after almost an hour, I finally called him. His phone went to voicemail, but I didn’t leave a message. I started to worry that something had happened to him. He was never late, a man of his word and he would have surely called me if he wasn’t going to be there, right?
I called him again, sure that it would all just be some weird happenstance, but after a few more calls, it became clear that he wasn’t picking up and I wanted to make sure that he was okay. There was a bad feeling way deep down in my gut for some reason and I just had to make sure Jared wasn’t hurt or something.
I really don’t know what I was thinking. I knew where he lived, been to his apartment more times than I could count and I knew that he would be there. As a woman who ran off emotions and gut feelings, I knew I had to see what he was doing, while in my mind I was still working under the pretext that I wanted to make sure he was okay. It was beyond that, something was pulling me towards his house.