Hyde: Northern Grizzlies MC Next Generation Book 1, page 14
“They held her hands down on an electric stovetop, Leslee,” my dad tells me, holding his own hands up in surrender like he does when he knows I’m getting worked up. He has to know I’m not entirely wrong. “Trinity knew she couldn’t go to a hospital without unwanted questions, so Tabby’s checking in on her as she heals.”
“She knew that by not going to a hospital she’d have everyone by the balls. Trinity will milk this shit out until she finds someone to permanently support her,” I spit out the first thing that comes to mind.
“Kiddo, I actually thought of that,” Flint says, sounding slightly annoyed. “We have two of the Girlies bringing her food. No one she can seduce.”
I’ve been around Flint my entire life, long enough to understand each inflection in his voice. I’d love to give myself enough credit to say he and I think alike, but I’ll need another couple of decades to catch up to the dimension his thoughts take on.
So, besides the fact that he is annoyed that she’s back in ‘his’ territory, I’m also certain that he knows she’s going to stall for more time to come up with a plan to benefit her favorite person in the world. And since that contradicts Flint’s love for the Grizzlies and his wife, he and I are on the same team.
“Let her know she has,” I pause to look at the time on my phone, before looking back up at Flint. “Thirty hours left here. She can have a bus ticket or a grave.”
His eyes narrow, and I know damn well how he feels about being threatened but he and Jasper asked me to keep my ear to the ground for them. They had to know I’d ask for something in return.
Hyde
I start to smile at Leslee’s words, until I take in her tone and her stance.
She doesn’t look back at me as she scans the faces in front of her and a mixture of pride and calmness overtakes me. Leslee doesn’t look at me, because she expects me to have her back—as certainly as she will have mine when the time comes.
There were so many aspects of our relationship that I never considered when I gave in to the physical spark between us. A decade ago, when I pictured my Ol’ Lady, her being hot and crazy in the sack were my two requirements.
Leslee is beautiful and we are more than compatible in bed. It’s all the other layers that constantly surprise me. She’s intelligent, confident, funny as hell, and above all: loyal.
I will never understand how I got so damn lucky, but I know that as long as I never betray her trust, she’ll always have my back and that’s especially important to men like me.
Both Flint and Gunner’s eyes shift from Leslee down to me at the same time; looking from one to the other, I give them a nod. A brief burst of surprise floats across Gunner’s typically stern expression. But it’s the spark of pride in Flint’s eyes that has me straightening my shoulders.
I tell myself that I’m too damn old to be this pleased by my adoptive father’s approval. But it feels good to have it anyway.
Chapter 15
Hyde
The morning after Leslee’s parents visited, I roll over to find her side of the bed cold and I groan when I hear a car starting up outside. I know her parents meant well by dropping her car off, but that also means she can follow up on whatever crazy-assed idea pops into her beautiful head.
Rolling over to my side, I’m just starting the painful process of getting my battered torso out of bed when I see a little piece of paper with my name on it.
Joe – just running an errand or two. Don’t be stubborn, ask your parents for help with anything you need. XO, L
I’m actually not the stubborn one in this relationship, I think to myself as I slowly push up into a sitting position. At this point, I’m certain that it’s the days that Leslee convinced me to stay in bed that have made me feel stiffer than I should, but I suppose that’s a trade off to also having a concussion.
Reaching for my phone, I shoot off a quick text to my Ol’ Lady, trying to figure out where she is before I stand up.
A few minutes later, I’m following the smell of Mom’s cooking out to the kitchen and nod in response to her smile as I focus on the coffee machine.
Thankfully, or maybe because of it, none of the three of us are talkers in the morning. I take my mug out to join Flint at the table, again, just nodding when he grunts at me.
When Mom comes out a couple of minutes later, she sets down a platter full of cheesy eggs and bacon. Flint dishes up a bowl for her, then himself and I reach over, just taking the serving dish for myself.
“You don’t happen to know where my Ol’ Lady is, do you?” I ask, once I’ve nearly finished my meal.
Mom narrows her eyes at Flint when he just chuckles.
“When I caught her sneaking out of here, she said she was going to run some errands and to let you sleep a little longer,” Flint answers me.
“Can I borrow your truck?” I ask Mom.
“You’re not cleared to drive.” Her voice is more authoritative than her usual tone.
“Do you think you could…”
“We’ll hear if she goes to the motel,” Flint interrupts me, holding a hand up. “I asked Finn and Aiden out to keep an eye on her. Just in case.”
I look at Mom in question when she laughs under her breath.
“They still have a crush on her,” she explains with an eyeroll, and I vaguely remember Royce’s sons always following Leslee around at get togethers. “Leslee won’t be surprised to see either of them in her rear-view mirror.”
“Are neither of you worried about Leslee going after Trinity?” I ask, thoroughly frustrated when I check my phone again although I know she hasn’t responded yet.
I jump when I hear a phone vibrate.
“Are you going to check that?” I prod Flint.
It seems like he’s moving in slow motion when he shifts to the left to retrieve his phone from his right back pocket. Next he pulls on his reading glasses before unlocking the device with a code, since he hates the idea of facial recognition.
Putting it down beside his empty plate, he exchanges a look with his wife.
“Well, at least I got to have breakfast first,” he drawls out the words, before looking at me. “Wanna go for a ride?”
Since I can’t drive, and the keys to their vehicles are suspiciously not on the hooks near the door, I have to wait for Flint to slowly make his way to his SUV. I suppose I should just be thankful that he’s not making me ride bitch on his trike.
“Was that the twins texting you?” I ask as he’s pulling out of his driveway.
“No. It was Royce,” he answers, and I can see him struggle to keep a straight face. “It seems the boys had their phones taken away from them.”
“Can you drive faster please?” I plead with him, my patience wearing thin at this point.
Leslee
Trinity doesn’t need three days. That’s the first thought I have when I wake up the morning after I spoke with my parents.
It has always made me shake my head when I hear people refer to this as the new motel. It looks like every other single-story motel, littered along the interstates all through this country. They could be a year old or forty, you stay in them out of necessity and not because of the low thread count sheets or algae green pool that sits next to the parking area.
First thing this morning, I checked the bus schedule and fares before putting my plan together. It was when I stopped at the ATM on the way over that I caught sight of one of the twins, hanging back but definitely following me.
Instead of using the drive thru lane, I got out and waved him down. I’m not sure which one it was, but he looked absolutely downtrodden at having been spotted—which confirmed my suspicion that Flint had called him and his brother as soon as I was out the door.
“How’s it going?” I ask, friendlier than I usually am to him.
“Um, good,” he mumbles, his face turning bright red as he tries to look me in the eyes.
“Can you watch my back for a minute?" I smile at him after making that request. “There aren’t many people around and I just need to grab some cash.”
“Oh, yeah, Leslee. Of course!”
I turn from him, using the reflective bar over the ATM to keep an eye on him as I withdraw a few hundred from my account.
“The battery in my cell phone died, can I use yours real quick?” I ask when I turn back to him.
That poor kid nearly dropped his phone twice in his rush to hand it over to me. Once it was firmly in my palm, I spin on my heel and head to my SUV. A small twinge of guilt hits me as I’m pressing the ignition button and see him, his mouth gapping open like a fish out of water when he realizes what I’ve done.
It takes him a couple of minutes, but soon enough he starts his bike back up and follows after me.
I approach the motel from the back and circle around the office, smiling when I see Royce’s other son standing near the side of the building and watching the parking lot.
“Hey! I’m so glad I ran into you,” I call out when his head snaps around at my approach. “I think there’s something wrong with my Blazer and I don’t have my phone, can I use yours?”
“Oh! Yeah, of course!”
While this twin is obviously startled at first, he immediately runs over, holding his phone out. Just then, he sees his brother pulling up and when confusion starts to spread across his face, I reach out to yank the phone out of his hand.
Tossing that into the passenger seat with his brother’s phone, I slip out and lock the doors behind me.
“What room is she in?” I ask him, trying to use the slight advantage I have at this point.
“What? Who? Um, I need my phone.” His words trip over each other as he tries to figure out what to do.
"She took my cell so I couldn’t call you,” his brother yells out after shutting down his bike and looking between us. “Leslee, we have to tell Flint you’re here.”
“Y’all just hold tight a bit, and I’ll give you your phones back,” I tell them, thinking this will be a good lesson for them to learn. Now, before they’re forced to deal with anyone who would pose an actual danger to them. “Oh, do you know what room she’s in?”
When I turn back to them, repeating my question, they have matching pained expressions on their identical faces. I’m going to take that to mean they’re not going to make this easier on me.
I click my tongue and start to walk over to the office when I see a cart being pushed out of another doorway, smiling brightly at the cleaning lady as she emerges from what seems to be a storage closet, I ask her about the single woman staying here by herself.
At her blank expression, I shove my hand into my back pocket and separate out one of the bills before she can see how much I have with me. Showing her a twenty, she quickly holds up four fingers as she reaches for the money.
With that, my first problem is solved. Now I just have to hope that Finn and Aiden stay locked in their state of indecisiveness for a while longer.
I knock on the door with a number four written in calligraphy across it.
“Breakfast is served,” I call out, staying out of range of the peephole.
Pressing my ear to the door, I hear the muffled sound of more than one voice swearing and scurrying around the room.
“You’re early!” Trinity yells out, sounding pissy. “Give me a minute.”
Reaching into the pocket of my hoodie, I grab my first secret weapon and crouch down, somewhat impatiently waiting for her to open the door.
“Christ, these bitches think they can come whenever it suits them. Just stay in the bathroom.” Since I can hear her voice as plain as day, I know she must be waiting to open the door.
The second she does, I taze her. Thankfully, I’m holding the cute little pink device in my left hand because I immediately need to slap my right hand over my mouth to cover my snort.
Alright. Maybe I’m not right in the head, but her reaction to the low voltage device I had purchased a few years ago was everything I had dreamed it would be. Her body convulsed right before she pissed herself.
Once, when we were all out drinking in the field behind the clubhouse, I offered a hundred bucks to whomever would let me test it out on them. No takers. So today I get to tick one box off my bucket list of things I want to do before I die.
As she’s lying by my feet, gloriously twitching, I look over to the bathroom door—which luckily for me opens out into the room. I step over Trinity and grab the chair that’s tucked under the desk, wedging it under the doorknob.
I pause for a moment, standing to the side, but there’s not a sound from whomever I just locked inside.
Looking around the disaster of the room, I pick up a reusable shopping bag and shove whatever clothes I see into it before grabbing her purse. It’s one of the twins who’s standing in the doorway, who solves my next problem.
“Finn, help her walk to my SUV, please,” I ask him.
“I’m Aiden,” he murmurs, sounding like he’s in pain. “Finn’s calling Dad from the front office. We have to let Flint know immediately or I doubt he’ll even let us be prospects.”
“That’s fine, just grab her and follow me,” I respond with a sigh as Trinity starts to sit up on her own.
“Bitch,” she slurs the word out.
“Come on, Aiden. I mean, did Flint tell you that you couldn’t help me, or did he just tell you to let him know where I was?”
“You better not get me arrested, Leslee,” Aiden whines even as he leans down to help Trinity to her feet. Before I lead the way out of the room.
“She was on a bender,” I explain to the cleaning lady, meeting her wide eyes when she sees Trinity—who is walking but leaning heavily on Aiden. “I’ll make sure she gets the help she needs.”
“Help me,” Trinity slurs, her eyes on the pavement in front of her as if she’s coaching her legs to hold her weight.
“Poor thing. She’ll thank you some day,” the woman responds, and it takes a significant amount of willpower to maintain my innocent expression.
Finn is exiting the office, and starts gaping like a fish out of water as he watches us approach.
“What’s going on?” he asks, but I don’t have time for that now.
“Aiden, get her in the back. I still need your help,” I instruct him, clicking my key fob to open the doors and wondering how long it’ll be before the boys have reinforcements. “Finn, did you get a hold of your dad?”
“Yeah, he was going to call Flint. What are you doing?” he responds.
“What needs to be done,” I answer, slamming the back door behind his brother, I cross around to the driver’s side. “I’ll give your brother your phone before I drop him off back here.”
“Since you’re technically kidnapping me,” Aiden hesitantly speaks up before we’ve gone a block. “I hope your Ol’ Man will back me when the time comes.”
I shake my head at his words, annoyed that he’s speaking in front of Trinity. I know she’s overcome the shock of the taser at this point.
“Ol’ Man?” she whispers in question.
“Hyde,” Aiden answers her just as I shout for silence.
“Christ, don’t talk about shit in front of her,” I lecture him, shaking my head at him for not thinking things through.
Trinity lets out a shrill laugh, at least I thought it was until it continued on, getting louder and louder.
“Oh, baby girl!” Trinity cackles. “You gonna be happy with my scraps? You think he’ll ever love you as much as he loved me? That’s why you’re getting rid of me now? You remember how he panted after me, don’t you?”
I keep my mouth shut as I turn into the depot and pull up across from the bus. There’s no sense in riling her up when I need her to get on the bus without too much of a scene.
“Alright,” I say, releasing my seat belt and turning to look at Trinity. “Now, we’re going to board the bus. I’m going to pay the driver for your fare to Denver. From there, there’s plenty of money in this envelope for you to buy a ticket back to Indiana. And a little something extra for behaving.”
So, I might have used a bunch of ones that I had to make the envelope look more enticing, but with a little luck she won’t notice until the bus is well on its way. She reaches out for it, but I hold it back.
“Yeah, after I get you tucked in, princess,” I growl. “Let’s go.”
Taking her bags, I slide out of my SUV and stay close to her as we cross. If the driver thinks it’s weird that I’m paying for her, he doesn’t let on. Regardless, I keep a close eye on her as she walks to the back.
Once he’s given me the ticket, I make a show of having to give her her things as I head down the aisle to her seat—thankfully, she’s not sitting near anyone else.
“Where’s my money?” she asks, the haughty look in her eyes makes me want to strangle her but I hand it over, before dropping the bag of clothes on her lap.
“Don’t think so highly of yourself, Trin. You’re just a posterchild for washed-up prom queens who never amounted to anything.” With that, I toss her purse on top of her other bag before I hit her side with the taser one more time.
At the noise she makes, I lean down, pretending to hug her.
“I’ll miss you, too! Safe travels, now,” I say loud enough to make it sound like it’s an emotional goodbye.
Aiden is still in the back seat when I return to my SUV and I toss him both phones, surprised he hadn’t reached for them.
“What now?” he asks me.
“Now, we’ll follow the bus for a few miles, then I’ll get you back to the motel,” I tell him, knowing that he’ll be notifying his brother, Dad, and Flint almost immediately.
Hyde
When Flint and I pull up to the motel, Royce looks to be giving one of his twins hell. The kid, whether it’s Aiden or Finn, I have no idea, looks like he’s hoping the ground will open up and swallow him whole.
“What happened?” Flint asks as he climbs out of his truck.
The boy looks at his dad, who motions for him to answer.
“Um, she stopped at the ATM to get some money, then told me she didn’t have her phone, so I handed her mine,” the kid starts, unable to maintain eye contact with Flint for more than a few seconds at a time. “She took it, then when I was pulling up here, Aiden was handing her his phone—so she has them both.”
