Jaxson 3: The Last Vow (Black Devils MC) Read online

  He leaned into the camera, so close I could see the hairs up his nose and he whisper growled, “You ran from me, sweetheart. You ran from me when you were mine. And now your poor mother will pay the price for your mistake.” He gave me a slow, wide, cold grin.

  I watched in horror as he placed his hands at the hem of her skirt, about to thrust it upward when, in a sudden burst of defiance, mom’s arms flew backward, knocking him on the nose with her fist.

  He swore.

  “Mom, run!” I shrieked.

  Before Sheila could take more than a step away from him, he had her again. She wrestled in his grasp and he slapped her splitting her lip. Then he threw a punch, and blackened her eye,

  “Dagger will kill you for that,” she shrieked.

  “Tell him to come find me. That would make my job so much easier,” he hissed.

  Before he could do any more, there was the sound of the door, and I prayed that it was my dad.

  Jumper looked toward the sash window in the living room. The lunatic put ting a hand over my mother’s mouth and another around her body. Then he turned to me, he leaned into the camera and whispered, “I’m coming for you Chloe. Oh, and let Dagger know that Jumper has his wife.”.

  Damn him. Fucking Damn him to Hell!

  I leaned forward, frantic, my breath trapped in my chest.

  Mom had tears in her eyes. She kicked up her legs, throwing them onto the ground.

  I stood up. It didn’t break our connection but I couldn’t see them anymore. Mom breathed erratically like a movie sound effect.

  I ran to the door, opening it. Outside, the whole world appeared in somber shade of grey. Desperate to do something, I whipped my head from left to right looking for help but everything blurred into a thick fog. As though looking for help would somehow stop Jumper from dragging mom out of that house through the ground floor window as she poured out a steady flood of gasping tears.

  Chapter Nine

  Jax

  I awakened to the sound of Chloe’s voice but didn’t make a sound to indicate that I had. The room reeked of hospital antiseptic and coffee ‒ just as the doctor who treated me did. The bandages around my upper torso were now becoming a familiar weight. That immense pain I had felt through my back appeared to have subsided. I felt stronger physically, at least, and to my great relief the feeling in my legs had returned. Very faintly, as my senses had begun to return to me, I heard Chloe more clearly.

  Chloe sobbed. “I’m asleep, this is all just a bad dream!”

  Breathing lightly, my head to the side, I watched Chloe cry ‒ on the brink of breaking down. Her face was white, her eyes sore, her body limp. I felt a remorse so acute it was agonizing as it flooded my body. I could only watch, powerless, from my incapacitated state as the woman I cared for so strongly shifted and trembled in her chair like a frightened child.

  My eyes drifted over her body, her soft curves highlighted by her yoga pants and sports top. The top she wore was one of my own; just how I liked it. When my gaze moved back up to her face and met her watery eyes, a cutting feeling in my gut told me that perhaps she was crying because of me. Perhaps, after all that had happened, after all she’d been through, she didn’t want me in her life at all. I wanted to cradle her body in my arms and tell her everything would be okay but I was too fucking sedated on meds to even move really. I could only lay motionless in my bed.

  Restless and deeply upset, Chloe brought her heels up to meet the seat of her chair until her thighs were against her chest. Then, she buried her head into her knees like she were about to withdraw into her shell. Crying desperately, her diaphragm heaving, she tried to control her breathing. Slow inhalations. Slow exhalations. It didn’t work.

  She might well go into a full on panic if I didn’t do something. With my tremendous will to comfort her, I felt my mouth drop open to say her name but there was a problem. My mouth was dry, and my lips and tongue couldn’t form a single word.

  By some surge of adrenaline, I felt my heart rate pick up and a temporary charge of energy coursed throughout my body. It gave me what I needed to wriggle my fingers but to get her attention that wasn’t enough. Slowly, I started to reach out my hand to touch her. Something stopped me. Before I could reach her, a light stabbing pain pricked my arm. I hesitated, noticing that I’d disturbed one of the needles the doctor had pierced through my skin and into my veins.

  I took a few seconds to rest from the exertion. Within that short time, I was stopped again by the sound of three soft strikes of somebody’s knuckles connecting with the outside face of the door.

  Chloe raised her head her eyes wide and she seemed to suck the storm of emotion inwards.

  Almost immediately, a gust of cool wind came into the warm room and a man’s voice spoke, “How’s he doing?” he asked.

  I recognized the voice, but I couldn’t place it.

  When Chloe gave no answer, he repeated his question. Still, she didn’t talk.

  There was a light click as the door was gently drawn to a close and I pried my eyes away from my Chloe for a second to get a look at the man. His large, darkly dressed, body stepped two paces toward her. Squinting my eyes against the flood of morning light that came through the window, I stared at the vague outline of his face. As my eyes adjusted to the light, I shook off the effect of whatever damn medication the doctor had given me and saw his features more clearly. A well-defined jaw, dark eyes, and a hard-bitten seriousness about his face. It was Jesse.

  While Chloe fought with everything, she had not to cry, Jesse also looked pent up with an intense emotion he didn’t want to show. But I noticed it. I noticed how he chewed the inside of his cheek just as Chloe did when she was angry with me. I became certain that something was seriously wrong.

  Jesse gazed at his daughter steadily. “I know you’re worried,” he said, letting out a breath, “I did the best I could to catch up with them, but it was as though the bastard just vanished. Vanished into thin. Fucking air,” he told her with a shake of his head, “His crew killed four of my men to get at her. The neighbors didn’t see anything either,” Jesse added with cold edge to his voice. “Well, nothing they’ll tell us about. Nobody wants to tell us a fucking thing. They know if they do, the Bloods will come after them.” He bit the inside of his mouth several times and then moved over to the other side with suppressed emotion.

  Chloe turned her head to face him sharply. “You were right there dad! You could have stopped him. I heard you come through the door over the call,” she exclaimed. “Why didn’t you stop him? Why did you fucking stop him from taking her? Why?” She sobbed.

  So much of me wanted to interrupt this exchange and find out what the fuck was going on, so I could fix it. But like hell was I going to. I knew this woman all too well. Whatever was wrong, she wouldn’t want to upset me in this condition and would tell me nothing. So, I watched and listened in silence, in secret…

  Taking a step toward Chloe, Jesse bent at his knees and leaned forwards, wrapping his arms around her. He tried to hold her tight at his chest but she shrugged him off with several harsh twists of her upper body.

  What had he done to make her respond that way? This was the man who helped bring me here and keep the both of us safe.

  For several charged minutes, nobody said a word. And minute after minute, Chloe grew increasingly on edge…I knew that look she got on her face when her heart would start to pound so hard in her chest that the rest of her body would send her mind into panic. Only this time, she didn’t. Instead, what could have been panic transformed into a seething anger which radiated from beneath the surface of her soft, pale skin.

  My gaze fixed on her gorgeous golden brown eyes, glistening like sweet honey, but there was something cold behind them. Something that hadn’t been there a few short days ago. What event could have changed her so suddenly? In my heart, I knew I was responsible for making her life a horror story. Though this had been painful for her, the last time I’d seen Chloe, she’d seemed the same as always. S
he wasn’t the same right now. Had her soul been now marked with the same poison that had touched me many years ago? The poison this world brings with it which turned me into a man I often hated the sight of. Just that possibility disturbed me.

  Another long minute passed. It took every ounce of self-restraint I had not to call out her name. If anyone could guide her back through the hell she was experiencing, it was me.

  Then, Chloe’s expression started to change. She frowned at her father who had moved to stand against the wall nearest to my feet.

  Chloe got to her feet. “You come back into her life and now this happens. This is all your fault,” she snapped, though almost immediately I could see in her face that she regretted saying this. It simply wasn’t in her nature to talk that way to anyone.

  Jesse responded calmly, “If that’s what you choose to believe, then I’ll accept it. But right now, my focus is on solving the problem.” It seemed like he knew that arguing with her would only make matters worse, so he didn’t try to.

  Still standing, Chloe stared at him. “We need to call the police,” she whispered abrasively.

  Jesse looked down at her with a frown. “I’ve got fifty men on his trail Chloe. We’ll bring your mother back.”

  My heart almost stopped in my chest. All the pieces snapped into place and suddenly—everything made sense. This was serious. Sheila… I’d promised Chloe I wouldn’t let the men who wanted the money for Roy’s debts catch up with her. And it sounded like they had.

  She leaned close to him, “You’re not listening to me!” she quietly exclaimed.

  “What are you hoping the cops can do for your mother, Chloe that we can’t?” Jesse asked. “They have to work inside the law but we don’t. We have the manpower to find her faster than the fucking cops do.”

  Chloe let the silence build as she finally replied with a question of her own, “Why are you bikers so against the cops? The justice system works well enough for everyone else.”

  “The cops are last thing we need,” Jessie said with a slow, firm shake of his head. “We don’t say anything to the cops just as we don’t say any more than absolutely necessary to doctors or anyone else. We do this for a reason, baby girl. Besides, since Jumper shot Jax, the media and the cops have been feeding at the trough with the on-going investigation. There’s a panic building Chloe, and I can’t stop it. If we bring this out and to their attention, the citizens will panic and it won’t be safe for anyone. It’s better for us and them to handle this on our own.”

  Chloe leaned forward, shaking her fists at her sides. Her eyes flared with a violence that was unnatural to her. “You don’t fucking get it. Here I was thinking you’d changed.” She shook her head as she spoke, “You realize how much I loved you when you helped me bring Jax here? And now you do this to mom.”

  Jesse kept his voice slow and level as spoke, “I’ll bring her back, Chloe. But it will take time.”

  “You should have made damn sure Jumper didn’t take her in the first place.” Her voice suddenly laced with a frustrated helplessness about to this entire situation. She hesitated, as though about to say something else, then sighed and turned away. Her shoulders slumped in defeat.

  A second surge of adrenaline coursed through me. I had to put an end to that son of a bitch. And fast. I stirred with a groan, but the sound was masked by Jesse replying, “If you want my advice, and I’m guessing you don’t, I’d rather not take any more chances than we already have.” Jesse’s voice was stable and level, with the strength of a man who was wise to this world. “If we go to the fucking cops, Jumper will kill her rather than give her back and I promise you baby girl, we will get her back. And Jumper will pay the ultimate price for taking her. Oh yeah, don’t doubt me on that, he will pay for everything he’s done. Now and ten years ago, he’ll pay.”

  I felt a respect for Jesse. I could tell he was a good man, both intimidating and formidable somewhat like Bruno, but a good man. He showed an impressive quality of self-control. And he had more than enough smarts in his head to mitigate whatever temper he had.

  The man reached out again to hug Chloe. She was trembling. Chloe grabbed him by the wrist before he could touch her and threw his arm away. She took a seat and slumped back in her chair.

  Jesse was about to turn away and walk out but paused when he caught my eyes half open.

  Chloe turned her head to follow his gaze.

  I did my best to shut my eyes before she looked at me, but she had already seen me.

  “Oh, you’re awake!” she exclaimed, her voice instantly very gentle. She stared down at me, her pale, honey colored eyes shining at me. Chloe tucked my blanket under my chin, and then kissed my forehead.

  Again, I noticed that though her eyes were beautiful, they were angry, hardened.

  Jesse stepped toward me. “Its Sheila—”

  Before he could continue, I saw out of the corner of my eye that Chloe had stopped him with fast raise of her right hand. I slid my gaze back to Chloe to see her brown eyes were fixed on mine. I turned my palm upward for her to hold my hand, ready to comfort her. She took it and I squeezed her hand in mine to stop her trembling. I thought it was odd that my touch didn’t make her hand stop quivering. It always had before but not this time.

  Before I could do or say anymore, we were interrupted when the door opened and the doctor who treated me stepped inside. This previously bitter faced doctor now had a smile on his face.

  “Just, give us a minute,” Jesse told him, in a command for him to leave.

  Startled, the doctor spilled the steaming liquid from the cardboard coffee cup in his hand. He nodded sympathetically. “I quite understand. I’ll wait.” He offered an apologetic bow of his head. He stepped back, pulling the door open from behind and letting in a harsh draft.

  Chloe glanced over at Jesse again, “Why don’t we just drop it for now?”

  Jesse drew a breath. “I’m sorry, Chloe,” he said, before following the doctor outside.

  The door closed. Finally, we were alone. “I’m sorry I nearly lost everything we have together,” I whispered.

  Chloe dropped her gaze briefly to her lap, and then turned to me and said in a matter of fact tone, “You should have never been in that park alone. You should have never let Dino change the plan and given him the vest but that’s all you did.” She took a deep breath, “This…” She motioned toward the door that Dagger just went out of. “This is on Jumper.

  “I know that. But I’ll be back on my feet in no time. I promise. I can’t wait to have you in my arms again, Chloe. You know what the doctor said when he brought me around to run his tests?”

  “What?” she asked, with a sad smile.

  “He said it’s having a good woman by my side that’s helped me recover so fast.”

  Chloe sighed hard and shuddered. “The doctor warned me it’s too risky for that yet. Your blood pressure will hit the roof. That’s not good for your recovery.”

  “Isn’t it too late?” I asked, remembering our encounter of a few days ago, a laugh pulling on the edge of my lips. I was trying to make her smile.

  It didn’t work. She looked at me with sad eyes. The girl wanted to tell me about Sheila but she was too scared it would be too much for me to handle right now. It had sounded like somebody had taken the woman hostage, but I’d have to find out from Dagger when we were alone in the room.

  I’d comforted myself with the certainty that I’d be on my feet soon. I’d seen something in her eyes that surprised me. I stiffened. Something hard was stamped into her expression. Something cold in her eyes. This left me with the disconcerting realization that my world was changing her. She’d been through a nightmare most people couldn’t even begin to imagine. I got the unsettling feeling Chloe was a woman on the brink. On one side was redemption, on the other, a living hell.

  At the moment, I wasn’t sure which side she would pick. Either side was down a long slide, full of bumps and bruises and if she survived the fall, she would either be stronger o
r fail altogether. And I wasn’t the type to let my woman fail. I’d drag her sorry ass all the way up that fuckin ravine kicking and screaming if I had to but I wasn’t going to lose her, not after all I put her through.

  Chapter Ten

  Dino

  I was on the road again. It was a cold day in day in late April, eight days since I’d left jax at that compound. And the same amount of time since my last visit to the prison with Bruno. This time, I would go alone. I’d caught word that Jumper was due to visit Tori at 11am. Whatever that fucker was up to, I’d find out. I needed to avoid the possibility of getting too revved up because Bruno and I had dark plans. Plans to take out Jumper and the rest of the goddamn Bloods in one hit.

  Speeding toward the prison at eighty miles an hour, I rode over what felt like endless miles of tarmac, one highway onto the next. I cast my eyes to the charcoal sky above me, cold angry shades of steel blue greys that mirrored the highway and reflected my mood perfectly. Knowing well the extent of the hatred I felt toward Jumper, Bruno had forced me to vow in his presence that I wouldn’t kill the bastard when I saw him. Not yet. No matter how fiercely my instincts screamed for me to plant a dime sized bullet hole, right smack in the middle of the fucking forehead of that son of a bitch.

  I groped for the last cigarette in the box which was crumpled in half somewhere in my jacket pocket. Somehow, I’d have to keep myself from getting too revved up. With Jax in recovery, and people that needed to die eluding us, my mind was a place of purgatory. A place to which I would like to banish only my worst enemies.

  For the first time in my life, the sense of freedom that came with tearing through the highway; the peace that came with the feel and sound of the air whisking past my face at high speeds, did nothing to calm me. All that had kept me sane over the past days was focusing on looking after the MC and my club brothers.

  I passed through the edge of town, less than five minutes away from the prison and my wheels screeched as I took a sharp turn onto a side street, looking for somewhere safe to park my bike. So as not to be seen, I’d arrived at 11:10 am, after I knew Jumper would be inside the joint, and pulled into the back of a derelict supermarket.