Elias (12 page)

"Then you aren't any less, Chelsea, and you are going to get better. I promise you that. That's what we're going to do together, alright? We're going to get you better."

"Alright. That would be good. But…"

"But what?"

"What will I be when I'm better?"

Doc sat back, and looked her over. "You're going to be Chelsea again."

Chelsea's eyes watered up, "Is that… can that…?"

"Happen? Yes, Chelsea. It can happen, and I'm going to help you do it."

"I would like that. I would like to be Chelsea again, so I can be Chelsea with Elias, so he can know who I was."

"Good. So, let's talk about that, about who you were," Doc suggested.

They talked for the rest of the hour about her dad, and growing up in Boston. When the hour was up Chelsea was given a prescription to have filled.

"Those will help with the confusion and some of the memory problems," Doc explained.

As she was leaving she turned and asked, "How long before I'm Chelsea again?"

"That's hard to say, but I think you made a really good start today, and we'll keep going next week. Alright?"

"Ok," Chelsea said, and left the room.

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR

Larry was at the house with the two men they left behind when Chelsea and Elias came into the door. He gave them a wave from the chair he was in and seemed to be all smiles.

"Hello Larry, how are you today?" Chelsea asked as she passed him on the way to the kitchen to get some drinks for the men. "You look happy."

"Oh, I am happy. Tomas is in jail for five days, and on suspension for thirty," he told her.

"Oh?"

"Yep, but also, while he was in court John said we hit one of those stash places you gave Elias and we came away with a good amount of his resources. About eight hundred."

Elias whistled. "Now we have some play money."

"Yep. Also, I made a friend down at Internal Affairs and passed him some of the victim names. Just a couple, just to see what he was going to be able to do. We still want to use some for the other side, right?"

"Right. So, what did he say?"

"Well, he's a cop, and you know they don't tell you much, but after a quick search on his computer with those names he was very interested in talking to Chelsea and learning more about her story." Larry said. "Of course I told him that wasn't possible right now—doctor's orders—but still, the fish was hooked I would say."

Chelsea listened and tried to understand what he was saying, "He wants to talk to me? Is that a good idea?"

"No baby, not right now, and you don't have to worry about it until you are much, much better, alright? Doc's not going to let them bother you," Elias told her.

Chelsea nodded, still processing. She remembered her pill and went back to the kitchen to take one.

"He doesn't need to talk to you Chelsea," Larry called after her, and walked a little toward her so she could hear him. "He's got enough to get started. He's a cop, he'll do his job."

"Okay." She nodded. "I'm not sure I want to talk to him, either. Every time I've talked to a cop I've gotten a ticket or have been arrested. Not the funnest thing I can think of doing."

Larry laughed. "I hear you. You know, speaking of that, Duffy mentioned to me that he was looking for someone to work his counter down at the shop for him. Seems his girl now is taking off for California."

"California? I’ve always wanted to go there. Someday I want to ride out there and see the Ocean. Maybe San Diego."

"Yeah, that would be a nice ride, huh? But you know, Duffy might like you to work for him if you are thinking you might want a job." Larry continued.

"Work for Duffy? He's funny. Did he mention anything about my Shelby? Has he sold it yet?" Chelsea asked.

"I think he has a buyer for you, yes. You might want to give him a call and find out," Larry told her.

"I'll do that, thank you," Chelsea said as she brought a tray of drinks out for Jeff, Dave, Tom, and Elias.

After she served them, she said to Elias, "I'm going to call Duffy and see what's going on, alright?"

"Sounds like a good idea," Elias told her.

Elias watched her walk back to their room, and then he turned to Larry. "I don't think she's quite ready for a job yet, buddy, but thanks for the effort."

"Yeah, she didn't seem that interested did she?" Larry mused.

"We just got back from Doc's. She's probably got a lot on her mind right now," Elias offered. "So, tell me about this Internal Affairs guy."

"Oh, he's not the interesting one, the interesting one is Tomas' partner. The one and only Mike Wilson."

"I know that name," Jeff said, taking a sip of his cola. "Guy’s a hound that hunts, is what I hear."

"Oh yes," Larry said. "Guys practically a legend in the department. I didn't want to slip him anything until I talked to you Elias, but I think that's our real man on the inside. If Wilson gets something in his teeth, he's not going to let go until it's torn to shreds and very dead."

Dave nodded. "That's what I hear as well. If we could get him on Tomas' trail he could be a real benefit to us, especially with Tomas being his partner and all."

"A dirty partner of a legend cop," Elias mused. "Interesting. I'm getting good feelings about that. Let's make a move. Go ahead and send him over some information. See if you can cross-check a bust that he was in on, that Chelsea might have on her list, and feed him that."

"Ouch," Larry said. "That will stick in his craw if we could pull that off. I'll get on it. Also, John raised my budget to one hundred grand with the success of the raid this morning. With that, I should be able to get a bull’s-eye if there's one to hit."

"Wow, that's some serious cash there, mister lawyer man." Elias smiled.

"Hey, I'm keeping good books," Larry complained.

Elias laughed and raised his hands in surrender. "Never crossed my mind otherwise. Ease down on that throttle, shit."

"Sorry," Larry chagrined. "I guess it makes me a little nervous having that kind of budget. No offense."

"None taken. I might be a little worried about it myself. So, is John going to try to hit one of the other stashes?"

"Tonight," Larry said with a nod. "With Tomas in jail, John's thinking the more we take, the less he'll have, and it might piss off a partner or two of his as well. Cause some chaos for him."

"Any feelings on what the trio has decided as far as the club backing Chelsea?" Elias asked.

"I think that would be under the heading of 'talking out of class,' my friend. He did say that he wants to see you and Chelsea tomorrow down at his office. He asked me to see if seven o'clock would be alright with you," Larry told him.

"Seven will be fine. Should I call him?"

"I'm heading back to talk with him when I leave here. I'll let him know," Larry offered.

"Thanks. Yeah, seven will be fine. Chelsea too, huh?"

"Yeah. He said it concerns her, and she should hear it from him," Larry said.

"Yeah, alright," Elias agreed, not really liking the sound of that.

Chelsea came skipping out of the hallway, wearing a light blue, very short sun dress, and her hair pulled back in a pony tail that bobbed behind her. "Duffy sold my Shelby!" she announced.

"Nice; how much?" Elias asked, turning toward her and noticing that Jeff and Dave both suddenly had other things to look at, which amused him greatly. She did look very sexy in a girl-next-door sort of way.

"Nineteen!" She laughed.

"Sweet," Larry said. "That'll get you a nice Sportster. Hell, you could go new with that."

"Yep!" she said with a smile. "But I'm thinking that the guys are right—maybe I would be happier with a Softail. You know, larger gas tank, better range, and the belt drive for a smoother ride."

"I love mine," Larry agreed. "Let me know if you would like to try it out sometime."

"Oh? Well, then, I'm letting you know!" she said with a grin. "I love your bike. Very sexy. It's no wonder you get the young girls."

Dave coughed into his fist and Jeff chuckled. Larry blushed a little. "Yeah, that's probably it," he said, and then shot warning looks at the other two men. "Well, I got to get going. I'll come by tomorrow and let you take it for a spin."

"Perfect!" she laughed and then bounced over and gave him a hug. "See you soon."

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

"I think I've decided on the Deluxe, but the Heritage is really nice too," Chelsea said to Elias as they rode over to the Log Cabin in his truck Wednesday evening for dinner and then to meet John and the trio.

"So you are set on the Softail though, right?" Elias asked.

"Yep. With as much riding as the club does, I don't think a Sporty is going to be a good long-term investment. I'd just be trading up in a year or so," she reasoned.

Elias nodded. "Sounds reasonable."

"Thank you," she said with a smile. "Why do they want to see me?"

"John wants you to hear the news from him personally, since this is personal to you."

"What do you think he'll say?"

"I honestly don't know, but whatever it is, it won't change a thing between me and you, alright?"

"Alright," she said, and looked out the side window. She felt very nervous going to see John as the president of the club, rather than as a friend. But, John was John, right? Like Elias was Elias?

Maybe. She couldn't really get the two images to merge.

Behind them were two riders, with two more in the front. Elias had cut the house crew down to two a shift until Sunday when Tomas would be back out on the street again. But anytime they went anywhere, at least four riders were with them now. This made much more sense to Chelsea, as she really didn't feel that Tomas was stupid enough to come to the house once he found it—if he found it. Elias was pretty careful about where people thought he lived, it seemed. At least, people outside of the club.

Even though they were down to two a shift, however, either Jeff, Dave, or Tom was always stopping by, saying hello and looking things over. She liked all three of them and all three were with them now.

The fourth was named Eric, and he was new to her, but Elias said he was one of his best men. An ex-mercenary. Eric kind of scared her. He wasn't mean, exactly, but he wasn't nice either. He was also hard, all the way through, like some old oak tree. His skin was tanned in a weathered sort of way, as if he was seasoned by wind and sun and desert. He did have a marvelous mane of red hair though that was wild and thick. She imagined that Thor would have had red hair like that—the real Thor, not the comic book Thor, according to Elias.

They all ate at one long table, with her sitting next to Elias on the side where he could see the door. The other men, as if they arranged it beforehand, all watched other areas of the bar and restaurant as they ate, talked, and laughed. It was kind of eerie, really. They smiled, and laughed, and at the same time scanned the room with non-smiling eyes. They kept their gun hands as free as possible, drinking and eating with the other hand. It was like being in the Wild West with a bunch of quick-draw fighters. A fly couldn't get near her. They seemed relaxed, but they weren't, not at all. It made her nervous.

But what really made her nervous was waiting for seven o'clock in the bar. She tried to drink her beer and relax, but there was too much energy in the room. Everyone seemed to know that this was it—the night that the trio would make the decision about her, a decision that would affect all of them. Even Marvin, the bartender, was a little on edge, and he was the most relaxed man she had ever met in her life other than her dad. Even Sally, the waitress, was a little jumpy. Chelsea was on pins and needles.

Finally seven o'clock arrived, and Elias got up from his stool and she followed. Four Guards followed behind, but when they came to the back office door, the four remained outside and only she and Elias went in.

The trio was John, Wild Bill, and Steve-O. When they walked in, John was behind a large wooden antique desk. Wild Bill was to his right and that could only mean that the third man was Steve-O, who she had never met before. He was on the left. There were two chairs in front of the desk. Elias closed the door behind them and then took her hand and guided her toward the chairs.

She kind of expected that John would get up and greet them, or smile, or something, but he seemed to be all business tonight. So, no, John wasn't just John. Tonight he was the president of the White Wolves. Chelsea wondered if she would like John the President. She wondered if Doc would like him as well.

"Thanks for coming," John said once they were seated.

"Wouldn't miss it," Elias told him. It sounded like a joke, but no one was smiling.

"Chelsea, you look a lot better than the last time I saw you. How are you feeling?" John asked.

"Much better thank you. I saw Doc today. She says I'll be even better with her help," she told him nervously.

"Doc is a good woman and she's a great healer. She helped me a few years back when I lost my son," he told her.

"I didn't know that. How did he die?"

"Iraq," John told her.

"I'm so sorry," she said.

He shrugged a little. "Thank you. Doc got me through it, but it was hard. I imagine that your trail is going to be even a little harder than that, but you have the best helping you ride it."

"Thanks," she said, not knowing what else to say.

"Chelsea, I'm your friend, but I'm also the president of the club. It's my job to see that the club is taken care of, and to make sure that we are doing what we should be doing and when," John explained. "Bill and Steve help me make those decisions, but the final decision is mine. I wanted you here, so that you would know it was me saying this, rather than you hearing it second hand."

"Alright," she said, feeling even more nervous now, but not sure why.

"The thing we have been discussing is how far to help you with this Tomas character. He's turned out to be a bigger problem than Elias expected at first. It's my understanding that he originally believe you were running from an abusive boyfriend, who was also a cop. As it turns out, you are running from what I feel is a real monster, and I'm very happy that you found a way to get out of there while you still could. I like you, Chelsea, and most of the club, the ones that have met you, like you as well."

"I like you too," she told him.

"That's good to hear, it really is," John said, and there was a hint of a smile on his lips when he said it, as if he was sneaking it to her. "Anyway, we've talked about this as much as it can be talked about, and I've come to a decision. That decision is that we are backing you all the way." John turned to Elias. "You're the lead on this."

Elias was quite for a long time. "How do you feel about just ending this, man?"

"No, Elias, that's not the way of this. War isn't fought by committee. You make the calls, we back you. That's how this is going to play out. You've been good to us, and good
for
us, for a very long time. I've never had to doubt your ability or your loyalty in all the time I've known you, and that's, what—fifteen years now? Eighteen? Something like that. Before you went to Afghanistan. So, you tell me, how do
you
feel about just ending this, man?"

Elias sat back a little. "I'm going to give it some serious thought."

"Let me know what you come up with. As far as I'm concerned, we're at war with this man and his resources. If he pulls in his PD friends, well, that means we'll be at war with the PD. So be it. But enough is enough. Chelsea came to our doorstep, and whether that’s by design or divine intervention doesn't matter now. You, one of my best men, took her in, and now you two are riding together, and you’re even in love if my eyes still work. So, she's one of us now. And I don't let monsters fuck with one of my own."

War?
Chelsea screamed in her head.
No!

She looked to Elias and found that he seemed very pleased with this decision of John's.
Not over me,
she thought.
Not because of me!
But she couldn't get the words to come out of her mouth. She trembled inside, and tried to see a way out of this. The men weren't paying much attention to her any longer. They were discussing the raids that had been made against Tomas' stash houses, and what had been recovered. These monies, weapons, and drugs were what Elias could consider his war chest until this matter was settled.

People die in wars!

The men talked for almost twenty more minutes and Chelsea had basically vibrated into pieces with fear and horror. She didn't want any of the Wolves dying because of her. Not a single one of them, even the ones she hadn't met yet. This couldn't be happening.

Then Elias was taking her hand and leading her back out of the office. She turned and looked back at John, who gave her a warm John the Friend smile, and then they were out in the hallway and the Guards were falling into step behind them. On the way out, Elias whispered in a few ears, and she could feel the news spreading through the energy of the place, passing from lip to ear, and radiating out of eyes.

No, this is all wrong!

Her brain was on fire and spinning, ripping through information and ideas of how to stop this before someone was hurt because of her.

Once they were in the truck, she knew what she was going to do. "Elias?"

"Yes lover?" he asked.

"Can we take the Sporty back to Duffy's tonight? The guys are with us, and I don't think I'll be needing it anymore."

"What about this weekend? Don't you want to ride?"

"Do you think that will be wise? Wives and kids go on those runs as well."

He looked over at her, and then said, "You're probably right about that. I'm sorry. I know how much you like the runs."

"I do, but, well, it doesn't seem like a good idea right now. Besides, it will give me motivation to decide on which bike to buy," she said, and tried a smile which felt like it was made of clay.

He searched her eyes, and she thought for sure he was going to see what she was planning, but then he said, "Alright, let's drop it off. I'll follow you over in the truck."

"Okay," she said, sending silent prayers of thanks to her guardian god.

She picked up the bike at the house and rode it over to Duffy's, which was only six blocks from Elias' house. She parked it in front, and then walked to the door and opened the mail slot, acting like she was dropping the keys inside, but palming them back into her jacket. She made a show of checking the slot, to insure the keys fell through, and then she hopped into the truck. The guys took off and Elias followed them home with the two others following behind.

She didn't like this. It made her sick to her stomach to lie to Elias, but she couldn't let this happen.

***

When Chelsea got the Sportster out on highway 10 west, she pulled back the throttle and let the bike have its wind. Mile markers and road signs flew by her, and the white lines looked like dots. The warm summer night wind was fresh on her face, and wiped the tears away as fast as she could shed them.

She prayed that Elias would understand. She couldn't let the Wolves go to war with the PD over her. She wasn't even real, and according to Doc, she wouldn't be real for a long time. Elias could be dead by that time, and what would be the point of being real then?

No, she had to run, she had to fly. She had to save them and save Elias. With her gone, the Wolves were nothing to Tomas. She had saddle bags stuffed with money, and a change of clothes. She could make it to California before Tomas even knew she was out of town, and if he did find her, well… That was alright. At least it would be just her taking the bullet, and that's the way it should have been from the start.