For Her Honor (21 page)

Ed’s eyes widened.
“What? Karen…..
why
? After all you went through to not be associated with this….”

“Dad, please.
I needed to. For me. And for God’s sake, don’t tell Mom.”

He took her hand in his.
“She misses you, little girl.
We
miss you.”

“You don’t have to lie,
Dad. I know exactly how mom feels. She made it very clear when she and Shelia paid me a surprise visit.”

“Karen….”

“It’s okay. Really. I’m…..actually better than okay.”

Her eyes wandered over to Taz
, who stood up straight against the wall as he watched Ed Hanson turn to see where his daughter was looking. Taz braced himself for ‘that look’- the judgmental up-and-down inspection outlaw bikers usually got from civilians who were bold enough to do it to their face. Ed homed in on his cut, then up to his face before taking a deep breath and stepping back. “I take it you didn’t come here alone.”

Taz pushed himself away from the wall with his
foot, his body rigid, his face set, waiting to see how Karen would respond. When she lifted her arm to hold her hand out, he thought he would bust. It was that very moment he realized that he was well past going over the edge of that cliff and hitting bottom.

He loved the fuck out of this girl.

He clasped her hand, looking Ed Hanson square in the eye. Both men had this woman in common and both had that protective look about them. After a few moments, Ed’s eyes shifted between Taz and his daughter before he extended his hand. “You are?”

Taz took the man’s hand.
“Gabriel Morrell.” He always shied away from his given name, but the fact he used it as a show of respect to Karen’s father just cemented everything.

“He’s from Tippitt,” Karen added.
“I’m friends with his mom. His friend’s wife is one of my employers.”

Again, Ed looked warily between them.
“Something tells me that isn’t all?”

“No, it isn’t,” Taz boldly spoke up
. He tugged Karen’s hand to bring her closer to him. “I love her.”

He felt her head spin towards him, but
he never took his eyes off Ed.

“I see.
Should I tell your mother?”

“I really don’t give a shit what you tell her.”

“Karen!”

“I’m sorry.
It’s not you. It never has been.”

“Karen, a
re you okay? How are you living?”

“I’m living in a house the size of your office.
I’m a bank teller. I stack tchotchkes in a card shop. But you know what? I’m……happy. Believe it or not,” she tugged Taz’s hand, “I’m very happy.”

Attendees started coming back
, and Ed gave his daughter a final hug. “I love you, little girl.”

“I love you too,
Dad. I’ll call. I’ll text. I’ll try to visit. I’m here.” She touched his chest.

“But you’re not home.”

“Dad.” She backed up, pressing herself up against Taz’s side. “I
am
home. I’ll call later. Promise.”

With one final nod, he gave Taz a hard look.
“If anything happens to her, you’ll have to answer to me.”

“T
ook the words right out of my mouth,” Taz immediately replied.

They departed and headed towards the hotel entrance u
ntil Taz saw a narrow hallway filled with vending machines and an ice maker. He pulled Karen down it and around another corner, flattening her against the wall and kissing her fiercely as his body pressed against hers. He was filled with so many conflicting emotions. His head was spinning, and the only way to convey what he felt was with actions. His hands cupped her face as his mouth continued to devour hers. His tongue immediately sought entrance, hearing that sexy, little gasp when the tip of her own felt his stud. Fuck, they had almost a two hour ride home. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

“Taz.”
Her voice was breathless and full of passion.

“Yeah?”
He answered into her mouth.

“What….what you said?”

“What?” He nibbled the corner of her mouth as his hands slid down to her ass. “That I love you?” He pulled away, putting a finger over her lips. “No. Don’t say it unless you mean it. I want you to know you mean it the way I know you want me right now.”

She slipped her hand down, fumbling to open her purse and pull out her wal
let. “Fuck the ride back.” She slid out a credit card. “Let’s get a room.”

~~~***~~~

That stupid key card opened the door just in time. Karen stumbled into the room first, the blast of cold from the air conditioner feeling good against her skin. All she wanted to do was take her clothes off and get into the shower after being in a car and a prison for a good portion of the day. She was so filled with lust right now for this devilishly sexy man in front of her that she couldn’t stand it. She stripped out of her blouse and pants while watching him toe off his boots before removing his t-shirt. Once in the bathroom, she started the shower then removed her bra and panties, stepping in when the water was comfortably warm. And waited.

He didn’t disappoint as a chill from the outside air was accompanied by the sound of the shower curtain being pulled back.
In he stepped with all his ripped muscle and inked, pierced skin. The water sluiced over his body, magnifying all those glorious planes and ridges, making his ink look like wet paint. Several enticing drops clung to his thick, black eyelashes. She reached up and grabbed his face, placing her lips against his eyes, slowly kissing those drops off. Their wet bodies slid up against each other while hands fervently roamed every inch of skin they could find.

“Fuck, Karen you feel so good.”

His fingers dug into her hips and ass as she kneaded his neck and shoulders befo
re trailing down, her fingers outlining every muscle in his arms. “God, Taz. I can’t stop touching you.”

And she didn’t.
The more her hands roamed the harder he got. She heard his breath quickening as he lifted her leg to anchor around his waist. She braced one hand against the fiberglass wall, throwing her head back, allowing him to suckle her from her neck to her nipples. “Taz. Oh my God. Ahhh!”

Th
e way she responded to him seemed to threaten his self-control. “Karen. Karen…..shit!” He ground against her while she did the same. The water, the thick air of lust surrounding them, the spontaneity of the moment, it was all culminating to the point that neither one wanted to control themselves.

Suddenly Karen dropped herself down, spinning away from him and flattening her hands against the wall.
She leaned slightly, jutting that deliciously sweet ass out at him. Holy fucking fuck. “Taz…..please…..”

He wasn’t thinking.
Neither of them were. He grabbed her hips and forcefully pulled her back until they both stilled. “Taz, we…..we need……”

“I’ll pull out.
I swear. Fuck, Karen, let me
feel
you.”

Her head was spinning.
All she heard was how much he wanted her, how he sounded as if he would die if he didn’t slam into her right this very moment. Right now, anything else but that was lost. She pushed back, impaling herself on him as she sucked in her breath at the incredible sensation. “Oh my God! Oh…..yeah. So good. Feels so good.”

She swore she heard him growl
like an animal as he moved her front and back, pumping himself into her with the same frenzy. “Fuck, yeah, Karen. You know how fuckin’ great you feel? Huh?” Those words accompanied matching thrusts. They both pushed and pulled in unison. Karen’s hands began to slide down the wall as one shot back, grabbing his hip to pull him even closer, even deeper as she felt that dizzying sensation build up between her legs and in the pit of her stomach. “Taz…..Taz……oh……oh my God………Taz!”

S
he felt her insides explode while flashes of light glittered behind her eyes. He had increased his pace, knowing full well he was on the brink. “Shit, Karen. Here I…..”

“Taz
, no!”

Her warning was a split second too late, but he pulled himself out, cursing in the process.
Still bent over, she craned her head back to find him finishing himself off with his hand under the shower stream. He leaned a forearm against the wall, resting his forehead against it. “Sorry. You a’ight?”

“Yeah.”
She slipped one hand up his back, tracing the diagonal
S-K-U-L-L-S
tattoo while her other hand went between her legs. She felt a slipperiness trickle out which owed nothing to her, and she closed her eyes and mentally opened her day planner to check the calendar.

Chapter Twenty

The following Thursday
, Taz was in the body shop banging out a severely dented front bumper while Zippy was putting a final coat of paint on the molding around the doorway he had mangled. Things were business as usual, as Wes was going bat-shit crazy coming up with different character combinations for the missing ones on the VIN. Antonio Conti had called Vic two days ago asking for a ‘progress update.’ Translation: Adamo was getting impatient. He wanted a name. He wanted a location. And he wanted revenge. So did the Skulls, but the kid was working as fast as he could while squeezing in downloading the encrypted files from the online site Preston had given Karen.

Karen.
Damn girl had been acting weird since last Saturday. They’d slept off their round of shower sex for a few hours before driving back to Tippitt later that night. They barely talked, but held hands. Karen’s grip on his was tight, as if trying to convey her feelings without words. What a twist – usually chicks were all about the need to say it and hear it. He knew how he felt, as sudden as it was, and didn’t hesitate. It was his nature. Karen, on the other hand, acted as if she were fighting some internal war. The girl had been through the shit ringer by her own family. He wasn’t going to push. He said his peace and left the ball in her court. Just about everyone in town had seen them together at some point, so it wasn’t a secret. He’d been introduced to her father and she’d called Tippitt ‘home’. She wasn’t going anywhere.

“Hey?”
Big Ben popped inside and waved Taz over. “Got something for you.” Discarding his tools, he walked over as Ben handed him a small handgun. “Think it’ll do?”

The thing was
dwarfed in Ben’s bear-paw hand as Taz took it. It was much too small for him, too, but would be perfect for Karen. “Perfect. Thanks, bro.”

“Welcome
. Charles got the go-ahead to turn the lights back on. Gonna stop and see Eva first before her doctor’s appointment. Later.”

Taz went to his bike and put
the gun in the saddlebag. Karen was working at the store today. When he was done, he planned to make a visit of his own.

~~~***~~~

Karen found herself stuck inside the display window of First Impressions Card & Gift Shop. At least it was better than stock room detail. Jen had set her to taking down the summer display to ready it for a back-to-school/fall motif. She had just finished boxing up the last of summer props and related merchandise and carried it into the back. Plopping it on the floor of the stockroom, she leaned back against the shelving feeling weird. Not sick, but….different.

Despite
her penchant for list-making and writing things down, she had failed last month to record when she’d last gotten her period. It may have been right before she left Cincinnati. Or maybe it was after she arrived here? Either way, it probably wouldn’t have mattered because they hadn’t been normal since the entire Preston fiasco started. The stress threw her cycles off. Their little slip-up in the shower had been agitating her. How could she have been so irresponsible? How could
he
have been? Considering the number of women he’d been with, she was sure Taz was a stickler for protection, so she wasn’t worried so much about disease as she was about pregnancy. Unwed and possibly impregnated by a biker with prior jail time. Her parents would be kicked out of their country club for sure.

She used the bathroom
, then saw the back door open along with Eva stuffing her tote bag. “Leaving for the day?”

“Six month checkup.
Then home to work on the plaza event.”

Eva had told Karen about this
Shop Small, Save Big
event Elle Connors had orchestrated for the small businesses in town during the Thanksgiving through Christmas shopping rush. From what she had been told, it had turned out to be so successful that they were doing it again this year, and Eva was on the committee. She gazed at the expectant mother’s protruding belly, overcome with a strange urge to cup her own. “Getting excited?”

“Yeah.
It’s scary too. You think you’re ready at the time you start trying, but I don’t think anyone’s really ever ready.”

“How long have you and Ben been married?”

“It’ll be a year Christmas Eve.”

Karen smiled, glad for the diversion of her own thoug
hts. “Really?”

“One minute I’m baking, the next he’s putting a ring on my finger with a minister on standby.”
Eva paused, her own smile of remembrance lighting up her face. “Ben said he wanted me to be his wife as his Christmas present.”

“
That
is romantic.”

“I know.” Eva swept her desk to make sure she had everything.
“I mean, you look at him and
romance
is the last thing you think of.”

Karen understood.
One look at Taz and she didn’t see a man who’d confidently blurt out his love for her in front of her father. “I understand what you mean.”

“Hey.” Eva gave her a concerned look.
“I know you and Taz are an item. I’m glad. I know his mother must be. I never saw him serious about anyone. Oh, he used to flirt pretty heavily with the girl I had working here, but she was young. I think when she realized he wouldn’t be capable of more than just fun she went and found someone else. You’re more mature and together than Cyndi was. I think he sees that.”

So why was Karen having a hard time seeing it for herself?
Why was she holding back a bit? She’d already spelled out where she and Taz stood to her dad, so….what was the big deal? She felt she would never be fully exonerated for the Preston situation. Even her dad playing both sides of the fence didn’t fully reassure her. She needed to feel as if the blame was totally lifted. And the only way was to take matters into her own hands.

T
hrough the back door, she heard a motorcycle pull up as Eva grabbed her tote. “That’s Ben. I’m going out the back. Close and lock the door behind me and tell Jen if she has to call to do it after three.”

“Okay.”
Karen followed her to the door to where Eva’s maroon jeep was parked out back. Ben had pulled up alongside it, waiting for his wife. She began to close the door, but kept it open just a bit to watch them kiss before Ben’s head dipped down to plant his lips on his wife’s belly. Something inside of her jumped at the sight of that tenderly erotic moment. She felt as if she were intruding on a private moment between husband and wife, but couldn’t help watching their interaction. These men were tough. Big, tough and lovingly loyal.

“Don’t fight what’s meant to happen.
As for my son, I know he loves you. As much as he loves to talk, his actions show it more. But he’ll always need to balance his two lives. You accept that, the man on the inside will love you more than his own life – and the one on the outside will sacrifice it.”

Taz may have been ready to tell her he loved her, but maybe not to be a father.
It was both their faults, yes, but Karen had been used to taking blame which wasn’t fully hers. It was no use agonizing over what-ifs. She needed to know for sure.

~~~***~~~

Taz was ready to take off around five, when Aero exited the clubhouse with a loud whistle. “Yo!” He waved him in. “Wes found something.”

Inside,
Wes sat at one of the old bar tables with his laptop and documents spread out. Doug, Aero and Vic stood behind him. “Ben’s on his way back. Tanner’s still stuck at the mill.” He put a hand on Wes’ shoulder. “What’d you find?”

“Did every fuckin’ possible character scenario I could,” the young patch said.
“A lot were a bust. Some not even close to the description. But this one,” he held up the fully written VIN, “is for a 2010 white Ford F-150 registered to an MP Construction Corp. Company is in Allegheny County, Penn. A Martin Pearson is registered as the President. Dug further and found this MP Corp is a parent company for a d/b/a – Pearson Logging, LLC.”

Taz folded his arms and stood back.
That name was familiar. “If there’s a connection to the mill, that’s it.”

“What’d you pull up on Pearson?” Doug asked.

“That’s the best part.” Wes worked the mouse pad. “Martin seems pretty clean. Married. Wife’s name is Cheryl. Two kids. “Not much else publically, but,” he pulled up a page, “his wife has a Facebook account. Need to friend her to post, but the photos are viewable. Check this out.”

Wes scrolled through the photos until they came across one of two guys on a fishing excursion.
Both were holding a large fish with their poles in their other hand. “The guy on the left is Pearson. Notice the guy on the right?”

Since
neither Ben nor Tanner were here to ID the guy, Taz did, having clearly remembered him from the two encounters. “James Mallory.”

“That supplier at the mill
?” Vic asked.

“He took over Pearson,
” Taz explained. “Day I went there for the door material he showed up to have it out with Charles about usin’ another loggin’ company.”

“He’s Pearson’s brother-in-law
,” Wes continued. “Worked for ‘im until he lost some money and had to close up. But the guy’s got other ventures, so he passed the equipment onto Mallory to try makin’ it on his own.”

Something dug inside Taz’s chest.
“How did he lose all that money?”

“That’s where we come to the interesting part.”
Wes pulled some papers out of the pile on the table. “I got that client list of Karen’s ex. Look who’s one of ‘em.”

Martin Pearson’s
name was on the list. “Shit,” Aero murmured. “You got a bunch of pieces, but they don’t fit.”

“Pearson invested a large sum with Vine Holdings,” Taz began
his theory. “Lost it all in the embezzlement. Even though he closed up shop, he still had other means to fall back on. Mallory didn’t. He depended upon his brother-in-law -
and
the work.”

“And when Pearso
n lost the business,” Doug chimed in, “Mallory tried to form his own.”

Taz nodded.
“And when Charles started shoppin’ out other loggers, Mallory saw that as a threat to his livelihood. Blames Charles. Maybe even enough to set fire to the mill outta spite.”

“And vandalize his cousin’s house
, most likely.” Vic added. “But this doesn’t tell us what Adamo needs to know.”

Wes smiled as he scrolled through the Facebook photos.
“I think so. Look.”

There was another photo of Mallory with his sister, Pearson’s wife
Cheryl. Both were posing in front of a white pickup truck. “That, I believe, is the truck in question. It’s registered to Pearson’s corporation, but Mallory drove it as a company car, I’m guessin’.”

Ben had arrived by then and Taz filled him in.
“Shit, you kidding me?”

“
You two are with me and Doug,” Vic told them. “Wes, get a phone number and address for both Pearson and Mallory. We’ll pay a little visit to Pearson first. Allegheny is about a forty minute ride. Is that phone dry yet?”

“Just about.”
Wes picked up Ty’s cell which he was able to turn on, but it kept fading in and out.

“As s
oon as you can, check outgoing and incoming calls.”

Wes
located Pearson’s address first with the help of a very helpful background check site. He printed them out along with a map. “Here.”

Doug took them and studied the route.
“A’ight. Let’s go.”

“Aero, you’re behind,” Vic told him. “Call Conti and fill
him in. Tanner too, then tell him to get his ass back here as soon as he’s done. If all goes well we may have a special delivery for Adamo by the weekend.”

~~~***~~~

Karen wasn’t ready to go home yet. She had tried texting Taz, but all she got was a cryptic
‘have to head out’
. The club came first.

Even before her and the child she was carrying.

She’d taken a fifteen minute break around three to purchase one of those home tests which could detect pregnancy at the moment of conception. She’d actually bought two of them. Not being able to wait until she got home, she’d used the bathroom as soon as she got back to the store. Her heart pounded the entire time she’d peed on that stick. But not as hard as when a bright, blue plus sign appeared ten minutes later. She’d waited another hour, then snuck into the bathroom again for test number two, only to get the same results. She was pregnant. Not even a week, but it didn’t matter.

A life was beginning to form inside of her.

~~~***~~~

An hour earlier, four Skulls pulled up at the ho
me of Martin Pearson. It was large and luxurious, with several toys scattered on the lawn, indicating children may be around. They didn’t think Pearson was the culprit, but needed to get the drop on Mallory to put the convoluted puzzle together for Adamo Caprese.

Vic walked up the stone path to the front door, Doug beh
ind him with Ben and Taz hanging close by. A man immediately opened the front door, only to close it again, so that it was partially open. “Yes?”