Purge (Death Crusaders Motorcycle Club) (14 page)

I’d say a good half hour
passes before I actually am able to relax a little. I look over at Blade. I can
tell from his expression that he feels much better. We’re still not out of the
woods. The four of us have to disappear. Cops are going to be looking for us
and they won’t stop until we are either in jail or dead and I seriously doubt
jail will be an option for any of us.

“Where we going?” I ask
Blade.

“Somewhere safe.” He replies.

“You mean like a safe house?”

“It’s a stash house actually
but yeah, it’s safe.”

“But won’t Mark know about
it?”

“Not this one Jen. The only
persons alive that know about it are me and Piper. It has no connection to the
club so we’ll be safe there as long as we need.”

“How long do we need?”

“Long enough to get four sets
of ID’s, passports, and such.”

“And then?”

“We go somewhere really
safe.”

“Where would that be?” I ask.

“Belize of course.”

For the first time since I
have been back I have something to feel good about. We’re going to Belize! I
actually smile at him. Maybe, just maybe this little story of ours will have a
happy ending. I look over at Mikey. Now there’s someone who could use a happy
ending and I’m going to make sure he gets it.

It’s nearly dark when we get
to the ultra- safe, safe house. Before I can relax I make sure Mikey is settled
in. The house is actually a three bedroom, two level log cabin set alongside a
small lake. There’s a single dock with a small row boat tied up. The air smells
fresh and clean and I realize that for hours I have been either breathing in
blood or gunpowder. To actually breathe clean air is almost overwhelming.

“Smells nice doesn’t it?”
Asks Blade as he takes a seat next to me on the back porch.

“Yeah…I was thinking it’s
nice to smell something that doesn’t smell-”

“Like blood.” He says with a
smile.

“Yeah, like blood. Now if I
can just get the pictures out of my head…”

“That might take a while
longer.” He replies. “The things I see when I close my eyes at night…Yeah I
wouldn’t mind unseeing a few things.”

He takes my hand and links
his fingers in mine. I take another deep breath. It’ll be nice hanging out here
for a while.

“How long are we going to be
here?” 

“About a week I think.
Piper’s getting it all together. He’s going to secure us a truck and we’ll just
drive there. It’ll be a hell of a long drive but you’ve done it before so…”

“A road trip huh? Yeah…I
could use a nice trip. You’ll love Belize. I can’t think of a better place to
be in the world.”

“Seems a little…boring?”

“Are you kidding me? It’ll be
a vacation. You can learn to scuba, snorkel, anything you want. There are
amazing jungles, caves to explore…it’s paradise Blade.”

“Anywhere…anyplace that has
you in it is paradise for me Ms. Clarkson.”

“Don’t call me that. Officer
Regan called me Ms. Clarkson.”

“Sorry Jen. One day we’ll go
after her and Mark but for now we all need the rest. In fact we need a very
long rest.”

I lean over and rest my head
on my chest. “Yes…I do need the rest. Why not start right now?”

He flashes me a smile and
gets up. I stand and he scoops me up in his powerful arms. I feel like a
helpless kitten in his arms and it feels nice. He carries me into our designated
room on the bottom floor and closes and locks the door.

“Don’t you have watch
tonight?” I murmur.

He looks at his watch. “Not
for three hours. What do you think we can do that takes three hours?”

“Not sex.” I reply with a
wicked smile. “That only takes ten minutes for you.”

“Oh you’re bad…really bad.”
He sets me down at the edge of the bed and smacks my ass. “I like bad.” He
moves to smack me again but I catch his hand and turn to face him.

I give him a sly smile and
slowly sink to my knees. I inhale his masculine scent on the way down. Strong
hands grab my head as he pulls me into his crotch. I can feel his excitement
pulsing beneath my lips. This is going to be a nice ten minutes I think to
myself; a very nice ten minutes!

Epilogue

The warm blue-green water
is lapping at my knees as another Black Tip Reef shark cruises by. The sound of
laughter is carried across the placid water and it’s music to my ears. I open
my eyes and about fifty yards in front of me at the edge of the reef three figures
frolic in the surf. The smallest one pauses in the middle of his play and looks
back at me. He does this every few minutes like he’s afraid I and this island
paradise will disappear if he doesn’t keep tabs on it. Just to reassure him I
wave for him to come in. He turns and says something to Blade and starts coming
my way.

He walks up to me with a
huge smile planted on his face. He looks like your typical happy eleven year
old, but if you look closer, the picture in his eyes tells a much different
story. Others don’t see it but I do. I see the pain that’s clearly there only
barely masked by his ready smile. He takes a seat next to me and slips his hand
in mine. The simple act of holding my hand does wonders for his pain. I can see
it slowly dissipate as we sit together in silence.

About a year ago his
parents, his big sister, and his grandmother and uncle were in the process of
being hunted down and murdered. I understand his pain as much as one can
without sharing the exact same experience and he senses that. I never wanted to
be a mother yet I have been one for a year now. I’m sure Blade never pictured
being a father and Piper an uncle but we all have our roles to play for the
sake of Mikey.

With those ultimately
responsible for Alex’s death still at large this seemed like the only safe
place. Sometimes I think about returning to Whispering Pines to look for Mark.
Part of me believes he actually did die but deep down I know it’s not true. And
strangely, part of me is relieved he’s still alive and that part really
confuses me. My life has been entwined with his for so long it feels more like
a safety net and not some type of bondage. I know me and because I know me I
know that one day I’ll have to return and settle the score in whatever form
that might take. But for now I have Mikey, Piper, and Blade and that’s enough.

THE END