Spike (Aces MC Series Book 3) (3 page)

I collected two holdalls from the bottom of my wardrobe and
filled them with essentials for myself and the children including underwear and
pyjamas, I needed to travel light to prevent curiosity from the neighbours.
Once the bags were packed I placed them into the boot of the car. Luckily I
could get to the garage through an internal door, that way the neighbours
wouldn't see me loading the vehicle but I was still cautious. The majority of
the neighbours were elderly in our cul-de-sac and because they were retired
they had a lot of time on their hands and were very nosy. They liked to know
everyone's business and they respected Liam because he helped them with odd
jobs. Considering how nosy they were, not one of them in the past six years had
ever asked if I were okay. They had clearly seen the bruises and had probably
heard the screams for help but no one came to my aid. What was more surprising
though was the way they looked at me. It wasn't pity I saw in their eyes, it
was disgust. They probably thought I deserved what he gave me or that I pushed
him to it as he always portrayed such a fun loving, caring father and husband.
I shook my head trying to clear my thoughts, I didn't have time to consider what
people did or didn't feel about the abuse clearly going on as my only priority
were the children.
I gathered some food from the pantry and made some cordial in a plastic bottle
so that the children could have a drink during the three hour journey that would
hopefully be the start of a new life.

"Mrs Walker, these aren't the correct protocols. You
need to try and make all appointments outside of school time."  
I stood in the reception area of the school, tapping my foot impatiently as the
jumped up receptionist scolded me as if I were one of her pupils.
"I'm truly sorry but it was the only appointment they had available and as
you can appreciate oral hygiene is very important for young children." I
smiled tightly, "Do you have children Miss Nunn?" I knew full well she
didn't have any children, her fiancé dumped her last year as she was caught
having it off with the school caretaker.
"No I don't." She stated folding her arms across her chest as her
cheeks heated.
"Then you wouldn't understand, would you!" I smiled smugly as I
ushered Devon and Tommy out of the building.

"Where are we going mum?" Devon asked as we walked
briskly across the car park.
"I'll answer all of your questions once we're in the car." I answered
in a clipped tone ushering them along, eagerly looking around for possible
unwanted visitors.
Devon and Tommy sat in their booster seats as I secured their seatbelts before
I got into the car, letting out a loud sigh of relief that I'd cleared the
first hurdle.
I started the engine and pulled out of the school car park, slipping easily
into the steady flow of traffic heading in the direction of the M3. "Right,
what do you want to know Devon?" I asked looking at her in the rear view
mirror expectantly.
"Where are we really going? We went to the dentist the other week."
There were no flies on her, for a five year old she was very knowing and I
found it difficult to pull the wool over her eyes.
"We're going on holiday," I hadn't really put any thought into what I
was going to tell the children. I knew Tommy would just go with the flow as he
was so easy going but Devon was a little spit fire.
"Where on holiday? Is it by the seaside?" she asked excitedly.
"I'm afraid not Devon but I'm sure we can have a day trip to the seaside,
if that's what you want to do?"
I loved spending time with the twins. When they were away from Liam, they were
allowed to just be children and say and do whatever they wanted. I had actively
encouraged them to be inquisitive but Liam had shot them down at every opportunity
trying to subdue them. He thought that children should be seen and not heard, a
sentiment that I didn't agree with.
"Are we staying in a hotel or a caravan?" Devon asked.
"A hotel," well it was a refuge but Devon wouldn't know the
difference, that's if they had room for us. If they didn't have space I was
unsure of what I was going to do with only £203.37, after putting petrol into
the car to get us to our destination.
"Does it have a swimming pool? Lucy at school went on holiday to a place
called Spain and she had a swimming pool. They were only going to stay for one
week but they were having so much fun that her daddy booked another week."
Lucy's father probably didn't beat the shit out of Lucy's mother though, so
they probably liked spending time together!
"Is dad coming?"
Tommy had been quiet up until this point. "No he's not coming Tommy."
I glanced at him in the rear view mirror to see him nod his head as he looked
out of the window with a small smile on his face.
"Why isn't he coming? Is he busy at work?" Devon asked.
"Yeah, he's going to be busy at work for a very long time!" I wasn't
ready to discuss all of the details at this point in time. I needed to think
about it properly and break the news to them gently although I was starting to think
that they wouldn't be too bothered.

The journey was long and boring, more so now that the twins
had both fallen asleep although this had given me a little thinking time. Once
we were settled I would need to find a job and think about enrolling the
children in school eventually. I knew that the refuge could help with such
things but I had been so dependent on Liam over the years, that I knew I was
going to find this more difficult than I originally thought. The big question
was could I actually stop Liam from finding us? If he found out where we were
he would most certainly come and get us and there was no way of knowing what he
would do. I didn't want to live in fear for the rest of my life, I needed to be
clever and make sure I covered all of our tracks and that started by driving at
the speed limit so that I didn't break the law and get any tickets.

My stomach rumbled loudly and I quickly realised that I
hadn't eaten since lunchtime yesterday. I didn't have a watch and I had
purposely covered the clock in the car so I didn't know what the time was but I
assumed it was now approaching lunch time because of the distance we had travelled.
Since the first physical attack in the kitchen six years ago, I had found it
difficult to look at clocks and only did so when absolutely necessary. This to
a normal person would probably sound ridiculous. It reminded me of that awful
day that had been pivotal to the changes in my life but this little act of
control gave me a coping mechanism to deal with the shit life that I had been
handed.

Bang!
The car jerked forward and the engine spluttered, it felt like I'd lost power
and I had to quickly change to first gear as we coasted down the high street.
Bang!
The car came to an abrupt halt and I let it roll to the side of the road just
stopping short before it hit a motorcycle.

"Shit!" I glanced quickly at the children who were
still fast asleep and although I knew that the car had broken down, I smiled
shaking my head slowly as I couldn't believe that the children had slept
through the loud noises the car had just made.
Stepping out of the vehicle I stretched to try and relieve some of the mounting
tension and walked around the car to see if there were any visible issues, not
that I would know what to look for as I was a novice when it came to things
like this.
Looking up and down the unassuming street, I noticed the two motorcycles in front
of the car in more detail. They were large motorcycles, and the sun reflected
off the shiny metal indicating that they were well looked after. I didn't know
who they belonged too as the street was fairly empty but I was grateful that I
hadn't hit the first bike as it would have created a domino effect in the
direction of a 4x4.

Spike

"What the fuck was that?" Duke asked as he stood
making his way towards the door of the cafe.
Diesel and I left our food and followed him outside to see a petite mousy
looking bird standing by a car that had smoke pumping out of the engine.
She quickly realised that it was now on fire and opened the door, struggling to
move the passenger seat forward.
She glanced around panicked, "My kids are in the back seats asleep, please
help me!" She screeched, fighting with the plastic lever on the side of
the seat.
I ran to her aid, shoving her out of the way slightly so that I could pull back
the seat, and lent inside to retrieve a young girl from the rear seat. I lifted
her carefully and rested a hand on top of her head so that she didn't bang it
as I backed out and to my surprise she instantly snuggled into my embrace. I
glanced over at Diesel who was now doing the same but was holding a young boy
of about four or five in his arms. The boy whimpered rousing from his sleep, probably
scared by what was going on and being woken by Diesel.
Once they were safely away from the car we stood on the pavement outside the
cafe. Duke released the hand break and managed to push the vehicle back slightly
so that it wasn't in direct contact with our motorcycles.

Bang!
Another loud boom echoed around the street as the fire took hold of the
vehicle.
"Shit, my bags are in there!"
Duke made a grab for 'mousy' as she bolted towards the vehicle and managed to
grasp her arm before she got too close. He pulled her towards him and held her firmly
as she struggled to get free from his arms. Duke briefly glanced over in my
direction when her top rode to reveal bruising, substantial bruising on her
midriff.
"Look babe, I'm gonna let you go but you can't go over to the car. Think
about your kids, who's gonna look after them if you get hurt?"
This hit a cord and she slowly calmed turning quickly to take the boy from
Diesel's arms. This is when we all got a good look at the woman in front of us
for the first time. She had a natural beauty under all the makeup but it was
obvious why it was there. The bruising was evident around her left eye and I
could also see lacerations around her neck. Diesel and Duke glanced at me with
raised eyebrows and I immediately understood their unspoken words. We'd all
experienced the effects of domestic violence at some stage in our lives, which
in retrospect had turned us into the men we were today but time hadn't healed
the anger we had for the men that had abused our mothers.

I was pulled from my thoughts to the sound of sirens faintly
in the distance.
"Go on, get the kids inside. I'll deal with the fire fighters when they
arrive." Duke stated shooing us away as the flames had now taken hold of
the vehicle.
The young girl wriggled again trying to get comfortable and I moved my arms to
accommodate her new position. I couldn't remember a time when I'd held a child
and was thankful that it wasn't a newborn as I wouldn't have known what to do.
Taking the lead I walked into the cafe, to sit at the table I had vacated
earlier. I still had the girl in my arms but didn't want to wake her, she
looked so peaceful and there was enough going on without a child running around.
I glanced over at her mum who looked totally out of her depth with the
situation and was on the verge of breaking down with tears glistening,
threatening to fall.

"I called the fire brigade, do we also need an
ambulance?" Amy asked as she came over to us assessing the situation.
I glanced over at 'mousy', "Do you need to see a doctor?" I asked with
raised eyebrows looking towards her waist.
She glanced down noticing that her t-shirt had revealed her bruises and perched
on the chair as she frantically pulled her top so that she was now covered,
"No I'm fine thank you." She said quietly.
"And the kids?" I asked more intently as the little one on my lap
started to stir.
"They're also fine." She stated opening her arms so the little boy could
fit snugly on her lap.
I nodded my head accepting her response and glanced down to see a set of
beautiful blue eyes staring at me.
"Hello, I'm Spike." I said introducing myself, not knowing if the
girl was old enough to have a full on conversation, in fact I didn't know
anything about kids.
She eased herself forward so that she was now sitting on my lap and looked
around the cafe.
"I'm Devon but I'm also starving. Mum can we have something to eat?"
She glanced at her mother with pleading eyes.
I was shocked by her demeanour as I hadn't expected that, considering
everything that was going on.
"What would you like Devon?" Amy asked as she removed her note pad
from her tabard.
Devon glanced at her mum making sure it was okay to order as she simply nodded.
"Can I please have a strawberry milkshake and sausage and mash with lots
of gravy?"
"And little man, what would you like?" Amy asked quietly looking at
the young boy sitting on his mum's lap.
"He'll have sausage, chips and beans with a chocolate milkshake and could
I please have a cup of tea."
I thought it strange that she ordered for him as he looked to be about the same
age as Devon who certainly wasn't backwards in coming forwards! This bird also
looked like she could eat a good meal herself and I was surprised that she just
ordered a cup of tea.
"Ames, can I also get a tea when you're ready." I asked not taking my
eyes off the wallflower in front of me. "What's your name babe?" I
asked with a nod of the head.
She was a little taken aback by my address but I needed a name, I couldn't keep
calling her babe and mousy.
"Sorry, my name is Louise and this is Tommy and you've already been
introduced to Devon." She said gesturing with her hand towards the girl
who was still sitting on my lap but was now rubbing her hands up and down my
arms.
"Do you like them?" I asked smirking at her as she contemplated my tattoos.
"I like the flowers but I don't like the skulls." She said skimming
around the outline of my designs with her finger.
"Devon, can you please sit on a chair." Louise asked with panic evident
in her voice.
I could see the anguish on her face and if I flipped the situation, I don't
think many mothers would be fine with their young child sitting on a stranger's
lap, especially if the stranger looked like me.
"I'm fine mum." Devon said softly, raising her eye brows as she
continued to move her finger around the flower tattoo on my arm.
"Devon, sit on a chair now." Louise stated with a little more force.
Oh she did have a little fire in her belly after all, "Come on poppet, do
as your mum asks."
Louise looked at me with a questioning look as I moved Devon off my lap and onto
the chair opposite.
Diesel caught my eye and smiled shaking his head slightly, "I'm gonna see
if Duke needs me." He stood placing his hands in his pockets before
strolling out of the cafe to leave me with Louise and the kids.