Viper's Kiss (2 page)

“
That
and a hard on.
”

Blaine watched as the cops arrested
both Amber and Danielle.

“
Don
’
t do that,
”
Blaine said.
“
They
…”

“
Shut
the fuck up,
”
the second
cop said and put a gun to Blaine
’
s
forehead.

“
Do
it,
”
Blaine said.
“
Oh, come on, you pussy. Do it.
Take me out. Watch what happens to your town then. We keep the peace. We make
everything work. We do all the bullshit you don
’
t
want to do and the bullshit you can
’
t
do.
”

“
Like
kill our police chief?
”

“
I
know nothing about that,
”
Blaine said with a grin.
“
All
I heard was that he took off after his wife divorced him. Killed himself,
right?
”

The gun started to shake in the cop
’
s hand.

“
Brumstead,
stand the fuck down,
”
a
voice bellowed.

The cop stepped back.

In walked another guy. Thick
shoulders, dark skin, still wearing sunglasses. A toothpick in his mouth,
rolling between his lips. Dressed in an all black uniform, he didn
’
t need to flash any badge for
Blaine to know who it was.

“
Christ,
”
Blaine whispered.

Ethan took his sunglasses off and
looked right at Blaine.
“
So
this is what you
’
ve become,
huh?
”

“
And
this is what you
’
ve become?
”
Blaine asked.

It felt like a lifetime ago, but it
wasn
’
t that long
…
when Blaine and Ethan were on
the streets, fighting crime, as partners.

***

Blaine sat in the cell with the two
women. Beautiful Amber and Danielle.

He stood up and walked to the bars
and looked around. There was nobody out there. He knew how this game fucking
worked. It was all bullshit. Ethan must have taken the chief position since
Jerry
’
s tragic
suicide
.
That wasn
’
t a good thing at
all. Ethan was nothing but a dick. He
’
d
been a dick years ago and he must have purposely found his way to rise through
the ranks and pick a nice spot to settle.

Right where he could rattle Blaine
and the rest of Back Down Devil MC. Their history was going to be served up on
a platter for the MC to suffer through.

“
Fuck,
”
Blaine growled and smacked the
bars.

“
This
is bad,
”
Amber said.
“
I can
’
t be in jail.
”

Blaine turned and walked back to
the bench. He touched Amber
’
s
jaw.
“
Don
’
t worry about this. This isn
’
t jail. It
’
s a holding cell, beautiful. We
’
re not going anywhere but home
tonight, okay?
”

“
What
’
s going to happen with the club?
I can
’
t go home unemployed.
”

“
Your
guy hits you?
”

“
Sometimes.
”

“
You
shouldn
’
t let that shit
happen,
”
Blaine said.
“
If he scares you at all, you
call me. I
’
ll take care of
him.
”

“
You
’
ll kill him, won
’
t you? Isn
’
t that what happened with Jerry?
”

“
Is
that what you think?
”

“
That
’
s what we heard,
”
Danielle said. Blaine looked at
the other woman. She hurried and shrugged her shoulders.
“
There was bad blood there.
”

“
Outlaw
and justice doesn
’
t get
along very well,
”
Blaine
said.
“
But we all want the
same thing, which is to be an outlaw and deal our own justice. They have to
serve behind a badge and laws. We serve behind a gavel and the open road.
”

“
Blaine,
I
’
m scared,
”
Amber said.

“
Don
’
t be,
”
Blaine whispered. He bent over and pulled Amber to
his lips. He kissed her.
“
Fuck,
that tastes good.
”

“
Yeah
…”

“
Want
to taste something else?
”

“
Yeah
…”

Blaine pointed to the bench.
“
Hey, beautiful, stand up.
”

Danielle stood up.

Blaine opened his jeans and got on
the bench. He leaned all the way back and watched Amber pick up right where she
left off. Her mouth trying so desperately to devour him. Blaine thrust a few
times watching the reaction on Amber
’
s
face.

Remember
…
it only hurts for a
second, beautiful
…

He then reached for Danielle and
pulled her close. His hand slid around and cupped her ass. She let out a gasp.

“
I
need to play,
”
Blaine
whispered.

He used his other hand and peeled
Danielle
’
s panties to the
side. He found her
secret piercing
and his tongue went right for it.

Being in jail wasn
’
t the worst thing in the
world at all
…

two.

Jessa had her last patient of the
night. Reviewing the files broke her heart a little.
Arthritis and
cataracts.
It was all age, nothing to do with diet or lifestyle. It was
just the way time went. Funny how time did that, right? Twenty years ago all
Jess wanted was to be grown up. She wanted to drive a car, drink coffee, try a
cigarette or two. She wanted to sip fruity drinks and talk to cute guys, like
some of those adult shows her mother watched. It seemed so much better to be
grown up, you know? You didn
’
t
have to worry about bullies picking on your off-brand shoes or teachers giving
out tests that definitely weren
’
t
fair.

Closing the folder, Jessa shook her
head. She had to laugh that she was able to remember her own innocence.

That was a long time ago.

She stood up and took the folder
with her. Waiting in the room was Brandy.

“
How
’
s my favorite girl?
”
Jessa asked.

Brandy looked at Jessa and her
mouth opened, tongue out, and she smiled. Jessa had never seen a dog smile like
Brandy did. Even if she couldn
’
t
see very well or walk very well, the dog had quite the outlook on life.

Jessa crouched down to Brandy
’
s level and pet her.

Her owners, a lovely couple named
Jim and Brenda, were forever concerned about what to do next. Brandy had been a
present for Jim from
Santa
when he was just twelve years old. Brandy had
just celebrated her nineteenth birthday, which was quite amazing to see. In dog
years, Brandy was one-hundred-and-thirty-three years old.

And here was Jessa, just a hair
over thirty. Working as a veterinarian when she should have been a medical
doctor by now. All those years of school, working, saving, it was all laid to
waste after one night. It changed her life forever and while the passion for
medicine and a need to care never went away, that desire toward humans was
destroyed.

“
What
do you think, Doc?
”
Jim
asked.

He was tall, handsome, piercing
blue eyes and a perfect hairline. He was a ruthless lawyer - or so Jessa had
heard - but any time she had a run-in with Jim, he was teary eyed over his
childhood best friend.

Brenda gripped his hand tight.

Jessa had heard from one of the
receptionists that Jim and Brenda had been trying have a baby for years and
weren
’
t able to do so. They
had done every possible treatment and test and experiment with no luck at all.
So Jessa knew that this wasn
’
t
just a dog or a family dog or even just Jim
’
s
childhood best friend. This was Jim
’
s
child, basically. The child he couldn
’
t
have right now.

“
Let
me take a look at a few things here,
”
Jessa said.

She examined Brandy and everything
was about the same. Her hips were slowly deteriorating. There was no stopping
it. There was no real treating it other than medication to make the dog
comfortable. The same for the cataracts.

“
Well,
I
’
ve got good news and bad
news,
”
Jessa said.
“
The good news is that nothing
’
s really changed at all.
”

“
But
that
’
s also the bad news,
”
Jim said.

“
Yeah.
”

“
Shit.
”

“
Jim,
”
Brenda said.
“
Don
’
t curse at her.
”

“
I
didn
’
t curse at her,
”
Jim snapped.

“
It
’
s fine.
”
Jessa leaned against the counter. She closed the
folder again and turned her computer screen away.
“
Listen. I would never do anything to mislead any of
you. All three of you. My goal right now is to make sure Brandy is happy and
comfortable. The same for you both. It
’
s
never easy coming to terms with the inevitable around us, and I
’
m sorry for that
…”

“
Just
be straight,
”
Jim said.
“
Do we need to talk about putting
her down?
”

“
Jim,
”
Brenda said.
“
I don
’
t want to have that conversation.
”

“
Well,
we can
’
t let her suffer.
”

Jessa looked down at Brandy and
pointed. The dog was resting on her side, breathing fine, still with that smile
on her pretty blonde face.

“
You
’
ll know when she
’
s suffering,
”
Jessa said.
“
Right now, she
’
s content. I believe dogs know
just as much as we do. She knows her body is getting old and changing.
”

“
I
said the same thing,
”
Brenda said.
“
Maybe it
’
s weird to think, but Brandy has
been around so long and been through so much, she
’
s
not a dog to us
…”

Brenda caught herself.

“
I
see that quite a bit,
”
Jessa said.
“
I wouldn
’
t change a thing right now.
”

“
She
had a bad night, Doc,
”
Jim
said.
“
She was crying at
one point.
”

“
Well,
I
’
ll order more X-rays and
we
’
ll keep a close eye on
things. You know how to reach me. I don
’
t
just go and disappear, right? I
’
m
always available to talk to. Brandy is going to have good days and bad, just
like any of us. You have her medication and you know how and when to use it. I
’
m putting this blunt and forgive
me if I sound rude, but as long as you don
’
t
give up on her, she won
’
t
give up on you or herself.
”

Jim crouched and scooped up the
dog. He lifted her with ease and cradled her. It was quite the sight to see a
man in a suit holding a shaggy retriever like he did. But in that moment there
was almost a childhood flicker in his eyes. He probably held the dog like that
when he was twelve and she was just a puppy.

“
As
long as she keeps smiling, you
’
ll
be okay,
”
Jessa said.

“
But
there
’
s going to come a
time when she
’
s not okay,
”
Jim said.
“
When she passes.
”

Jessa reached out and touched
Brandy
’
s head. She offered
a frail smile to Jim and Brenda.
“
The
same could be said for all of us, right?
”

That was the last appointment of
the day. It wasn
’
t the
worst way to end a day, but it certainly didn
’
t
send Jessa back to her office with a hopeful smile on her face. She sat down
behind her desk and felt herself choke up. Never in her wildest dreams did she
think she
’
d become so
attached to animals like she did. Hell, the entire career choice was a shotgun
thing. Med school on a Monday, then veterinarian school by Friday. Lucky for
her she had someone to help her through everything. A friend of a friend owned her
own office and took a liking to Jessa. Her name was Dr. Ashland. It all seemed
to happen too easily. Of course, throwing her original dream down the drain had
been hard enough.

But Jessa knew she never had a
choice in the matter. Not after what she saw happen. Her entire life had been
about becoming a doctor. Wanting to help people who were sick or didn
’
t feel right. To save people. To
stitch up cuts. To remove a bad appendix. There was a flip side to it all. The
side when people were too sick to cure. Or when surgeries went bad. Or just
time caught up and took control.

That was a crash course Jessa never
expected
…
especially with
her best friend.

Jessa shut her eyes and rubbed her
temples with the pointer and thumb of her right hand. So many times the images
would just pop into her mind.

Getting there a minute too late.
Hearing nothing. Literally nothing. Because they were gone. Opening the door
and seeing a hand on the floor, outstretched
…
her fingertips almost touching
…

A knock at the door broke the bad
memory into pieces.

“
Come
in,
”
Jessa yelled.

The door opened and in poked the
receptionist, Terri.

“
Sorry
to bother you. Someone is here
…
with an emergency.
”

“
An
emergency? We don
’
t do
emergencies. We
’
re
…”

“
He
’
s insistent he talks to you. He
has a box with him. I guess there
’
s
an animal in it.
”

“
Who
is it?
”

“
I
’
ve never seen him before. He
looks pissed off. Upset, I guess.
”

“
Okay,
”
Jessa said.
“
I
’
ll
be right out.
”

Jessa couldn
’
t find it in her heart to say no. Plus, if Terri
hadn
’
t locked the door,
what was she supposed to do? She couldn
’
t
just sneak out either, since Terri probably told the guy she would check on
Jessa.

Sighing, Jessa walked out of her
office. It wasn
’
t like she
had anyone to go home to, right? Hell, for being a veterinarian, she didn
’
t even have so much as a
goldfish at home. Just a small, well kept apartment. She had an
on-again-off-again fling with a guy named Mike who was a mortgage broker, but
that relationship (if you could call it that) was only convenient when Mike
wanted it to be. Most of the time when he called Jessa told she herself to tell
him to fuck off but truthfully she didn
’
t
like to be alone. Even if it was just silly comfort for one night, it was
something.

Jessa walked down the long hall and
turned the corner, opening the door. When she saw who was sitting in a chair, a
box next to him in another chair, she froze. It was like walking from a sunny
day into a sub zero night.

Death sat there
…
with a grin on his face
…

***

“
Cat
got your tongue?
”
he asked
and then snickered. He pointed to a cat drawing on the wall.
“
Get it? The cat
…
right?
”

“
How
…”

He stood and tugged at his suit
jacket.
“
How am I out of
prison? Well, see, there
’
s
this thing where you serve your time and then they just let you go. They open
the door, give you a swift kick in the ass, and say goodbye. Well, they
actually don
’
t say goodbye.
They just shut the door behind you. But I
’
m
a free man.
”

“
You
need to leave right now.
”

“
No,
I don
’
t. I
’
m free. I can do what I want.
”

“
This
office is closed.
”

“
The
door opened just fine.
”

“
It
’
s supposed to be locked,
”
Jessa said.
“
I
’
m
telling you to leave. You don
’
t
want me to call the police on you, do you?
”

He smiled. That big, evil smile.
“
Still the same, huh? You still
blame me, don
’
t you?
”

“
I
know what you did,
”
Jessa
said.

Her chest felt like it was
collapsing into her body. She had been promised he would never come back and
bother her. That he was going to go away for a long time. And while he was
gone, they were going to work on the other case. That they would find a way to
present the murder charges.

Apparently that never happened.

“
You
think you know,
”
he said.
“
I feel bad for you, too.
Cleaning up dog shit all day and night. Dealing with people who own animals.
Why can
’
t they get a real
fucking life?
”

“
Go,
”
Jessa shouted.
“
I
’
m
not saying it again.
”

He pointed to the box on the chair.
“
But I brought you
something
…”