Rainer: An MC Savage Motorcycle Club Romance Novel (4 page)

“Ah, the biscotti will be right out,” he said as he quickly walked away.

Mandy poured at least eight packets of sugar into her coffee along with the creamer. She took a sip and smiled, “Ah, much better.”

“Isn’t it too sweet?” I asked.

“No, it’s perfectly sweet.”

I rolled my eyes at her; she of all people should know how unhealthy sugar could be.

“Anyways, you probably should have called the cops right when they were out of sight,” she said.

“Well, I’m not really one to lie — and plus, the Rainer guy was really nice about letting me go. And apparently someone was ready to kill me if I even tried to call the cops, so—”

“You sound like you’re in love with him or something,” she said, leaning in closer as she wiggled her eyebrows. “Candace Unival, are you in love with this mystery man?”

“No, Mandy LyLocke! And stop saying my whole name; you know I hate it when you do that. Of course I don’t like him, I mean, he kidnapped me. I can’t be in love with him, are you crazy?” I snapped.

“Well technically, he didn’t kidnap you. It was his friends, right?”

I hated when she was right. “Yeah… but still.”

“So you do love him, then,” she giggled.

“Shut up! I don’t love him but I thought he was nice. Nicer than the others, at least.”

“What if he’s ugly, though?”

“Can you not?” I said.

“I’m just saying…”

“He sounded kind of sexy, alright? Is that what you want to hear?”

“Okay okay, so what are you going to do now? File a report?”

“No… I actually, kind of want to find them.”

“What! Why? Are you out of your mind?” she said, almost spilling her coffee. “Why... I mean, what... Why would you want to do that? Who does that?!”

“I don’t know! I just want to see who they were and I kind of want to thank them.”

“For what! For kidnapping you and setting you free?”

She had a point and I didn’t want to admit it. But after what happened to me, I’ve never felt more alive and alert. I felt like I finally broke out of this weird depression state I’d been in for the past four years. “Kinda… but not only that.”

“What else then?”

“I don’t know. I just feel… better now? Like maybe I’m still in shock or something but I actually feel better than before.”

Mandy slammed her cup down. “You sound like someone with Stockholm syndrome.”

“I don’t, I swear! I just — I need to find them. Rainer at least, not so much the others.”

“Are you serious? That’s so dumb!” she said. “What will you even do? What if they actually kill you this time?”

“They won’t.”

“But didn’t they kill the other guy?” she said. I wished I hadn’t mentioned that part to her earlier.

“Yeah, but it seemed like they had a good reason.”

The barista came by and placed three biscotti’s on the table but Mandy didn’t notice and he seized the moment by sneaking away. “So you want to give them a reason to kill you?”

Everyone began to stare in our direction again. “Calm down, Mandy. You’re making a scene!”

“I don’t care!” she said before standing up. Oh god, here she goes. “Can I help you?” she yelled at the people around us, who went back to their own conversations.

After a moment of awkward silence, she sat back down. “Anyways, you’re crazy, you’re going to get yourself killed,” she said brushing her dress down and blowing at her bangs. Nine.

“Well you’re the one asking if I was in love with the guy!”

“Yeah, but I didn’t think you actually were.”

“I’m not!”

“Okay, whatever. So what do you plan on doing? Are you going to just show up and be like hello, remember me? I’m back!”

“Not like how you just did it, but something like that.”

“How on earth will you even find them? Didn’t they hold your eyes closed the whole time?” she said.

“No! It was a blindfold… I just told you—“

“Oh yeah,” she said taking a sip of coffee.

“Anyways, I’m like, pretty sure I was in an auto shop. I’ll just look it up online.”

She picked up a biscotti without looking at it, then used it to point at me. “Candace are you listening to yourself right now? You just had a traumatic experience and almost died. You might just be on some sort of adrenaline rush or you have PTSD or something.”

“It’s been a few days already. I swear I’m completely fine.”

“I’m not so sure about that…”

“When have I ever lied to you?” I said.

Mandy scratched her head, “I’m not sure, but you probably have! I just can’t think of anything right now.”

“See!”

She squinted her eyes and looked at me closely. “I guess you do seem different,” she said before opening her mouth to take a bite.

“What do you mean?”

She put the biscotti down before taking a bite, “Like, you seem all giddy and excited and you haven’t touched your phone at all since we got here.”

“So what?”

“Usually you’re glued to that thing like those bugs that fly around a lamp.”

“No I’m not!” I said. “Okay, fine. Maybe I do that, but not as much as you do it.”

She paused for a moment to take a photo of her biscotti, and then she took a selfie with her coffee. “I don’t think we’ve talked this much in a long, long time,” she said.

“That means I’m okay then,” I said with a smile. “I’m totally fine.”

“I’m really not sure what to think but I kind of like this new you.”

“New me?”

“It’s hard to explain, it’s just… you’re here now. Like, you’re aware and present, like I’m actually talking to a human for once.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“Well, before, you were really zombie-like. Like being alive was a burden or something.”

I hated that she had me figured out but I guess that’s what best friends are for.

“Did you think I was going to kill myself or something?” I joked.

“Yeah, but knowing you, I’m sure it would have stayed a thought.”

She was half right, at least for now. I just couldn’t think of the easiest and painless way out.

“I don’t expect you to understand,” I said. “I need to find them. I need to.” That’s when I realized I had some sort of addiction to closure. Thanks, TV.

“You just told me about something super duper traumatic that literally just happened to you, and now you’re telling me that you want to go back and hang out with these people?”

“I want to hang out with them but I’m not sure if they’ll let me, one of them sounded really mean,” I said. “But that would be pretty fun. Doing crime and all that stuff.”

“Are you really that bored?”

“I can’t even begin to tell you—”

“I love you and all, but I’m not going to help you with this one,” she said. “And obviously it’s a stupid idea, but I can’t stop you, can I?”

“Probably not,” I said.

“You’re not just doing this cause of that one nice guy who let you go, right? Reindeer?”

“Rainer!”

“Oops, yeah, him.”

“No! I mean, I liked him, he seemed alright.”

“You do realize he was one of your kidnappers, right?”

“Yeah, but I mean…”

“Look, I hate to be so forward but you’re an intelligent girl with a lot of potential, but sometimes you can be so dumb. But you know what?”

“What?” I said.

She leaned in closer, “Love makes people do stupid shit.”

I rolled my eyes at her. “I’m not in love, okay? I just… I need to do this, Mandy.”

She let out a defeated sigh, and began playing with the biscotti. I wasn’t sure if she realized it was what she had ordered.

“So, can you at least tell me your plan for all this?” she said.

“Okay,” I said. “So on the way back, three rock songs were playing. Luckily, I knew all the songs except for one, so I made sure to memorize some of the lyrics, then I just looked it up online and found it.”

“You scare me sometimes, you know?”

“Why?”

“Well if it were me, the only thing I would have been thinking about was whether or not I was going to die,” she said while adding another packet of sugar into her coffee. “Anyways, never mind, go on…”

“Okay so I got all three songs—“

“Uh huh,”

“Then I added the time of all three songs together and it was roughly 15 minutes. I have the exact number written down on my phone somewhere.”

“What does that have to do with anything?”

“Hold on! I’m getting there,” I said. “Okay, so I searched the address of the bus stop where they dropped me off, and played around with the online maps to see how far 15 minutes could take me.”

“That’s why you stank when I found you, huh? You were just in bed this whole time like some awkward dorky James Bond or something, playing with your phone like some detective,” she said, blowing her bangs again. Ten.

“Shut up. Anyways, after that I looked up all the auto shops within the 15-minute perimeter and wrote them all down. There were a lot so I saved the ones that specialized in motorcycles, so I’ll probably go to those first.”

“Don’t tell me you’re going to go to each one…”

“Duh!”

“Won’t that take forever?”

“Not really, there weren’t that many motorcycle ones. Plus, I’m unemployed so what else am I going to do.”

“Okay, now I’m really worried. Are you sure they didn’t drop you on the head or something?”

“No they didn’t, I checked. The guy said he had me in a chokehold and gave me Xanax or something.”

“Ah, Xanax! That stuff will knock you out. We have some at the lab.”

“Yeah, I was a little groggy waking up, but that didn’t last long, anyways. I think the fear kind of kicked in harder than anything else.”

“Okay, so what are you going to do if you actually find them?”

“I don’t have that part figured out yet, but I guess I’ll see what happens when I get there.”

“I’m not going to wish you luck on finding them,” she said.

“I know, that’s fine.”

“And I’m not entirely convinced any of this even happened, I just know you’re acting different. Like, you’re not as reluctant about new things like you usually are. I mean, since you’re going out to find them and all.”

“Well it happened,” I said as I took another sip of my bitter coffee that was now cold. “And I’m going to find them, or at least try!”

“Alright, I believe you. Tell them I said hi and to make sure they kidnap the right person next time or else they’ll get stuck with stalkers like you.”

I smirked. “Shut up!”

“Anyways,” she said, blowing her bangs. Eleven. Mandy lifted a biscotti and stared at it for a moment, “What the heck is this?”

Rainer

“So you thought you could hide from us, huh? As if we’d let you get away that easily?” I said.

I loved watching this despicable piece of shit cry as she sat before me. Her name was Zella. Zella Painsley. Perfect name for someone about to feel a lot of pain.

I wanted her dead for what she did, but if I killed her now, then I’d be doing her a favor. Giving her an easy way out. She needed to suffer. She won’t get no mercy from me nor my brothers. I won’t let her off that easily, she going to pay.

“Please let me go! I’m sorry, I swear I didn’t know the cops would be there.”

“You set us up and you know it.”

I moved the cigarette to my mouth and rubbed the hair beneath my chin. I should snap her neck right now, or maybe I should strangle her with this chain, or maybe I should put a bullet through that ugly face of hers. If I could do all three at the same time, I would.
 

I moved the hair away from her forehead while pushing her face back at the same time. The look of desperation in her eyes excited me, but I wouldn’t put my dick anywhere near her cunt. “They’re all dead,” I said as I blew smoke into her face. “Every last one of them, dead. And it’s all because of you. And for what? Because you thought you could put us out of business? Did you think our club would crumble just because you managed to get our president killed? You should have stayed in your territory.”

Breathe, I repeated to myself. I can’t lose my composure just yet. As much as I would love to make her wish she were dead, I couldn’t do too much damage yet. She needed to be able to talk at least.

Once I’m through with her, I’m going to make sure every last one of those mother fuckers involved gets what’s coming to them. Their entire Chapter will falter, and I won’t stop until they’re all dead. “So, tell me Zella, who put you up to this? Your dear old daddy? The President of Wreck MC himself? Does he realize whom he just fucked with? Do you even realize whom you just fucked with? It’s a shame he gave you so much power, but stupid is as stupid does.”

I grinned as she began to sob. There’s no way she’s leaving here alive, and the thought of sending her father a piece of her lifeless body was bliss. I imagined the look on his face when he’d open a mysterious box containing his precious little girl’s hand, all of her fingers curled except the middle one. It’d be like one big fuck you.

She sat there crying like that was going to help her. If that’s the game she wants to play, she’s in for a hell of a ride. “Your husband and your dad aren’t here to save you anymore. Maybe I’ll keep you alive a bit longer so that you can know how it feels to have your father murdered, how’d you like that?”

“Please, leave them out of this. It was all me. I was selfish, they had nothing to do with it.”

“Taking one for the team, huh? Too bad you’re a fucking liar. My men saw you, your man, your father, and a bunch of the other fuckers in his club at the scene. We know damn well they were all involved. And don’t even act like you weren’t the one that set it all up.”

“How can I make it up to you then? I’ll do anything.”

We all started laughing. She thinks there’s a way to resolve this, that there’s something she can do to make me forget that she got three of our men killed. One of them being our President, who also happened to be my pops.

“Aw, daddy’s little girl thinks there’s something she can do to fix all this. How cute,” I said. “I’ll be nice, do you want to stay alive and live to see your father die, or should we just kill you right now so that you can meet him later in hell?”

“Rainer?” A voice yelled from outside the garage. It sounded familiar, but I wasn’t expecting any company.

“Help!” screamed Zella, who quickly shut up after a hard backhanded slap from Sid. I grabbed Sid’s wrist before he could do anymore damage.

“Sid, Lanvy, go outside and check who the fuck that is,” I said.

I turned to Zella and pinched her cheeks together, her blood stained saliva dripped onto her lap.

“If this is one of your buddies, I’m going to put this cigarette out in your fucking eye,” I said as I pushed her face back. “I’ll deal with you soon.”

I took a puff and a drink of whiskey from my almost empty bottle, and then looked over at Rocket, “Brother.”
 

“Yeah?” said Rocket.

“Shut this piece of shit up and hide her in the closet,” I said as I combed my hair back with my fingers. “We’ll figure out what to do with her later.”

It was fun to know that she’d be dead soon, and even more exciting to know that it would happen by my hands. She deserved to die and I couldn’t wait to blow her fucking brains out. I couldn’t help but laugh as I watched Rocket shove a bandana into Zella’s mouth. Even dog shit looked better than her. After she’s dead, we’re going after her father and the entire Wreck club.

“Here, add this too,” I said, handing him some duct tape. I watched as the tears fell down her cheeks. I felt absolutely no remorse or sympathy for her. She was scum and she didn’t deserve to be alive. Not after what she did.

I stooped above her, lifted her chin, and looked directly into her watering eyes, “Try clicking your heels, darling. Maybe you’ll end up in a better place. At least do it while your feet are still attached.”

I nodded at Rocket and watched as he dragged the chair she was tied to into the closet. Her muffled screams sounded like music to my ears.

As the closet door closed behind Rocket, the front door swung open and I watched Sid and Lanvin rush inside with someone else before the door slammed behind them. It was dark in this garage, except for the overhead lamp that dangled from the ceiling. Sid and Lanvin had their flashlights pointing directly at the mystery girl.

I squinted to get a better look. I couldn’t recognize her face, but she wasn’t bad looking at all. I had no clue that she was or what she wanted. “Who’s the girl?” I asked.

“I have no fucking idea, it’s just some dumb broad. Do you know her?” said Sid.

She didn’t seem surprised or shocked about being dragged into here. She actually looked like she was smiling a bit. “Rainer?” she asked.

Interesting, she knows my name. I knew that voice; I’d heard it before. I took my time walking towards her, my eyes locked on hers. Why did she sound so familiar? I stopped directly under the lamp from above. I took in as much smoke as possible then put the cigarette out in my palm before tossing it towards the floor.

I stare into her eyes but I didn’t recognize her. She didn’t really look like anyone I knew, but her voice sounded oddly familiar. “Who are you?”

“Hey,” she said, her hands trembling as she lifted one up to wave. Her voice was soft and high pitched, but not so high that it was annoying. Sid quickly pushed her hand down and she clenched her fists and closed her eyes. After a moment she opened them, one eye first, then the other. “U-um, Rainer? It’s me! Do you remember me?” She spoke confidently but I could tell it was an act. She could barely look me in the eyes, let alone stand straight. The way she shivered reminded me of a rattlesnake, just less scary and kind of cute.

“It’s that girl,” said Lanvin. “You know, the one from last week? The one we thought was—”

“Oh, now you fucking recognize her?” said Sid.

“Yeah of course. I actually use my eyes, Sid,” said Lanvin, smirking.

“Well well well, I’ll be damned. You’re back?” I said as I pulled another cigarette out of the box from my back pocket. I placed it in my mouth and smiled. “Had so much fun last time, you just had to come back, didn’t you? Or maybe you have some sort of death wish?”

Lanvin gave me a light while Sid held onto the girl. I inhaled and paced back and fourth, thinking about all the reasons she’d come back here. Her knees were touching each other and her hands were awkwardly by her side as if she didn’t know how to stand. The look on her pretty face didn’t scream fear. She had a sort of nervous smile going on. I couldn’t think of a reason she’d possibly come back, nothing that made much sense, at least.

Sid shoved her towards me, then lifted his gun and placed it to the side of her head. Lanvin hesitated for a moment, but eventually pulled his gun out and aimed it at her thighs.

I stopped pacing back and fourth, “Now now, gentleman,” I said, motioning them to put the guns down. “Is that any way to treat our guest?”
 
I inhaled then exhaled into the light above. A cloud formed above her and she let out a soft cough as it disappeared into the air. I moved as close to her as possible and looked down at her eyes. She took a few quick glances at me but quickly looked down whenever our eyes would meet. She was about a foot and a half shorter than I was. “What was your name again, beautiful?“

“Candace,” she said. I remembered her name, but I didn’t want her to know that. She was still a potential threat so I didn’t want her to feel too comfortable.

“Ah, Candace, Candace, Candace,” I smiled. “Curious Candace, the curious little monkey…” she glanced up for a second and quickly looked back down, then nodded. The crease in her eyes let me know she was smiling. I didn’t get the best look at her eyes when they were covered before, but after seeing them now, her eyes definitely did not disappoint.

“Tell me, Candace, is there a reason you’re here or are you just completely bananas.”

She bit her lip as she looked at Sid, then Lanvin, then up at me, and back to the floor, “I-I just wanted to say thanks.”

I couldn’t tell what she was thinking from the look on her face. Was she scared? Was she nervous? Maybe she was shy? She was an odd one, that’s for sure. I placed a finger gently under her soft chin and lifted her head upwards to get a better look. Her skin looked soft and pale, and her face was prettier than I remembered. She had a sparkle in her light brown eyes that seemed to have some sort of calming effect on me.

“Thanks for what?” I said.

Her shoulders were tensed like she was stuck in a shrug. “Thanks for letting me go.”

Sid started laughing and Lanvin joined him. So she came all the way here to say thanks? Was this girl serious? I removed my finger from her chin and glanced at her hands, which were still awkwardly at her side. “Did you check her?” I asked.

“Fuck yeah we did,” said Sid. “She’s not armed. She ain’t got nothing.”

“Well, Candace, you’re very welcome—” I said, lifting a finger at Sid and Lanvin just as they were about to start laughing again.

“Is that all you came here for? To say thanks?”

“Well,” she said, her voice a bit shaky. She bit her lip and fumbled with her fingers, “I was wondering if somehow… hopefully, I can join your group? Or, like, can I at least hang out with you guys? If that’s okay? Sorry if that’s weird to ask—”

This girl was something else. I wanted to laugh but part of me actually felt bad because I knew she was serious. Sid and Lanvin already couldn’t contain themselves.

I took another smoke and paced back and fourth, letting the light illuminate my body each time I moved in front of her. “Candace, Candace, Candace.”

I stopped under the light just a few steps further than before. “Come here,” I said as I beckoned her over. I watched her closely as she stepped directly into the light. She held her hands together and the tip of her shoes touched one another. “So you want to be part of our group, huh?”

“Yeah. I mean, if that’s okay with you guys?”

She looked serious but something seemed off. I’d never seen anyone come in here to ask that, especially someone we kidnapped before. Not even the scariest looking guys I know would do such a thing. “And what group might that be, Candace?”

“Crisis, right?” she said, biting her lip as she attempted to look past me as though she could read the back of my vest from where she was standing. “Crisis, the motorcycle gang you’re all in.”

“We aren’t a gang, you stupid bitch!” said Sid.

“Whoa now, no need for name calling,” I said.

“Oh… I’m sorry. Is it club? Is that more appropriate. I don’t know that much about these things.”

Lanvin started laughing but stopped once he realized nobody else was laughing. I glared at the both of them and shook my head.

“You seem like a smart girl, Candace,” I said as I circled her in the darkness while she stood under the light. She was still and moved her head to follow my feet. “And I hate to say this, but we don’t accept females into the “gang”. But don’t take it the wrong way, it’s nothing against you, sugar, it’s just how it’s always been.”

She had a disappointed look on her face. And just when I thought she’d given up, she looked up and smiled, “Well, would it be possible to like, hang out with you guys or something?” I had to give it her, for a girl, she had a lot of balls. Persistent as fuck. Why she would want to hang out with people like us was beyond me, but she must have really, really liked us or something. Consider me intrigued.

“Rainer just give me the word and I’ll blow her fucking brains out,” said Sid, placing his barrel behind her head.

I loved Sid like a brother, but sometimes he could be a little trigger-happy. We grew up together and he’s always been a little angsty.

I placed my hand on top of his gun and pushed it towards the ground, “A little jumpy today, are we?”

“She’s wasting our—“

“Shut the fuck up!” I snapped. “Not another word from you, Sid. I mean it.” We glared at each other for a moment but eventually he put the gun away and took a seat in a nearby chair.

“Now where were we,” I said. “Ah yeah, you wanted to hang out? With us?”

“Y-yes,” she said.

“You seem tense, Candace.”

She relaxed her shoulders and stared at the ground. “That’s because I am.”

I ran my fingers through my hair, “So tell me, why would a pretty girl like you want to hang out with a mess like us?”

Her cheeks turned red instantly, “I’m not sure, exactly,” she said. “I just thought it would be fun, I guess.”

“Fun?” I said as I finished the last of my whiskey. “How old are you?”

“Legally old enough to drink and make my own decisions.”

I smiled and glanced over at Lanvin, who appeared to be nodding in agreement for no apparent reason. Sid sat by himself, sour-faced like some kid who was in a time-out.