Murderous raiders of val.., p.8
Murderous (Raiders of Valhalla MC Book 7), page 8
“Ah, well that is a pleasant surprise. How are things going with your work?”
“They’re good. I’m actually about to leave the office for the day here in a few minutes.”
“Oh, you are working this late? I thought since you work for yourself that you would leave the office around three or so.” That’s a common misconception with anyone who works from home. Family and friends seem to think that we work the least amount of hours that we possibly can. I think what they fail to remember is that the less hours you work, the less money you make.
“Yeah, I have an eight hour day every day Monday through Friday,”
“Hmm, and you have time to date and all while working so much? I have not asked you this lately, but have you found a decent boyfriend?” My mother is constantly grilling me about my love life. I don’t think my father really gives two shits. He tried to get me to date a nice Korean boy when I was a teenager but I wasn’t going to have it. He was borderline forcing me into it and I will never have a man force me to do anything.
As much as I want to tell her I’m not dating anyone, I don’t want to deal with her judgment so I lie. “Yeah, I am. It’s new, but he’s nice.” I keep it vague and as I’m speaking I think about Dag. We haven’t even gone out on an official date. I slept with him one time and called him in my darkest hour of need. That still baffles me because it sounds insane. I called my one-night stand when I was terrified. Is it because I feel safe with him, or is it because I find myself trusting him on some cellular level? Regardless, it’s scary. I told myself I wasn’t going to give men another chance, that I’d use them the same way they use women and yet I’m forging something with this guy. Something I never wanted in the first place. I don’t even think I’m ready for a relationship.
“Oh good, good. Your father and I are staying at a hotel a couple of miles away from your condo. I will text you when we are in Tallahassee on Friday. We are staying until Monday morning. I need to go, your father will be home soon and the kimchi I made for him should be ready for tonight’s dinner.”
“Okay, talk to you later. Bye.” I hang up the phone and immediately text my sister.
To: Soledad
Dinner?
While I wait on a reply I finish up my last email for the day and send it. She’s working at the store so it might take her a little bit to respond. I finish what I’m doing and shut down my desktop just as I get a reply back.
From: Soledad
Sure, but come to the store. I’ll order delivery. I’m working late tonight.
To: Soledad
Sounds good. I’ll be there in twenty.
I grab all of my things, head outside and lock the front door to the office, then get in my car. I lean my head back against the headrest for just a moment. I’m in a little bit of disbelief about Rosie wanting to retire, but that’s just life. Things are constantly changing and I need to roll with the punches.
I start up my car and head over to my sister’s wig shop, luckily able to park right in front. Once I’m there I get out of the car and head right into her store. The inside is pink, purple, and black. She has accent walls with cool designs on them and all of her shelving in here is matte black. She really wants the only color to be the accent walls and the hair, as well as hair products she offers.
“Soledad?” I call out.
“Back here!” I walk to the back of her store and she’s opening a large cardboard box. She pulls out some styrofoam and then begins pulling out bags of wigs.
“New shipment?”
“Yep, and I’ve got some awesome stuff. I grabbed seven of them just for you.” Soledad shoots me a smile and I start laughing.
“If you keep grabbing me new wigs I’m not going to have enough places to put them.”
“Maybe it’s time you get a bigger condo then,”
“Yeah, right.” I scoff.
“I hope you don’t mind but there’s a Korean place that opened up around the corner so I ordered for us. I’ve been craving kimchi so bad,”
“That’s ironic. I got off the phone with mom not too long ago and she had kimchi ready for her and dad tonight.”
“Ooo, she better bring us some next time she visits.”
“You mean this weekend,”
Soledad stops what she’s doing and whips her head around to look right at me. “Wait, they’re coming this weekend?”
“Yep, Mom called and wanted to remind me. I acted like I remembered but I forgot, and if she asks you I’m seeing someone.”
“Yeah, tell her I am too because I don’t want to deal with any of that nonsense.”
Soledad and I are too old to be pressured by our parents into doing anything. Yet, our mother doesn’t seem to care about that. We’re not seeing anyone, but she doesn’t need to know that. We’ll tell her we are just to keep her off our backs.
“I guess we need to get over to the Asian market,” I mention.
“Yeah, and you’d better make at least one Malawi dish to keep mom happy.”
I am never prepared for when our parents come to visit. It’s either one of two things, a great time or a complete clusterfuck.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Dag
We had a storm roll through last night and one of the largest trees in front of the clubhouse came crashing down. I’m outside with Magnus and we both have chainsaws, cutting up this tree into chunks. We have a log splitter on the property and once we get the brunt of this work out we’ll split up the chunks into decent sized pieces and use them for some bonfires this fall. The wood should be dried up enough by then.
Magnus and I have been working at this for about two hours now and I’m ready for a break so I turn my chainsaw off and sit on the ground in the shade. I grab my bottle of water and chug the entire thing. Magnus shuts off his machine as well, grabs his Gatorade and comes to sit a few feet next to me.
“I noticed you were gone for a good portion of the weekend,” Magnus states out of nowhere.
I’m sure a lot of the brothers realized that I wasn’t at the clubhouse, but until now no one has asked me about it. “Yeah, I was out.”
“I know that much. What were you doin’? Or should I ask who?” Magnus chuckles, but that last comment rubs me the wrong way. He has no idea what Esperanza went through last weekend so I’m not going to go off on him, though he should tread lightly.
“I was hanging out with a friend.” I keep my answer vague because it’s none of his damn business.
“A friend, huh? Esperanza, perhaps?” Magnus cocks a single brow and has an amused smirk dragging across his face.
“Yes, I was over at her place.”
“So, you must like her a lot then?” Magnus isn’t as playful as he was a few moments ago.
“I do. She’s a really unique woman.”
“All right,” Magnus nods his head a couple of times.
I crane my neck to get a better look at him. “Were you trying to get with her?”
Magnus chuckles lightly. “I would have if I had the opportunity. It seems she must like you a lot more. The last couple of times I’ve been around her I’ve gotten a little flirtatious. She never reciprocated it. Good for you though, brother. Seriously.”
I don’t know how to feel right now. I like Esperanza and I’m not going to back down. I do appreciate how Magnus is giving up so easily and isn’t going to try and pursue her. Esperanza and I aren’t dating, and I don’t even know if we’re close to that yet. I enjoy spending time with her yet every time we’re together I still see her walls are high. Over time I hope she opens up a bit more to me. I want that. I want that for the two of us.
I know I can’t expect too much of her right now, especially with what happened last weekend. All I want is to be there for her if she needs me.
The rumbling of a motorcycle comes from up the road and I know for a fact a lot of the brothers are out, so I figure it’s one of them. Only, as the bike grows closer I can quickly tell it isn’t. No one in our club has a yellow Harley. I get up and Magnus follows me as we go to see who in the hell is at our clubhouse.
The more we get closer, the clearer I can see the cut on the back of this man. It’s a skull with a helmet and a pair of goggles on the top of the helmet. Below are two gears and finally I look at the name on the cut. The Skulls Renegade MC. They’re an ally of the club and have done well in supporting us in the past. In fact, they’re allies of many of our allies.
Another bike comes rolling up behind the first and I make my way over to where the two bikers are. The first one removes his helmet and places it on his handlebars as he dismounts. He looks around for a moment and then settles on me. It’s Reed, the president of the club. He’s into his early sixties now and I’m certain at some point he’s going to be passing the baton to someone else. He could very well die as the president too, though.
He has a gray beard that stops just above his chest bone and it’s in a perfectly shaped V. “Reed, it’s good to see you.”
“Dag, you as well. How are things going?”
I shrug. “Not too bad. We have a couple of things going on right now, then this tree fell last night so we’ve been out here cleaning it up.”
“I see that. Do you need a hand?” Reed offers and the second man finally gets off his bike, doing exactly what Reed did with his helmet. It’s Enzo, one of his long-time members.
“We should be all right, but I appreciate the offer. What brings you to the neighborhood? You’re a long way from home.”
Reed glances over to Enzo. “We had some business that needed to be tended to. Figured we’d stop by, and I had a question for you while I’m here.”
“Sure, what’s up?” I ask, curious to know what his question might be.
“My brother called me earlier today to let me know there’s been reports of a single biker up in our area. It’s not abnormal this time of year, but you know us, we have people everywhere who bring us information. The guy has told people his name is Mord. Name sounds very Viking-ish, so what do you know about him?” His assumption isn’t wrong in the least bit.
I wave my hand. “Come on, let’s go inside and speak with Runes. He’s going to want to hear this.”
“Just as I thought, you do know him, and he’s a fucking problem.”
I don’t say anything in response, but I know I don’t have to. Instead, I take Reed and Enzo inside and look around the club for Runes. I don’t see him anywhere in the front, so I walk back to the kitchen and find him making a sandwich. “Prez, Reed and Enzo are here from the Skulls Renegade MC, and I think you want to hear what Reed just said to me.”
Runes glances up and looks over. Reed comes into the kitchen at this point with Enzo a few paces behind him. “I apologize for not calling, but we were in the area and I wanted to speak to you about this. As I was telling Dag, there’s a biker who’s been riding around up in the Gainesville area. He’s told a couple of my informants that his name is Mord, and he’s from the Florida area. The name alone sounded familiar and I vaguely remember the name Mord. Not to mention it sounds a lot like the names you all have.”
Runes looks directly at me and then shifts his focus back on Reed. “Yes, we know Mord. We know him too well. He is a manipulative, vile man. He’s solely responsible for one of our brothers breaking up with their ol’ lady for a very long time. He framed the brother in question and the ol’ lady left because of what she saw. They’ve since reconciled, however it was years in the making. He caused so much hurt for them when it never needed to happen in the first place. If that’s not ridiculous enough, he’s responsible for the ol’ lady being kidnapped. He was a prospect for the club, but I kicked his ass to the curb when I caught him drugging women.”
“I knew there had to be some way you all might know him.” Reed admits.
“How long has he been up there? We’ve been trying to locate him and have mostly failed.” Runes fills him in.
“About a week. Enzo and I have been in Alabama and now here. We’re going to be heading back to Tennessee tomorrow.”
“Can you ask your club to keep an eye on him for the moment?”
“I sure can. Are you planning on coming to Tennessee to deal with the problem yourselves?” Reed asks, looking at Runes and then over to me.
“Yes, I will come up with a few of my men. Did you and Enzo need a place to stay before you leave tomorrow? We have plenty of rooms.”
“We were going to get a hotel, but we could just stay here.” Reed replies.
“Yes, please do. We may end up leaving tonight to get to Tennessee, just in case we’re not here in the morning when you leave.”
“You have a lot of anger toward this Mord guy. He’s fucked your club over a couple of times, hasn’t he?” Reed asks, leaning up against the kitchen counters.
“He’s hurt the people I cared about more than anyone should. Not to mention he’s caused literal hell for us. I appreciate you bringing me this information. Now we can get to Tennessee and make this bastard pay. Magnus, can you go let the horas know to prepare two rooms?”
“Sure thing, Prez.” Magnus replies and walks off, leaving us among ourselves.
Reed’s phone starts ringing out of nowhere and Reed excuses himself and takes it. Enzo follows along with him and Runes clears his throat. “Dag, I need you to go tell Aesir and Logi to get a bag packed. I want to leave by nine tonight. We’ll stop after a few hours and get a hotel, but I don’t want to lose him.”
“Yeah, sure thing.”
I make it a point to go find Logi and Aesir, telling them separately about what happened with Reed and why we’re leaving tonight. Both of them seem anxious to get on the road, especially Logi. I know he wants vengeance for what happened with him and Skadi. Mord is the catalyst of all their pain, anger, and suffering.
I go to my room to get my own bag packed and decide to call Esperanza. I don’t want her to think I’ve vanished into thin air and I also want to make sure she feels safe. Ever since what happened last weekend I don’t think she does. She hasn’t admitted that to me, although I know she can’t feel secure right now. If I was in her position I surely wouldn’t.
“Hello,”
“Hey, I wanted to call and let you know I’m going to be out of town for a couple of days on club business. You can still reach me by calling or texting if you need me. And, um, I wanted to see how you felt about being alone at your place?”
“Oh, okay. Um, yeah, I’m okay I guess.” I guess doesn’t sound very promising.
“What do you mean I guess?”
“Earlier today I swore I saw him on the other side of the street out through my window. Then I looked again and he was gone. Maybe it was my imagination, but, God it messed with me.”
All right, that’s enough of that. “I’m going to have someone from the club watching your place while I’m gone. I’d feel better, so please don’t fight me on it.”
“Dag, that’s ridiculous. It was probably just my imagination.”
“Even if it was, please just let me do this for you. It’ll give me some peace of mind while I’m away so I can focus on what I need to.”
The line goes quiet for a couple of moments. “Why do you care so much about me?”
Well, our conversation is suddenly getting very deep. “I just do, Esperanza.” I don’t know what else to tell her. I enjoy being around her. I enjoy her company. I like who she is as a person. Add in the fact my mother was beat by my step-father for so long and I guess you could say I have PTSD with these sorts of things.
I hope it was just her head, but if it wasn’t I’d rather have Ivar there to protect her.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Esperanza
I’ve been running around like a madwoman between work, going to two different African markets to get everything to make a couple of dishes for my parents this weekend, and now I’m cleaning my house. My sister hasn’t told me this yet, though I’m certain we’re going to end up hosting the dinners at my place. Soledad might have her business together, but her apartment is a hot mess. On occasion when I have some free time I run over there and help her tidy the place up, especially since she gives me so many wigs for free.
I actually made an appointment at her store to get my wig changed out for next week. One of the wigs she gave me the other day when I was at her store was so beautiful and I knew immediately I wanted to get it changed soon. It’s still summer and I think this will be a nice change to brighten things up before I change it out for the fall.
It’s a light brown wig with bangs that will end up stopping just below my breasts. Throughout the wig there are copper highlights and lowlights, which are bright and will be a nice transition to the red wig she just gave me that I’ll get installed sometime near the end of September.
I’m just finishing up vacuuming my living room area when my front door comes open. I jump and Soledad furrows her brows as she realizes she’s freaked me out. I turn off the vacuum and start wrapping the cord up, hoping she doesn’t point out the obvious.
“You a little jumpy today or something?”
“You could say that. Guess I had a little bit too much coffee.” I think that’ll be enough to throw her off my trail, but I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
“Even if you’ve drank a gallon of the stuff you’re not this jumpy. You can avoid talking about it though. I’ll just save it for whenever mom and dad get here.”
Immediately I look right at her. “No, you won’t.” My tone tells her that I’m not in the mood to play around about this.
“Geeze. You’re a little touchy about the subject. Are you all right? God, it smells great in here. Mom will be so happy about that.” Soledad takes the plastic bags into the kitchen and begins unpacking everything she got from the store, placing it on the counter.
I already have some traditional Malawi food prepared and some is even cooking right now. The spices waft around my apartment. This morning I made some kachumbari, which is a type of salad which consists of tomatoes and onions. When it gets closer for our parents to arrive I will finish making the nsima. All I have to do is cook it in the pan in hamburger sized patties. Nsima is like what rice is to my father’s people. It’s the carbohydrate dish that many Malawi people eat for breakfast, lunch, and even dinner.
