It Ain't Me, Babe

“Viking, AK, Flame, Smiler, get on the road. Try and find tracks, signs of Styx, f**k, anything. Call me if you find him. Meet back here in two hours if nothing.” The four men nodded and immediately headed out the door.

“Tank, Bull, get the brothers mobilized, the ones who’ve gone home. Get onto the cops on payroll, face to face. Make the bastards talk. Find out if any of them know where the skinhead f**kers might be hiding out. I’m hitting the road too. Meet back here in two hours. I’m hoping Styx is found before then, then I’m gonna kick his f**kin’ ass myself.”

Ky looked to Letti and Beauty. “You two stay with Mae. Styx’ll appreciate that. She’s probably gonna need y’all.” My stomach sank at his ominous words. Ky left in a hurry. He did not look back.

Ky thinks Styx is going to die.

My knees grew weak as I half collapsed onto the long brown couch. My hand covered my mouth.

“If anyone can take those f**kers out, it’ll be Styx.” Letti tried to be of comfort. It did calm me slightly. She always spoke her true feelings.

Beauty stroked hair from my face. “You okay, honey’?”

A sobering thought hit me hard. “He is going to kill people tonight,” I proclaimed.

Beauty flashed a worried look to Letti, who just shrugged. Beauty gripped my hand. “Mae, it’s the life they’re in. If he don’t kill them, they’ll kill him.”

I sat back, feeling deflated. The harsh reality of how Styx lived hit home… hard. He killed. Styx killed often and in large numbers. I had been taught that to kill a person was a mortal sin; killers go straight to hell. But I knew Styx, that is, the good side. Even knowing he takes lives, I could not bring myself to think ill of him. Lord, I want him… just him.

One fleeting memory of his handsome face made me feel hot and I struggled to sit still. He was so strong and so… raw. He must return to me. He must make me his… in every way. We were fated to be together.

The door behind us crashed open; its wood smacked against the wall with an enormous bang. Propelling me from my dazed state, I saw Rider staggering through to the lounge. He looked distinctly disheveled in his rumpled white shirt and crumpled jeans. Rider rubbed his bruised and swollen jaw. I had never seen him like this before. Not once.

Rider was drinking.

Rider did not drink.

Ever.

Jumping to my feet, I ran over to him and pushed away his hand from his face. I gently lifted his chin and asked, “Rider? Good Lord! Are you okay? What happened to you?”

Rider stared at me for just a moment too long, then gently pushed away my hand. The bleak look in his tired brown eyes cut me in half. “Ask your man.”

“What?” I whispered, my stomach churning. “Styx did this?”

“Yeah, sugar. He knocked me the f**k out after we shared a few words when he came and collected your stuff.”

“Why are you both fighting over me?” I asked brokenly. I covered myself with my arms, suddenly feeling cold. “You are both important to me, so why…?”

Rider regained his composure; then raked back his long hair with his hand, a small disbelieving smile on his lips. “You know why, Mae. You can’t be that blind.”

My eyes widened, reality dawning. “Rider, no!” I reached for his hand. “Please, do not say any more. I cannot hear it.” I fought back the swell of tears in my eyes. “Rider… I am with Styx. You… to me… you are my closest friend. Not…” I trailed off, not wanting to hurt his feelings.

Rider took back his hand and his entire body stilled. “You know what, Mae? Maybe Lois was right. Maybe it would’ve been best if you’d never come here to the Hangmen. Right now, the way I’m feeling, I wish I’d never met you at all.”

I stepped back in horror, unable to believe the words that had fallen from Rider’s lips. I did not believe him capable of being cruel or mean, and it felt like I had been stabbed in the heart. Rider’s words hurt more than a dagger.

“Doc,” Letti warned. “Prez’ll give you more than that damn bruised jaw if he hears you talking to his bitch like that. In fact, keep upsetting Mae, and I’ll tell him myself.”

Brushing past me, Rider ignored Letti and went behind the bar. Pit stepped back, clearly not wanting to get in his way. I frowned. I had not even noticed the prospect had been here all this time. I could not understand why he was not out searching for Styx?

Grabbing a cloth, Rider filled it full of ice with his good hand, then pressed it to his jaw. Rider’s eyes then scanned the room. He frowned and asked of no one in particular, “Where’s everyone?”