Tangled (Grizzly MC Book 3) Read online

  “Ms. Garcia! I’m so glad you made it.”

  “Of course. I got here as soon as I could.”

  Carol gives me a big hug. She smells like cigarettes. I don’t judge. I can only imagine the stress she’s under. On top of that, she’s a single mom too. Jess has never mentioned a word about his dad. I don’t think he’s even in the picture.

  I look over and see Jess in the hospital bed. He looks paler than usual. His shoulder is all bandaged up. He manages a slight smile.

  “Hey, Ms. G.”

  “Hey.”

  Carol touches my shoulder.

  “I don’t wanna leave him alone.”

  Jess shakes his head.

  “Mom, I’m okay.”

  Carol turns to him.

  “No, you’re not. You could’ve gotten killed. Do you realize how lucky you are?”

  She looks at me.

  “I’m gonna go downstairs for some coffee. You want anything?”

  I shake my head.

  “No, I’m fine.”

  “Okay. I’ll be back in a minute.”

  Carol makes her way to the door.

  “You didn’t ask me if I wanted any coffee, Mom.”

  Carol gives him a look as if to say ‘don’t be a smart ass.’ Then she walks out. In the middle of the craziness, it’s good to see that Jess hasn’t lost his sense of humor. I walk over to his bedside.

  “You can leave if you want to, Ms. G. I’m good. Really.”

  I sit down in the chair next to him.

  “I’m not going anywhere. Your mom is right.”

  Jess takes a deep breath.

  “What happened today?”

  “Nothing. I was on my way home from school with Hal, and then this sheriff – I didn’t know he was a sheriff, he wasn’t in uniform – he starts yelling at me. He pulls out his gun and…”

  “Are you sure he’s a sheriff?”

  “Yeah. I know the guy. I’ve seen him around. I don’t remember his name though.”

  “Why would he just shoot you? That doesn’t make any sense.”

  “You’ll have to ask him that.”

  Jess hesitates. I can tell he’s holding back something. I need to know the full truth to help him.

  “Is that really everything that happened?”

  “Yeah, Ms. G. That’s it.”

  “Where’s Hal?”

  “I don’t know. He ran off.”

  “The story you’re telling me... That doesn’t add up. I heard that you were in a shoot-out. Did you have a gun?”

  He hesitates.

  “Jess!”

  “I had to protect myself. That sheriff was trying to kill me.”

  “Who shot first, you or him?”

  He looks off to the side and takes a deep breath.

  “I don’t remember.”

  “How can you forget something like that?”

  “I don’t get why you’re asking me all these stupid questions. I’m in the hospital. That sheriff is out walking around without a scratch on him. Don’t you care?”

  “Of course I care. That’s why I’m here. But I need you to be straight with me.”

  “I am. I’m telling you exactly what happened. Okay!”

  “And what about the reports about meth?”

  “What? I don’t do meth.”

  “But do you sell it?”

  “No, Ms. G. I don’t sell meth.”

  “Do you cook it?”

  He hesitates.

  “Jess…”

  “Why are you making me out to be the criminal? I’m the one who got shot.”

  I look into his eyes. I want to trust him, but my instincts are telling me that there’s much more to the story. Still, I can’t help but feel sorry for the kid.

  There’s a knock on the door. I walk over to answer. It’s probably Carol. I know it’s time to change the topic. I don’t want to upset her with this conversation. She looks like she’s already got enough on her mind.

  I open the door and I’m face to face with a tall, striking-looking man with cobalt blue eyes, tanned skin, and a muscular build. He looks down at me. We lock eyes. For a moment, there’s a spark of chemistry.

  “I’m here to see Jess.”

  “Who are you?”

  Behind me, Jess stirs in his hospital bed.

  “That’s him, Ms. G!” Jess points at the man. “He shot me!”

  I glare at the man. The temporary attraction I had to him fades in an instant.

  “Is this true?”

  The man nods and turns to Jess.

  “I’m real sorry about that, son.”

  Jess cuts his eyes at him.

  “I ain’t your damn son!”

  “I never meant for that to happen. But we both know what went down and…”

  I’ve heard enough. I stand by the door, blocking him.

  “Get out of here!”

  The man hesitates.

  “Ma’am, I know this awkward. Let’s start fresh. My name is Sheriff Abel Miller.”

  He extends his hand to me. I look down at it in disgust. If he thinks for one minute that he can win me over with a friendly introduction, he’d better think again. After a moment passes, Abel puts his arm at his side.

  “I really need to talk to Jess. I need to find out about…”

  “He has nothing to say to you. Go!”

  “But…”

  “You’ve got some nerve to come here. I can’t believe this. You shot him, and now you wanna show up like everything is alright.”

  “I never meant to hurt Jess. It was an accident and…”

  “Just leave.”

  Abel hesitates.

  “Can you please hear me out for a sec?”

  Abel’s blue eyes are pleading. But I’m unmoved. He turns to Jess.

  “I just need to talk to you for a minute. I need to ask you a couple of questions and I’ll be out of here.”

  Jess looks away from Abel.

  “If you won’t talk to me voluntarily, I could have a judge issue a subpoena.”

  I frown.

  “Seriously? After all you’ve put this boy through, you would consider doing something that extreme.”

  “Ma’am, I’m trying to work this case. I need answers. It’s my job to protect the citizens to Tomahawk, and I’ll do whatever is necessary to…”

  “Even if it means shooting teenagers?”

  Abel hesitates.

  “I really think you should go.”

  Jess looks at him.

  “What? What are your stupid questions?”

  Abel turns to me.

  “Can I please come in?”

  I slowly step aside. I know I have no choice but to obey his orders. He is an officer of the law. What a joke! As I take a closer look at Abel, I recognize him right away.

  He’s a Grizzly. I know this town is full of motorcycle gangs, and just because Abel wears a badge that doesn’t make him any different from a common criminal. For all I know, he could have something to do with the meth ring and might be here to intimidate Jess into silence.

  I glare at Abel as he approaches Jess’s bedside.

  “Ask your questions and leave. And I’m not going anywhere. There’s no way I’m leaving you alone with Jess.”

  Abel takes a deep breath and turns to him.

  “Look, I just want to say again that I’m sorry about today.”

  Jess is unmoved by Abel’s apology. And I can’t blame him one bit.

  “I just need to know a couple of things. Okay?”

  “Whatever.”

  “Who gave you the gun?”

  “What gun?”

  Abel glares at him.

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about, man.”

  “Really? That’s all you have to say about it.”

  Jess hesitates.

  “I need some answers.”

  “I don’t know what to tell you.”

  “Start with the truth.”

  Jess takes a deep breath.

  “Like I said, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Okay?”

  “And who taught you how to cook meth?”

  Jess blinks.

  “Meth? Man, you’re crazy.”

  “We saw everything, Jess. We have all the evidence. We’re gonna find your fingerprints everywhere.”

  “Whatever.”

  “Look, I have a feeling that Eric Brown is behind all of this. And trust me, he’s not the kind of guy you wanna take the fall for. You’ve got your whole life ahead of you, Jess. You need to be smart about this.”

  “Like I said, I don’t know anything about that.”

  Jess turns away from Abel. It’s obvious that Jess is hiding something. His body language reminds me of when I was asking him tough questions just a few minutes ago. But I know there’s nothing that can be done right now. Jess needs to just focus on his recovery. We’ll deal with this other shit later.

  I look at Abel.

  “He answered your questions. Now, I think it’s time for you to go.”

  Abel pauses for a moment. Then, he makes his way to the door. As he walks out, I realize that Jess will have a lot to answer for. One day. Just not today.

  Jess smiles at me.

  “Thanks, Ms. G.”

  “Don’t mention it.”

  I nod. But I don’t want him to think for one minute that he’s getting away with this shit. It hurts me to think that Jess turning into a gangster. He’s a good kid and smart too. He has the potential to be anything he sets his mind to. It’s just a shame.

  On the other hand, Abel was wrong too. Even if it was self-defense, shooting a kid is defies the very definition of ‘protect and serve.’ I can’t imagine Craig ever doing something like that. But then again, Abel is probably just as much of a criminal as Eric Brown.

  Chapter Three

  Abel

  I walk out of the hospital feeling like shit. I pass by a blonde woman smoking a cigarette. I could use one too. I gave that up a long time ago, but sometimes I still have cravings, and this is one of those times.

  A few minutes ago, I was in Jess’s hospital room. The kid looked a little pale, but other than the bandage on his shoulder he seemed fine. I wanted to get through to him, but it was no use.

  That woman visiting him was doing a damn good job of standing in my way. I wonder who she is to Jess. A relative? A family friend? I’ll probably never find out.

  She stood only 5’3”, but she had a big voice and she wasn’t afraid to use it. Whenever I flash my badge, folks don’t second-guess my orders. But she’s different. I have a feeling she’s not from around here. I’ve never seen her before. And she’s not the kind of woman I could forget.

  With her bedroom-brown eyes, long black hair, the face of a model, and a curvy figure, she stands out from the other women in Tomahawk. Okay, I admit, she’s gorgeous. Not that it matters. Whoever she is, she’s never going to give me the time of day. I never even caught her name.

  And the way she looked at me... That was the hardest part. It was almost like she was belittling me with her eyes. I feel bad about shooting the kid, but I didn’t feel like I had a choice. It was self-defense.

  Since when is aiming my gun at a teenager self-defense? No matter what, I’m supposed to protect children. I feel like less than a man after what happened. And the way the beautiful woman at Jess’s bedside looked at me made everything worse.

  The whole thing takes me back in time to the night I lost Kate. Everything started off perfect. We went to the baseball game in the city and grabbed dinner at our favorite pizzeria.

  On the way back home, I stopped off at the gas station. She stayed in the car while I went inside to pay. When I walked back out, our car was surrounded by three thugs. They were pointing their guns at Kate and shouting for her to give them the car keys.

  I panicked, frozen with fear. It’s almost like I’d forgotten all of my police training. I’d never felt so helpless. I still don’t understand what was wrong with me that night. I relive that moment all the time. I watched in horror as they shot at Kate. Then they took off.

  Botched armed robbery. That was what the city police put on the official report. But those three words were the end of Kate and our beautiful life together. I know it’s my fault. It should have been me. Not her.

  Now, as I walk out to my car, I try to pull myself together. I feel the tears coming on. It’s a struggle to stay strong on days like this. It took me a long time to get back to a place where I could function, but I know I’ll never be completely normal again. All of that died with Kate.

  The best I can do is drudge on from one day to the next. I can count on my sister, Amy, to be there for me. And I’m looking forward to becoming an uncle. It’s not that I don’t have anything to live for.

  But whenever I think about falling in love again, I put those emotions aside. After Kate, I haven’t been able to open up to anyone, and that’s not gonna change. That’s okay with me. That’s just life.

  I get behind the wheel and start the ignition. I’m torn between heading home and going to James’s bar. When I was in the depths of my grief over Kate, I did go to see a head shrink. He told me that, whenever I’m feeling down, I should avoid being alone.

  Okay, what the hell. Maybe one drink with the fellas will cheer me up a bit, I think, as I drive out of the parking lot. But even a few beers won’t change the reality of the situation. I shot a kid. I have to live with that.

  Earlier, when I was filling out the police report, it was hard to write the details. It’s gonna be public record. Everybody will know what happened. Some folks are gonna question if it really was self-defense. And they wouldn’t be wrong for asking that, because I regret the whole situation.

  It’s true that Jess was shooting at me. But kids do stupid shit all the time. Maybe I should have found another way. Maybe it should be me laid up in that hospital bed instead of him. And maybe that wouldn’t be such a bad thing.

  I did apologize to Jess, but he seemed to not give a fuck. And I can’t blame him. I just wish he would’ve opened up more about the meth ring. The whole operation has ‘Eric Brown’ written all over it. If I could get the kid to talk, then maybe I would have enough evidence to finally bring Eric to justice. But who am I kidding? Jess doesn’t want a damn thing to do with me.

  But after years in law enforcement, and with just good old-fashioned intuition, I could tell the kid was lying. A lot. I wonder why he’s so protective of Eric. Is Eric threatening him and his friend if they talk? I wouldn’t be surprised. Nothing is beneath that bastard.

  A few minutes later, I pull into the parking lot at James’s bar. When I walk inside, there are mostly Grizzlies with a few Vipers sprinkled into the mix. After our meth bust earlier today, I’m not surprised. The Vipers probably need all hands on deck to regroup. Even though the day has been pretty shitty, it makes me feel a little better knowing that Eric Brown and his thugs have their panties all in a bunch.

  I smile as I make my way over to the bar. James is the bartender tonight. It’s usually Lena, but the baby’s due any day now, so she’s gotta stay off her feet. James smiles at me.

  “Hey!”

  “Hey.”

  “What will it be?”

  “At first, I was thinking beer, but I need something stronger than that.”

  “I hear you, man.”

  “How about a Jack and coke?”

  “You got it.”

  James pours my drink. I’m glad to see he’s generous with the whiskey.

  “Thanks.”

  “Yep. And that’s on the house.”

  I drink up. The whiskey calms my nerves slightly, but I’m still on edge.

  “Hey, you don’t have anything to feel bad about. I mean that, Abel.”

  “Yeah, it’s just…”

  “We were all in the thick of it. Shit happens. That kid could’ve killed all of us. You realize that, don’t you?”