One That Got Away Read online

  “Why,” said Gibs, “in the name of all that’s holy, did you come back to Connecticut?”

  Luke shrugged. “I went all over the world, but when it was time to leave the Navy, the only place that felt like home was here. So I came back. Besides, I learned that while I was away Lil’ Ricki, that club’s president, rose to state leadership. But he got caught for moving drugs and got a jail sentence for twenty years, minimum. And since he told everyone that he wanted to get retribution himself, I figured I was mostly safe back here. Every once in a while some kid who wants to patch in gets a wild hair to earn points by trying to take me out.” Luke sighed and crossed his arms over his chest. “So there. Now you know why a Rojos would want to come after me.” He’d never told anyone and couldn’t believe he’d just told the two of them in such a matter-of-fact, mature, way.

  “Shit,” said Gibs at the same time as Saks.

  “You should have told us sooner,” said Saks.

  Luke shook his head. “If I did, that would make my business the club’s business.”

  “It doesn’t matter what you think, boss,” said Saks. “Any business a member has is club business. If one of us stinks like shit, we all stink of shit.”

  Luke looked at Gibs, who turned a shade paler. “You’re right,” Luke said.

  “Well, let’s get this straightened up for you,” sighed Gibs, refusing to say any more. Luke had just given him the opportunity to tell them what had happened and why he had been arrested. Instead, he had closed the door.

  Gibs and Saks worked quickly to put everything right while Luke sat on the couch going over the time cards adding up the hours. The two of them started in the bedroom with putting the bed back together and putting clothes away. Luke could only imagine how that was going. His Navy days taught him to keep his closets and drawers neat, but he had no idea how those guys organized things at home. For Gibs, Luke imagined that Helen kept the house straight, while Saks was a bachelor.

  It was fucked up what the police did.

  Even the distraction of doing the payroll didn’t quell the indignation and anger Luke felt towards the cops who invaded his home and his business. Maybe they were only doing their jobs, but they acted like assholes as they did it. The assumptions and innuendos about Luke’s character burned him the most. That, and because deep inside, Luke knew he could have become that kind of man if he hadn’t joined the Navy.

  Saks moved to the kitchen and began putting the stuff in there away while Gibs ran Luke’s sad excuse for a vacuum cleaner over the carpets.

  “Damn,” Gibs muttered when he turned off the vacuum. “The shop vac would have done a better job.”

  “I have that just for emergencies. The cleaning woman brings her own.”

  “Dude, this thing is an emergency. Hit the Walstore and get yourself a new one.”

  Luke grinned. Gibs had just been in jail and he figured a crappy vacuum was an emergency? “I’ve bigger things to worry about.” Luke ripped two checks from the large business checkbook. He snapped it shut and stood using his good leg. He handed a check to Gibs while looking him square in the eye. “And speaking of bigger things, Okie called this morning.”

  “Okie?” said Gibs. “How’s he doing?”

  “He says he’s good. But somehow he heard about my little encounter the other night. Says the Rojos that stuck me was bragging about it to his leadership.”

  Saks walked into the living room. “What was that?”

  Luke kept his gaze on Gibs while holding out a check to Saks, who took it, then whistled. “Boss, that’s too much.”

  “You’ve been holding down the fort. Consider it a bonus. Can you do me a favor and get my mail from the kiosk downstairs?”

  “Sure, boss.”

  Luke tossed him his keys and Saks left through the front door. With the door firmly shut, Luke whirled and faced Gibs. “What the fuck is going on?” snarled Luke. “What the hell are you into that has the cops thinking I’m a part of?”

  Gibs held his hands up. “Luke, I swear, all I know is that Aces asked me to pick up a package for him. I got pulled over on I-91 and it’s been shit since then.”

  “Where did you get this package?”

  “A bar in East Haven.”

  Luke sucked in a breath. “La Concha?”

  “Yeah. How did…”

  “Fuck! Gibs! That’s the headquarters for the Hombres.”

  Luke swayed on his crutches.

  “That Latin gang?”

  “Yeah, the one that’s all over Bridgeport, Waterbury, and Hartford. Fuck, fuck, fuck!” He began pacing on his crutches and nearly fell as he turned around.

  “Luke, you look ready to pass out. Maybe you should sit down, man.”

  “Sit! Hell no! You sure? You sure it was Aces that sent you down there?”

  “Of course. He talked to me on that last road trip.”

  “And you had no idea what you were picking up?”

  “No, Luke. I swear. I was just doing the Prez a favor.”

  “Oh man. This is so fucked, you have no clue.”

  “Luke. Tell me what’s going on.” Gibs looked scared now and he had every right to be.

  “No fucking wonder that kid was out for a piece of me the other night. The Rojos are the road knights for the Hombres, their shock troops, and their mules for transport. That someone in the Hombres is trying to branch out to other clubs, well, that’s a gang war right there. And Hades’ Spawn is in the fucking middle of it!”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Realizations

  “Emily!”

  There was a pause before her name was cried out again.

  “Emily! How the hell can you do this to me?”

  She looked up in shock to see Evan blocked by the marshal.

  “Escort her out of here,” barked the marshal to one of his buddies.

  “Emily!”

  “Sir. Calm down. You can’t speak with her. There’s an order of protection in place.”

  “Emily! Don’t do this! You have no freakin’ clue what you’re doing!”

  Another marshal came to her side. “Let’s get you to your car.”

  “Emily, you fucking bitch! I’ll get you.” Evan pushed against the marshal, nearly knocking him down.

  “That’s it!”

  Emily turned her head to see Evan spun around and handcuffed by the marshal. She looked away quickly, aware all eyes in the courthouse lobby were turned toward her. Her face flushed in her embarrassment and she kept her eyes to the ground, barely registering where they went until they were in the parking lot.

  “Where’s your car, Miss?” the marshal asked.

  Emily looked up and pointed in the direction of her parked car. “He’s arrested again, isn’t he?”

  “For now, though whether charges will be filed is another story. That was an unfortunate bit of timing when you came out of that elevator.”

  “I suppose it was. I’ll be okay from here.”

  The marshal shook his head. “I’ll make sure you get to your car.”

  “Thanks.”

  “And Miss, don’t back down. No matter what your family or friends tell you, make that hearing.”

  “I will.”

  “Good luck.”

  Emily unlocked the car with shaking hands and got in. She started the car and opened the windows. She was in no condition to drive. Her heart hammered at a rhythm that made her legs want to run. To run away from Evan and hide. She stared down at the pamphlet still clutched in her left hand. She flipped open the folded over part with a trembling hand.

  Dating Relationships

  You may think that you aren’t an abuse victim, especially if you are “only” dating someone. However, for most women the cycle of abuse starts in the dating relationship and many women downplay their partner’s behavior as being intensely interested in them as a person. At first, your partner may be overly solicitous, even overly romantic in an effort to win you over. However, as the relationship continues abusive behav
ior crops up, sometimes in small ways, and the woman will do anything to bring the relationship back to the overly solicitous part of the relationship, even giving in on some points that she thinks is important. But over time, the abusive behavior escalates, and she finds herself in a pattern of making excuses and tolerating his bad behavior. At a certain point she may seek to change him, but that rarely happens. The woman is left confused at how such a wonderful man could turn on her.

  Her eyes shifted and she read another part of the pamphlet.

  Signs of Abuse:

  Extreme jealousy or insecurity

  Constant put-downs

  Possessiveness or treating you like property

  Telling you what to do

  Constantly checking in on you

  Explosive temper

  Making false accusations

  Isolating you from your friends and family

  Preventing you from doing things you want to do

  While not all abusers will display all these behaviors, if you see at least one of them you should be concerned that you may be in an abusive relationship.

  Emily gulped. She recognized many of these behaviors in Evan. But what was worse, she recognized them in her father as well.

  She set down the pamphlet and the orders of protection. She set the car in drive and began to ease out of the parking stall. But she stopped short, startled, when she heard knocking on her driver’s side window. A man she did not recognize held out a badge and made a motion for her to lower the window.

  “Emily Dougherty?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m Detective Anglotti with the Westfield Police.”

  Emily blinked. A million things ran threw her mind, but first and foremost she wondered if they released Evan. “What can I do for you, Detective?”

  “You know Luke Wade?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The detective rolled his eyes. “‘Sir,' that’s good. Is that what they taught you in Catholic school?”

  Emily felt her face flush. “What is this about, Detective?”

  “I spent a little time at your boyfriend’s house today, Ms. Dougherty.”

  “Is Luke okay?”

  He rolled his eyes again and fished a business card out of his pocket and handed it to her.

  “I’ll give you props. You got that innocent routine down cold.”

  “What do you want?” She didn’t understand why he was being so rude. The detective’s manner scared and insulted her at the same time. Her heart hammered in her chest while she waited for him to speak.

  “Your boyfriend’s ass deep into some big shit, Miss Dougherty. I suggest that if you don’t want to get arrested along with him you cooperate with us. Give me a call when you’re ready to talk.”

  As the detective swaggered from her, Emily’s breathing sped up, and she couldn’t control it. She cupped her hands over her nose. It had been years since she had a panic attack, but this one ran over her like a freight train. Her heart hammered in her chest as she breathed in her own ragged breaths in an effort to gain control over her body. She grew lightheaded. She concentrated on taking deep breaths and slowly her heart and her breathing slowed. Shaking, she reached for her phone from her purse and called Justin. She didn’t want to do it, but she had to. Everything that Angela and Justin told her was coming true. She should have stayed away from Luke. Emily had no idea what trouble he was in, but if detectives were involved it had to be bad.

  Justin didn’t answer so she left a message for him to call. She checked her phone. It was four in the afternoon. Angela would be up now. Emily decided to go see her sister.

  #

  “You did what!”

  “Please don’t yell, Angela,” said Emily. “I spent the night with Luke. He was injured and in bad shape. The papers from the Emergency Room—”

  “The Emergency Room!”

  “Angela, please listen. They listed a number to call and the nurse said he shouldn’t be alone. So I stayed.”

  “And how did you get to his apartment in the first place?”

  Emily sighed and put her hands in her lap. “Angela, when you screw up your face like that, you look exactly like dad.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  Emily fished the pamphlet the court clerk gave her from her purse and handed it to Angela.

  Her sister’s eyes narrowed. “What’s this?”

  “Just read this section, Angela. The one that says, ‘Signs of Abuse’.”

  Angela glanced over it quickly. “So?”

  “Don’t you see it, Angela? Dad is just like this.”

  “No, he’s not, he’s—”

  “What? Protective? Cares about our welfare? Look at the list, Angela. He’s always telling me what to do, shows up at my apartment checking into my business, loses his temper at the drop of a hat, and accuses me of things that I never do or ever did.”

  “That’s you and him. He doesn’t treat me like that.”

  “Doesn’t he? When was the last time you did something he wouldn’t like?”

  “Well, I, well, hell, Emily why would I?”

  “Yes, why wouldn’t you? You saw firsthand what happened to little girls who don’t listen to their father. So you made sure you didn’t suffer the way I did. You made sure you were ‘good’ all the time. Maybe you weren’t punished the same way I was, but you were a victim just the same.”

  “That’s ridiculous. I’m not a victim.”

  “I didn’t think I was either. But who did I pick at the first opportunity? Evan. And I think I did because he reminded me so much of dad.”

  “Emily, you cracked your nut. Evan’s nothing like dad.”

  “Isn’t he? Possessive, controlling, insulting, making false accusations. The list goes on, Angela.”

  “Dad never hit either of us.”

  “Evan never hit me either. And yet, I have to get an order of protection to keep him away.”

  “I can’t believe you are saying these things, Em. Dad loves us.”

  “Evan told me he loved me too.”

  “It’s not the same thing, Em, and you know it.”

  “Do I? All my life all I’ve done are things to please the men in my life and it’s brought me nothing but heartache. Maybe it’s just time I do the things I want to do.”

  “Emily, we’re just looking out for you.”

  Emily looked at her sister and realized there was no way that she was going to change her sister’s mind. “I appreciate that you are trying only to look out for my best interests. It’s just too bad you don’t know what they are.”

  “Emily, that’s not fair.”

  “Yes, Angela. I think it is.” She picked up her purse. “Tell Justin to give me a call when he gets a chance. There is something I have to talk to him about.”

  “What, Emily?”

  “Just something between me and my lawyer.”

  Emily left her sister’s apartment as fast as she could, even as Angela called her name. As her feet hit each step leading to the parking lot she moved farther away from her old life. Before, when she told her father off, she was reacting in anger. That was wrong. Luke was right. At some point she did have to grow up and make her own decisions.

  But what would those decisions be? If she moved closer to Luke she risked involving herself in his problems, and they seemed to be very serious ones. Her own legal situation was not good, and just as Justin and Angela predicted, getting involved with Luke only made them worse.

  When she thought of Luke, her heart melted. He truly loved her. Of this she had no doubt. What she did doubt was if that was enough to keep them together.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The Letter

  Saks handed Luke his mail and he quickly shuffled through it until he found a handwritten letter. “Sit down, guys,” he said. “I think this is something we all need to hear.”

  Saks grabbed a chair from the dining room table and Gibs sat on the lazy boy by the sofa. Luke ripped open the envelope and un
folded the sheet of paper inside.

  Spade,

  I started this chapter of Hades’ Spawn when you were a sprout, but when I did it, I did it differently than how National wanted. I know I didn’t talk much about National, and there is a good reason. Let’s just say the heart of the organization when I left Arizona was closer to its namesake than how I built this chapter. I was at a place in my life where I was tired of the bullshit I went through in Tucson and I wanted something different. Maybe I just should have made up a new name, but there was a time when Hades’ Spawn stood for something. I still had pride in the patch I got when I joined them. Things changed after that.

  When the Tucson brother showed up at my door from the Arizona chapter, I had to let him in. He was a brother with the same patch. And he had a good story about how he was sick of the Tucson shit. Now I realize that I should have slammed the door in his face.

  I’ve learned some things in here because that fuck Lil’ Ricki can’t stop shooting off his mouth. The jerk likes to annoy me, but he has good reason. I’m sure you’ve pieced some things together, and if you haven’t yet, you soon will.

  I won’t say I don’t deserve to be in here, because I did enough shit in my life to put me in this place ten times over. Maybe the time I serve here will put things right. I don’t know. But what put me here now I had nothing to do with. I should have seen it coming.

  So don’t let anyone fuck you over. I’ll need something to come back to when I’m out of here, and that will be my club.

  See you when I see you.

  Okie.

  Luke folded up the letter and put it back in the envelope. Then he tore it into little pieces. Gibs and Saks watched him, grim looks on their faces.