Disruption of Desire Page 7

  Approaching the door to the office, I take a deep breath before I walk in, taking one step at a time as I don’t want to move to fast and spook it. It’s like it wants to show me something. Creeping into the office, I take a quick glance around. It’s gone! The shadow led me into the office and disappeared. What the hell is going on? I have to be dreaming. I take another look around the office to see if maybe it’s hiding somewhere, but no such luck. I call out to it.

  “What do you want? Why are you screwing with me?”

  No response.

  As I turn around to walk out of the office, my club vest is laying with my patch facing up, and our wedding album is right next to it. I know for a fact this wasn’t laying here when I walked in. What the fuck is going on? Kneeling down on the floor in front of the album and the vest, I start flipping through the album. Is this thing telling me something? It has been screwing with me for last couple weeks, and now it it’s moving stuff. What is this thing? Who is this thing?

  “What are you trying to tell me?”

  Still nothing. Is this thing referring to me still rolling with the club?

  “Why did you put my vest next to my wedding album?” I ask, with a sterner voice. Still flipping through the album, I come across a page and the only picture on it is a picture that Piper and I took when I proposed to her. There were four other pictures on this page before, but they are gone, and this picture is placed right in the middle now. Trying to piece this all together, I think back to that weekend that Piper and I went to the mountains. What does that weekend and my vest have to do with anything?

  “I don’t understand. Help me!” I shout, hoping to get a response from this shadow, but yet again, I get nothing.

  Picking the up album and taking it back to the bookshelf, something dawns on me. It was that very same day when I proposed to Piper that she said yes, on one condition. I leave the club and my outlaw ways. Is this thing trying to tell me that it knows I haven’t left the club? This is some weird shit. How does it know what I’m doing? Is it watching me all the time?

  Snatching my vest up off the floor, I look around one more time and ask one last question. “What do you want from me?”

  All of a sudden, I hear something fall to the floor in the hallway. I walk out to the hallway to find a piece of wall art that Piper bought at a craft show when we got married laying on the floor. The glass is broken, and the art is facing down. I grab the end of it and pick it up to look at it. The art says “Truth, Love, Happiness!” Piper’s favorite words. Now it’s all starting to make sense to me. This shadow or thing knows what I’m doing. It knows I haven’t been truthful to Piper, and it’s wanting me to tell her what’s going on. I can feel it now.

  “I can’t tell her. Not yet!” I say out loud, hoping it’ll hear me. “I just can’t.”

  As I grab the broom from the closet to sweep all the broken glass up, all I can think about is how in the hell does this thing know what I’m up to. Is it a guardian angel, or is it the devil playing games with me? Either way, I cannot tell Piper what I am up to. Not right now, at least.

  Sweeping up the glass, I catch myself talking out loud again. “Let me finish this one last job, and I will come forward to her.” Not knowing if the shadow man has heard me or not, I repeat myself. “Please…let me finish this one last job!” I pause for a second. “I promise I will come out with it afterwards.”

  As I sweep the broken glass into the dustpan and throw it in the garbage, I hear Piper yell down from the top of the stairs.

  “Babe, is that you? Are you okay?”

  “Yeah honey, it’s me. Go back to bed. I’m coming up in a second.”

  After putting the broom and pan back in the closet, I start walking slowly up the stairs, pondering what just happened tonight, not knowing what this shadow person has in store for me now. I do know now what it wants me to do, but it’s just going have to wait till the time is right.

  I make my way back to the bedroom to find Piper laying there awake.

  “What were you doing, babe?” she asks and lets out a deep yawn.

  “I heard something downstairs so I went to see what it was. One of our pictures fell off the wall. Must not have been hung good enough. The glass broke on it so I swept it up. No biggie, babe. Go back to sleep.” As I climb back into bed, I lean over to give her a kiss.

  “Night, baby.”

  I pull the covers over me, knowing there is no way in hell I am going to be able to fall asleep now. I start thinking about what I’ve gotten myself into. How in the hell do I tell Piper what I have been up to this whole time? Or is this thing going to do it for me?

  The lights pop on and everyone’s eyes on the dance floor start squinting. They know what comes next. The dreaded words no one wants to hear on a Friday night.

  “Last Call. Last Call for Alcohol.”

  For me though, I know it’s time for every swinging dick in here to run up to the bar and order drink after drink. We stay pretty busy all night, but the rush is at the end of the night for last call.

  From a distance, I hear an all-too-familiar voice scream out. “Frankie, my love. One more drink, darlin’.” Stumbling over to the bar is Brit. I honestly don’t know how this girl does it every weekend. She is in here every Friday and Saturday night. At least tonight, it looks like she is flying solo. But I know damn well she can’t drive. If I can somehow get her keys from her, I might be able to convince her to let me give her a ride home. There is just something about this girl that really gets my wheels turning. Definitely might be the new hair color. We were all shocked when she showed up with it, but for a couple of weeks now, she has kept it red. I wonder if this is her new look.

  Reaching down to grab the Crown Apple and mix Brit a drink, I look up at her as she pops a squat on the bar stool.

  “I’ll tell you what, Brit. I’ll make you this last drink, but you have to cough up those keys and let me give you a ride home.”

  She turns her head and gives me that duck smirk. “Frankie, are you trying to take me home and get in my pants, dear?”

  “Not at all, Brit. I just want to make sure you make it home safe. I promise I will be a perfect gentleman.”

  “What if I’m not looking for a perfect gentleman tonight?” She smiles coyly as she reaches for her Crown Apple and Cranberry I just mixed for her. As she takes a sip from the little straw I stuck in the drink, she cocks her head and gives me a wink. “I’m just messing with ya, Frankie. I guess I could use a ride home, but you have to bring me back up here tomorrow to get my car. And it’s gonna be early.”

  “Not a problem.”

  “How long you gonna be cleaning up?”

  “It won’t be long. I have a couple bar backs tonight that can do most of the cleaning. We can head out in about thirty minutes. Sound good?”

  “Works for me. I’m gonna go shoot a game of pool while I wait.” She sucks down the rest of her drink, and slides the empty glass over to me. Jumping up off the bar stool and walking away, she looks back at me as she sways her ass back and forth on purpose. Damn, that girl is crazy. This may be a long night. I dump the ice out of her glass, and put it in the sink. Wiping down the bar top, one of the bar backs walks by me and chuckles.

  “It’s not like that, shithead. Get this fucking trash out so we can get the fuck out of here at a decent hour.”

  As I put the stoppers on all the bottles of liquor, I keep glancing over at Brit shooting pool, making sure she isn’t going to pass out or cause any trouble over there. As I put the last stopper on, I feel my phone vibrate. I pull it out of my pocket, and see a text from Piper.

  Piper: Connor left to work overtime tonight. Just thought I would let you know.

  I’ve been doing some surveillance on Connor over the past couple of weeks, and I haven’t gotten shit on him. He gets up, goes to work, and goes home. He doesn’t even stop anywhere, except to get gas and his coffee in the morning. He brings his lunch to work with him, so when he gets to the job site, he doesn’t leave
till work is over. then it’s straight to the house. I’m not really sure what Piper is hoping to get out of this. As far as I can see, he isn’t doing anything wrong.

  Frankie: Sounds good, Pipe. I have to take Brit home and then I’ll head over there and check things out.

  Piper: Thanks Frankie. <3

  As I’m wiping down the last part of the bar, Brit walks back over and sits down.

  “Time’s up, darlin’. Now take me bed or lose me forever!”

  “Nice one, Brit. Watch Top Gun lately?”

  “Uh yeah, one of my favs.”

  “Okay, let me clock out and we’re off, girl.”

  As we walk out of the bar, I can tell Brit is having some issues walking. I didn’t see her most of the night, so I’m really not sure how much she had to drink, but she looks pretty wasted. Opening the passenger side door for her to climb in, Brit jumps up into the jeep and smacks her head on the bar going across the top of the jeep.

  “Fuck, that hurt!” She rubs her forehead in a circular motion, apparently trying to rub the pain away.

  “You good, Brit?”

  “Yeah I’m good.” She’s still rubbing her head, and I want so badly to tell her, no matter much she rubs her head, it’s not going to take away the pain, but I can’t. This shit is too funny. Giving her a little smirk, I shut the door and walk around to my side and climb in. As we drive away from the bar, I make a right turn out of the lot. Normally, if we were going back toward Brit’s or Piper’s, I would have made a left, but I decide to drive by Connor’s work site first, to see if his truck or bike is there.

  “This isn’t the way home, fucker!” Brit leans her seat back a bit to relax.

  “I know, Brit. I wanna drive by and see if Connor is working tonight. Piper sent me a text, saying he left again and that he was going to work.”

  “Hell yeah. A stake out! This is some Bad Boys kinda shit.”

  “No. We’re just doing a drive-by, so I can see if he’s there. If he is, we are gonna head to your house so I can drop you off.”

  “Well, that’s no fun.” Closing her eyes, she leans her head against the window. “Wake me up when we get home.”

  Connor’s building isn’t too far from the bar and by the time we get a block away, Brit is passed out cold. There is a lot in the back where all the workers park, so I pull into the dirt lot, I slowly start driving through it. I hope he doesn’t recognize my jeep, if he is here. I look around, but there’s no sign of his bike, and as I get through the lot, I don’t see his truck either. Man, I sure hope he knows what the hell he’s doing because lying to his wife is not a good idea. When Piper finds out he isn’t at work tonight, she is going to go crazy. After pulling out of the lot, I turn into another parking lot to text Piper.

  Frankie: Pipe, he is a no show at work. Gonna drive by a couple of the bars and strip clubs close by here to see if he might be there.

  Waiting for Piper to respond to my text, I start trying to think of where he might be. Connor isn’t the type of guy to hang out at strip clubs, but I’ll give it a shot. I mean, seriously, with a wife like Piper, why would you need to go to a strip club. She has everything every man wants. He could just be at a bar with Brock. Those two are known for hanging out and having a few beers and shots at a couple of these bars. Piper told me he and Brock used to spend a lot of time at this bar close by their old clubhouse. I’ll give that a shot as well.

  Getting ready to take off again, my phone buzzes. It’s Piper.

  Piper: That son of a bitch. Try that bar over by their old clubhouse. I bet he is there with Brock.

  Frankie: Will do. I’ll keep you posted.

  Piper: Thanks.

  Too bad Brit passed out because she would be all about this. But it’s probably a good thing she is because if we actually do find him, she would want to stop and give him a piece of her mind, and that would just start more shit than what we need. I’m already in this too deep as it is. When Connor finds out I’ve been following him and watching him, he is more than likely going beat my ass. I’m sure I can hold my own with him, but I really don’t want that kind of drama.

  While we are driving to this bar I can’t help but think if I should really be doing this. These are friends of mine. I don’t want to be the cause of these two splitting up. Tomorrow, I’m going let Piper know I’m gonna stop. It just doesn’t feel right. If they weren’t like family to me and done so much for me, I wouldn’t have a problem. But this is way too much stress on me.

  Turning down the road where the club and the bar are located, I can already hear the sound of loud music and partying. The Knuckles, which is Connor’s old motorcycle club, is notorious for throwing some of the most epic parties in the state of New York, and I’m almost positive that is where all the music is coming from. I’d been to a couple of the parties with Zac when we were home on leave, and damn, they can get wild. I know that’s one of the main reasons Piper asked him to leave the club. Not to mention they are an outlaw biker club, and have gotten into some trouble a few times with the law.

  As I pull up to the clubhouse, I now know I was right about the music. The Knuckles are throwing another party tonight. The street is lined with bikes, muscle cars, and old pick-up trucks. Seems as though they have a live band playing tonight. If Brit wasn’t passed out, I probably wouldn’t mind stopping by. I still have a pretty good relationship with most of the members. The Knuckles are huge supporters of our military, and pretty much welcome any Vet to come in and join the party. But I know if I wake Brit up, she will never want to leave and, quite frankly, I don’t want to have to worry about her getting home tonight. She is already in the jeep, so another night it is. As we pass by the clubhouse, I glance in the front yard of the house, where all the members park their bikes so they can keep an eye on them. Standing by the bikes is someone I recognize. Big Donnie has been a member for as long as I have known them. He is actually one of the club’s officers; the Sergeant at Arms, I believe. Basically, he is the President’s righthand man. The punisher. Big Donnie is out there with one of their prospects, watching over the bikes. I slow down and come to a stop.

  “Yo, Big Donnie,” I yell over to him. Looking up and giving me a nod, he starts walking toward the jeep.

  “Hey, Frankie. What’s going on, brother?” He puts both of his hands up on the jeep, kind of stretching his big belly out.

  “Not much. Taking Brit home. She had a long night at the bar. As you can see.”

  Big Donnie looks at Brit and just shakes his head. “This girl sure does like to party fucking hard, huh?”

  “Yeah, she does. Parties a little too much, if you ask me.”

  “Why don’t you park this ragged ass jeep and come in and have a beer! Your boy Connor is here. I’m sure he wouldn’t mind cracking a beer with you.”

  I look at Donnie with a shocked look on my face. What the fuck did he just say?

  “Connor is in there?” I play it off, hoping he’ll repeat himself so I can make sure I heard him correctly.

  “Yeah, he has been here all night.”

  “I sure do appreciate it, Big Donnie, but I gotta get this girl home. Maybe next time, brother.”

  “Sounds good, Frankie. And hey, don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Pointing at Brit passed out in the seat, Donnie gives a few pelvic thrusts as if he is fucking the air.

  “You know me, Big Donnie.” Throwing up the two-finger peace sign to him, I drive away in a near panic.

  Holy shit. Connor hasn’t been working at all. He has been hanging out at the club this whole time. Why would he tell Piper he was working when all she had to do was drive over here and see if he was here. What the fuck am I supposed to do now? This entire time, he has been lying to Piper, and the son of a bitch is still running with the club. This dude has some serious balls. How the hell am I supposed to tell Piper? She is going to freak the fuck out. Things just got really damn complicated. Maybe I should just tell her I couldn’t find him.

  As all this shit is running th
rough my mind, I almost forget that Brit is in the jeep with me, and I need to take her home.

  Out of the blue, breaking the silence, Brit blurts out, “If you don’t tell, I sure as fuck will!”

  I feel like my mother when she would sit up and wait for Zac and I to get home from being out with our friends. Sitting here in my office, looking out the window, I wait for Connor to get home. I’m really not sure what I’m going to say to him. I have mixed feelings about this situation. I am pissed as fuck that he has been sneaking behind my back and hanging out at the club. I’m even more pissed he has been lying to me about this shit. When we first started dating, we always said no matter what the circumstances were, we would never lie to each other. Well, looks like he blew that one.

  But most of all, I have never felt so betrayed by someone I love, like I am right now. I feel sick to my stomach, yet I’m so angry, I could fucking stab him right now. How could he do this to me? To us? How could he lie this whole time? Why would he lie?

  My head is spinning right now. Tears fall from my eyes as I remember back to our conversation on that mountainside years ago, about him leaving the club and starting a family. He said he was done with the club if it meant I would marry him. I thought I meant more to him than that stupid fucking club. I guess I was wrong.

  I’m not sure when he plans on coming home, or if he’s even going to. I sure hope Big Donnie doesn’t tell him that Frankie and Brit stopped by there. Then he definitely won’t. Should I drive my ass up to the club and make a scene? I have always been welcome up there, but I know if I go up there and cause a commotion, they would definitely make me leave before I said my peace. And I have a lot to say; not only to Connor, but to the club as a whole. They all knew the situation and from my understanding, they were on board with it.