Struggling For Justice Read online

  "I'll follow her back to Spokane, and see her safe." Remmy squared his shoulders. "Then I'll come back, and do more digging to find out what the remaining Oman family members are thinking. Are you putting the members on alert?"

  Kurt brought his attention to Remmy, lifted his chin, and said, "I'll let the members know to keep their head up, but I'm not ready to bring the Silver Girls in or notify Rain. I don't want Risa to know who Natalie is or make the connection. It'll only bring up what happened last summer and she has a hard enough time forgetting about that time."

  "All right." Remmy walked back across the room and took the steps up to the second floor.

  Today started out shitty and ended shittier. His body, tight and hard with the scars of the past, carried him forward to do the business he was born to do. His mind, bitter and settled, damned the consequences, because the woman upstairs appealed to him in a way a woman had never done before.

  Chapter Four

  The speedometer on Natalie's Chevy hit eighty miles per hour. She eased back on the accelerator and loosened her aching fingers from the steering wheel. The drop in the legal speed limit crossing the border into Washington meant she was almost home.

  Remmy, on his Harley Davidson, continued to follow behind her car. She glanced in her rearview mirror and waved. She no longer needed his assistance.

  Instead of taking the nearest exit to loop around and get on the eastbound I-90 ramp, he continued following her. She blew out her breath. The last thing she wanted was Remmy to find out where she lived.

  The number one rule in personal safety was never to divulge where you lived, except to those you trust. She turned on her blinker and exited the interstate. She'd roam around the side streets and hopefully Remmy would believe he'd delivered her home and could leave. He'd never know that her exit was three miles further and on the other side of town where the lower income residents lived.

  She refused to be embarrassed by her living conditions. There were women and men worse off than she was, and she was grateful to have an apartment after willingly letting her home go into estate holding while Robert's name was taken off and her name put on as the owner. If she had stayed in the home, Will would've claimed he had as much right as her to live there, for the sole purpose of changing her mind. It was better to make a clean cut and start over, until the lawyers handled everything.

  She looked in her rearview mirror again. Remmy continued to follow close behind her, even down a busy street and through an upper-class neighborhood.

  The park.

  The supermarket parking lot.

  The alley behind the bowling alley.

  The abandoned and boarded up house near the one-way street.

  She made a quick U-turn, hoping the flow of traffic would slow Remmy down and he'd lose track of her, but he simply passed everyone by riding illegally on the right shoulder of the road.

  Dammit.

  Her nerves strung tight, she gripped the steering wheel in defeat. Her head pounded, her stomach growled, and all she wanted to do was return home alone and fall apart in private.

  She flipped on the blinker, took a right at the first stop light, and headed home. If Remmy wanted to find out where she lived, return tonight, and murder her in her sleep, at least he'd be putting her out of her misery.

  The sight of the single story apartment complex brought her no relief. She parked at the end of the block, left her vehicle, and walked to apartment sixteen. Home, not-so-sweet, home.

  It was cheap housing at its finest with loose bricks, peeling paint, and non-running beater cars parked haphazardly where they'd died.

  Highly aware of Remmy, she pretended to ignore him when he hopped the curb and parked in front of her apartment as if he owned the property and had no respect for the grass. She gazed at the ground. When she'd moved here, she called the lawn a patch of weeds and dirt, because at one time, she had a manicured lawn, a six-bedroom home with the Rocky Mountains her only view out her living room window.

  She was alone here, but she'd been lonely in Montana. There was a difference. The worst thing in the world was to live with a man who was supposed to love her, take care of her, support her, and still be lonely. She sighed. It seemed like so long ago and not six short months since she'd been home.

  She dug her keys out of her purse and stepped in front of her locked door. Her hands shook. She steeled herself, trying to fit the metal key into the slot.

  Only when she successfully had the door unlocked did she turn around to Remmy and put an end to their time together. "Thanks for seeing me home safely."

  His lips softened and he moved closer until they were only an inch apart. Her insides fluttered in awareness of their proximity, while her head protested the closeness. The stress jumbled her thoughts, because she wasn't supposed to be attracted to another man. Not yet. Not ever.

  "Stay here," he said, squeezing past her into the apartment.

  She stared into the open doorway, taken aback. No one had ever pushed his way into her life without asking permission before. Her husband always let her make the decisions, on everything, except when it concerned Meghoni Mine or his family.

  The Oman brothers believed Robert's life was perfect. He had a happy wife, a cushy job, a responsibility to the Silver Valley, a mega-million company, and a fabulous home. She inhaled a shaky breath. Robert never allowed them to see the truth.

  In a disturbing realization, she rather enjoyed how Remmy took charge. Yet, she hated her lack of control even though the fleeting moment of freedom from being responsible for everything felt wonderful. The sooner she returned to relying on herself, the more stable she'd feel about her situation.

  Will had to give up his crazy idea someday, and maybe Remmy knocked some sense into the man when he laid him out flat. She caught her lip between her teeth. Or Will would go at her harder to change her mind.

  Remmy appeared in the doorway. "It's clear."

  It's clear? She'd left the apartment in the middle of folding clothes. There was still a pile of shirts thrown in a basket in the living room, needing folded, and put away. Not to mention, she needed to scrub the old linoleum in the bathroom, even though the surface never appeared any cleaner.

  She shook her head. "What are you doing?"

  "Making sure that your asshole brother in law wasn't sitting in there waiting for you." He slipped his hand under her arm and guided her inside the apartment. "Take a look around and tell me if anything looks out of place or is missing."

  She stood in her living room—practically her whole apartment, since only a small bedroom and bathroom were behind doors. She glanced at her bedroom. The door was open. She always closed it when she left, because the sight of a twin mattress sitting on the stained carpet depressed her.

  "Did you go in there?" she asked, striding across the ten feet of space to close the door.

  "Yeah." He looked behind him, scratched the back of his neck, and moved over to lean against the wall.

  If he was looking for a chair or a couch to sit on, he was out of luck. She crossed her arms. "As you can see, I'm safely home now. You should leave."

  "Why," he asked.

  Her neck snapped back and she blinked. "Because this is my place, and I want to be alone."

  Several beats passed without him moving or replying. She dug the edges of her blunt fingernails into her arm. The first thing to do when threatened was to call 911.

  She pursed her lips to the side. The emergency operator would think she was crazy. The only thing Remmy had done was try to keep her safe. That'd be shooting herself in the foot.

  "Lady...," he whispered, letting his head tilt to the side. "I don't know what the hell is going through your head."

  "Nothing," she snapped. "It'd just be better if—"

  Banging on the front door interrupted her. She jolted, staring at Remmy in horror.

  She knew the knock.

  "Nat, open the damn door," Will shouted.

  She knew the voice.

  Re
mmy moved between her and the door. She glanced at the only exit and back to the biker who stormed into her path and refused to leave her alone. The man outside scared her with his intensity of never giving up. The man inside scared her because she liked that he was here.

  "I'll just leave and go to a motel," she whispered. "He's obviously not going to give up."

  Remmy lowered his chin. "We step out that door and the only place you're going is back to Federal. With me."

  She nodded, agreeing to anything as long as she could put distance between her and Will. Once she was at the club, she'd figure out another plan. Obviously, Spokane was too close to Will. She'd have to move to Alaska or Mississippi and hide out until he got off her back. Maybe her lawyer could front her the money, because he knew how much was in holding.

  "There's two ways we can get out of here." Remmy smoothed her hair back from her face. "Look at me, lady."

  She gazed up into his eyes.

  "We can walk out the door and deal with the shit he's going to throw at us or we leave my way," he said.

  Shit. She blew out her cheeks and held her breath. Neither option sounded good to her.

  She groaned. "How about I just tell him that we'll call the police if he doesn't leave and—"

  "Bantorus MC doesn't call for backup," he stated, stepping away. "I want you to go in your bedroom, grab some clothes and whatever else you need. Put everything in a bag...use a backpack too if you need to take a lot of things. There's not much we can take on the bike."

  "Okay." She moved to the corner of her room. "What are you going to do?"

  "Right now, I'm waiting for you to hustle your tight ass and do what I asked you to do," he said.

  She picked up the handful of clothes in the hamper, hugged them to her chest, and shrugged in embarrassment when Remmy's brows lifted in question. Then she hustled her tight...tight ass?

  Adrenaline fueled her over the compliment. Returning to her room, she found the old backpack she used when she worked at the gym, and stuffed her meager belongings inside, which only consisted of her master book of self-defense teaching papers she handed out in her class, a file of important documents, and her iPad. Not owning more than a weeks' worth of clothes, she cleared out her bedroom in record time and still had room for her toiletries.

  She returned to Remmy's side. "I'm ready."

  He glanced down, his mouth going hard, and said, "That's it?"

  "Yeah." She slung the pack over her shoulder. "I don't have much."

  Remmy swept his vest to the side, removed a pistol, and pulled back the cocking mechanism. Her heart raced. While she knew many people had concealed weapons permit, she highly doubt Remmy went through the process to carry the pistol legally.

  She wasn't opposed to weapons. There were many instances where it was the smart thing to do if you were in a scary relationship or your life was in danger. She slipped the other strap of her backpack over her shoulder. Remmy was prepared to face Will and that was only asking for trouble.

  "You're not going to shoot Will, right?" She walked beside him to the door. "I don't want you to hurt him. I only want him to stay away from me right now."

  He used his hand on her hip and moved her behind him, ignoring her question. "I want you to walk straight to my bike, and stand beside it."

  Oh, God. This was not how she wanted things solved. Violence was not the answer. "We could wait him out."

  "Not today," he muttered. "Go directly to the bike."

  He opened the door and raised the pistol, aiming the barrel at Will's face. She hesitated. The anger pulling Will's face into an ugly mask evaporated into shock, either from seeing Remmy walk out of her apartment or the gun pointed at him.

  "Back off, nice and slowly," Remmy said, his low timbre rolling over Natalie.

  Remmy reached behind him, nudging Natalie's hipbone. She hurried to the motorcycle parked in the front lawn twenty feet away, looking at the two men the whole time.

  "Natalie, don't go with this guy." Will turned his gaze on her. "You've got family..."

  "Family?" The pain at his claim settled in her chest. "You've called me a liar for months and want to bully me for what happened. How many times do I have to tell you, your brother did this to himself."

  Will stepped toward her, but came up against Remmy's pistol and a low tsk that stopped him. "Come back to Montana with me and we'll get this settled once and for all."

  "No." She grabbed the shoulder straps of her backpack. "I've had everything stripped from me. I can't change what happened, and neither can you. You need to face the truth, or leave me alone. I don't want any part in what you're doing."

  Remmy stepped forward. Will retreated. She looked away, because the guilt from the accusations had the ability to devastate her. Robert's brother would never accept the truth or believe anything she said. She'd lived a secret life, and her former brother in law only wanted to believe the unrealistic world Robert created.

  "Is this why you're sticking with your story?" Will pointed at Remmy, but talked to Natalie. "For all I know, he's one of the men who—."

  "Oh, God, Will. Don't." Natalie's voice broke, but she continued. "Don't you think you've done enough? You slashed my tires."

  "What?" His nose flared. "I didn't touch your tires."

  She shook her head. "Just stop. I'm done."

  "I know my brother wouldn't—"

  "You've got twenty seconds to make it to your car or I start shooting the ground you're standing on, and moving up," Remmy said. "One...two..."

  Will walked to his car, stopped to glare at her, and then slid behind the steering wheel. She continued to stare after the vehicle until Will rounded the corner and she lost sight of him. She only wanted to move on, and she wished Will would do the same.

  Remmy stepped in front of her, brushing against her, sat on the bike, and said, "Get on."

  She scrambled behind him and took the helmet he offered her. Numb and devastated over the confrontation, she settled in behind Remmy, wrapped her arms around his waist, and gazed off in the distance as Remmy drove them away from her apartment.

  Her former apartment.

  Her former brother in law.

  Her former life.

  Chapter Five

  The ride from Spokane to Federal, taking the river road to ensure Natalie's former brother in law wasn't following them, wore Natalie out until she could barely climb off his Harley. Remmy tossed his leather vest on the dresser in his room upstairs at the club. The time spent on the road cleared his head and gave him time to think.

  Maybe taking responsibility for putting Natalie on the back of his bike, twice now, or his personal involvement in the link between Natalie and Los Li had him feeling more alive than he had in years. He had a purpose, and right now, that perseverance was to keep Natalie alive. Indirectly, guilt for Natalie's situation sat on his shoulders. If she knew his involvement, she'd only see him for being one of the bad guys who killed her husband.

  Natalie lay on the bed, staring at the wall. Upon their return, he'd met with Kurt and the others downstairs and filled them in on what happened and why he brought Natalie back to the club. He'd returned to the room hoping she'd fallen asleep, and surprised to find her wide-awake. There was nothing they could do now but to put Natalie under the protection of the club.

  She ignored him, and continued to stare at the wall, lost in her thoughts. He sat on the edge of the bed. Along with her shutting him out came frustration. Forty-eight years of his life and women never shut him out. One night stands and good times required little back and forth, giving and taking.

  He was clueless on how to get answers without hurting her. His chest tightened. Nothing ever happened for no reason. He'd learned that a long time ago.

  "Was it okay if I stay here," she whispered, breaking the silence.

  He nodded. "Yeah. We'll bunk together."

  She propped her head on her hand. "I can't—"

  "Unless you want me to put you in the cabin in back with the bit
ches," he said. "There's no extra room, so it's either sleep with one of the Silver Girls or sleep with me. Make your choice."

  "They were nice to me," she said, and her voice shook. "You shouldn't call them that."

  "Get used to it. They're here to entertain Bantorus members, and before you twist it into something bad, the Silver Girls want to be here. They're former entertainers, it's what they do and need."

  She raised her brows. "They're prostitutes?"

  "No. They're nice girls. They enjoy sex without making demands. They like being taken care of." He looked to the side and met her gaze. "I know they'd treat you right if you feel better being with them."

  She moistened her lips. "I'm okay with you."

  His balls ached in sweet pleasure. He couldn't say he'd ever had a woman in his room that wasn't naked and pleasing him. He also couldn't say he wasn't thinking about having sex with Natalie as soon as he finished talking. What he did know was he needed answers that went beyond her safety, because the club depended on him.

  "I need more answers." He stretched his legs out, crossed his ankles, letting his boot hit the hardwood floor. "What brought you to Federal?'

  "You did," she answered quickly.

  His patience gone, his legs came undone and he stood. "You and your former brother in law came here looking for me?"

  "No." She sat up, crossed her legs, and wrapped her slim arms around her waist, hunching over into an even smaller figure on the bed. "I meant, you brought me to Federal...but you know that. What are you asking? Why did you find me in Federal the first time?"

  "Yeah," he said, agitated.

  She blew out her breath. "We stopped because I changed my mind about going back to Montana to settle our problems. I was in the middle of telling Will I changed my mind when you came over and punched him. He was taking me back home to Haugen. That's where I'm from."

  "Why?"

  She rolled her shoulder practically to her ear. "Does it really matter?"