Page 6 of Heart Mended

“Does that mean you’re going to give me one too? You’re not going to sack me?”

“In my case, there was a prospect of restitution. In your case, I can see none.”

Her teeth worry her lip, her brow creasing.

“I could stop.”

An answer, an offered solution. Too little, too late. That she’d started was the crime. One that couldn’t go unheeded. I can tell by her expression her heart’s not in that response. I know enough of the world to know it’s probably not that simple.

I’d been wondering why Drummer had sent me of all people to do this task. Yeah, I’m called Heart, the name Crystal had given to me as in her eyes, I’d got a big heart, but I couldn’t be mistaken for a softie. I’m in an outlaw MC for fuck’s sake, but maybe, just maybe, my experiences had shown me that desperation could lead a man to do things he wouldn’t normally do. Maybe the same could be said for a woman. Maybe another brother would have told her to get her things and leave. Perhaps they wouldn’t have thought of asking the next question that leaves my lips.

“Why?”

Her arms unfold. Her hands fall to her lap, the fingers of one picking at the nails of the other. After seconds have passed, she looks up.

“Why do you think?”

She not only looks like she’s aged, she looks weary, as though life’s been beating her down. I’ve been examining her closely, noticing while she’s got dark circles around her eyes, she doesn’t look like she’s feeding a personal habit.

“You’re acting out of character,” I observe. “So I ask again, why?”

“Money,” she finally replies. “Isn’t that what’s at the bottom of everything?”

“You needed money? You could have come to us.” A good employee like her? In a bind, the club might well have helped her out. “Talk to me, Vida.”

She sighs, then glances my way. I don’t remove my gaze from her, but I allow my features to soften. Maybe it’s because she knows I’ve lived through and survived my own hell, that she, at last, opens up.

“It’s my brother. He’s gotten in with the wrong crowd. Got hooked himself. Used what he should have been selling. I couldn’t come to the club. You’d never have paid his debt to a dealer.”

That I neither confirm nor deny. I just wave my hand to get her to continue talking.

“He’s got to shift a hell of a lot more to make up what he owes, else they’ll, they’ll…” I fill in that blank for myself. “He asked me to help him out. Said this was the ideal place, and that it was only for a short while and I could be clever and wouldn’t get caught. I love him, Heart, he’s my brother, for all his faults. He’s the only family I’ve got.” She sinks into the chair a little further, remorse written all over her face. “I wasn’t going to sell on the streets, it’s dangerous out there. I didn’t want to bring trouble to Angels, but…”

“But you thought you could get away with it.”

“It was only going to be until he sold enough to pay back his debt.”

Breathing in deeply, I let out the exhaled air as a sigh.

“You know you would never sell that much, don’t you? I’d make a bet the amount to get them off your brother’s back would keep increasing.” These kinds of people never let you off the hook once they’ve got their claws into you. Satan’s Devils had gotten out of the drug business when Drummer had taken over the club, but we still know enough about what goes on. As Vida nods, I lean back, linking my fingers behind my head.

As the silence stretches out, Vida seems to slump. All the fight leaves her. She’d come in guns blazing, but now she looks defeated, ready to accept the inevitable. I allow thoughts to run through my head. If Vida leaves Angels, we’re one fucking good dancer short. She’s popular with the punters and helpful with the other girls. Without Angels, she’d probably have little option than to do what she, quite rightly, didn’t want to, sell those drugs, and possibly even her body on the street. Her brother? Well, odds are she’ll lose him, anyway. His dealer might make an example of him, or he’ll die by accidental overdose or shit that’s cut badly.

“Step out a moment, Vida. Don’t go far.”

“You’re calling Drummer?” She both looks and sounds resigned.

I raise my chin slightly. Prez had given me carte blanche to do what I needed to, but to action that, I need to call in help. Once the door’s closed behind her, I take out my phone.

“Whatcha got for me, Heart?”

Cognisant it’s Saturday evening, though, thankfully still relatively early, leads me to ask, “You got sober brothers there, Prez?”

“Yeah. Beef, Road. Jekyll and Hyde are playing pool. Joker and Lady probably too. Depending on what you want, there’s me, Wraith, Peg and Blade, all of us are able to ride. Oh, and Rock if you need him. Shooter, though, already looks a bit frayed around the edges. He and Marvel are doing shots.”

Plenty for what I’ve got in mind. Quickly I run through the idea I’ve had, and just as fast, Drummer agrees.

Feeling lighter, I open the door, spy Vida leaning against the wall a few steps down, and motion her back in. After tapping the top of the chair she’d been using and waiting for her to sit, I lean back against the desk, not bothering to go around to the chair. Using my height, I tower over her, a conscious effort to intimidate.

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