Saving Axe Read online

  I nodded. "I know you're right."

  She would understand. She had to understand.

  "We'll need to go soon. This weekend at the latest, now that Blaze is on the way," he said. "We can talk to him and Benicio, figure out what needs to be done."

  "What about April and Mac? We stashing them someplace safe in Cali?"

  "I want them close, yeah," he said. "We need to be sure we have a line on your dad and June, too, leaving them here. If shit goes south with the club, families could get involved."

  "After that, I'm out of the club," I said. It was only as the words came out of my mouth that I realized it's what I really wanted to do. "I can't do it anymore. I'm coming back here. A fresh start."

  Crunch nodded. "That's good, Axe."

  But first, there was something I needed to do.

  "Tell me why you dragged me down here to go shopping?" Crunch asked.

  "Daddy," MacKenzie said. "You promised me a toy, remember? I want a toy."

  "Hey MacKenzie," I said. My chest was already tight, thinking about what I was about to do. "I need you and your daddy to look at something with me. Uncle Axe isn't good at picking out sparkly things all by himself. I need an expert girl opinion for this. Do you think you can help me pick out something shiny- and then we can get a toy after that?" I opened the door.

  "Like something shiny for a princess?" MacKenzie asked.

  "Exactly like that. Something for June," I said. "Do you think you can help me?"

  "A jewelry shop?" Crunch asked. "Shit, dude, are you about to do what I think you're about to do?"

  I nodded. Crunch looked at me, his eyes wide. "This wasn't what I expected when you said you needed to run an errand."

  "Daddy, you said a bad word," MacKenzie said. "You said shit. You're not supposed to say that. Shit, shit, shit."

  "Stop repeating it," Crunch said. "If you don't tell your mother what I just said, I'll buy you a toy when we get done."

  MacKenzie sung it as we walked inside the store. "Shit, shit, shit."

  Crunch swept her up in his arms. "Mac, why don't we play that little game where if you're quiet, you get a toy?" he asked.

  I looked around at the clear cases. Was I really going to do this?

  "Looking for anything in particular?" The salesperson eyed us, the expression on her face either fear or distaste, I wasn't sure. I was sure that, even without the leather cuts, two dirty tattooed guys weren't exactly her usual clientele. MacKenzie ran in front of us, pressed her face up against one of the cases.

  "Look!" she squealed. "Look at all the sparkly things!"

  "A ring," I said, nearly choking on the words. "An engagement ring."

  "That's something I never thought I'd hear come out of your mouth," Crunch said, shaking his head.

  "A girl like that, you've got to keep." The question was, would she feel the same way about me? It was a huge leap, from saying you loved someone, to saying you'd marry that person. And she hadn't exactly said she loved me. In my gut, I thought she did. But what if she didn't feel the same way at all? She said I was only short-term. What the hell was I doing here? This was either the smartest or the stupidest thing I’d ever done.

  “You sure about this?” Crunch asked. “It’s really sudden.”

  “It’s June,” I said. “I grew up with her.” Yeah, it was sudden, and it was crazy. But I’d known her for years. That had to count for something.

  “She’s too good for you, you know.”

  “I know. Trust me.” But it was June. There wouldn’t ever be anyone else for me.

  I knew that now.

  I had known that all along.

  And when I had that ring in my pocket, I was just about the happiest I’d ever been in my life.

  “Are you kidding me?” I watched in the rearview mirror as Sheriff Jackass sauntered toward the driver's side of the minivan. I didn’t need shit from him. Not today, when I wanted to get home to see June.

  “Is that the guy June was talking to?” Crunch asked.

  “Yeah,” I said. Just looking at him pissed me off. That smug bastard, the way he had looked at June, like he owned her or something. I slipped the small box out of my pocket and placed it inside the glove compartment.

  "What's going on?" MacKenzie asked, from the back seat.

  "It's going to be okay, Mac," Crunch said. "The police officer is just going to ask us a question."

  "Is he a pig?" MacKenzie asked.

  "I need you to play a little game for me, sweetie," I said.

  "What, Uncle Axe?"

  "If you can be really quiet for a minute, we'll get ice cream when we get home."

  "Okay!"

  Jed knocked on the driver's side window, and Crunch rolled it down.

  “How can I help you, Jed?” I asked, leaning forward in my seat.

  “It’s Sheriff Easton, and I’ll need to see your license and registration, sir.”

  “Why’d you pull us over, Jed? Is this a joke?”

  “No joke,” he said. “License and registration.”

  Crunch pulled out his wallet and handed over his ID. "Get the registration from the glove box, Axe."

  I handed him the paperwork, struggling to keep my temper in check.

  Think about June, I told myself. Think about MacKenzie, sitting here watching you. There’s no way she’d want to marry some thug who was getting arrested because he couldn’t keep his anger in check. Breathe.

  “You want to talk, Jed? Man to man?" I asked. "Let’s talk. You don't need to hide behind some badge.”

  Crunch cleared his throat. “Axe.”

  “Axe. That's what, your biker name?” Jed asked. “I heard you two were in a biker gang when you first came back here. We don’t want organized crime up around here." He looked down at Crunch's driver's license. "Joe Holder. Step out of the vehicle, Sir," he ordered Crunch.

  I smiled, but not kindly. One of those smiles that barely masked my rage. "Do you see the four-year-old sitting here? Are you going to pull something right here in front of her?" I kept my voice measured, polite. Calm.

  "We'll take care of her," Jed said. "I told you to step out of the car, Sir."

  I kept my tone light so I wouldn't scare MacKenzie, and leaned forward so he could see my face. Then, in the most polite tone I could possibly muster, I said, "If Crunch gets out of this vehicle, I'm going to get out and put your face through the windshield, Jed."

  From behind me, MacKenzie chirped. "That's silly. His face can't go in a windshield!"

  Jed smiled. "Hey, little lady," he said. "I think we met before."

  "Hi! Are you a cop?"

  Crunch shushed her.

  Behind us, two more police cruisers pulled alongside the shoulder. I looked at Crunch and MacKenzie.

  Crunch nodded. "I'll step out," he said. "We don't want any trouble, Jed. Not with my daughter sitting right here."

  Jed nodded to Crunch. "That's smart."

  Crunch stepped out of the driver's side door, and I looked at the two officers approaching the passenger side.

  "You send the entire goddamn police force over here, Jed?" I was two seconds away from walking around to the other side of the van and putting my fist in Jed’s face. But I reminded myself of June. And MacKenzie.

  Jed smiled. "You'll need to step out of the vehicle too."

  "My kid is right here," Crunch said. "Seriously. Have some courtesy."

  "There's a female officer, she'll look after MacKenzie."

  One of the other officers approached the other side of the vehicle. “What seems to be the problem here, Sheriff Easton?” she asked.

  “Driving erratically,” Jed said. “Suspected under the influence. Put your hands on the car, Sir.”

  “Screw you, Jed.” But I put my hands on the car. The last thing I needed right now was for anyone to get shot by a trigger-happy small town cop who was pissed off because I was seeing June.

  “Well, look what we have here,” Jed said, from behind Crunch, holding up a dime sized