Page 32 of Elling & Jackie

Chapter 12

Staying at the hotelpushed Agent Campbell in the opposite direction than Elling had hoped. Instead of spending more time at the hotel, trying to interrogate him, Campbell deliberately staked out the Slag property from nine a.m. until three o'clock in the morning. Waiting until an hour after the bar closed and all went dark at the clubhouse.

Having to keep an eye on the agent by himself meant the only sleep he got in the last five days happened back at the clubhouse when other Slag members could keep an eye on the Fed.

He toed the kickstand on his Harley, got off the motorcycle, and removed his duffle bag from the back. The whole time he stayed aware of Campbell locking his car and heading toward the back entrance of the hotel.

Knowing his stay at the hotel was coming to an end, he let Campbell get ahead of him. He carried the bag at his side and walked the twenty-five feet to the door. He was in no mood to put pressure on the agent.

Inside the building, he passed the restaurant and made it to the elevator as the doors closed. Waiting to take the next ride up to the Fourth Floor, he understood that once he left the hotel, he wouldn't see Jacqueline again.

All he thought about during his downtime when he was staking Campbell was finding a chance to be with her again. Unfortunately, all the traveling back and forth to the clubhouse hadn't provided him with another opportunity.

The elevator dinged and opened. He took in the empty space before he stepped inside. He rode all the way up without stopping. Outside his room, he hesitated. In a few hours, he'd check out. His chance with Jacqueline would be over.

He turned toward Jacqueline's room, rapping his knuckles quietly against the door. Expecting her to be asleep, he waited and knocked louder. He wanted another chance with her.

Whoever she belonged to had no idea how to keep a woman happy if she came to him looking for some loving. He was more than willing to make her feel good. But he wanted her to know, he wouldn't put up with any bullshit of her playing him off to get back at her old man.

As it was, if the man she belonged to found out he'd had sex with her, Elling would have a target on his back. It wouldn't be the first time.

If the asshole Brikken member wanted to come after him, he was ready.

He knocked again. When she failed to come to the door, he gave up and went inside his room.

With only a few hours until he could leave, he sat in the chair by the door and took up position, keeping his ears tuned to any noise from the hallway.

The hours spent alone only made him want to go back to the clubhouse around the other Slag members. Ever since he was young, he hated the silence and time spent by himself. It gave him too much time to think. It reminded him of pain. It made him miss what he lost too many years ago to count.

Jacqueline reminded him a lot of his mom. At least what he could remember.

There were times his dad would tease his mother to get a rise out of her. She was slow to temper, but once she'd had enough, his mom would go head to head with his dad. From the amusement on his father's face when his mom reached her boiling stage, he remembered the warmth that came from being a witness to their playful fights.

Then, they'd disappear into the bedroom. He knew to leave them alone.

Back then, he understood that adults liked to touch and do things that made them happy. His parents would walk out of the room later, the earlier fighting forgotten.

Now that he was older than they'd been before their deaths, he regretted the time lost. He'd never reached that level of happiness or experienced a love that consumed him. He never came home to a woman waiting for him. Never felt the complete contentment, he knew his father had with his mother. He never had a child that was half a part of him and even better, half of a woman he loved.

Jacqueline made him think of what he wanted.

She had that special fire in her eyes as if she dared him to tell her what to do. Hell, she'd pulled a gun on him. She had guts.

And, she knew how to make him feel good.

But it was probably too late for him. His life wasn't easy. He had Slag to think about and times were stormy with all the pressure on the Portland Chapter.

Hours passed quietly in the chair, and he shifted from dozing off. A door opened in the hallway. He peered through the crack in the door and spotted a couple talking in low, intimate tones as they passed his room, unaware of him watching.

Getting up from his position, he went to the bathroom and took a piss. Undoing his beard from the braids, he turned on the shower and washed his hair and face using one of the small bottles of shampoo. He toweled off and ran his fingers through his hair, sweeping it off his face.

He grabbed his bands and went back to the door and sat. Re-braiding his beard into three separate strands, he stayed tuned to Campbell's room.

He couldn't help hoping nothing would happen, and he'd get to go back to the clubhouse. All he had to do was pick up his duffle and get his Harley.

An hour went by with no movement, and he took out his phone. It was nine o'clock. In the past, Campbell usually left by now. Then, he'd head through the drive-through at McDonald's and buy two coffees and breakfast before parking across from The Fire Ring.

He waited a half hour more. Either he'd missed Campbell leaving when he washed up, or the Federal Agent had changed his schedule.

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