Page 19 of Spice's Halloween

I took the details Fists had teased from Maggie, and Berserker said he’d let the rest of the brothers know. Nobody needed me to explain I was making a move on Lindy. They just accepted and rolled with it.

When I arrived home, it was late and Lindy’s lights were off. I’d told Lindy I was working at the strip club tonight so that she wouldn’t wait up. My actual plans had been to find Higgins and take him to the Hideaway. That’s what we called the place where we held assholes who’d pissed us off. People received some serious beatdowns and often died there.

The Hideaway’s location in a cemetery was somewhat amusing. We killed and then rolled the bodies into an open grave and then buried some poor fuck on top. A crematorium stood at the back of the site, but despite our attempts to buy it, it remained owned by someone else.

We kept offering to buy the business every so often but were always rejected. It would be a far easier place to get rid of the dead bodies rather than keep digging damn holes. One day we’d get our hands on it.

Tired, I let myself into my house and wandered upstairs. Bedtime.

Lindy – The past.

My body relaxed as I heard Spice’s bike come home. For a couple of hours now, I’d been lying there in the dark. Spice had told me he was out at the strip joint tonight, but I knew differently. Spice wasn’t aware I knew a barmaid there, andshe’d informed me he wasn’t in, which meant Spice was doing something illegal. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Shit, I’d not even jaywalked.

Did I really want to involve myself with someone who was involved neck-deep in unlawful shit? Damn, I hadn’t asked if the club ran guns, and I should have done. That might have been the answer to sink the boat, and I liked Spice.

All I could judge Spice on was how he treated me, and that was like I was something precious. Not even my parents indulged me as much as Spice did. I closed my eyes and imagined life without Spice. Emptiness and loneliness greeted me. A boring suburbia wife who didn’t really love her husband and had compromised. That’s what I saw my future as.

It was enough to make me shudder, and my eyes popped open. That existence was not for me. Spice had introduced me to new experiences, and I wanted to live life to the maximum.

The realisation hit that, with David, I’d settled. Worse, I’d moulded myself to David’s wants and needs and shoved my own aside. With Spice, he put me first. There was no doubt that Spice was far better than David.

As I pulled the covers up tightly, I heard a noise and froze. Listening intently, I frowned and caught it again. The floorboard in the downstairs hallway had creaked. Quietly, I sat up, my heart pounding and telling myself that I was imagining things. Seconds ticked past, and the bottom step squeaked.

Shit! Someone was in my house.

Without a second thought, I flew out of bed, thankful I wore pyjamas, and headed for the window. Outside stood a large tree that, a few years ago, I’d conquered when sneaking out. On opening the window, I clambered onto the ledge and leaned out, wrapping my arms around the branch just above my head.

I heard more creaks on the stairs and swung out and placed my feet on the thick branch below me. Regressing to a teenageragain, I shuffled along until I hit the trunk and climbed down, finding the hand and footholds that were ingrained into my memory.

Once on the ground, I broke into a run, ignoring the stones and sticks under my bare feet. Whoever was in my home shouldn’t have been there and, therefore, intended harm. Without thinking, I belted over to Spice’s house and banged loudly.

A shiver ran through me, and I kept an eye out behind me even as I kept knocking. The door flew open, and I hit Spice on his bare chest.

“Lindy?”

“There’s someone in my house,” I gasped as I looked at it.

Spice followed my gaze, and I made a disturbed noise as we spotted a face staring out of the bedroom window.

“Lock yourself in,” Spice demanded as he moved, shoved me inside, and slammed the door.

Spice then took off towards my house.

“Shit, you weren’t meant to do that!” I exclaimed as I wrung my hands together.

Quickly, I hunted down a phone and dialled the police. An operator asked if I was safe, and when I confirmed I was, she told me to stay there. She said she’d remain on the line as she sent a car to my home. That was fine until a loud bang boomed from my house.

“Was that a gunshot?” I gasped.

“Gunshot? Don’t leave where you are, Miss Reynolds,” the woman warned.

A car door slammed, and lights turned on in a parked vehicle close by. I squinted but couldn’t distinguish the make or model.

“A car just sped away. It was a light colour, and Spice hasn’t come back. I’m going over,” I said and hung up.

I grabbed Spice’s keys from where they lay in a bowl in the hallway and crept out. Moving silently and keeping low, I kept staring at my house. The front door stood open, which meant either Spice had entered or the intruder had left that way. Terrified, I paused at the threshold, trying to control my breathing, which seemed really loud.

A groan hit my ears, and a soft, slurred curse followed.

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