Welcome to Diablo Vista (Axl Dane #1) Page 3

  “I'm going to take a quick shower, and then I'll get out of your hair,” he said, walking into the bathroom. She heard the water running, and eyed the drawer containing her pistol. She still knew that wasn't an option, and she was still kneeling by the bed covered in cum when Ed came out of the bathroom, drying himself off and slowly getting dressed.

  “Thanks for the fun, Trista, and the cash, too. I'll be back to see you next month,” Ed said.

  “What?” Trista said from her knees, wondering if she'd heard him correctly.

  Ed spread his arms. “Surely you didn't think that was it? I'll be coming by every month now to pick up some cash and get some pussy. You keep me happy, and I'll keep your little secret. It's a win-win, after all. I saw how hard you came so don't pretend you didn't enjoy it.”

  Trista blushed again, shame burning across her face.

  “I saved you some hot water. Have a good day, now,” Ed said, finally walking out.

  Trista didn't move, her mind reeling. The humiliation had just been too much. There was no way she could go through all of this again. She'd have to come up with a solution, and fast. She wracked her brain, and then an idea occurred to her. She nodded, and then got up and headed for the shower.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Axl pulled up in the parking lot of the Riding Bitch Bar and frowned. This was one of the toughest bars in the town of Diablo Vista, CA. He tried to count the number of motorcycles out front but gave up at a dozen. There were a lot of bikers inside, no doubt most of them members of the Kingsnakes. Axl didn't see anything unexpected, but he was hoping he'd arrived early enough to avoid the bigger crowd. The Kingsnakes were dumb as rocks but still dangerous. He drove through the parking lot and parked at the convenience store next door, not wanting to risk his 1963 Corvette in case some biker wanted to get cute. He had debated taking the specially outfitted Ford Bronco instead but didn't think it would be needed. He realized now much of that had been wishful thinking.

  He climbed out and locked the car, taking a second to admire the split back windows in the dusk twilight. He locked the car and patted the .357 Colt Python concealed in his leather jacket. He didn't have any extra shells on him, just a box in the glove compartment. He hoped he wouldn't need any at all. He realized the older he got, the more wishful thinking he did. He adjusted his leather jacket and walked inside, noticing his snakeskin boots were starting to show some wear. Hell, so was he for that matter. He was surprised he'd made it past forty, so he tried to enjoy what he could.

  He pulled the picture out of his jacket pocket one last time as he walked to the bar. The girl in the picture didn't look any older than fifteen, but this was a school picture. He had no doubt once she applied herself she could pass for older. Her mother had hired him to bring her back, and he'd agreed. That meant one way or another she was going back. Whether she walked or whether he carried her kicking and screaming was another matter.

  It was the same old story told a million times. The girl had fallen in with the wrong crowd, in this case, a prospect for the Kingsnakes. The Kingsnakes were the local meth dealers, which was bad enough. What made it worse was that most of them were also users. He was stepping into a literal den of snakes, with odds being at least some of them would be all jacked up. He slid the picture back into his jacket pocket and shook his head. He ran his fingers through his long brown hair, mussed hair being a better look for this place.

  He opened the door, and the music hit him hard. Unlike the hard rock he'd expected, he was instead greeted with classic country. It sounded strange to hear country music blasted at such a high volume, but it was still almost drowned out by the rowdy patrons. He had forgotten this was a strip club but was reminded quickly at the sight of the bare-breasted dancers twirling on the small stage on the far side of the bar. They didn't appear all that enthused, and both dancers looked like their prime stripping days were well behind them.

  He stepped into a corner by the jukebox and began to look around for the girl, Gianna Nesmith. There were a few women in the crowd, but they were all much older than Gianna. He spotted her fairly quickly, sitting on the lap of some young punk with a prospect cut on. He was trying to grow a beard but failing miserably. The two of them were alone at a corner table behind one of the pool tables. Unfortunately, they were on the other side of the bar, which meant he'd have to get her all the way through the crowd to get her outside. He wasn't sure how that would go.

  Axl scanned the songs as he tried to decide how to handle this. If the girl started raising hell, he was sure it would lead to a fight. If he pulled his gun, the bikers wouldn't hesitate to return fire, not caring if they took out some of their own as long as they got to shoot at somebody. He debated waiting until she left and trying to catch her as then. Fuck it. He didn't feel like waiting. He'd just go talk to her and feel things out.

  Axl made his way over to the couple and took a seat at their table. The two of them looked over at him as he smiled.

  “Hi,” Axl said. “I'm Axl Dane. How are you two doing?”

  They both looked at him like he had sprouted an extra arm, but didn't seem hostile yet.

  “I'm okay. Do I know you? You're not a 'snake are you?” the boy asked.

  “Nah, just passing through. Your name would be?” Axl asked, turning his ear towards the boy to quiet the din.

  “Todd. Todd Butt,” the boy answered. Axl wondered if the boy was telling a joke, but he seemed serious. He can just imagine what the kid must have gone through in school.

  “Nice to meet you, Todd. And your girlfriend would be?”

  “Gianna,” she said with a sour look. She was using her real name, so she must not have thought her mom had put someone on her trail yet.

  “Nice to meet you both,” Axl said. “Can I get you both a beer?”

  “Sure, that would be great,” Todd said, and Gianna smiled. Axl assumed that since he offered to buy her alcohol she had decided he wasn't a narc.

  Axl looked Gianna over closer. It was hard to believe this was the same girl in the school photo he had, but the eyes were the same. You could always tell by the eyes. Otherwise, this girl looked closer to twenty than fifteen. She was wearing a short denim skirt and a bikini top with tassels, along with high, black riding boots. She looked like she'd walked into a biker clothing shop and picked out what the nearest mannequin was wearing.

  “So you like what you see?” Todd said, noticing Axl's interest in Gianna.

  Shit, thought Axl. Then he noticed Todd was smiling and showing no sign of being offended.

  “Yeah, sorry. Your girlfriend is a very attractive young lady,” Axl said, attempting to salvage things.

  “She sure is, isn't she? She can suck a tennis ball through a garden hose, too,” Todd said with a laugh. Gianna nudged him playfully. Axl frowned, keeping in mind Gianna's age.

  “How old are you, Todd?” Axl asked.

  “I'm twenty-seven, and Gianna here's nineteen. No worries there, huh?” Todd said, elbowing Axl in the side.

  Axl saw that Todd already appeared to be balding, and the thinning hair combined with the pitiful beard just wasn't working. He looked at Todd's eyes and saw the tell-tale signs of crank.

  “So listen here, Axl, you interested in Gianna, here? Maybe we can work something out?” Todd said, looking from her to Axl and then back.

  Gianna's entire demeanor changed then, as she looked at Axl like a deer in the headlights. She now looked more like her true age. Axl felt himself getting pissed and hoped his face wasn't turning red.

  “What do you have in mind?” Axl said, looking Gianna over as if he was interested. This was much worse than he'd thought. He had worried the punk might have given her drugs, but he never gave serious consideration to him pimping her out.

  “I think it's more like what you have in mind,” Todd said. Gianna turned and looked at the dance floor then, even though no one was dancing. She seemed scared to death.

  Axl pulled out a twenty and passed it to Todd. “Todd, since that wa
itress seems to have no idea we're here, why don't you head up to the bar and get us all a beer? Whatever you drink is fine with me. That'll give me and Gianna here a chance to get better acquainted. We'll wait right here, scout's honor,” Axl said, making a juvenile motion of crossing his heart before grinning at Todd.

  Todd returned the grin as he took the twenty and stood up, helping Gianna off his lap and heading for the bar. “All right, that sounds like a plan. I'll be right back, baby,” Todd said, kissing her cheek as she sat back down and he headed for the bar.

  Axl watched Todd walk away, and spoke as soon as he was out of earshot. “Your mom sent me to bring you back,” he said, deciding time was short, and he needed to wrap this up.

  Gianna looked at him with an unreadable expression, and Axl prepared for the worst. “She did? What did she say?”

  “She just wants me to bring you back home, and she wants to talk to you. If you decide to leave after that, that's up to you. She didn't want to call the cops, so she came to me. Come back with me, you two can talk, and after that I'm out of your hair,” Axl said. It was true, as he was just hired to bring her back. After that, her mom would need to go to the cops, as Axl wasn't one for wasting his time, even for money.

  Gianna played with her necklace as she thought. “How do I know you're really from my mom?” she asked.

  “She said to tell you Sam was hotter than Dean, whatever that means,” Axl said. He pretended not to know what that meant, but he knew the reference. He loved that show.

  Gianna nodded. “Yep, she sent you all right. Okay, let's go,” she said, standing.

  Axl didn't move at first as he was shocked. He knew it would be harder than this. He stood along with her. “So listen, what just happened here, with Todd. Has he done that before?” Her answer was very important, as it could determine whether Todd spent the night in his bed, in a hospital—or worse.

  “No, this was the first time. He'd talked to me about it, said he needed the extra cash until he was a full member. I wasn't sure what to say,” she said, avoiding Axl's eyes.

  Axl nodded. Todd was still an asshole, but he wasn't quite the asshole he could've been. “Does this place have a backdoor?” Axl asked, hoping it did.

  “No, I don't think so,” Gianna said.

  Axl cursed quietly. A meth biker bar without a back door? How the hell did they get away when the place got raided? He supposed they just shot their way out. Great.

  “Let's just leave quietly,” Axl said, allowing Gianna to lead the way. He saw Todd leaning against the bar, the three beers near him as he joked with a fellow Kingsnake prospect. He appeared oblivious to anything else. Axl couldn't believe it; it looked like it was going to be easy.

  Gianna walked outside, and Axl was about to follow her when he heard his name shouted out, even over the cacophony. “AXL DANE!”

  Axl kept walking, almost clearing the doorway. “AXL DANE, STOP YOU SONOFABITCH!”

  A Kingsnake near the door slammed it, not letting Axl leave. Axl gave the biker a look that could kill but then felt a hand on his shoulder as he was spun around to face the biggest man he'd ever seen.

  “I thought that was you, you bastard,” the biker said. He obviously was cranked up, his motions twitchy as he yelled at Axl. “You caused my sister to get a divorce! I liked her husband too!”

  Axl stared up into the biker's face but couldn't place him. The guy looked more like a Viking than a biker, long red hair in twin ponytails and he must have stood a good seven feet tall. “Who's your sister?” Axl asked, trying to buy some time. By this point, he'd attracted way too much attention, and he was sure Todd was watching.

  “My sister was Gretchen, everyone called her Gretchen the Red,” the biker said.

  Axl remembered now. He should have known. Gretchen the Red was over six feet tall herself, a huge but not unattractive woman. She had hired him to find out if her old man was cheating. He was, and often. She'd then divorced him as well as beat the shit out of him.

  “He was cheating on her. You didn't want your sister disrespected did you?” Axl asked, scanning the huge biker's cut and seeing the name tag with the highly original name of Eric the Red.

  “He wasn't disrespecting her! So what if he got a little tang on the side? Is a man supposed to live his entire married life sleeping with the same woman all the time? That's not even civilized!” Eric the Red said.

  Axl just stared at him. When he didn't laugh, Axl realized it wasn't a joke. “She divorced him because he was cheating, if I hadn't told her, she'd have eventually found out anyway. I'm just trying to make a living like anyone else, you know?”

  “But see, you don't understand,” Eric said. “He blew his balls off with a shotgun after she left him!”

  Axl's eyebrows went up at this news. “He did? Why'd he do that?”

  “He was tweaking and tried to commit suicide. He went to put the shotgun under this chin but accidentally turned the gun the wrong way. Instead of blowing his head off he shot off his balls!”

  Axl waited once again for the laughter, but no, still not a joke. “I'm—sorry to hear that.” Axl backed away slowly reaching for the door and starting to pull it open. By this point the biker who had shut the door on him earlier had passed out, so he was hoping he'd be able to get out.

  “Fuck you, you're sorry, you little midget! You're gonna be fucking sorry!” Eric said, charging at Axl.

  Axl was mistakenly called short often. The truth was, he was around five nine, and while that's not incredibly tall, it's not short either. The thing was, Axl was very thick in the chest, plus his arms and legs weren't very long. Therefore, he appeared shorter than he was. He also didn't look as strong as he was.

  Axl waited as Eric charged, drawing his arm back to knock Axl's head off. When someone throws a punch and misses, there's always a split second when they can be hit. Axl had also always known that timing beats power every time.

  Eric swung, and his fist looked almost as large as Axl's head. The entire bar by this time was watching, and a collective gasp was heard as they were all sure Eric was going to kill Axl right in front of them. Axl ducked at just the last second, Eric's huge fist brushing his hair as he took his own swing.

  Axl threw an uppercut just as hard as he could, catching Eric perfectly across the jaw. Axl heard something pop and a terrible pain shot through his hand. Fuck, that's broke, he thought.

  Eric's jaw wobbled on his face, and he continued the charge he'd made at Axl. This time, however, he was unconscious and hit the floor face first. Everyone was quiet, the only sound being the twangy sounds of the jukebox. Axl shook his hand out, the pain not as bad now. He looked down at Eric, who wasn't moving. His jaw was also oddly out of place. So it hadn't been Axl's hand that had been broken, it had been Eric's jaw.

  Axl looked around at the crowd, wondering if they would soon set upon him like a pack of wolves. Instead, a few Kingsnakes raised their beers to him and soon everyone went back to their business. No one even bothered to help Eric, and Axl assumed things like this probably happened here all the time. He slowly backed out, to find Gianna waiting on him.

  “What the hell just happened?” she said, unable to see inside since the bar had no windows.

  “Don't worry about it, let's go,” Axl said, taking her arm and pulling her towards the store parking lot.

  They had just made it into the lot when Todd called after them. “Hey, wait! Where the hell are you going?”

  Axl debated whether he should just keep walking, but decided he'd better go ahead and settle this now. “I'm taking her home to her mother since she's fifteen,” he said, daring Todd to protest.

  Todd had reached them by now, and stopped, his eyes bugging out of his head. Axl was once again surprised. Tonight had just been full of surprises.

  “She's fifteen? You're fifteen?” Todd said, directing his question at Gianna, who was standing behind Axl. Gianna nodded slowly.

  “Yes, so unless you want to go to jail I suggest you leave her alone,
” Axl said, taking a step towards Todd. Todd had just seen Axl knock out the biggest man in the bar. Therefore, when Axl stepped forward, Todd stepped back.

  “Listen, man, I swear I had no idea. I thought she was twenty. I had no clue,” Todd said, still backing away.

  “Just leave her the hell alone. And listen, if I ever hear of you trying to pimp out another female, I will find you and beat the shit out of you. What I just did to Eric will seem like a damn day at the spa compared to what I'll do to you,” Axl said. He thought Todd needed a little roughing up to make his point, but he just didn't have time.

  “I promise, no more of that shit. I wouldn't have done it away,” Todd said, finally turning and slinking away.

  Axl scowled as he watched Todd go. The strangest part is he believed the little bastard. From the look on his face, there was no way he was faking his surprise, and he was sure he didn't have the balls to pimp out his girlfriend. But Todd was probably going to end up like the rest of the Kingsnakes, which wasn't a good future.

  Axl lead Gianna to his car, unlocking the door and opening it for her. “Wow, is this your car? That's pretty bad ass for an old guy,” Gianna said with a weak grin.

  Axl managed to grin back, glad to see she was able to smile. “Yeah, it's mine. And it's very bad ass, old guy or not.”

  Axl shut the door and walked to the driver's side, eyeing the bar to see if anyone would come out after them. No one did. He shrugged and climbed in.

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Esteban leaned back in his chair so the escort could suck his cock easier as he talked on his cell phone. “Yeah, I'm at the hotel now,” he said. “And I do have her. She's with one of the boys now. So what happened there?” He listened, running his hand through the escort’s short black hair as she bobbed her head. She was a petite Asian, one of his regulars.