"What about Raptor?"

I let out a ragged sigh and stood up straighter. "He doesn't know what he wants."

"Bullshit. Raptor is one man who knows exactly what he wants," said Slammer.

Before I could respond, Misty walked back over to us. "You were gone most of the day," she said, filling a glass with tap beer. "Wasn't sure if you were coming in."

He cleared his throat. "Had some stuff to do. Where's Tank? In my office?"

Misty nodded. "I think so."

"Good. I have some news he's going to like. Something that's going to make all of us a shitload of money."

Her eyes widened. "Really? Does that mean I'll get a raise?"

"Oh, you'll get something out of the deal. Believe me," he told her, smiling. "I guarantee it."

I worked until seven and then left Griffin's. On my way home, I stopped at the grocery store and picked up the fixings for one of Trevor's favorite meals lasagna. After the episode earlier, I doubted he would be bringing anyone home and wanted to do something special for him. After I finished buying the groceries, I stopped by a liquor store and picked up a bottle of tequila, another of his vices. I decided that if I offered him comfort food, a bottle to cry into, and a willing sex partner, he might realize that he didn't need Adriana after all. Not when he had me.

Looking forward to the night ahead, I pulled into Trevor's driveway and shut off the car. As I got out and walked back to the trunk to collect the groceries, I began to hum to myself. Grabbing the bag of food, I headed toward the porch and as I climbed the steps, a van pulled up into the driveway. Turning around, I realized that I didn't recognize the brown vehicle, but wasn't concerned. Trevor had a lot of friends and I could see that the two men in the front seat were both smiling, like we'd met before.

They got out of the van and approached me.

"Can I help you?" I asked, liking the way the taller one with the goatee and the multiple piercings had been checking me out. I'd promised myself that I would try and remain faithful from now on, but that didn't mean I couldn't enjoy other men's stares.

"Are you Raptor's Old Lady?" asked the guy with the piercings.

Raptor's Old Lady. I liked the sound of it. Always had. "Yeah," I replied, figuring that it would be my title again soon anyway. "I am."

The two strangers looked at each other and smiled.

Chapter Fifteen.

I'd been doing my homework at the public library, when my mother called me. It had been hard to concentrate, with the emotions rolling through me, but I'd persevered by reminding myself that I wasn't about to fail because of Trevor. If anything, my determination to graduate and get the hell out of Jensen was even stronger.

"You haven't been answering your calls," she scolded.

"Sorry, I'm in the library. I turned my phone down so I wouldn't disturb anyone with calls."

"The library? Why there? You never study at the library."

She was right but I didn't feel like explaining what had happened between me and Trevor and the chances of him hitting a library were pretty slim. "I needed some books," I lied.

"Oh. Well, Trevor was just here, looking for you."

Rolling my eyes, I uncapped the bottle of water I'd been drinking. "Oh, yeah?" I said, taking a sip. "He actually showed up at the store?"

"Yes. He's been trying to call you, too. Are you avoiding him?"

I sighed. She was so nosy and persistent. I just didn't have the strength to talk about it, nor did I want to start crying in the library. Just thinking about the phone call from earlier made my heart ache. "I really don't want to talk about it now, Mom."

"Hmm... You are avoiding him."

"Maybe, but I really don't want to discuss this right now, okay?" I said, lowering my voice when I noticed one of the librarians raising her eyebrows at me.

"He's going back to the house to see if you're home."

"Obviously, I'm not."

"Obviously. Did you two get into a fight?"

"Like I said, I really don't want to talk about it and I have to go, anyway," I whispered, catching the librarian's eye again. I smiled weakly at her. Fortunately, she smiled back and went back to whatever she was typing on at her desk. "I have all of this studying to do, you know?"

"I understand. Are you still nauseous?"

"No."

"Good. I'll call Trevor and let him know that you're fine but that he still needs to leave you alone because you're studying."

My eyes widened in horror. "What? No, Mom. I don't need your help with him, okay? And how did you get his phone number anyway?"

"I copied it from your cell phone," she said. "You know, in case of emergencies. I need to know how to get ahold of you."

I let out a ragged sigh. "Right. Just... don't start calling him, okay? For God's sake, I'm twenty-one years old. I don't need your help with something like this."

"Something like what?"

I rolled my eyes in exasperation. "Men."

"I'm just trying to help, you know."

"Then help me by minding your own business," I said firmly, although regretting the words immediately. Vanda was so sensitive and I could imagine the hurtful expression on her face.

"Fine," she answered, her voice brittle. "But, when you're a parent, you'll understand. I only want what's best for you."

"I know and I really do appreciate your concern," I whispered, noticing the librarian staring at me again. "But I'm a big girl, Mom. You keep forgetting that." Like, every day.

"I know." She sucked in her breath. "Oh, I have to go. Two of my best clients just walked in the front door. Mr. and Mrs. Parker. You remember them, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Mr. Parker called earlier and said it was their anniversary. They're picking out jewelry together, again."

The wealthy couple owned three restaurants in Iowa and usually spent a fortune on jewelry when they visited. Oddly enough, Mrs. Parker was very fussy and always picked out what her husband gave her. There were obviously no surprises in that relationship. I almost envied them at the moment.

"Well, good luck. Sell them on everything."

Vanda laughed. "I'll try," she said before hanging up.

As I was about to put my cell phone back into my purse, I noticed that Trevor had left yet another message and sighed.

A few hours later, I began packing up my homework. It was after seven, I was hungry, tired, and wanted nothing more than to crawl into my bed and sleep for the next couple of days. But, still leery of Trevor waiting for me on my doorstep, I decided to make a detour to a local coffee shop just up the road from my house. When I arrived, I went inside and ordered a strawberry-banana smoothie and a turkey club sandwich on honey-wheat bread. Then, I slipped into a back booth and hung out there for a while, taking small bites of my food as I played games on my cell phone. After I finished eating, I emptied the tray and headed home, realizing that I couldn't stay away forever. I decided that if Trevor did have the audacity to show up, I'd tell him where to go with his apologies. There wasn't anything that he could say that would excuse his cheating and I wasn't the naive little suburban girl he may have thought I was.

It was five-minutes-to-nine when I finally pulled into my garage and shut the engine off. Grabbing my backpack, I got out, locked the car, and was about to shut the garage door, when I noticed a tall shadow moving near the edge of the driveway. Thinking that it was Trevor, I quickly pressed the garage door button to close it. Unfortunately, I was too late and a man ducked underneath the door, causing it to lift back up.

"Don't be frightened," said the stranger, holding up his hands. "I don't mean you any harm."

"Who are you? What do you want?" I asked, trying not to panic. He was tall, had long hair, a shitload of piercings, and wore a black leather jacket. When I noticed the biker patches, I could barely breathe. I'd seen them before; he was a Devil's Ranger.

Noticing my terror, his eyes glinted in the darkness. "Relax, darlin'. Name's Skull. I'm looking for Raptor. Is he here?"

"No," I replied, looking around for something to protect myself. The Devil's Rangers had killed my best friend and now one of them was standing in my garage. In didn't take rocket science to figure out that I was in deep shit.

"Do you know where I can find him?"

I prayed that he was only there for Trevor and that he'd leave me alone, especially when he found out that I had no idea where Trevor was. "I don't know where he is."

Skull smiled. "You're Adriana, aren't you?"

I just stared at him.

Still Smiling, he took another step toward me. "Yeah, you are. I have the right girl."

Sirens were blaring in my head but I was frozen with fear. I needed to do something, but I just couldn't move. "What do you mean?"

He quickly reached into his pocket and pulled out a gun. "We're going for a ride," he said, pointing it at me. "Scream, and I'll fucking shoot you."

Thinking that I was dead the moment I got into his vehicle anyway, I spun around and ran into my house.

"Bad move, you little bitch!" he called as I slammed the door.

Crying, I bolted it and ran toward the kitchen, meaning to escape through the sliding glass door. As I reached it, however, I found another biker staring at me from the other side of the glass. He smiled triumphantly and waved a switchblade. Gasping in fear, I turned and ran toward the other end of the house just as Skull kicked the garage door open.

"Quit fucking around!" he hollered.

Remembering how they'd savagely murdered Krystal, I ignored him and ran to the front door.

"Stop right there!" ordered Skull, somewhere behind me.

Trembling so violently that I could barely get the door unlocked, I threw it open and ran across the lawn. "Help me!" I screamed, trying to get one of the neighbors' attention. Nobody was outside but most of the people living on our block were retired and usually attune to what was going on in the neighborhood. In other words, they were nosy. Normally this bugged the hell out of me but at that moment, I could only hope that someone was peeking out of their windows.

When I reached the curb, a dark brown van came out of nowhere, arriving at a screaming halt. As I tried to run the other way, another Devil's Ranger leaped out of the vehicle and caught me. He grabbed me around the waist as and clamped a hand over my mouth, cutting off my screams.

"Leave her alone!" hollered a man across the street. It sounded like Mr. Barnes, who always brought my mother tomatoes from his garden and snow-blowed our driveway. "I'll call the cops!"

"Fuck off!" yelled one of the bikers. "Or I'll put a bullet in your head, old man!"

I couldn't hear his response because I was thrown into the van.

"No!" I screamed, crawling back to the door, as they slammed it shut. Sobbing, I began pounding on it with my fists. "Help me!"

The van started moving and I was thrown backward, into a woman I hadn't noticed before. She was curled up in a fetal position and appeared to be in pain.

"Oh, my God, I'm sorry. Are you okay?" I asked, feeling an odd sense of relief that I wasn't alone. But then, when she raised her head, I noticed that someone had used her face as a punching bag.

"Okay? Does it look like I'm okay?" she mumbled, opening one black eye.

Recognizing the blonde hair and familiar voice, I stared at the other woman in horror. "Brandy?"

Chapter Sixteen.

Frustrated and tired of driving, I went back to Griffin's. When I arrived, Slammer and Tank were sitting outside in the darkness, their backs against the picnic table. They were both having a smoke and talking quietly; I could see from the lines on Slammer's face that he was exhausted.

"Did Chopper find anything?" I asked, shoving my keys into my leather.

"No. Doesn't look like we've been wired or bugged," he replied. His legs were stretched out and he was staring down at his black leather boots, which appeared to be brand new. "Like 'em?" he asked, noticing me looking.

I nodded. "Yeah. They new?"

"Yep. Frannie got them for me today at the mall. She's a good woman. Always doing stuff. Frets over me like I'm one of her kids." He let out a ragged sigh.

"What's wrong?" asked Tank.

Slammer smashed the end of his cigarette on the picnic table and stood up. "I don't know. Maybe I'm thinking that we should wait on the wedding. With all this shit that's going on with Mud, it could get uglier before it gets better."

"Thought you had a plan," I replied.

"I do, but they don't always fucking work the way you want them to, do they?" he snapped.

Tank and I looked at each other.

Slammer rubbed the side of his face and looked at me again. "Sorry. I'm just stressed out. Shouldn't be taking it out on you."