6

Little Toy Bikers and a Woman on the Run

Chapter 11 Pound

Scarlett was floating on the edge of sleep when she heard someone pounding at her door. She got out of bed grimacing in pain, checked the peephole and opened the door.

"Why can't you answer your damned phone?" Jax snapped at her angrily.

She left the door open and walked slowly to the bed and switched on the lamp on the night stand.

Jax followed her into the room and closed the door.

"What's really going on with you?" she asked.

She walked up to him. She could feel herself shaking, but she couldn't tell if all the shaking were confined to the inside or if her shaking were also on the outside. She had to sit down immediately or she was going to pass out. She took a step towards the bed.

"I thought you were dead."

She collapsed. Jax caught her, swinging her off her feet before she hit the ground. He gently laid her on the bed. Her eyes stayed closed and her body was limp.

Jax softly called her name over and over again until her eyes opened.

"I was about to call the paramedics," Jax said.

"I'm OK. Low blood sugar. Could you grab some of my money on the table and get me a couple of Cokes or Pepsis from the vending machine? There's one near the motel office. Take my room card, so I don't have to get up to let you in."

Jax returned with soft drinks, opened a Coke and handed to her. Her hand shook so much she used both hands to hold the can. She still couldn't get the can to her mouth. Jax wrapped his hand around her hands and helped her get the can to her lips. After she drank half a can, the shaking in her hands began to subside. By the time she'd finished the can, she only needed one hand to hold it.

"Did I get to the bed by myself or did you help?"

"I carried you."

He was very attractive and sexy. He was looking at her with such compassion. Scarlett reminded herself there was a reason this man had been with hundreds of women; he was a master seducer.

He opened the second can of Coke and handed it to her.

"Thanks for keeping me from hitting the floor. The last time this happened, I smacked the back of my head on the grocery store floor."

"Are you diabetic?"

"No. I just have to make sure I don't go too long without eating. I knew I was about to pass out, but I couldn't get to the bed in time. OK. Let's back up. Why were you pounding at my door? Why are you mad at me?"

"You didn't return any of my calls."

"So you just show up at my motel and pound on my door?"

She stared at him. This guy was nuts. This was how he handled it when a woman didn't return his calls. It couldn't have been the first time a woman hadn't called him back. He was pretty damned hot. Maybe it was a first and maybe trying to get close to him was just too damned dangerous. She might need to find another way into SAMCRO.

"I thought you were dead."

"Why would you think that?"

"There was a body of a blonde woman found just outside town. No identity. I couldn't reach you."

She sucked in her breath. Her body went cold with fear and her heart hammered hard in her chest. Another dead woman in less than three months. Was this killer the same one that killed Violet? Which was worse—two killers or one killer who just might be a serial killer?

At least Jax wasn't some possessive maniac. Not so far, anyway. His reaction was understandable. Her plan to get close to him was back on.

"I didn't know you called. I have a back injury from a car crash. All that driving caused the muscles in my back to spasm.

"When that happens, I have to take muscle relaxers, pain killers and sleeping pills to get the muscles to calm down. I must have been too deeply asleep to hear the phone or my cell. I wasn't intentionally avoiding you. Also, if I heard the phone, I might not remember. The sleeping pills I take cause memory loss during part of the time the med's in my system."

He was so close and it would feel good to be in his arms, but with her back pain, she wasn't even tempted. It would hurt too much.

"I'm just glad to know you aren't the woman. There was a woman that was killed a little over two months ago. I knew her a little."

"What was her name?" Scarlett asked. She was glad her brain was fogged from all the medications she'd taken, but she might be too numb. She could barely form words, but that might have been the shock at hearing there was another killing.

"Violet."

"Did they catch the killer?" She tried to make her voice sound casual, but she could hear the strain in it. She hoped that Jax wouldn't pick up on it.

"I was wondering that when I was trying to find out if you were alive."

"I need food. I'm buying if you want to come with me. I'm going to need a little help getting into and out of the car, but you can drive. If you don't want to come with me, I'll just order pizza and take another round of medication."

"I'll come with you. I've always wanted to drive a Corvette," he said with a smile.

"That's why I got it. I use it to lure men to me."

"Darlin', you don't need a car for that. You're hot enough on your own."

"Yeah, thanks," she said drily. "I just need a couple of minutes to get dressed."

"You need help dressing?"

"Yes, but I'll just have to suck it up and grit my teeth."

"Just call out if you change your mind about needing help." He flashed her that Jax Teller blowtorch grin designed to spontaneously cause a woman's panties to hit the floor.

Scarlett walked to her suitcase, grabbed some clothes and headed into the bathroom. She hated that Jax was seeing her in this condition. Weakness was dangerous, but she had no choice. She couldn't control her back.

She would check her cell later to see if he called her and left messages. If the man that killed Violet also killed the blonde woman found today, could she rule out Jax being Violet's killer?

He could just be very clever leaving messages looking for her to divert suspicion from him. Did that make sense though? He didn't know that she knew about Violet's murder. He was the one that brought it up. He also admitted that he knew Violet.

Her thinking was spinning in circles and it wasn't from the drugs she'd taken. The pain and muscle spasms were back. She was having trouble thinking of something beyond the pain. There were just so many ways this could play out. It was too early to draw conclusions about whether or not Jax killed her sister.

Dressing had been agony and taken far longer than it should have. She smeared a little reddish brown eyeshadow around her eyes, brushed on some blush and gave her lips a quick coat of a pinky nude lipstain. Her hair was on its own. It hurt too much to raise her arms to comb it. Even combed, it would look like she just woke up. The only way to tame it was to straighten it.

She carefully walked to the bed, lifted the pillow on the side of the bed she hadn't slept in and picked up the black 9 mil underneath.

"Is that loaded?" Jax asked with a raised eyebrow.

"A gun without a clip and a round in the chamber is just a paperweight. Of course, it's loaded. The safety's on though."

"Why don't you let me hold that for you? You aren't moving well enough to use it effectively anyway."

Scarlett looked at him and thought about that.

"You do have a point. You have to give it back to me when we get back to my room."

"Deal."

She handed him her gun and he slid it inside an inside pocket of his cut.

She grabbed her phone from where she'd left it charging and put it inside her handbag. Just as she reached for her car keys on the motel desk, they slipped from her fingers and fell. She looked at them for a moment, trying to figure out how she was going to pick them up.

"You can't pick them up, can you?"

"Not easily."

"I don't mind helping you," Jax said picking up her car keys. "And it's OK to ask for help if you need it. Do you have your room card?"

"Yes."

"Are you ready?"

She nodded.

"One last thing. Are you going to let me kiss you good-night?"

"How about if I kiss you good-night?"

"Tough negotiator. Aren't you going to tell me that you aren't going to have sex with me tonight?"

"I was hoping that would be apparent by my physical condition," she said tartly.

"Yeah, it is obvious. It hurts to watch you walk. Don't worry about my sex life tonight. We'll be back here in time for me to swing by my MC's clubhouse. On Friday and Saturday nights, it's packed with girls," he flashed her that charming grin that could melt all but the iciest of hearts.

"Glad to know you aren't going to do without sex tonight on my account. That would be a true tragedy."