Page 17 of Broken Skulls (Rebel Skull MC #7)

Chapter Sixteen

Jacob

J esse grabbed me by the ear and marched my ass up the stairs as soon as we heard Jackson pull out of the driveway.

“Ouch, dammit, woman.” I grab her hand, trying to get her to ease up on my poor ear.

She shoves me toward my bike when we get outside. Dan and Dirk are waiting patiently on theirs.

“An escort. How nice. I would have kidnapped a woman a long time ago if I knew it was going to get me so much attention.”

Jesse smacks me on the back of the head. “I almost killed you, you dickhead.”

I rub my hand over my hair. “Oh, you did not,” I joke, hoping that I’m right. I give her waistband a quick look. She’s not carrying, is she? Surely not.

“If I thought you were hurting someone, I absolutely would have.”

“Good thing I didn’t hurt her.”

Dirk tosses his cigarette to the ground. “Jesse,” he warns, nodding his head for her to get on behind him.

She huffs but submits to his demand.

Lily slides on behind Dan. “I’m sorry,” she mouths.

None of this is her fault. I should have told the club about my past … about Elizabeth.

Once we get to the warehouse, we all sit in silence, waiting quietly for Jackson to arrive. When he walks in, I immediately ask him how she’s doing.

“She’s good, brother. Willow has her out hugging trees.”

Everyone in the room chuckles. There is no one quite like Willow.

“So. Out of curiosity, who of you thought old JD here really had a woman in his basement?” Jackson asks the room.

No one raises their hand.

I stretch out my legs and lean back in my chair to stare up at the ceiling. I love my brothers, I do, but they aren’t going to make this easy on me. Maybe it shouldn’t be.

The door opens and Brody rushes in. “Hey, sorry I’m late, Prez.” His eyes meet mine briefly before he sits down. “I was on the road when you called the meeting. What did I miss?”

The group breaks out in laughter. Elijah pats Brody on the back. “Well, one of our brothers has been hiding a woman in his basement. We’ll let you take a guess as to which one it is.”

Brody’s head snaps in my direction. “Please tell me you didn’t?”

Jackson bangs his gavel as the room erupts in confusion. When it quiets, he looks at Brody. “You knew about this?”

He immediately shakes his head. “No. Fuck no. He asked me to go with him to look for Tank’s ex. To make sure she was okay. And she was, so we went our separate ways.”

“So, that clears up the whole scene with Tank back at the junkyard. She’s your ex?” Jackson asks.

Tank just grunts, narrowing his eyes at me. “I don’t know why the fuck you brought her here. I don’t like it.”

I sit up abruptly in my chair, banging my fist on the table. “I don’t give two fucks what you like.”

Tank ignores me. “She’s going to be trouble.”

“Everyone in this club is fucking trouble.” I point my finger at him. “Even you, you cock suck.”

We glare at each other.

“Calm the fuck down. Both of you,” Jackson orders. He focuses his attention on me. “This is making everyone, including our old ladies, nervous. You’ve been hiding a lot of shit from us, brother. You’re going to have to lay it all out on the table.”

I run my fingers through my hair. He’s right. I know he is. “You all heard the story about her.” I glance at Tank. Even though the man pisses me off, he’s my brother and I don’t want to hurt him. “Well, I just wanted to make sure she was okay, like Brody said.”

“Why?” Dan asks on the group’s behalf.

“Because that’s what we fucking do in this club, and for those of you who don’t think she deserves it, you’re wrong.”

Tank huffs.

“She tried to jump off a cliff. I stopped her.”

He shakes his head. “That wasn’t her first attempt at taking her life, JD. I hate to break it to you, man. The woman is messed up beyond repair. I spent years trying to figure it out. She’s just –”

“Broken?” I interrupt him.

Tank nods sadly. I see he has no ill will toward her, he just doesn’t know. No one does.

My gaze roams over my brothers. “I know who broke her.”

This gets everyone’s attention.

“Do you know a Mr. Baxter?”

Tanks brows pull together. “Yeah, he was a teacher in our hometown. I didn’t have him, but …” His hand covers his mouth, and he swallows hard. His mind is racing through memories. “My friend Danielle.” He pauses again. “No,” he whispers.

“I spoke to Danielle over the phone a few days ago. She told me about the naughty story they wrote about Mr. Baxter when they were goofing around as teens. She also told me how her stepfather, Dr. Williams, used it against her.”

“You think Dr. Williams used it against Lizzie too?” he asks, still puzzled as to what he may have missed.

“I think Williams and Baxter used it against her.”

“But how would he have known ..?” his voice trails off as it hits him. Anger flares in his eyes as he realizes Dr. Williams sold her out to her teacher.

He gets up and walks out.

Dan stands. “I’ll handle it,” he says, following Tank out of the room.

Petey cracks his knuckles. “I can get someone on the inside to take out the good doctor, and I’m assuming you want to bring in this Baxter fuck?”

“She’s already taken care of the doctor, but yeah, I want the teacher.”

His eyebrows rise, and he chuckles and claps. “Well then, she should fit in just fine with the women of this club.”

“I hope so,” I say, rubbing my hand over my face. “Because I can’t let her go.”

Dan comes back into the room and sits down, giving us a nod to let us know Tank is good.

Elijah pats my back. “I get it, dude, but you still need to explain the room to us. You can’t be locking women in your basement.”

“It wasn’t locked,” I grumble.

Jackson sits forward. “It might not have been locked, but I could clearly see that it used to be.”

I stand up and walk around the table, stopping to look at the photos on the wall. My hand reaches out to straighten a picture of Billie Rose sitting on Bill’s bike. He’s the only one who knew my story, and now he’s gone. I miss him more than I’ll ever admit. I focus on another photo, one where he’s smiling wide with one arm around me, the other around Jesse. He was more of a father to me than my own.

“It’s my reset room.”

Everyone behind me remains quiet.

“Goddammit, Bill. I wish you were here,” I whisper to the wall.

Raffe walks up behind me, placing his hand on my shoulder. “JD, come on, man. Sit down and trust your club. We’ve got you.”

He guides me back to my chair, and I fall into it heavily. Dirk leans over, placing his hand on the back of my head. “You got this, brother.” He grips my hair roughly, shaking my head before letting go.

“My dad rode with the Devils.” When no one reacts, I glance up at the group. Everyone is quiet, waiting for me to continue. I thought they would hate me. That’s a lie. I knew the club wouldn’t hate me. They are the best brothers anyone could ask for. It’s me … I’m the only one who hates me.

“He used to beat the shit out of my mother when I was a kid.” My voice cracks, and I have to stop for a minute. I rest my arms on my knees, hanging my head. “He killed her.”

I sit back abruptly, suddenly overcome with emotion, my voice cracking. “She was the coolest fucking mom anyone could ask for.”

“Damn, brother. I’m sorry,” Jackson says.

“We didn’t have a lot, so she collected people’s broken shit and fixed it up. That was the only way she was able to furnish our house when she left him.” I laugh lightly, remembering the first time I met Lily and how much she had reminded me of my mother. I thought the woman might be my mom reincarnated. We became fast friends. “Anyway, I guess I get my collecting things from her.”

Dan chuckles. “Well, that explains a lot.”

“Yeah,” I sigh, giving him a small smile. “Lily reminds me a lot of her.”

I sit up a little straighter, suddenly feeling a bit lighter. “Sometimes everything gets to be too much, you know?” My face falls and I stare at the floor, ashamed of what I’m about to admit. I rub my hand over the back of my head. “Bill read about this method, and he thought it might help me …” I pause, shaking my head. “He helped me build the room, and then when things got to be too much, he locked me in.”

“Did it work?” Elijah asks.

“Yeah, actually it did. Bill fucking saved my life.”

Dan sighs quietly from across the table. “When he died, Lily took over, didn’t she? That’s why some nights she would run supper to you. She told me you were sick, but she really had you locked in that fucking room, didn’t she?”

I bury my face in my hands, nodding. “She took over after Bill passed, but I was sick. She wasn’t lying. Without her help, I would’ve ended up in the psych ward.”

“Well, that explains the creepy little door.” Jackson shivers dramatically.

This makes me laugh. “I’m fucked up, brother, but I can assure you nothing sinister has ever happened down there.”

“What’s it like?” Dirk asks.

My head darts up. “What’s what like?”

“The room. The nothingness. The dark.” He shrugs like he doesn’t really care, but his wheels are turning. He’s genuinely curious.

“It sucks at first, but after you get over the fear, it’s cool. It allows me to clear my head and just fucking be.” I drum my fingers over the table. “But man, when you come out …” I close my eyes, reminiscing about the first time Bill took me outside after being locked in the basement for three days.

I sigh loudly. “That first look in the light of day is … well, it’s almost unreal it’s so beautiful.”

“Interesting,” Dirk says, seemingly satisfied with my explanation.

I’m assuming I don’t have to explain my reason for bringing Elizabeth to my room now that they know its purpose.

“I’ve got another question for you, brother,” Jackson asks from his seat at the head of the table. “Why the fuck was she calling you Jacob? Is that your real fucking name?”

“It is, but I’d prefer if she’s the only one who called me that.”

Everyone nods. My brothers don’t ask me why, they just respect my answer.

The room is quiet for a few minutes. Petey breaks the silence, and I can see in his eyes that he’s itching for a hunt. “Does she want Mr. Baxter brought in?”

“I want him brought in. Is that enough?”

Everyone looks at each other.

Jackson bangs his gavel before speaking. “We’ll vote on it.” He points it at me before continuing, “But you’re going to tell her if we agree to bring him in. I think you’ve kept her in the dark long enough. Time to show her who you are.”

I nod in agreement, but he isn’t finished.

“Your dad … is he on the inside for what he did to your mom?”

“Was,” I answer quietly, again dropping my head. “He got out a couple of months ago.”

“You going after him?”

“Naw, he’s back with the Devils. He joined up with a chapter down in Arizona last I heard. We’ve had enough trouble with them over the years. I don’t want to stir the pot.”

“But that aside?” Jackson asks.

“I’d love to put him in my crusher, but the club comes first … always,” I vow.

I listen quietly as the vote begins … and I place my trust in my brothers.

They never fail me.