KNOW ME (DEFIANT Motorcycle Club)(16)

told me it was only 7am.  There was no note anywhere.  I frowned, pouring a bowl of

Rice Crispies.  At some point Orion or someone else had cleaned up the mess from the

macaroni and cheese.  I peered out the kitchen window and noted that the bikes which

were usually lined up outside Riverbottom were missing.  So whatever it was which

pulled Orion away involved the rest of the club.  I started to feel uneasy.
Rachel had only mentioned that she lived in one of the trailers on the outskirts of the

property.  She didn’t say which one.  The closest dwelling was an old Airstream which

appeared to be nicely kept.  A row of clay pots containing aloe plants were lined up in

the dirt to the left of the door.
“Good morning, Sunshine.”  Rachel swung the door open, winking.  “You looking for

your man?  They all took off before the sun came up.  Didn’t you hear all those bikes

peeling out of here?”
I shook my head.  “I’ve been told I sleep like a rock. Besides I’ve been hearing

bikes since the cradle.  I guess the noise doesn’t make a dent anymore. Where did they

go?”
She shrugged.  “Casper doesn’t run his plans by me.  Club shit, I guess.  Says they’

ll be back tomorrow.”
Club shit.  The words made me cold.  I remembered where I’d heard them before.  From

Crest as he grimaced under the weight of an unknown burden.  Only hours before he was

murdered.
I swallowed.  “You think it had something to do with me?”
Rachel cocked her head.  “I doubt it, hon.  You worried about the SF’s?  Cops netted

a bunch of them and every NoCal club is pretty pissed off over the Warlocks.”
I wanted to know about the man who killed my father.  “And Ruger?”
A look of doubt flitted across her face.  “I don’t know,” she admitted.  She pulled

at my arm.  “Come in.  I’ll make you some coffee and you can tell me about your

night.”
I followed Rachel into the tidy interior of the trailer.  She motioned to a small table

and I sat down, watching her fill the coffee carafe with water.  She wore only a bra

and a pair of cutoff shorts.  I stared at her body with envy, knowing I would never be

anywhere near as voluptuous.
“So,” she said, grinning at me mischievously.
“What?”
Rachel snorted and slid into the seat across from me.  “Must have been some

rendezvous.  Orion ordering the boys out of the house all damn night?  Un-freaking-

heard of.”
“Oh,” I said in a small voice, toying with a terrycloth dishtowel.  “It was…good.”
“’Good’?” she mocked me.  “Why you holding out?  Orion Jackson is hotter than a

motherf*cker and he’s more than ‘good’.”
“Well,” I said slowly.  “I don’t exactly have anything to compare him to.”
Rachel’s mouth fell open.  “Shit,” she said softly, and nodded to herself.  “That’

s why.”
Something she’d said raised a question.  I squirmed.  “You and Orion…”I started to

say.
She answered quickly.  “A few times.  When I first came here.”  She shrugged.  “It

was nothing.  I’m with Casper.”
I tried to digest that information.  “You love Casper?”
The coffee finished burbling and Rachel rose to pour a few cups.  “Aw, you know

better. Don’t go throwing that word around, sweetie.”
I did know better.  “My dad only ever loved my mom and after she left him flat he

never kept a woman more than a few months.”  
“See?  And these guys?  They call themselves Defiant for a reason.  And it’s not a

warm and fuzzy one.”
I took a sip of the strong, black coffee.  “Rachel? You ever hear any talk over what

happened between Orion and my dad?”
“Well,” she said slowly.  “I know it was ugly but not ugly enough to be final, if

you catch my meaning.”
“I do.”
She looked at me with sympathy.  “Does it matter at this point?”
I lowered my head into my hands.  “I guess not.”
We sipped our coffees for a few minutes and listened to the quiet noise of the desert. 

Rachel glanced at the clock over the sink.  “Still got to get the bar open, hon.  You

can hang out here if you want.”
“Hey, I don’t suppose you need any help over there.  I don’t think I can just sit

around all the livelong day and watch the shadows pass.”
She raised an eyebrow.  “Sure, we could always use some help.  But did you run it past

Orion?  He might not like you mixing in with the boys.”
I gave a short laugh.  “Does everything need to be run past Orion?”
Rachel nodded soberly.  “Yes,” she answered.
In the end Rachel decided there was no harm in letting me polish some shot glasses and

wipe down the tables at Riverbottom.  I got the idea the patrons weren’t the sort who