Club Property: Adults Only Motorcycle Club Romance: Roadrunners MC (13 page)

“We can’t stay here indefinitely.”

Carrie stared down at the kitchen table and refused to meet her father’s gaze when he spoke. She wanted to disagree with him, but in reality she knew what he was saying was true. The apartment wasn’t their home and they really had no right to be there. There also seemed little point in staying. It was now a couple of days since Crash should have returned from his working trip, but there was still no sign of him.

There was no way on knowing if that was unplanned or a deliberate move on his part to avoid her. Carrie was desperate to know the truth, although there was no way she could get in touch with him to find out. In the day and a half they spent together they didn’t exchange phone numbers and for all she knew, he might never come back while she was there. She cursed herself silently for not thinking about getting his number before he left, but it was too late for that now.

“You need to face up to it, Carrie,” her father insisted to break into her thoughts. “He lied to you.”

“I don’t believe that,” she replied in a flash as she finally lifted her gaze to his.

That her father agreed to stay in the apartment for as long as he did was something of a surprise, but she knew her time there was coming to an end. She’d found herself hoping with increasing desperation over the past few days that she would hear the sound of a key in the front door lock, but it didn’t happen and she couldn’t contain the growing sense of despair.

“Then where is he?” her father pressed.

It wasn’t the first occasion she’d heard him say those words since he arrived and it became too much for her.

“I don’t know,” she let out in a raised voice and the chair she was sitting on almost toppled over as she launched herself to her feet.

The strain of waiting with no resolution finally told on her and the tears pricked at the corner of her eyes. She didn’t want her father to see her crying and turned away from him, but there was no stopping the sudden outpouring of emotions overwhelming her. In seconds wet trails were streaming down her cheeks and her shoulders heaved as she was unable to contain the sobs. Her father got up to come around the table, but she pushed him away at first.

“You don’t care,” she accused him.

“That’s not true,” he replied and wrapped his arms tightly around her. “I care about you.”

She struggled to get away from him, but finally relented and put her head on his chest as she tried to get control of herself. It took a few minutes for the tears to dry up, but she kept her face pressed on her father’s body even when she stopped crying.

“Why didn’t he come home?” she asked in a quiet voice. “I believed him when he said he would.”

“I don’t know,” Samuel replied. “Maybe you just have to accept that he doesn’t feel the same way as you.”

“He does,” Carrie insisted. “I know he does.”

“Maybe you just think he does,” Samuel went on. “Sometimes the strength of your own feelings blinds you to what others are really thinking.”

She finally pushed herself away from him and accepted the handkerchief he got from his pocket to hold out to her.

“I just wish I knew why he didn’t return,” she lamented.

“Whatever the reason, he isn’t here,” Samuel replied. “And there’s no point in just sitting here hoping he’ll turn up. For all you know, this could be just another Roadrunners’ safe house used by any member of the gang. You have no guarantee that Carl will return here.”

“This place is in his name,” she pointed out. “It’s how I found him.”

“OK, so maybe it is his apartment,” Samuel conceded. “It doesn’t mean he spends all his time here, and we’ve no idea when he’ll show his face or even if he will at all.”

“I know,” Carrie replied in a loud voice that softened as she repeated her words. “I know.”

“Then let’s go home.”

She let out a sigh as she considered her options. There really was no point in sitting waiting at the apartment. It was already driving her crazy after a couple of days and resulted in the outburst of tears she just suffered. The frustration of him not arriving would only get worse as things dragged on. She didn’t really want to go home either, and that only left her with one other sensible thing she could do.

“I’m going back to college,” she finally let out.

“You’re sure you want to do that?” her father asked.

Carrie nodded her head. If she went home she would be under the scrutiny of her parents and could do without that. As much as she wanted to curse Crash for not coming home, she wasn’t quite ready to give up on him yet, and she wanted to know what happened to make him stay away. It would be more difficult to do at home under the observation of her mother and father, and she would have more opportunity at the college. Returning to her studies would also give her something to focus her mind on other than the situation she found herself in.

“Yes,” she replied. “I’m going to the college.”

“Then get your belongings,” her father told her.

She nodded her head and walked to the bedroom to pack her possessions in her bag. When she returned to the lounge, she saw the room was empty and it gave her the opportunity to go over to the phone. She brought out the piece of paper and pen from her pocket and wrote down the number. The sound of her father returning made her quickly hide away what she was holding and she turned to face him as he came in the room.

“Are you ready?” he asked.

She nodded and looked around the place one last time before following him to the front door. Leaving so soon after arriving wasn’t what she expected, but she hoped that it wasn’t the end of things. The pair of them walked down the stairs to the front of the building and saw that the street was quiet. It meant they started to walk, and it was five minutes or so before they eventually managed to hail a cab. They were silent on the way to the bus station and Samuel paid the fare when they arrived. The place was busy when they walked inside and they looked around for the ticket counter then made their way across to it.

“Do you have enough money?” Samuel asked as they waited in line.

“I’m fine just now,” Carrie replied.

Samuel bought the ticket when they got to the counter and handed it over to his daughter with one hundred dollars.

“I said I was fine,” Carrie insisted.

“Just take it,” he replied.

She knew there was no point in arguing with him and accepted the money and ticket. They walked across to the correct stand and were silent as they waited for the bus to arrive. It was Samuel that spoke when it did.

“Don’t do anything stupid. I don’t want to come chasing after you again.”

“You didn’t have to this time,” Carrie replied. “I’m old enough to look after myself.”

“I’m serious,” he went on. “Just concentrate on your studies. Getting some qualifications is the best thing you can do for your life. Chasing after a dream isn’t going to get you anywhere.”

Carrie wasn’t sure that was true, but she was in no mood for a public disagreement with her father.

“Sure,” she agreed and leaned forward to kiss him on the cheek.

“And keep in touch,” he shouted after her when she walked towards the door of the bus.

Carrie lifted her hand in acknowledgement of his comment without even looking as she stepped on board and went to find somewhere to sit. There were only a few passengers and it made it easy to get two seats for herself. She dumped her bag on one then sat down on the other to the sight of her father at the window. He stayed where he was and she willed the bus to get moving. She waved goodbye to him when the journey began and didn’t even need to look to know that he would be staring in her direction until the bus left the station. It was infuriating that he was so protective, but at the same time it made her love him all the more.

“Bloody parents,” she mouthed quietly.

The trip seemed to pass by in a flash as her mind played over the last few days. She’d left the college with just the hope that things might work out for her and was disappointed to be returning in pretty much the same situation. Being with Crash, even if it was for no more than a day, made her realize how much she wanted him, but the prospect of getting together seemed to be just out of her grasp. As the journey came towards an end, she brought her phone out of her pocket and switched it on for the first time in a while. She deleted the large volume of missed call messages without even really looking at who they were from.

Taking the piece of paper from her pocket, she keyed the apartment number into her phone and couldn’t resist making the call. She wasn’t surprised when it just rang out, but it was still a frustration. A few minutes later the bus arrived at the station and she rose to her feet to get off. It was early evening when she got to the college, but she suspected that her student counselor would still be in his office and went to inform him of her return. The discussion didn’t last long and she felt slightly guilty at lying to him again.

When the brief meeting was over, she made her way to her dorm room and threw herself down on her bed when she was inside. It was slightly surreal to be there and she couldn’t resist getting her phone out to try Crash’s number again. She was unable to stop the irritation welling up when the call went unanswered and dropped the phone on the bed beside her afterwards. The knock on the door twenty minutes later came as a surprise, but the light being on revealed she was there and she decided not to ignore whoever was calling on her.

“I’m sorry,” Darlene said straight away when the door opened.

“How did you know I was here?” Carrie asked.

“I didn’t,” Darlene admitted. “I’ve been knocking on your door every night since I told your sister the story of what you were doing. I just wanted to apologize.”

“You don’t have to,” Carrie went on. “If the tables were turned and your family got in touch with me worried about where you were, I would have told them.”

She stood aside to let her friend inside then closed the door. The pair of them walked across to the bed to sit down.

“Did you get in trouble?” Darlene asked.

“Well, my sister told my dad and he ended up finding me in San Francisco,” Carrie replied.

“Oh shit,” Darlene let out. “Was he mad?”

“At first,” Carrie admitted. “But he calmed down.”

“And the man you went to see?” Darlene queried.

“I found him and lost him,” Carrie said with a rueful smile. “The address in San Francisco was correct, so I caught up with him.”

“And what happened?” Darlene went on.

“Well, he’s not married any more and lives alone,” Carrie replied.

“So, what are you doing here?” her friend went on with a smirk.

“We spent a great day together that ended up with me seducing him in the shower and finding that the reality of being with him was better than my years of dreaming.”

“So, what the hell are you doing here?” Darlene repeated.

“He disappeared,” Carrie said.

“Huh?” Darlene let out. “Disappeared to where?”

“Good question,” Carrie replied.

“He went out of town for work and said he would return the following day,” Carrie told her friend. “And he didn’t.”

“That sucks,” Darlene commented and was quiet for a few seconds before going on. “Do you think he just saw the opportunity to take advantage of a pretty young girl for a quick fuck?”

Carrie let out a sigh, but shook her head.

“It’s not the impression I got,” she replied. “He appeared reluctant about getting involved, but I guess the shock of me turning up out of the blue after so many years wasn’t particularly easy for him to handle. I suspect the age difference didn’t sit well with him either, although thirteen years isn’t all that much as far as I’m concerned. He told me I should go back to college and find someone my own age, but his protests seemed like a front. It was as if he couldn’t quite make up his mind about us getting together and thought it would be easier to push me away before things went too far.”