There was nothing dreamy about the images that my mind conjured up.
I always wondered if I did find her, would I recognize her?
But fuck if I did.
Because I was holding proof in my hands.
There wasn’t a single doubt in my mind that it was her.
Were my hands shaking or was that just in my head?
Me? Shaky hands? That never happened. I was the steadiest person I knew. And yes, that included Nadya.
I couldn’t take my eyes off of the picture but I sensed Diesel crowding in on me.
Why the hell was I at the Steel Paragons MC’s clubhouse? I didn’t generally like to work with people of the sort. It wasn’t because I thought they were beneath me. I just liked to keep my… less savory associations to a minimum. And just because I didn’t work with them, didn’t mean that I was clueless about them and what they were involved in. There was also the fact that Nadya had fallen for one of the members. That alone gave me a little closer connection than I had before.
Nadya. That was a story all in itself.
I guess you could say that I picked her up because I was so desperate to save someone, and it was clear that I wasn’t ever going to find the one that I was trying so hard to find. So, in a way, Nadya became a replacement. I’d found her someplace that no girl should ever be. Damn, she had been so young. It broke my heart, and because I was plain messed up in the head, I took her in, trained her, and let her fly when the right time came. Years later, she was still in my life. Just enough to not feel annoying but it was nice to know that I had someone if I needed them. I was sure she felt the same, though she’d never say it.
But this story isn’t about that part of my life.
It washer. In the picture. I knew it immediately because of the eyes. There was no hiding those eyes and the deep sadness that still held her captive.
“Who is this?” I asked, finally tearing my gaze from the picture. I had to hear it out loud for some strange reason.
“Jessica,” Axe answered. I never could get a read on that guy.
“Jessica what?” I asked because I felt like it just couldn’t be her.
The silence stretched on and before anyone could give me an answer, the bikers were moving on to more important matters. I supposed the fact that one of their own was missing was a little more important than me knowing where the girl that I’d been searching for was.
I mean, I got that it was important to them. But at this point, who knew if the guy was still alive at all, even if it seemed like he’d managed to escape the danger he was in. Then again, if it wasn’t for this whole situation, I wouldn’t be standing here right now. Maybe it was a good thing that Nadya had called me in to help them.
“I need to know where she is,” I said to Nadya after most of the club members had shown tail like the place was on fire.
“She left a few months ago,” she told me with no emotion showing on her face. Not that I expected anything different. “I’ll see what I can find out. But she left and I haven’t heard much about her.”
“Yeah, see if you know where she went.” Thepleasewas there in my sad, begging tone.
“So you really think that’s her?”
My eyes drifted back down to the picture.
“I’m sure of it,” I whispered.
Without even giving a shit, I handed her the other frames then proceeded to remove the picture that I couldn’t take my eyes off of. With much hesitation, I pocketed it and turned on my happy face.
“Life good?” I asked her.
“It is very good.”
Her face didn’t change but I knew she was smiling on the inside. I’d known her long enough that I could tell things were different for her, for the better.
I had this warmth beating in my heart. It almost felt like a proud parent moment, though I certainly didn’t know anything about really being a parent. And Nadya sure as hell wasn’t young enough to be childlike to me.
She’d been handed enough piles of shit in her life and I was happy that she’d finally found something good.
