Read Lock and Key for Free Online

ignore Jason’s empty chair at the dinner table each night. Dad stopped showing up for dinner. Mom stopped cooking altogether. In fact, Dad never seemed to be able to pull himself out of his pit of shock, grief, and anger.
    Mom took the stiff upper lip route to new heights, but her drinking gave her away. Our parents would only exchange information and do their own thing, bumping into each other in the house on occasion. Ruby dealt with the delightful harmony at home by getting loud and wild, and I did the opposite. I didn’t want to be in my parents’ faces or make any waves. I kept quiet in the background and concentrated on school.
    The first time I met members of the One-Eyed Jacks was because of Ruby. We were in high school then, at a keg party out on a ranch in the hills. A lot of people had shown up and the beer had finished early. Ruby and her friends had mouthed off about it, of course. Loudly. Tim Squiers, a football player whose advances she had rejected earlier, came after her during all the commotion she had instigated.
    I was on the other end of the property with my girlfriends, trying to keep clear of the impending chaos. The yelling intensified, and Ruby’s name was being tossed around. My friend Tania and I went running. Panic and horror were words too weak to describe what jolted through me at the sight of Ruby kicking and screaming, being dragged off by Tim with one of his pals holding onto her legs, their buddies cheering them on.
    A few bikers had shown up to sell some weed. I knew in my gut they were my only hope of saving my sister from those bastards. I took off and Tania yelled after me, “Grace, come back here, don’t you dare!”
    But I did dare. I had to save Ruby. I ran like hell.
    Three bikers were perched on a group of large boulders around a fire drinking from whiskey bottles, the fumes of pot and tobacco clouding over them.
    “Hey, excuse me guys, can you help me?” They stared at me. I rattled on like a windup toy. “Those jerks have got my sister! He’s slapping her around, and all his friends are laughing. They’re gonna take turns with her. You’ve got to help me! Can you stop them, please?”
    “Is that what all that ruckus is about?” A young, attractive biker with light brown hair jumped down in front of me, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. He wore a leather jacket over his cut. I couldn’t see his patches. Big brown eyes frowned at me. “They got your sister?” he asked.
    “Motherfucking football assholes!” hissed another, taller one. He hopped down from his perch. His long hair was in a braid down his back. He rubbed his hands together and let out a cackling laugh. “Time to kick some school-boy ass. We got this, little girl.” His fingers tweaked my chin. The name “Jump” was patched on his leather vest.
    I stumbled after them, and with a roar they pounced on Tim and his friends, beat them to a pulp until they bled all over their varsity letter jackets and begged for mercy. It had been quite a tornado-like display. There was no hesitation on their end. The bikers knew how to take a punch, even dead in the face. They seemed utterly unfazed by any pain. Fighting was obviously not simply a hobby or a sport to them. It was serious business.
    The brown-eyed one delivered a shuddering Ruby straight into my arms.
    “There you go, little sister,” he said, his voice low, his eyes glued to mine.
    “Oh my God, thank you. Thank you so much, thank you.”
    One of his brothers stood next to him and wiped the blood off his face with his sleeve. He had vivid green eyes and very long brown hair. He let out a ringing laugh. The name “Boner” was on his cut.
    “Hey, it was a good time,” Boner said winking at me.
    “Glad we could help,” the brown-eyed one said. “You keep out of trouble, you hear? And get her to do the same.” He jerked his chin in my sister’s direction.
    “Yeah, I know, thanks again.” I swallowed hard.
    His deliberate gaze remained on me.