Broken Bells • Bishop Losa

Chapter 3: A Walk Down Memory Lane

"Maybe you should step out for a minute." Frankie spoke, his eyes drifting around the bikers in the room. It had shocked him that the Mayans had been so protective over this girl that they claimed not to know and he hoped that she was not somehow an innocent wrapped up in their shady business. Annabelle used her left hand to push herself into a sitting position, her bruised ribs screaming against the move making her wince. She leaned against her pillow and closed her eyes to gather herself for a second.

"Stay." She croaked, her eyes connecting with the police officer's to pass on the message that this was her choice and not being forced upon her. She drank the cold glass of water that Bishop had brought for her to help the scratchiness in her throat. "I work at Navarros on main street." She started, "This man would come in everyday, he was cute, clean cut- always in a suit. When I switched to the closing shift he would come for a late dinner rather than his usual breakfast, he was always polite and left sizeable tips. He gave me his number once but I'm not much of a relationship type of girl so I never called him." Annabelle smoothed the scratchy sheet that covered her legs as she spoke, "Then he started staying until closing time so he could walk me home, the other night when he walked me home he tried to kiss me. There obviously needed to be more distance there so I told him that he didn't need to walk me home anymore... I guess he doesn't take rejection well."

The men in the room all shifted uncomfortably, not knowing exactly how far her story would take them into the territory of discomfort regarding the unfortunate fragility of many men's masculinity.

"I had to stay extra late at work- till about 1:00am because we were short kitchen staff so we were running behind. He was waiting outside when I was leaving, he wanted to drive me home this time but I declined... I honestly felt safer walking by myself." She admitted, "I tried going back into the diner and that's when he grabbed me."

"You can take a break if you need to." Bishop cut in, sending her a reassuring glance, he didn't want to overwhelm her. She had been through some really traumatic shit and the last thing they needed was for her to lose her composure before they could get the proper details. Annabelle sat up straighter, holding her head higher as she steeled herself over. She had seen situations like these far too many times, she was used to trauma and she was not going to let some creep who didn't understand the meaning of 'no' win.

"He couldn't tie worth shit, even with a broken arm I managed to untie myself. I found the emergency release hatch and threw myself out of the trunk but I couldn't get away... he knocked me out and I woke up in a hole- he was trying to bury me in dirt. I stayed as still as I could, I think he thought I was dead because he got a phone call and just left me there."

"You know his name?" Frankie asked, looking up from the pad of paper he was using to write her account of details on.

She nodded, laying her head back when the small motion made her dizzy. "Christopher Jameson."

Frankie nodded, scribbling down the name before he produced a business card from his pocket. "Call if you think of anything else important."

The room remained silent as they waited for the cop to leave the room. Annabelle knew that the Mayans were planning something, they were being too quiet. She rolled her head to the side on her flimsy pillow, raising her eyebrows at the three men.

"Whatcha planning, Pres?" She asked, her eyes connecting with Bishop as he sent her a smirk.

"Coco, call Taza. Angel, follow up with Frankie." He instructed, the other men quick to follow his orders as they jumped out of their chairs and disappeared out the door. Annabelle continued to watch the man as he sauntered his way over to her bed, sitting in one of the chairs that had been abandoned. "I think you already know what we're planning, sweetheart."

Annabelle hummed, "But you don't know me, seems like a drastic measure for someone you don't even know... unless you do?"

"You're in with SAMCRO. How'd you end up in Santo Padre?" He asked, lacing his fingers together over his stomach as he relaxed.

"I remember a time when Sons and Mayans couldn't be in the same room without bloodshed. They were enemies far longer than they have been friends."

"You're avoiding my question." He pointed out, lifting a thick eyebrow at her deflective walk down memory lane.

She was quiet as she thought about her answer. "My dad and brother were members, married a member too. They've all passed now, I wanted to escape that life."

"SAMCRO is no stranger to bloodshed." Bishop nodded in understanding, having heard the stories and witnessing the decline of the club in the past years.

The soft knock on the open door caught both occupants attention. Annabelle could not hide her surprise as she found a very familiar blue pair of eyes standing in the doorway. "Well, don't you look as beautiful as ever." His voice made it real to her that he was standing there after she had not seen him for so long.

"Uncle Tiggy? What are you doing here?"

He stuffed his hands in his jean pockets as he entered the room. "Hospital called Wendy but she had a PTA meeting that she couldn't miss at the kids school so she called me."

Annabelle smiled hearing about the effort that the woman was putting into the Thomas and Abel, everyone had really underestimated Wendy but Annabelle was proud she had come so far.

"You should have called if you were in trouble." The man insisted, reaching over the beds rail to grab her hand.

"I was handling it."

"Anna-" She was quick to cut off the man's sigh.

"The last time I had seen any of you, I had just lost my husband- he would have wanted me to stay out of club politics."

Neither of the two had noticed that the two Mayans had returned, stopping the the doorway as their eyes scanned the large patch on the back of the man's kutte. Bishop glanced over his shoulder, giving the men a warning look to keep their mouths shut.

"He would not have wanted you to if it meant being buried alive... he would have told you not to deal with it all by yourself, that bad shit happens when you get in over your head."

Annabelle scoffed, the roll of her eyes made her head ache but she was getting too worked up to care about the pain. "Is that what you're calling it now?" Bishop stood from his chair, feeling that he was not meant to hear this heated conversation between Annabelle and Samcro's vice president but he quickly sat back down when Annabelle sent him a dark look. "He was just in over his head? He would not be dead right now, Trager, if he felt that his 'brothers' had his back in the first place."

The venom that she had used when saying 'brothers' had made all the men in the room squirm, their brotherhood was sacred so something bad must have happened for them to abandon the man.

"Not the time nor place, doll." Trager warned, pulling his kutte tighter over his shoulders. "Chuckie brought the truck, just in case you wanted to come home and weren't in good enough shape to ride."

"Home? I wasn't the one who called you to come, ever think there was a reason why that it? Charming is not my home anymore."

The biker sighed, itching the back of his neck as he realized it was a lost cause trying to talk to her right now, she was more worked up than she should be in her current state. "I'll come back later, you should get some rest."

When Trager had left the room Annabelle immediately relaxed in her bed, though her heavy laboured breathing tipped Bishop off that she was still pissed. He gestured his two men close, keeping his voice low as he addressed them. "Angel, you're with me. Coco, stay with her and keep her company."

"Coco? You sure that's a good idea?" Angel questioned, glancing over to the seething girl.

"You'll scare her away, if she wants quiet then she'll get that from Coco."

Coco slumped down in the empty chair without a word as the other two men exited the room. Annabelle sighed as she watched the men leave before she closed her eyes, hoping that this time she would actually be able to get some rest.