Torn Apart

Chapter 5

My over the top drunk party night was followed by a terrible hangover and argumentive morning. I woke up face down in my bed with my hair all over the place, one shoe on my foot, smelling like complete alcohol. I rolled onto my side and saw Nikki sitting on a chair staring at me. Her arms were folded under her chest and her legs were crossed. Her hair was up in a wet bun and a sweet aroma of cherry blossom was coming from her freshly washed body.

"Good morning…" she said with a blank stare. "Get up we need to talk."

I rolled onto my back and placed my arm over my forehead. "Can't we talk later? My head is pounding."

"Yeah? Well a lot more is going to be pounding if you try to blow our cover again." She snapped.

"Excuse me?" I asked as I looked at her. "What do you mean if I try to blow it again?"

She sighed, "Don't play games with me Katrina. You knew what you were doing last night, drunk or not….what the hell are you thinking?"

I could feel my skin beginning to boil with rage as I pushed myself into a sitting position. "I'm starting to think that there's nothing for us to be afraid of...and I'm thinking that you know more than you're letting on Nicole…"

She glanced out of the window across the room, "I do know more….and if you don't behave yourself then there's no point in hiding anymore."

"And what is it that you know?" I snapped. "I'm a grown woman now and I'm getting so sick of being treated like I'm still in high school!"

Her eyes adverted to me, "I understand Katrina…and that's why I'm going to tell you what I know."

I shifted on the bed, ready to listen to what she had to say. She unfolded her arms and clasped her hands together on her lap. "John was given this money by someone who wanted you for himself…someone who knew that John would do pretty much anything for money."

"And this person was?"

"Brock of course. As you know, he was the Undertaker's right hand man. He was in charge of keeping things most dear to him, close by and secret. However…when he caught wind that Taker was going to regain control of his gang he took all of Taker's money and gave it to John."

My eyes widened in fear. "So….the money we've been living off of-"

"-is Taker's….yes." she said.

"Oh my God Nikki!" I screamed. "Why didn't you tell me this before?"

She looked at me and chuckled, "I couldn't! I saw how you looked at him before we left for Massachusetts. If I would have told you then, you would have gone back with him."

"And that's a bad thing? The man cared for me, he wouldn't have treated me like I was a thief."

She shook her head, "I wouldn't be so sure of that now…if he ever found out that we were living off of his money and we both knew about it…how do you think he would treat you now?"

I fell silent for a moment, "Oh my gosh…you're so right…does he know now?"

She shut her eyes for a couple seconds and then looked at me, "He does. John called me about a month after we moved here and told me that Taker had been to the Jail he's in, asking questions about it. He says he doesn't know where we are or anything but…he's looking for answers."

I closed my eyes and hid my face in my hands. "Oh No…so now what? We just remain in hiding?"

"Yeah." She said. "You can't blow our cover especially with Matt….we can't risk him telling his...our brother about us,"

"Yeah you're right…I'm really sorry about last night. I'm just tired of living in fear."

She nodded and got up to leave my bedroom. "I understand Kat…but remember…Taker is one of the most dangerous biker guys out there and he'll stop at nothing to make sure we pay for all of this."

I nodded and watched her leave the room. As soon as she left I got up and started getting undressed for a shower. I placed my clothes in the hamper and pulled my robe out of the closet. As soon as I put it on, I headed to the bathroom for a shower. When I opened the door, Levi startled me by jumping out of the darkened guest room with his arms outstretched and a big smile on his face.

"Oh my goodness," I said. "What are you doing Levi?"

"Playing a game," he said.

I smiled, "Ohhh and does that involve scaring me?"

"Yep, the man at my daycare said I should."

I looked at him sternly and then bent down on my knees. "What man?"

"The man who talks to me when I'm at recess." He told me.

"Does he work at the school?" I asked.

He shook his head, "No, but he did say he's an old friend of you and mommy."

I blinked a few times and then touched his face, "Levi you know you aren't supposed to talk to strangers right?"

"I know but he said-"

"-It doesn't matter what he said honey…he could be a very bad person." I explained.

He frowned, "Uh-oh….are you going to tell mommy?"

"No…but make sure you don't talk to that man ever again ok?" I asked.

He nodded and gave me a hug before running off downstairs. I got up and slowly walked down the hall wondering who could know us well enough to be able to point out Levi as Nikki's son. Maybe someone was just screwing with us or maybe it was some creep who was trying to get to Levi…Oh God…maybe I did need to say something to Nikki.