The Life of Nikki Winston

Blood Drive Relay

A few days later, I was laughing with the guys as they got ready to go on a Blood Drive relay. I was leaning against Chibs bike, playfully pushing his head when he mocked Kip for only having one ball. "Okay, well, pretty soon you can have that."

"You gonna spontaneously sprout a nut?" Tig asked of Kip.

"Nope. Getting a neuticle." He answered.

"Getting a what?" Jax's confused voice gave me a sense of pride.

"He's getting a fake ball, Teller. They implant it to give people symmetry again. I'm happy for you Kip," I stood from Chibs bike and went over to hug him, whispering in his ear before I walked away, "Maybe you'll let me have a peek when you're all healed." I threw a smirk over my shoulder at his dumbstruck face before turning back to tell Happy I needed to talk to him when they got back. I watched from the garage as they all drove away, waving them off with a smile.

I spent a few hours helping Gemma and my dad out with the shop when I saw him take a package in to Gemma. Hoping it might have been something I'd ordered online, I rushed in to watch her open it. "What is it, Gem?" I asked.

"I don't know , baby. Let's find out what the hell we could have gotten from a men's store. Men's store? I didn't order anything from a men's store. As soon as Gemma pulled the mask out, I knew who it'd come from. "Let's take a ride." I followed Gemma out of the garage and into her SUV, wrapping the mask up as I did.

"I don't like this Gemma, not one bit." I bit out, trying to keep my voice from showing just how afraid I was.

"I don't either. But I wanna know who the hell these guys are and see if we can take care of it ourselves. This can't get back to the club. God only knows what Clay and Jax would get into I they found out." I followed Gemma out of the car when we parked and found the Prick that had been talking to big brother Hale and stopped by the garage. We stopped, staring at him with confused frowns.

"You looking for Sherman's? They closed last month. Hope it wasn't a return." He smiled at us.

"Gem, let's just burn it or something. We should get back to the garage before the guys get buried in work and can't get out. Since it didn't fit maybe we could donate it somewhere." I spoke up, making sure he heard the false bravado in my voice as I quickly lied and pulled Gemma away. I could feel his eyes on us as we ran into tat guy.

"Sorry, ladies." He said. That voice... It was him. he did this to us. I'll kill them all in their sleep. I gripped onto Gemma's arm tighter and pulled her around him, trying not to seem rushed to get away even though I was. The smile and look he gave us set my nerves on fire, wanting to peel my skin off. When we were in the car and Gemma was lighting a cigarette, this lady kept honking and yelling at us, asking if we were leaving. Tired of the noise, I pulled Gem's gun from her purse, pointed it at the lady, and cocked it. When she rushed off, I put the gun back and Gemma and I waited for Unser to inevitably show up.

When Unser finally stepped up to the car, Gemma rolled the window down so we could hear him better. "Got a disturbing call from a woman says you pulled a gun on her?" He started off to Gemma.

"That was me, Wayne. She was bugging me with the honking and we're trying to keep an eye on that cigar shop." I admitted.

"That's it? Just she was bugging you?" He asked incredulously.

"I didn't shoot her." I defended.

"Well, what the hell am I supposed to do with that?" Gemma pulled the mask back out of the bag to show him. "You gonna hit a bank or something?"

"That's what they were wearing." Gemma informed him.

"Who," Unser asked, Gemma stared at him for a few seconds in silence, "Oh, Jesus."

"Yeah, someone dropped it in our mailbox today. In the Sherman's bag.

"They're just trying to rattle you. Sherman's? Holy shit. Zobelle." Unser finally put it all together.

"Look, I'm sorry about the gun." I apologized.

"Come on. I mean, let me take you two home." Unser offered. I saw tat guy walking to his truck and nudged Gemma to look as well.

"We got something we got to do. We'll be okay." Gemma denied the offer.

"Want to give me the gun?" Gemma sighed, reached in her purse and handed the gun off to Unser, trying to get him to back away so we could follow our rapist. "I'll return it later." Finally, Gemma pulled out of her parking spot and followed tat guy.

"Shit!" I rushed to answer my phone as Gemma continued to follow tat guy. "Daddy?"

"Hey, kid. We got a problem. Two of the bikes went down on the run and I've got to send the flatbed out. Your truck's all set to go. I was wondering if you could head down there with the flatbed and give the guys a ride back."

"I can't, Daddy. I'm busy helping Gem out on some errands."

"Nikki, I really need you to help me out on this. I got a feeling they're gonna be at each other's throats if someone isn't there to remind them they need to think clearly. We can't have them fighting on a run like this." My dad lectured me.

"Daddy, I can't just-"

"Nikki, I need you to do this for the club, not just for me."

"Fuck. Fine! I'm on my way back, have someone gas my truck up for the drive and I'll be there soon." I agreed.

"What's going on baby?"

"I'm sorry, Gem, two of the bikes went down and Dad wants me to follow the flatbed and pick up the guys that are stranded. He wants me to make sure the guys aren't fighting out there while they deal with this shit. Can you drop me off at TM? I know you wanna find something on this guy, but I can't get out of it without telling my dad more than we want him to know." I apologized.

"It's okay, baby. We'll find out everything sooner or later. Hopefully sooner. I'll get you back to the garage so you can go pick up the guys. You make sure Jax and Clay aren't fighting when you meet up with them, okay?" She asked of me.

"I will. Even if I have to punch Jax to get his head clear, I'll do it. Might do me some good, too, to just have time to sit in the car and think." I said.