30 - Accusations

Gator, I swear on my mother’s grave, I did not do what that bitch says I did. – Darkness
As soon as Camille turned down the road leading to the Cajun’s clubhouse, she knew that something was wrong. The gate was open, and she did not see anyone standing guard.
She pulled into the compound and saw four cop cars and a lot of angry Cajuns. Three of the cop cars were from the local department and the fourth one was from Austin. She had a bad feeling in her stomach as she parked her bike and unhooked Tink.
Leaving the bike safety harness on the dog, Camille headed for the front door. Peanut must have been watching for her because he grabbed Tink and swiftly removed the harness and attached his lead. Just like Athos, Peanut had found the way to Tink’s heart. Straight through his stomach with any type of meat.
Beef jerky was his preferred form of bribery.
Several brothers and club girls stood on the front porch giving her sympathetic looks as she passed. Grabbing Tink’s lead from the young Cajun, she opened the door and entered a building that was controlled chaos.
“I won’t fight you.” Darkness shook with controlled rage as two cops struggled to place his large arms in cuffs behind his back.
Stone stood off to the side talking to someone on the phone. He kept reading things off the papers that he held in his hands and giving the cops glares. “You could at least wait until our fucking lawyer gets here, you sorry fuckers.”
“Stone!” Gator warned over his shoulder before saying something in Creole. Stone replied and Gator seemed to agree but needed to retain a semblance of decorum. “Just…”
Shaking the papers in his fist, Stone turned his attention back to the call.
“I’m sorry, Darkness.” One of the local officers said as they linked the two sets of cuffs together behind the large man’s back.
“It’s a six-hour drive.” Gator said angrily. “Are you going to leave them on him the whole time?”
“I’ll take them off as soon as I can.” The Austin officer assured them.
“What’s going on?” Camille asked quietly.
The Cajuns that were in the room, moved out of her way as she moved closer to Darkness. Tink gave a warning growl as he bared his teeth at the new men. Had she seen the piece of jerky trapped between two of his teeth, she would have laughed. The reddish brown meat made it look like he had already taken a bite out of one of the invaders.
“Cam.” Darkness said softly, his voice thick with emotion.
She stopped in front of him, hurt and confusion written all over her face. Tink sat next to her and leaned against her leg. Reaching up, she gently caressed the nameplate on his cut and then lightly tugged on his rough leather collar.
“I have to go, baby.” He whispered as tears sprang to his eyes. This was the first emotion other than the simmering anger that he had expressed. “I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
“You better.” She said stretching up on her toes to wrap her arms around his neck. He leaned down to meet her and buried his face in her neck. “I need you.”
Neither saw the cop reach out to pull her away from him. Or Gator and Zydeco stop him. Tink moved to stand behind her and gave a low warning growl showing his sharp teeth to the man. And a piece of jagged beef jerky.
“He’s a retired military K9, you don’t want to know what he’ll do to you if you touch her.” Gator warned.
Darkness pressed his lips to Camille’s neck before pulling away. He cursed softly under his breath before kissing her. It was not their first kiss, but it was the first one that any of the Cajuns had seen. It also was not a hot and steamy kiss but had all his emotions in it. Especially the fear that he would not see her again for a long time.
“Don’t believe what they are accusing me of.” Darkness whispered against her lips.
“I know you.” She replied and he smiled.
She did know him. Better than anyone else.
Camille dropped to her feet and slid her hands back to his chest. He straightened, feeling stronger having seen her before they took him away. He knew that the charges were bullshit, but he thought he had nothing to prove otherwise. He would leave that to Stone and the lawyers the club kept on retainer.
“Don’t get any sleep while I’m gone.” He told her with a small smile.
“Not until you get back.” She confirmed with her own smile.
Camille let go of him a stepped away, Tink instinctively moving with her. The cop to his side led Darkness outside and to the Austin police department patrol car. She followed them out and watched as they all drove away.
Once he was out of the gate, Camille pulled her phone out of her pocket and scrolled to the picture of a Hereford calf. She clicked the green button and was happy that he picked up after only a few rings.
“Celt, they just arrested Darkness. I don’t know, they extradited him to Austin. Yeah, hang on.” She looked towards Gator who was surprised by her calmness. “Do you know what the charges are?”
“Aggravated kidnapping, assault and rape.” Stone listed off the charges before handing the papers to Gator.
“I don’t believe it,” Gator assured her, “but he wasn’t at the Renegades clubhouse, and no one knows where he was. We all thought that he went to a club.”
She gave a date at the beginning of September and Gator confirmed it. Giving a small laugh, she turned her attention back to the phone.
“Did you hear that?” Camille asked with a grin. “Yeah. I can guarantee you that he didn’t do it. Because I’m his alibi. Midnight pancakes.”
There were a few more words exchanged and then she hung up. Then she scrolled to the picture of a metal St. Andrew’s cross and clicked on the dial button.
Just as expected, it went straight to voicemail. “Mistress.” With the single word spoken, she hung up.
“How are *you* his alibi?” Gator demanded.
“Because I was with him.” Camille replied. “That’s the way alibis work.”
“Cher, do not anger me.”
“I like you. And I respect your position. But if I tell you right now, you’re going to get pissed off and it’s going to be for the wrong reasons. Yes, he broke your orders and your rules. And if you tell me that you’ve never done either, I’m going to ask you to walk on fucking water.”
She walked into the clubhouse with Tink at her heels. Gator started to follow her, but his wife placed a hand on his arm and shook her head.
“You realize he’s practically twice her age!” Gator yelled.
“You should have put a stop to it long before now.” Zydeco advised.
“Don’t tell me that you haven’t seen it.” Danielle laughed. “That man is head over heels.”
Gator looked around at the others that were standing on the porch. The nods and smiles confirmed what he had been trying to ignore.
Shaking his head, he swore under his breath in at least three different languages.