From Prey to Precious

Coincidence or Fate

Rachel’s POV:

My hands are killing me, my arms feel like Jell-O and I’m pretty sure I have a large bruise on my back but it’s the first time in a long time that I can actually say I’m content with my life for the moment. Don’t get me wrong, things could be a great deal better, but they have also been a whole hell of a lot worse too. I’m still in my tiny apartment with my mismatched furniture, faulty wiring and unreliable water heater, but at least I’m not scraping to get by anymore and I am actually able to put some money into savings. I’m still working two jobs. The hours are long and the work is hard and it’s never easy feeling like you’re the lone girl at the good ol’ boys’ club, but it’s completely worth it. I’ll deal with the cat calls, being constantly underestimated and the occasionally being ogled by my male counterparts in order to actually earn a living doing one of the things that I enjoy most. 

It's been about two weeks since I started working at Black Widow Customs, in addition to my job at Vinnie's Garage and I couldn't be happier. At Vinnie's I have stability and I can pick up on a few things here and there, but at Black Widow I've been able to work on cars and bikes that I would never have imagined I would ever be able to touch, let alone work on. It just amazes me the variety of clientele that they have here. I mean I've seen everything from old mopeds to Maserati's and according to some of the other mechanics, this has been a slow few weeks for them. 

There are only two real down sides to working at Black Widow. First, I can't ask questions like "Oh what happened to the paint job?", "Where did you find that rare part?" or "What caliber bullet made that hole?" Manny warned me that there were aspects of this place that were a little sketchy and now I know what he meant. But honestly that doesn't really bother me. I'm happy to have plausible deniability if the cops ever descent upon this place.

The second down side to working at Black Widow is the front office manager, Darci. Once she realized I was looking for a job and not just a customer, her whole demeanor changed. She went from bright and bubbly to an ice princess in the blink of an eye. She's constantly trying to get under my skin with little snide comments, tries to blame me for random stuff around the shop and my personal favorite, tries to make me look like I don't know what I'm doing. Unfortunately for her, it became very apparent to the other mechanics that I knew exactly what I was doing after I was able to fix a problem or two that there senior mechanics couldn't figure out. 

Put that in your pipe and smoke it Darci.

But I don't let her get to me. I dealt with Devin for years and that was for a job that I needed, not one that I wanted. This is a job that I want and I'm prepared to fight for it if necessary. So I mostly ignore her when she's being catty, but I don't let her walk all over me. I just wish I knew what her problem with me was. The only thing I can think of is that she's gotten so used to being the only woman in the shop that she feels threatened by another female presence. But it doesn't really matter, I'm here to look after the cars and the motorcycles, not try to get a date.

The only truly weird thing about Black Widow is that I've never met the owner. I've heard a lot about him, but never actually seen him. Evidently he build the garage from the ground up. Personally obtained most of the equipment, a good handful of the employees were chosen and hired by him and he continues to not only still bring in new business but actually has a hand in some of the orders that come in. For all this guy does, I've never seen him at the shop though. According to some of the other mechanics, he's a pretty private guy and doesn't like to come in the shop when there are people he doesn't know. He's fine with taking on the occasional new hire, but he doesn't fraternize with the employees much. 

Ok, no problem. As long as he continues to sign my paychecks and they don't bounce. Whatever man.

I'm wrapping up my shift at Vinnie's when my boss calls me into his office. So I finish sanding down the excess Bondo off of the fender that I'm currently working on and than wash the residue off of my hands before making my way back to the office.

Vinnie's a nice enough guy. Very quiet, methodical in everything that he does & generally pretty soft spoken. But he has an...aura about him that puts a lot of people off. He's never been unfair to me and treats me the same as any of the other mechanics. This also means that on the very few times that I've pissed him off, he hasn't gone easy on me just because I'm a woman either. 

I always found it a little on the funny side that so many of the big burly guys that come into this shop seem, almost afraid of Vinnie. He doesn't cut that imposing of a figure really. Standing at about 5'10", average build, short dark brown hair, thin metal framed glasses and a neatly trimmed beard & moustache, he looked like an average guy walking down the street. But when he would turn the full force of his gaze on you, there was just something in those dark eyes of his that made you shrink back a little. They reminded me of large cat, like a mountain lion or a panther. Just something about those eyes made you feel like he was hunting you and about to pounce at any moment. 

I never let any of that bother me though. Vinnie's shown time and again that while he doesn't suffer fools lightly, he will never ignore an honest question or turn down an opportunity to teach. Obviously, I've picked his brain over quite a few things during my last few years here. 

I knock on the door to the office and wait for acknowledgement before I turn the handle and walk in. As per usual, Vinnie is standing behind his desk, looking at the tidal wave of invoices, work orders, PTO requests & miscellaneous notes as I come in and take a seat on the small, wheeled stool that normally occupies the corner of his office. He's wearing his usual dark red leather biker jacket with a white T-shirt, black jeans and combat boots, but he still manages to let you know that he is undoubtedly the one in charge.

"What's up Vinnie?" I ask as I scoot the stool closer to the desk.

"How're you holding up Rachel?" he asks, not even bothering to look up from the papers on his desk as he continues to rifle through them.

I'm a little taken aback by his question. He's not exactly the touchy-feely type. "Ugh, I'm fine. Is there a reason I wouldn't be?" I ask as I lean forward and rest my elbows on my knees.

"It just seems like you've been really distracted lately. It's starting to show in your performance and I don't want to have to let go one of my top mechanics," as he finishes speaking, his eyes lock with mine. He doesn't bother moving his head, although his hands are now still and I get this feeling in the pit of my stomach that this is what a rabbit feels like just before a predator rips it's throat out. 

I meet his eyes and don't flinch, I don't give one clue that I'm shaking inside. I respect this man, so I'm not about to give him lame excuses. But I'm not about to let him intimidate me either.

"I'm sorry Vinnie. I won't let it happen again. The truth is that I've been working at another garage to earn some extra cash and I think I might just be pushing myself too hard."

"I see. What's the name of this other garage?"

"Why?" I ask.

"So I can have a little chat with the owner about poaching my employees," he says as his lips part in a predatory smile.

I put my hands up as if trying to ward off a wild animal as I explain. "Woah, woah, woah. It's not like that at all. I lost my job at the coffee shop and I was just looking for another job to replace it. You know I would much rather be working on bikes and cars than slinging coffee and pastries to a bunch of yuppies and there wasn't enough work here to go around.  So I stuck my nose out and looked at some other garages for part-time work. That's all."

"Mmhmm.  What's the name Rachel?" he almost growls at me.

"Black Widow Customs.  It's over on the south side of town."

Vinnie's eyes go wide for a split second before he let's out a soft chuckle.  "I see," is all he says as he straights up and continues to smirk.  He pulls out a pack of cigarettes from the inside pocket of his jack at proceeds to light one as he continues to chuckle softly to himself. "Well if that's the case, you are just who I need for a little... joint project between the two shops.  I honestly was going to have you work on this anyway, but..." he trails off as he shrugs his shoulders and takes a drag off of his cigarette.  

He walks out from behind the desk and without waiting to see if I follow him.  Not even bothering to hold the door open for me is ambles through the garage and out the back door to the loading dock. This is generally where we receive deliveries, both supplies and vehicles for repair. As I trail behind him, I can feel the eyes of the other employees boring a hole into my back, but I ignore them. People are going to talk and there's not much anyone can do about it.

As we walk out into the loading dock, I see something large covered by a tarp in the rear corner of area. Vinnie seems to be making a beeline for it and I can only imagine this is the special project that he was referring too. 

Once we reach the tarp covered object, Vinnie takes another drag off of his cigarette, flicks the ash and grabs a hold of the tarp.

As he rips the tarp off, I can see a pretty mangled motorcycle come into view.

"You better hope you are up for this Rachel. Don't screw it up. Or both of your bosses will have your hide," he chuckles as he takes a step back from the bike.

It takes every once of self-control to not let my jaw hit the floor. I know this bike.

It's the black and red Ninja I ran into my last day at Beans & Things.

Although now it looks like it's been put through a meat grinder. The frame is twisted, most of the left side of the bike is a complete mess, like someone was traveling at high speed, ran into something like a brick wall and then the bike slid along the ground until it came to a stop.

As I make my way around the bike, making a growing list of repairs that I will need to make and what potential improvements I can do, a thought hits me like bolt of lightning.

"Vinnie, when you say both my bosses..." I ask as I lick my lips nervously.

"Yeah. I'll have your hide if you do a bad job and don't represent the shop well and he'll have your job if you screw up his bike," Vinnie laughed as he turned his back and walked back into the garage.

Well, shit....