Eli grabbed the case, and then dashed around to where he'd left Tess. She crouched there, fear written plain upon her face.
"Eli, what happened? What have you done?"
"We can talk about it later, Tess. For now, we just need to get out of here. C'mon."
Without waiting for her answer, he lifted her onto her feet and led her out of the workshop. She glanced over to where the prostrate body of Snake was laying, and she gasped in shock.
"He's not....."
"He's not dead, Tess, Jesus Christ. He'll just be sleeping for a little while."
They emerged into the sunlight and Eli marched them over to where his bike lay waiting, gleaming. Even at times like this, he always made sure his bike was pristine, taken care of.
Eli swung a leg over and climbed on with practiced fluidity.
"Get on," he commanded. "We're gonna need every second we have. I'll bet you a thousand dollars that Tex and the rest of the Sons are on their way here, right now. And we do NOT want to be here when they arrive, believe me."
She climbed onto the bike with the awkward clumsiness of a beginner.
"I've never ridden on a motorcycle before," she said, her voice tremulous.
Eli chuckled, in spite of everything.
"I never would have guessed," he said drily. Tess wrapped her arms around his waist and held on tight. Eli's thoughts were focused on the task at hand, but even through that there was a stir of something inside him at her proximity.
Later. Gotta get goin'. Gotta get out of here.
He turned the key and the bike roared into life. With a single glance back at the workshop, Eli put it in gear and roared off onto the road.
He didn't know where he was going. He just knew he had to get there fast.
*****
Chapter Eleven
Tess
She clung onto Eli for dear life as he tore out of Mike's parking lot. The bike was so fast, so powerful, that she was afraid she'd just fall straight off the back of it. All she could hear was the roar of the engine and the wind whipping past her.
It had only taken a couple of minutes before they were clear of Joshuaville and out into the open desert. Cacti and sand, sun and sky. That was it. Nothing else.
After the initial shock wore off, Tess had started to enjoy the experience, begrudgingly. There was something about the solidity of Eli in front of her, the sound of the engine, and the wind whipping through her hair that was exciting and utterly new to her.
Despite being desolate, the desert was beautiful in its own way. It was timeless - it had been here long before she'd ever been born, and would remain so long after she was gone.
It just was, no matter what petty little dramas and happenings went on with the people who lived in and around it. Tess took some comfort in that, to try and take her mind off the fact that they were, in all likelihood, being chased at that very moment by ruthless criminals who would stop at nothing to recover what Eli had taken from them.
The suitcase was wedged between the two of them, and Tess toyed with the idea of simply picking it up and flinging it off to one side. But that wouldn't solve anything. Tex would find them, and he'd take his revenge. At least this way they had some evidence against him, as long as Tess got the chance to testify to what she'd seen the previous evening.
Eli didn't say a word as he drove, just looked straight ahead into the distance and kept the bike on a straight line.
His words still echoed in Tess' head. Maybe she had been too quick to judge and condemn him, but what else was she supposed to have thought? It was probably too late now. The anger in his eyes and in his voice had been intense, and if everything had gone as he'd wanted it to, she wouldn't even be here now. She probably wouldn't ever have seen him again.
That morning, Tess would have been totally fine with that. But now...she wasn't as certain. Sure, she'd ended up getting dragged into this whole sorry mess, sure they were on the run from the Sons of Flame, and sure, there was no guarantee that they'd even make it out of this alive...but Eli was only trying to protect her and his family. He'd seen a way out and he'd taken it. It was dangerous and it was reckless, but she respected him for it.
But with how angry he'd been, Tess didn't know if it was too late to patch things up between them. She guessed she'd find out whenever they stopped. If they ever stopped. She had no idea how long a tank of gas lasted in a bike like this.
She was still wearing her work suit, and even with the wind blowing it was getting desperately hot. And after the initial newness of the experience wore off, Tess realized that she'd spent last night sleeping in the back of that old rust bucket, and she was horribly tired. She knew that she didn't smell good, and her ass was starting to ache. What was more, she was absolutely desperate to pee.
She wanted to ask Eli when they could stop - preferably somewhere that she could take a shower and buy some new clothes. A quick glance at the surrounding desert made that hope seem awfully silly. There was nothing, anywhere. Just the desert.
But Eli knew this place far better than she did. He'd grown up here, after all, spent all his life here. Even if he was still angry with her, she had to ask.
"Eli!" she shouted into his ear, struggling to make her voice heard.
No response. He continued to resolutely stare into the middle distance, his jaw set stubbornly.
"Eli! I know you can hear me!"
Maybe the hint of a raised eyebrow, though Tess couldn't be sure.
This wasn't going to work. She decided to try a new tack.
"Eli, I need to use the bathroom! I know that we're in a hurry, so if you say the word I can just go right here, on the bike. It's kinda gross, but, hey, desperate times call for desperate measures, hey?"
His shoulders sagged in defeat and Tess felt the bike gradually start to slow as he pulled over to one side.
Tess clambered off awkwardly, her ears ringing in the sudden silence.
"Make it quick," Eli rumbled. "We've still got a long way to go today."
Tess looked around her, one way, then the other. Nothing. Silence. The road was completely empty. She started to trudge off into the sand, gasping in the overbearing heat.
"Where do you think you're going?" Eli bellowed from behind her.
"I need to pee! I'm not just gonna do it right here at the side of the road! What if someone comes by?"
His eyes narrowed.
"Tess, we're on the run from Very Bad Men. If they catch us...well, you don't even wanna think about what'll happen to you. There's no traffic for miles around, I swear to you, and I have absolutely no interest in watching you take a piss. You can trust me on that."
Tess was tempted to be awkward and stubborn, but he was right. She let out a deep sigh. She must have done something wrong in a past life, she was sure of it. First getting locked in a smelly old workshop overnight, and now having to squat at the side of the road.
Eli let out another sound of frustration, and then made a show of turning his head away.
Tess quickly did what needed to be done, and then went back to the bike. She settled back into her position behind Eli, and after checking that she was safely in place, the bike roared back into life again and he tore away with a squeal of burning rubber.
What had begun as something exciting soon turned into absolute, utter monotony. Tess' romantic notions of the desert were dashed when they crested each small bump in the road, only to reveal another empty horizon, devoid of life entirely. Where the roar of the bike had at first sent a thrill through her, now there were only cramps in her thighs and sweat on her behind.
Those afternoons spent at her desk in her air-conditioned offices got ever more appealing as the miles and the hours passed.
Eventually, Tess closed her eyes and rested her head on Eli's shoulders. He could hate her all he wanted, but she needed some sleep. It was difficult, but eventually she somehow managed to drift off into a sort of sleep, uneasy and filled with dark dreams.
In one, the Sons caugh
t up with them, overtaking Eli's bike on the road and then surrounding them. They snarled like jackals as they encircled them, their faces blank with black holes where features should have been. These horrific creatures howled and gibbered as they came ever closer, and Tess cowered behind Eli. Closer, closer, it was inevitable, they were on her now and she could smell their stench, could see their sharp, gleaming teeth -
Tess jerked awake with an involuntary cry of panic that Eli must have heard. He craned his head to check on her, concern in his eyes.
"What is it? Are you OK?"
Tess wiped the sleep from her eyes, and just nodded.
"It's nothing. Bad dream."
The sun was high in the sky now - they'd left in the early morning, and Tess guessed that it was after midday already. When were they going to stop?
As if in answer to her silent question, Eli spoke again.
"We're going to have to stop soon. Need gas, and water. There's a little town a couple miles up ahead. You can use the bathroom again if you want. But we'll only have a few minutes - Tex and the Sons are gonna know that we'll probably have to stop here."
Tess shivered, the horrible imagery from her dream rising back into her thoughts.
"OK. I'll be quick."
It wasn't long before she could make out a building, shimmering in the heat on the horizon. As they got closer, it formed into a little gas station. As they pulled in, Tess wrinkled her nose. Somehow she'd been expecting a big, bustling rest stop, with an air-conditioned convenience store, well-appointed bathrooms. But this looked like something out of a teen slasher movie. A dilapidated old wooden building squatted behind some rinky dink gas pumps, and the only person present was a toothless old man wearing greasy, stained overalls.
Eli stopped the bike in front of the pump and nodded to the old man.
"Fill 'er up."
The guy slowly eased himself to his feet and ambled over to the pump.
"Listen," Eli began. "In a little while, some guys are gonna pull in here. Probably ten to twenty, bikers. Rough guys, rougher than me. They're gonna need fuel just like us, and they're gonna ask you if you've seen us."
He fished around in his wallet and withdrew a small handful of bills.
"This is yours if you do one thing for me."
The old man eyed the money hungrily.
"OK," he drawled. "What do you want me to say? Want me to tell them I never saw you?"
"No," Eli said. "They'll know you're lying, and that would be trouble for you."
He took a breath, considering.
"I want you to tell them that you saw us go that way."
Eli pointed off to a T-junction a little further along the road.
"That's it?"
The guy looked dubious, as if there had to be some catch, some extra condition.
"That's it," Eli said. "Just try to make it convincing."
The old man shrugged.
"Do my best."
Eli finished pumping the gas and handed over the bundle of bills, which the old man wasted no time in counting and then stuffing into his overalls. Beckoning to Tess, Eli climbed back onto the bike. She hopped on easily, her fear making her much more nimble than she had been that morning. Eli wasted no time in gunning the bike and pulling away at breakneck speed. Tess glanced behind her - the plume of dust was bigger and closer now, but she breathed a sigh of relief when she realized that no bikes were in view yet. Hopefully Eli's ruse would work.
Eli turned left at the junction, back onto yet another endless straight road. Tess leaned forward and spoke into his ear.
"Is that it? Can we get away from them now, maybe stop and rest for a little while?"
Her heart sank when Eli just laughed wearily.
"The road loops back around and rejoins the main one before long. It’ll buy us a little time though, at least.”
He was silent for a few moments, before speaking again.
"It'll take them a while to get refueled there, with so many of them. That'll buy us some time too. So, when all's said and done, we're in a better spot now than we were before."
Tess took some small solace in his words, though fear still gripped her. She would have to trust that Eli knew what he was doing. Without him, she would be helpless, and she knew it. It was a feeling that she didn't often have, and she didn't like it one little bit.
She grimaced as another bead of sweat crawled its way between her shoulder blades, then hunched down and settled in for the ride.
*****
Chapter Twelve
Eli
Eli was bone-tired. He could barely keep his eyes open, and it was a struggle to focus on the road. He'd had only a couple of hours sleep the previous night, and riding all day with a passenger on the back and in the taxing heat had really taken it out of him. He rubbed his eyes with one hand and looked around him. The sun was just starting to set, a brilliant crimson glow that set the sky on fire.
Under normal circumstances he'd take the chance to have a rest, to stop and admire the beauty of the view. But here, today, these weren't normal circumstances. Tex didn't care if Eli was tired, if he was hungry. He'd chase him down like a dog no matter what.
But still. They couldn't just keep going forever. The two of them were going to have to find a place to rest for the night, and soon. The temperature would start to drop once night fell, and Tess didn't have appropriate clothing. She was still dressed in the same pantsuit that she'd obviously turned up in the previous day. He craned his neck to take a glance at her. She was barely conscious - sunburned, slumped down, eyes glassy. She couldn't keep this pace for much longer.
Eli gritted his teeth. If only she hadn't been there, this would all have been so much simpler. He could've spent the night out in the desert, far away from where they could be found. But Tess complicated things. They'd need to find a motel or something for the night. She needed a change of clothes, some food.
Eli's stomach rumbled as he suddenly realized that neither of them had eaten all day.
A sign came looming up from the rapidly encroaching darkness.
"Little Hope. Population 543. 10 miles."
Eli had never heard of the place, certainly never been there. Little towns like these dotted the desert haphazardly. Some were old mining towns, some were completely abandoned. He just hoped Little Hope had somewhere they could spend the night.
He turned to speak to Tess, to give her probably the only good news she would have heard all day.
"We'll stop up here; find a little motel or something to spend the night. It's a risk, but one we'll just have to take. We'll bank on Tex being forced to stop too. He'll know we won't be able to get too far away."
Tess just nodded in resigned silence, seemingly barely even able to summon the energy for that.
Shit. She really doesn't look good.
Eli sped up, and it was only a couple of minutes before Little Hope came into view. It looked to be exactly as he'd imagined. A sad, worn-out little town, dry and sandblasted. But Eli's heart lifted as he spotted a neon sign glaring.
High Desert Motel. 1 Mile
They passed boarded up houses and stores - the roads were almost devoid of traffic, and there was little to no human activity. But still, that sign had been lit. The motel had to be open.
He spied the turn off and gently eased the bike into the parking lot of the High Desert Motel, a collection of dusty, low-roofed buildings that had definitely seen better days. But, the light in the front office was on, and the parking lot was practically empty. Perfect for their needs.
When he stopped the bike, Tess stepped off and stood still, staring into the middle distance. She swayed as if she was drunk, and looked just about ready to pass out from exhaustion and hunger.
"Tess, wait here with the bike for a couple minutes. I'll get us a room, then go and find something to eat."
He went to the door to the reception and pushed it open. The decor was about thirty years out of date, and what little furniture was there was tatty and
ragged. Last year's calendar was on the wall, its pages yellowing and crumpled, and a little fan desultorily pushed warm air from one side of the room to another.
Eli approached the front desk and rang the little bell that sat on it. No response the first time, so he rang it again, harder this time.
"All right, all right," came a wheeze from the back room. "I'm comin', jeez."
A middle-aged woman appeared after a few moments, eyes heavy with sleep, jowls hanging. She eyed Eli up warily, her eyes lingering on his biker's jacket.
"What can I do for ya?"
Eli rolled his eyes.
"A room. For the night."
The woman's eyes drifted over Eli's shoulder to where Tess stood outside, and then back to Eli. A knowing grin crossed her ugly features.
"Alright. Twenty-five bucks. No drugs, no animals."
Eli fished out the bills and slapped them down on the counter, then snatched the keys out of the woman's hand. As he turned to leave, she wheezed in laughter.
"Y'all have a nice night."
Eli didn't bother responding as he walked back out into the rapidly-cooling night air.
"C'mon," he murmured gently to Tess. "I got us a place, just over here."
He lifted the suitcase and then took her arm, leading her over to the room. He unlocked it and flicked on the lights. It was unremarkable in every way, but at least it looked relatively clean. Tess stumbled over to the bed and collapsed on it immediately. Eli set the suitcase down and looked at her for a few moments. Her face was flushed with sunburn, her hair was a wild, greasy tangle, and she looked as if she'd aged a year since he last saw her.
But, for all that, she was still beautiful. Somehow even more beautiful, in a strange way, because she'd endured the day's ordeal with practically no complaints and no fuss.
She's stronger than I gave her credit for.
Shaking his head, he pulled the door closed behind him and went back to the bike, wheeling it over to the parking spot in front of the room without starting the engine. He debated leaving it there, but if the Sons happened to drive past, they'd spot it immediately. After a couple of minutes of scouting around, he discovered that it was relatively simple to wheel the bike behind the building. It would take longer to get there if they needed to leave in a hurry, but there wasn't much other choice.
Bad & Bold - A 7 Book Bad Boy Romance Collection! Page 7