by Evelyn Glass
“It’s okay. If they move, just kick them in the nuts again.”
“Tina! Come on!” Jack called from his bike.
She hurried to her ride, put on her helmet and sunglasses, and thumbed the bike to life before she followed Jack out of gas station. She could stop and strap down her helmet later down the road.
***
They had met a county Sheriff's car, blue lights flashing, as it hauled ass in the direction they came. Jack had tensed up until it became clear the car wasn’t going to turn around. After a quick stop to get themselves set for the remainder of the ride into Albuquerque, he had been unable to wipe the smile off his face as they thundered across the New Mexico desert. While Tina reminded him of Colette in so many ways, there was one clear difference between them. Colette had tried to pretend she was a badass chick, but Tina… she was a badass chick, able to take care of herself in almost any situation.
As they approached the outskirts of Albuquerque he realized that what had been bothering him, what was holding him back with Tina, was the fear that she would end up like Colette. But after her performance in Vaughn he finally realized that Tina wasn’t Colette, and she shouldn’t be forced to live in the shadow of a ghost from his past.
He twisted the throttle open on his hog and pulled up beside her, then slowed until she looked in his direction. He smiled, blew her a kiss, then opened the taps again as he pulled in front to lead her to Marshall’s house. Colette would always be special to him… but he was finally ready to leave his past behind him and embrace the future.
CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE
Jack Carter tipped the heavy planter over so Tina Harris could retrieve the key hidden beneath. “Got it,” Tina said as she picked up the key and straightened.
Jack took the key from her and unlocked the front door. “Left, through the kitchen, is the garage. Open the garage door so we can get the bikes inside,” he said as he pressed the thumb latch and opened the door.
While Jack disarmed the squealing alarm with the code Marshall had given him, Tina took care of opening the garage. The chance that one of the neighbors—or the police—would see them or their bikes and recognize them as the two people wanted for the theft of the six classic Ferraris was low. Most people were at work, and the police weren’t likely to cruise by, but why take chances?
The moment the alarm went silent, Jack walked out through the garage and pushed his bike inside, then did the same for Tina’s. There was plenty of room with both Marshall and Nicole’s cars gone, but he lined the hogs up beside Marshall’s at the front of the garage so they could get their cars in when they returned from work. The moment he was inside with the second bike, Tina started the big double door closing.
“Made it,” Jack said with a grin as he pushed Tina’s bike into position.
“I never had any doubt,” she replied with a smile of her own.
“Uh-huh.”
“Okay… just a tiny bit of doubt,” she amended as her grin grew even wider.
Tina and Jack had been on the run from the law for nearly a week. After the Desert Sons had successfully stolen six classic Ferraris, worth over one hundred million dollars, the buyer of the cars had backed out. That had left them in a bind. They sat on the cars for a week while they scrambled to find a new buyer, but eventually the cops had been tipped to the location of the cars.
Fortune had smiled on them and they had managed to get away before police kicked their door in. They had bolted on Jack’s restored 1939 Knucklehead Harley, the bike that had belonged to his great-grandfather and was his most prized possession. Tina had followed on his other bike, his daily rider, a one-year-old Harley Softail.
They had run with nothing but a few changes of clothes, some cash, and a prayer. They left behind the Desert Sons clubhouse, Jack’s Audi, and all the possessions in his apartment.
“You want a beer?” Jack asked as they stepped back into the kitchen. He opened the fridge and pulled out two beers in dark bottles.
“Please.”
He cracked the lid off of one and handed it to her before he did the same for himself.
She took the bottle and turned it to read the label. Michelob… She smiled and took a pull from the bottle. The Sons were spoiling her. Breaking into the clubhouse of the Desert Sons motorcycle club and getting caught had been the best thing that had ever happened to her.
Jack took a long pull off his own bottle. “It’s not a Squirt, but it’s pretty good,” he said as he motioned to her with his bottle.
She snickered around her mouthful of beer before she swallowed. “I agree. At least it’s cold and wet.”
Jack moved off the counter he had propped on and dug around in the refrigerator. He began to pull out lunch meat and cheese. “You want a turkey sandwich or a turkey sandwich for lunch?” he asked with his head still in the ‘fridge.
“Uh… I think I will have the turkey sandwich.”
“Good choice,” he said as he straightened.
“Will Marshall and Nic mind if we raid their fridge?”
“Nah,” he said as he opened the pantry for the bread and chips.
Tina started opening drawers until she found the utensils and pulled out a knife to spread the mayonnaise. In the meantime Jack loaded the bread with meat and cheese and sat the sandwiches on a plate before he carried them to the table.
She smiled at Jack as she sat down. From stealing his food to helping him prepare lunch in only three weeks.
Not that she minded that much. Over the past three weeks she had fallen, and fallen hard, for Jack. He had taken her in and accepted her just as she was. He had given her back something she thought she had lost forever: her self-respect. Then, just two nights ago, he had admitted he was falling for her as well. And now here they were, at Marshall and Nicole’s house, where Jack was going to try to pull the greatest robbery in New Mexico history as far as she was concerned. He was going to steal the same six Ferraris again… this time from the police.
“When are you going to break the news to the rest of the Sons?” Tina asked.
“I’m going to have Marshall round them up for tomorrow.”
“Do you think they will go for it?”
“I don’t know. I hope so. This is going to be an all-hands-on-deck effort. If we don’t have everyone, it is going to be a lot tougher. But I’m not going to try to force anyone to sign on for this.”
“Will they still get their cut even if they don’t go for it?”
“I think that’s only fair, don’t you?”
She made a face. In her opinion. he was being overly generous. “Why would they join up then? If they sit it out, they get all the reward and none of the risk.”
“Because if we fail, nobody gets anything.”
Tina had to accept that logic. “I’m not a ‘Son,’” she said as she made quotation marks in the air with her fingers around the club name, “but you know I’m in.”
He smiled at her. He thought he had lost her this morning, but before he could settle up with the motel she had returned and announced her intention to join him on this crazy idea of his.
“As far as I’m concerned you are a Son in all but name… and if there was going be a Desert Sons after this, I would see to it that little detail was attended to.”
She smiled. It felt so good to be wanted again.
***
Jack and Tina were sitting in the family room, half asleep with the television on, when they heard the garage door rumble up. Jack switched off the television and they met Nicole—Nic to her friends—in the kitchen.
“So good to see you, Jack,” Nic said as she took him into a long hug. Tina could feel the green monster peeking out, but she kneed him the crotch and stuffed him away. Nic was the wife of Jack’s longtime friend and Sergeant at Arms of the Desert Sons, Marshall, and Jack had known her for years. She would fight tooth and nail for Jack, but she knew she didn’t have anything to worry about with Nic.
Nic released Jack and then pulled Tina into a hu
g. “Thank you for being there for him.”
Tina was so flabbergasted by Nic’s actions she didn’t know what to do at first, but then smiled and relaxed into the hug. “Someone had to keep him in line,” Tina replied.
“That’s a full time job,” Nic teased as she released Tina. “How ever did you get away without getting caught?”
“Did Marshall tell you the clubhouse was searched?” Jack asked.
“Yeah,” Nic replied. “I wonder how they knew?”
“Don’t know. Anyway, I guess the cops weren’t sure of their information after they came up empty at the clubhouse. The managers of the storage units called and asked me to come open the doors so the police didn’t break them down. That first call reminded me that Tina and I had pressing business in Roswell.”
Nic giggled. “I guess so. I see you got your hog fixed.”
“Yeah. But it put a pinch on the finances.”
“You’re welcome to stay here—you both are,” she amended with a smile at Tina, “as long as you need to.”
“Thanks, Nic. I knew I could count on you and Marshall. But we won’t be here long.”
“Where are you going?”
“I’m working on a plan to disappear.”
“Disappear?”
“Yeah. As in start a new life with a new identity.”
Nic was quiet a moment. “Will we ever see you again?”
“After a while… maybe. But I’ll stay in touch.”
“You better. Marshall would pout if you just up and disappeared,” she said with a ghost of a smile.
“I wouldn’t do that to Marshall. Or you. He’s been my best friend forever, and you almost as long.”
“Yeah… nearly fifteen years.” She paused, then grinned at Tina. “And boy, do I have some stories to tell you! Remind me later and I will tell you the story of how Marshall caught him with not one, not two, but three women in his bed.”
Tina looked at Jack as he blushed furiously. She could believe that. The night she broke into the clubhouse she had… interrupted him with a woman. “Oh… do tell!” she teased.
“I was a lot younger then,” Jack protested.
“You were thirty, Jack,” Nic said with mock disgust.
“Okay… but things have changed in the last five years,” he said with a gentle smile at Tina… a smile that made her tingle all over.
***
Nicole and Tina had dinner almost ready when Marshall stepped through the door two hours later. He greeted Jack with a handshake and a slap on the back, and Tina with a warm hug.
“Since you didn’t call, I assume he has stopped talking stupid shit?” he asked as he held her.
“About turning himself in… yes. But wait until you hear what he is planning now.”
Marshall released her and looked to Jack. “Do I even want to hear this?”
“Probably not.”
“Oh hell… I don’t like the sound of that.”
“Can you get the Sons together tomorrow? We have business to discuss.”
“Business? What business?”
“I’ll fill everyone in on the details tomorrow.” Jack grinned. “I don’t want you doing any arm twisting, one way or the other.”
“What’s he planning?” Marshall asked Tina.
“I’ll let him explain it. But it’s a doozy.” She smiled.
“And you’re okay with it?”
“No. But I can’t talk him out of it… and believe me, I tried.”
***
After dinner Marshall made some phone calls and arranged for all the Sons to meet at his house right after lunch tomorrow. This was a “business” meeting, so only those in the know were attending.
“We’re all set. Everyone will be here tomorrow about twelve-thirty,” Marshall said after he talked to the last Son.
“Good,” Jack said. “This won’t take long.”
“What are you planning, Jack?”
“I’m getting out. All the way out. I’m going to start a new life with a new identity.”
Marshall, startled, took a moment to consider the implications. “Where will you go?”
“I don’t know yet. But I will stay in touch.”
“Will you stay in New Mexico?”
“Probably not. I love it here, but… you know.”
“Yeah. I can’t blame you. Is that what you wanted to talk about tomorrow?”
“That’s part of it.”
“But there’s more?”
Jack grinned. “Oh yeah.”
CHAPTER TWENTY SIX
It took a lot longer than normal to get the meeting called to order because everyone wanted to hear Jack and Tina’s story. After he told it three times, Jack had finally asked them to wait until the whole group was there. Then he would tell everyone at the same time.
“So I was standing at the pump waiting on her to come back out and I hear this guy scream. I didn’t know what the hell was going on so I ran in there,” Jack said as he was wrapping up their adventures. “It’s a good thing, too. She was about to kill these two guys that—”
“I was not!” Tina protested.
“Was one guy knocked out on the floor in a pool of his own blood? And was the other guy down on the floor puking his guts out after you stabbed him with an ink pen and kicked him in ‘nads?”
“Well, yeah, but...”
“And were you not trying to kick that same guy’s ribs in?”
“Yeah, but…”
“Like I said, I got there just in time to prevent her from killing these two guys. Anyway, we hauled ass out of there before the cops showed up and… here we are.”
Tina burned with embarrassment as Jack over-sensationalized the ruckus while everyone looked at her… then Greg, the Sons Treasurer, made a big show of scooting his chair a little bit farther away from her, much to the delight of the crowd.
“Jesus, Jack. You better not piss her off or the cops will be the least of your worries,” Brett said.
Brett’s comment started the ribbing, and though she felt like she would die of embarrassment, she couldn’t stop smiling.
“It’s okay,” Michelle, the wife of the club President, said as she tried to ease Tina’s embarrassment. “We only pick on you if we like you.”
“That’s good. I’d hate to see what it’s like if you didn’t like me.”
Laughter rolled around the room again before Seth, the club President, spoke. “Sounds like you had… uhhh… an interesting week. But what did you want to talk to us about?”
Tina watched as Jack got to his feet. He was only the Vice-President of the club—a title consistently forced upon him—but he was clearly the leader. “First order of business. I want to thank each and every one of you for all you have brought to the Sons. It has been a privilege, and an honor, knowing each and every one of you.”
Jack waited while the Sons murmured in acknowledgement and returned his compliment. “What I wanted to tell everyone today is that I am going to pull one more job, and then I am closing up shop. The Sons may continue as a club, but I will no longer be a member, and…”
Tina flinched slightly at the uproar that last statement caused.
“Wait! Wait a minute! Let me finish!” Jack fanned the air with his hands as he called for quiet. “I’m dropping out of the business. I’m going to start a new life with a new identity.”
“Jack, this is your club!” Brett protested.
“It’s our club,” Jack countered. “It’s bigger than one person. But I can’t do this anymore. I have… other plans,” he said as he stared into Tina’s eyes.
Tina had to look away lest she was afraid she would start to cry.
“But! Before I do that, I plan to go out with a bang,” he continued.
“How?” Rachael asked.
“You know those Ferraris we stole? I’m going to steal them again.”
“What?” several voices shouted at once.
“That’s right. I’m going to take them right out from under the
cops’ noses.”
“You’re crazy!” Rog said.
“You have a plan? Seth asked quietly.
“I do. But it’s high risk. I know we are all in this together, but that was then. This is now. If anyone wants to back out, now’s the time. No hard feelings.”
Seth looked at Michelle and she met his eyes and nodded slightly. “We’re in,” Seth said.