Highway Don't Care (Freebirds)

by Vale, Lani Lynn

  “I think you should ride in the Suburban.” He said warily.

  “Why?”

  He watched me warily for a moment. “You’re pregnant with my child, and I don’t want to put you at risk. I would feel better if you rode in a vehicle from now on.”

  Seeing the intensity in his eyes, I decided not to argue, but instead gave him a small nod and a kiss on the lips before heading back to the Suburban. I glanced over my shoulder before I got in and saw him standing there flabbergasted.

  I gave him a small smile and blew him a kiss.

  He caught it with his hand and brought it to his mouth before turning and straddling his bike. He started it up with a roar, and pulled up next to Sam to discuss something. I buckled in next to Cora’s seat and smiled down at her.

  She sure was a gorgeous baby. She was a perfect little version of Gabe, and she was going to grow up into a stunning woman.

  We were rolling out of the parking lot by two in the afternoon. Sam was in front, with Gabe a little back and slightly to his right. James was behind Gabe, and Blaine and Elliott followed behind us in their own car. Jack, James, and Max followed up in the rear

  “I think it’s time for some tunes.” I called up to the front seat.

  Cheyenne smiled at me conspiratorially and reached for her iPhone. We used to do this a lot when we were younger. With us being the youngest in both of our families, we always got our way. Especially if they had to listen to us whine while on a long car trip.

  As Backstreet Boys filled the car, James beat his head onto the steering wheel. “Oh, Jesus H. Christ. Please don’t do this to me.”

  Cheyenne thumbed her nose at him. “You know how car trips go, Jamie boy. Just suck it up and be a man.”

  Therefore, the next hour we listened to our favorite songs of our childhood.

  It was going on an hour of driving time when I finally couldn’t take it any longer. “I have to take a wee.”

  “Are you serious? Janie is still holding it, there is no reason you can’t hold it a little longer too.” James said sounding disgusted.

  “Actually, I need to go also. Let’s stop at the next rest station.” Cheyenne declared.

  James gave up with only a little fight, and flashed his lights to gain Sam and Gabe’s attention. Gabe slowed down to see what James needed, and nodded in agreement with some signal that James had relayed that told him we needed to pee.

  We took the next exit, and barely stopped when I bailed out of the car. I was on the ground and running towards the bathroom, because I honestly had to go much worse than I thought I did.

  You know that feeling where you have to go, and once you get close to your destination, it suddenly hits you like a ton of bricks? Yes, that’s exactly what happened, and apparently, pregnancy exacerbates the issue.

  I moaned as my bladder released itself of its minuscule contents. “Fuck that feels good.”

  “You sound like you’re having sex in that stall. You should try to control yourself a little better.” Cheyenne said as she followed suit.

  I was just buttoning my pants when a small fart escaped from the next stall over.

  “Oops.” Cheyenne said sheepishly.

  I laughed and washed my hands. I was inspecting my stomach in the mirror, trying to see if I could define a baby bump when a loud wet fart echoed off the walls of the bathroom.

  My jaw fell open and I turned to Cheyenne’s stall to stare in surprise when her door opened and her eyes met mine. They were sparkling with mirth.

  “It wasn’t me!” She mouthed silently.

  We both turned to the only other stall with a closed door. Just then another more disgusting sounding fart sounded, reverberating the stall doors with its intensity. Okay, well maybe it wasn’t that bad, but it was still enough to hear it from outside the doors.

  A knock came on the outside when we heard laughing outside the doors, as well as a muffled voice asking if we were both all right. The farts were coming long and loud now, and we both doubled over clutching our stomachs as we laughed.

  Cheyenne grabbed my hand, and we exited the door just as a small explosion sounded behind us (and it had nothing to do with fire, if you know what I mean.) We both gagged and gasped. Tears were rolling out of our eyes as we laughed silently.

  All eyes were on us as we went down to our hands and knees laughing hysterically at what had just occurred. James and Max were both laughing as well. Sam, Jack, and Gabe were still by the bikes, but watching us as we laughed on the ground.

  I rolled over onto my back and stared up at the blue sky. “That was sick.”

  I also felt somewhat sorry for the poor woman who was in there. We’d all had those days where it couldn’t be helped. It’s just one of those things that you hope never hits you, but if it does you want it to be at home.

  A pair of motorcycle boots came into my vision, and I followed them all the way up the strong thick thighs, past the oh-so-beautiful package, past the sculpted abs, beautifully defined chest, and finally to the face that starred in my dreams.

  Gabe was staring down at me with an amused expression on his beautiful face. “Are you ready? We kinda want to get there before dark.”

  I held my hand up to him and he hauled me to my feet. Just as I was about to reply, a dark haired beauty came exiting out of the bathroom. She didn’t make eye contact at any of us, but instead walked past as fast as her three-inch heels would carry her.

  Cheyenne watched as she got into a BMW with an older man at the wheel. They took off shortly after, and we made it about three seconds after that before we started out laughing again.

  Gabe just watched us all laughing with a bemused expression on his face. He helped me to the car (more like dragged me to it, and then threw me in it) before straddling his bike and taking off.

  The next three hours consisted of two potty breaks, three diaper changes, and a food stop. We pulled into the hotel just as the sun was setting. We unloaded all of our various items, and settled into our rooms for the night. All exhausted from a day of travel.

  I’d just laid Cora down in the far corner of the room when I slipped into the shower with Gabe. He gave a satisfied grunt as I wrapped my arms around his waist from behind.

  I rubbed my face along the muscles of his back. “She goes down really easily. I read her a book and rocked her for all of two minutes before she fell asleep.”

  His voice vibrated his back as he spoke. “She’s a good baby, but there’re a few things about her that have me puzzled. Like when I hold her, she holds on as if she never wants me to put her down. Or when I give her a kiss, she looks startled like she’s never gotten one before.”

  “Gabe, honey. I don’t want to start anything, but it occurs to me that Sidney isn’t the best parent in the world. Just from what I’ve seen before, she doesn’t look like she actually cares about her, only that she has her as a trophy. She wasn’t even torn up about letting us have her, she was pissed. Seems to me like she may not actually care for her, only tolerates.”

  “That’s possible. Makes me want to never give her back. I’d feel horrible if anything ever happened to her. It’s like the moment I saw her, she became a part of me. Like a part of my heart is walking around outside my body.”

  I nodded in agreement, and kissed his back. I got a little distracted by the clenching and unclenching of his muscles as he shaved his bearded stubble. I don’t know why he bothered since it grew back so quickly. By morning, it would look like a 5 o’clock shadow all over again, and he hadn’t even started his day.

  He must have sensed my shift in moods because he turned around and had me pinned to the wall in three seconds flat. His big body pinning mine against the wall. I watched as a droplet of water slid down his chest to curl around a tightened nipple before falling off.

  My mouth watered.

  He raked his gaze over me, pausing at my nipples, and then continuing down to my mound. He ran the hand not holding his razor down my stomach, and then clenched my pubic hair wi
th his fingers, tugging softly.

  I opened my legs a little wider to give him easier access, and he took advantage, running his long fingers through my folds. Taking the razor from his hand, I finished the few parts he missed on the underside of his chin before placing it on the shower ledge.

  He just started thrumming my clit with his expert finger when a shrill cry rent the air. Cora was crying from the next room, and nothing could have been more effective at cooling us down. It was as if a bucket of ice water was thrown over the both of us. Leaning forward he gave me a peck on the lips in apology before rinsing the rest of the shaving cream from his face, and stepped out of the shower.

  I washed my hair with Gabe’s shampoo, and then used his razor to shave my legs before exiting the shower. I dried off, and went into the room to find Gabe on his back in the bed with Cora laying on his chest. Both were sound asleep.

  Deciding to leave them as they were, I got dressed, turned off the lights, and curled onto my side next to him. My heart swelled in my chest, and I didn’t think I’ve ever felt so full. Now if we could only get our other little one here happy and healthy everything would be perfect.

  Ω

  The joke was on us. Cheyenne and I had never been to a bike rally before. It rather reminded me of a rock concert. There was a large open area, and every square inch of that area is a mass of people, bikes, booths, food, tents, and porta-potties.

  It took only one look for Cheyenne, Blaine, Janie, the twins, Cora and I to get right back into the Suburban and head back the way we came. There was no way that was a small child friendly place. You would have to have eyes on them 24/7. Otherwise, you could look away for a mere second and they would be gone.

  Gabe and Blaine didn’t quite understand why we refused to go, but after Sam explained the problem in man terms, they conceded the point. Once the bike was off loaded, we were off. Trailer and all. Cheyenne drove, and we only ran over four curbs by the time we made it back to the hotel.

  The weekend ended on a high note with Free raising $98,000 from the chopper they made for Dougie. Tears sprung to my eyes when I heard the news. College was an expensive endeavor, and we wanted Kayla to get her life started right when she came to be an adult. Dougie would be so proud of these men. Just as I was.

  Chapter 15

  Ever notice how sometimes you come across someone you shouldn’t have fucked with? That’s me.

  -Gran Torino

  Ember

  “Are you sure?”

  Gabe was speaking to someone on the phone while he twirled a piece of my hair around his finger. His arm rested across my stomach that was still quite small for my seventh month of pregnancy. Really what it looked like was I gained weight, and was packing around a muffin top. I could still fit into all of my jeans, as well as still wear all of my t-shirts; I just looked fatter in them.

  I was told that some women just don’t show the same way as other’s do. Our boy was growing well, and exceeded all expectations at each sonogram.

  If Cheyenne and I stood next to each other, you’d never be able to tell that I was pregnant, and just a month behind her.

  Gabe’s tone of voice had gone from lazy happiness to tense readiness when he heard what the person on the other end of the line had to say.

  He eased my head off his lap before standing up. “We’ll be there in ten. Is she alright?”

  I got off the couch and hurried to our bedroom to get some shoes on. I was in my usual of yoga pants and t-shirt, so I was ready as soon as Gabe hung up the phone.

  “That was Sidney. Cora was at daycare when she fell and hit her head on a metal toy. They think she needs stitches, and she can’t go pick her up. We’ve got to go get her and take her to the ER.” Gabe said as he jammed his feet down into his boots.

  “Not that I’m complaining about this, because I’m actually really happy she called us instead of someone else, but isn’t this a little out of left field? I mean, in the last three months since you found out about Cora, when has she ever done anything to help us?” I questioned.

  “She must really be in a bind to call me. I’m just glad I know beforehand, and not this weekend when I go pick her up from school and see the cut.”

  I nodded in agreement, and waited for him to finished lacing his boots.

  We were out the door minutes later and headed to Cora’s school. Pulling out of Free, we were minutes from Cora’s daycare, just about to pass an intersecting street when the blue car pulled out in front of us. We didn’t have enough time to stop.

  When you hit someone, time seems to slow. You know you’re going to hit them. You know that it’s going to hurt. You have just enough time to brace yourself before the collision happens.

  Gabe’s truck hit the blue car with the ferociousness of a train barreling into a stalled car on the tracks. He had no time to brake, only enough time to throw his arm out, pushing me back against the seat.

  The sound of crunching metal, popping, and hissing filled my ears. The airbag blew out, cushioning my head and chest. The powder burned my eyes and face, but that was the least of my injuries. My legs were numb, and everything hurt so bad that I passed out from the pain.

  I woke sometime later with the sound of voices filling my ear. Tuning my head, I got my first good look at Gabe. He was still in his seat, head slumped forward, chin resting on his chest. He had a thin line of blood running down his temple. I looked for signs of breathing, and saw his chest rise and fall in a steady rhythm.

  Some of the tightness eased from my chest, but not all of it. It returned the next second as I watched Gabe’s door being pulled open, followed by a man with tattoos on his face, neck, arms, and hands cut his seatbelt with a knife and yank him out of the car. He fell to the pavement with a hard thump

  My door yanked open the next second, and they did the same to my seatbelt. They were able to hold me up though. The jostling of my body sent pain radiating up my right leg and left arm. Nausea rolled over me and I threw up all down the shirt of whoever had a hold of me.

  A blow to my face knocked me back into unconsciousness. Just as I passed out, I heard the OnStar come on and ask if we were all right.

  Fuck no. Nothing was even remotely right.

  Ω

  Water poured down my face, blindingly cold. “Wake up, bitch.”

  My eyes open slowly, and met the eyes of a young Hispanic male who looked to be all of thirteen. I took stock of my body, I was sore, bleeding somewhere on my leg if the blood on my pants was any indication, and I was tied to the chair with my arms behind my back.

  I closed my eyes slowly, trying to see if I could feel the baby move, but couldn’t feel even the slightest movement. Horror consumed me, and a tear leaked out of my closed eyelids.

  My eyes snapped open as his taunting voice filled the air. “Awww, look at the little woman, such a pussy.”

  Looking past him at my surroundings, and found Gabe in a similar situation as the one I was in. However, his arms and legs were bound to the chair, as well as a gag stuffed into his mouth. His eyes were blazing with a scary light that sent a shiver down my spine.

  When he got loose, he was going to kill them all. There was no doubt in my mind. They would be lucky to be in one piece when he was through with them. They’d still be dead though.

  Gabe had blood drying on his neck, and blood dotting his face where shards of glass hit his cheeks and forehead. His nose had a trickle of blood leaking out of it as well. He was wearing no shirt, just his jeans and boots.

  We looked to be in a large warehouse. There were hooks on the ceiling, kind of like what they’d use for a meat packing plant to transfer slabs of beef around. It looked dusty, and worn. Trash decorated the floor. Discarded beer cans stood in a pyramid tower in the far corner.

  A younger man, with dark brown hair, dark eyes, and olive skin walked through the door and stood in the middle of Gabe and me. He regarded us slowly, and I wondered if he was the head honcho. He was in a nice pair of slacks, and a black polo shir
t, so I assumed he wasn’t just some random gang banger. His brown hair was slicked back on the top of his head, making him have a greasy look about him.

  He smiled a creepy smile. “It’s so very nice to finally make your acquaintance. You both have been at the top of my list for over seven months now. Well not anymore, because we’re going to kill you both. I will save you, bitch, for last because I want to enjoy you first.”

  Gabe strained at his bonds, muscles bulging, veins standing out against his arms and neck. The bonds didn’t budge though. However, if looks could kill, the man would be dead right now.

  “Now, I would like you to sit very still. Although, if you feel like fighting, just remember I haven’t had a woman in a few days. She’s a little fat, but I could just flip her over and do her from behind, that way I wouldn’t have to see her.” The man said.

  My heart skipped a beat, but I tried to keep a neutral expression on my face. Gabe was anything but neutral. He was livid.

  Two other men walked into the room, each carrying a length of chain. My heart pounded as I watched them both walk up to Gabe and wrap it around each of his arms. He sat calmly, and stared into my eyes as they attached the two chains with a nut and bolt, and then hauled him to his feet.

  Gabe’s ankles were bound together, so they had to carry him backwards until they were directly underneath one of the hooks in the ceiling. Looping the chain onto the hook, one went to the wall and raised him up until only his tiptoes touched the concrete floor.

  I was crying silently at this point. I wasn’t sure what they were going to do, but I could guess. They were going to beat him, maybe even kill him, and I was going to have to sit here and watch.

  Once Gabe was secured, the two men left the room, and Greasy walked up to Gabe. Slipping his hand into his pocket, he withdrew a pair of brass knuckles, and slipped them into place on his right hand. My breath caught in my throat at the first strike of the brass knuckles meeting flesh.

  Gabe didn’t cry out though. He watched my eyes with an inner calm that I wouldn’t have believed if I hadn’t of seen. Over and over again, he was hit in the face, chest, stomach, and back. I didn’t let my eyes stray from Gabe’s. It was the only thing I had to offer, and I would do that for him, because I could do no less.