by Marla Monroe
“Got you.” Tyler took Amanda’s hand and walked with her toward the back of the building, where the bathrooms were.
“Man, you’re serious about her, aren’t you?” Justin asked.
“Yeah, she’s important to me. I want to make sure she doesn’t have to worry about Guy the rest of her life.”
“No, he means you’re serious romantically about her,” Jethro clarified.
“Am I fucking her? Is that what you’re asking?” Morgan growled.
“Actually, we already figured that out. We mean that you’re in love with her,” Justin said.
“I’m not in love with her. I care deeply about her, though.”
“Okay,” Justin said.
The twins looked at each other. Jethro said, “We’ll see about protecting her for you then.”
Morgan’s cell rang. He checked the number and frowned.
“Speaking of trouble, this is Rock.”
Morgan answered the phone. “Hello, Rock.”
“They figured out you left about two hours after you did,” Rock said.
“Yeah, we already had a run-in with them.”
“Well, I have two of my guys riding with them. They got stopped in Satarcia with the police, but are on their way again. They know you took the truck stop exit, but are waiting on you to come out.”
Shit, they were already there. Morgan looked over at the twins and mouthed, “They’re here.” The twins immediately split up, with one of them heading toward the back of the truck stop and the other slipping toward the front.
“They don’t know who they’re messing with, Rock. I’ve got friends, and they are just as serious about keeping her safe as I am.” Morgan hung up and dialed Dodge’s number.
The line was busy. He’d have to try again later. He paid their tickets and headed for the front to wait on everyone. He trusted Tyler to bring Amanda back safely to him. He didn’t have long to wait. Tyler, with Amanda in tow, walked up, a serious look on his face.
“They’re here, Morgan.” Amanda latched on to his hand.
“Rock and his gang?” Morgan asked.
“No, his men are here. They were outside the bathroom when I got out. Tyler was guarding the door when they walked up.”
“How did you get by them?” He looked at Tyler.
“Jethro walked up and pointed a seriously monster gun at them. They nodded their heads and backed up. They’re going to be on us, though.” Then, as if realizing what Morgan had said, he continued, “The Skulls are here, too?”
“I don’t know where yet,” Morgan said.
Jethro and Justin were outside waiting on them. They climbed up into the Dodge truck and waited on them to get ready. Then they all left the truck stop together. Tyler led the way, with Jethro and Justin in the back.
“You okay back there, baby?” Morgan asked.
“Doing okay for now,” she said.
“We’re going to head to the next big town and find a place there for the night.”
“How are we going to stay away from all of them, Morgan? I’m scared.”
“I know, Amanda. Hold on tight. We’re going to take care of you.”
Morgan just prayed he wasn’t telling her a lie. It would be over his dead body that they got her, though. He was sure Tyler was in with him on that as well. His friend loved the ladies, but he was a stand-up guy. Jethro and Justin were just in it for the action, but he knew they’d go down fighting. He just prayed he wasn’t getting them all killed.
Chapter Fifteen
Amanda hung on for dear life as they entered traffic after turning off the highway. Tyler and Morgan drove like idiots through the traffic. She couldn’t help but wonder how the twins were keeping up. All in all, her belly wasn’t faring too well with all the twists and turns. She didn’t want to ask Morgan to stop, though. She was more afraid of the men chasing them than she was sick at her stomach right then.
“Tyler signaled he found us a place to stay up there, so we’ll be stopping in a few minutes.” Morgan squeezed her hand where it was holding on to his waist.
“Okay, I’ll be happy to stop,” she said.
He chuckled and followed Tyler as he took an exit then circled back around the way they’d come on the frontage road. She could only hope that the twins saw them exit and would be right behind them.
They pulled into a Holiday Inn Express off of a busy road. She saw Tyler get off his bike and walk over to where the twins had pulled in next to them. He talked to them for a minute, then nodded and disappeared inside the office.
“Tyler will get us all rooms. He’ll stay with us, okay, baby? I feel better with two of us watching you in the room.”
“Yeah, okay.” She just wanted to get in a room so she could get to a bathroom in case her stomach rebelled.
Fifteen minutes later, Tyler returned with several key cards. He handed Morgan one, then walked over to the twins’ truck and handed them theirs. They drove around to the back side of the building and parked close to the building’s outer door. Their rooms were inside on the first floor, Tyler told them when they got off the bikes.
“First floor is easier to defend,” Morgan explained.
“We’ve got connecting rooms, too,” Tyler told them.
“Great,” Morgan said with a nod.
They grabbed their packs and followed Jethro and Justin into the hotel and located their rooms. As soon as they were inside with the doors locked, they unlocked and opened their side of the connecting doors. Justin was opening theirs at the same time.
“We’ll leave them open so we can get to you if we need to,” Jethro said.
Amanda sat on the bed next to the bathroom and eyed it closely. She still wasn’t sure if she was going to be sick or not. Evidently Morgan noticed she wasn’t feeling so well.
“Do you need to lie down?” he asked.
“I think I might be sick,” she answered.
Morgan immediately found a bath cloth and wet it with cold water. He laid it along the back of her neck and had her bend over some.
“Breath through your nose, baby, and relax.”
“She okay?” Tyler asked.
“She feels sick. I think the ride over was a little too much for her.”
“Maybe we need to rethink the moving around then,” Tyler suggested.
“Not a good idea,” Jethro said from the connecting doorway. “They’re going to find us eventually.”
“I’ll be okay. I need to rest for a while, is all.” Amanda didn’t want them to change their plans if they were the best ones.
“Get a good night’s sleep.” Justin and Jethro left the doorway.
She heard them murmuring in the other room and figured they were exasperated with her. She couldn’t help it. She sat up again and handed the wet cloth back to Morgan.
“I’m going to take a nap. I should feel better when I wake up.”
“First you need to at least eat a few crackers. It will help settle your stomach.” Morgan handed her the package of crackers.
She forced two down with a bottle of water, then curled up on her side to sleep. Only sleep wouldn’t come. She could hear the men in the other room talking. She couldn’t make out what they were saying, but she knew it would be about the mess she was in.
How had she gotten into the mess in the first place? She never dreamed Guy was playing her. He’d been so nice to her and taken her places, but now that she thought about it, he’d never taken her anywhere local. She’d been excited to go somewhere different, but in truth, it had all been an elaborate plan to keep anyone of importance from knowing about her.
She was ashamed and humiliated when he’d laughed at her. The very idea of someone like her thinking someone like him would be serious about her. She wasn’t supposed to get pregnant. She’d been shocked as well. Still, she had never thought Guy would have threatened her, much less an unborn baby. He preached pro-life in his bid to become mayor. If they only knew that he was trying to force an abortion on her.
&n
bsp; What if that was the key? Prove that he wasn’t living up to his promises and threaten him if he didn’t leave her alone? How could she prove it, though? She searched back through her mind to anything that would be useful, but couldn’t think of anything. Maybe Morgan’s friend in Oklahoma would come up with something. Blackmail seemed like the only way to ensure her baby was safe.
* * * *
“She okay?” Justin asked.
“Yeah, she’s a little sick from the ride here,” Morgan told them. “I’m worried about her. She needs to see a doctor. She’s three months and hasn’t been to one yet.”
“Until she and the baby are safe, I think the doctor needs to wait,” Jethro commented.
Morgan drew in a deep breath and let it out. He knew they were right. First she needed to be safe.
Tyler walked over to the desk and pulled out the chair to sit down. Morgan noticed he hadn’t said anything.
“Right now, all we can do is keep one step ahead of them and hope that Dodge comes up with something we can use against him,” Justin said.
“Are we sure that if she goes public he will sue her for custody?” Tyler finally spoke up.
“Nothing is for sure other than Guy is definitely after her and has offered a rather large reward to get her. That’s why The Skulls got involved, for the money.” Morgan ran a hand over his face.
“When’s the last time you spoke to Dodge?” Jethro asked.
“Yesterday. I haven’t had much time today to call. I just tried and didn’t get an answer. I figure he’s working on it and didn’t want to waste time talking. He’s like that,” Morgan said.
“Always was weird when he was working on the computer,” Jethro agreed.
“I’ll try him again in a little while.” Morgan walked over to the door and checked on Amanda. She hadn’t moved and still had her back to him. He watched her for a few seconds thinking about how tired she was and that things were only going to get worse.
“Earth to Morgan. Come in, Morgan,” Tyler was saying.
“What?” he asked.
“She’s going to be hungry when she wakes up. What do you want to do about food?”
“Best thing is to grab takeout and eat here,” Jethro said.
“What is she going to want?” Justin asked.
“I don’t know. It will depend on how her stomach is when she wakes up as to what she might be able to eat.”
“Then I guess we better wait to decide on food.”
“Are we going to change hotels tomorrow or go for two days in one hotel?” Morgan asked Jethro.
“I think we’ll be okay for two days. Next time, though, the hotels are in our names. That gang doesn’t know anything about us, so they can’t search for our names. Some underpaid desk clerk is going to eventually sell you out. Won’t matter if you do use an assumed name.” Jethro leaned back on the headboard of the bed.
“Okay, that’s a good idea,” Morgan said.
He checked his watch. She’d been asleep for a little over an hour. He hoped she would sleep another hour. He hoped they could come up with some way to free her from Guy before she woke up, but there wasn’t much chance of that.
He pulled out his phone and dialed Dodge’s number again. It rang four times, and he was about to hang up when Dodge answered.
“Yeah.”
“Got anything yet?”
“Nothing concrete, but I’m working on a couple of angles. Give me another day, and I should have something we can use. If I come up with anything before that, I’ll call you.”
“Doesn’t matter what time it is, call. We’re having to dodge a biker gang as well as Guy’s goons.”
“Shit, Morgan. How do you get yourself in these messes?” Dodge asked.
“Last one wasn’t me. That was Riley, and Logan before that. Don’t blame me for their problems,” Morgan said.
“Regardless, you were in the middle of all of it. I’ll call you as soon as I have something,” he said and hung up.
“Hey, I think she’s up. I heard the bathroom door close.” Tyler stood up and walked toward the door.
Morgan stopped him. “Hey, give me a few minutes with her. I want to see how she’s doing without everyone hanging over her.”
Tyler shrugged and went back to sit in the chair. Justin turned on the TV, and they started switching channels to see what was on.
Morgan waited until he heard the bathroom door open again before he walked into the other room. She was sitting up against the headboard with her legs crossed Indian style. She looked up when he walked in.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
“Much better. I must have needed a nap. I’m hungry, too. I hate to ask, but can we get something to eat?” she asked.
“Baby, whatever you want to eat, we’ll get it. What sounds good to you?” He sat on the edge of the bed and closed a hand over her knee.
She smiled at him shyly. She looked so innocent to be in so much trouble. Morgan couldn’t get past the idea that she was pregnant with someone else’s child. He was attracted to her, cared deeply about her, but that was all. He wasn’t getting in too deep with her. As soon as they found a way to get Guy off her back, he’d be sure she was set up somewhere safe and in good hands to help her with the baby.
“I don’t know. I sort of wanted pizza.” She looked at him with raised eyebrows and a shrug.
“Then pizza it is. What do you want on it?” he asked.
“Everything except olives and anchovies.” She licked her lips.
“Let me go tell the guys, and we’ll get it delivered,” Morgan said.
He started to get up when she grabbed his wrist. She smiled at him and reached up with her other hand to draw his head down to where she could kiss him.
It was just a brush of lips at first, but turned into a deeper kiss when she opened her mouth to his. He savored her taste and explored with his tongue until she pulled away to breathe.
“Sorry, I got carried away,” she said. “I just wanted to touch you for a few seconds.”
“You can touch me anytime, baby.” He stood up and patted her on the knee before walking to the other room.
“Guys, she wants pizza. Let’s get five large pizzas delivered,” he suggested.
They argued good-naturedly about what to get on them. Jethro vetoed having them delivered.
“Too big a chance they’ll check to see if anyone has ordered a big order like that for delivery. Justin and I will go pick them up. Like I said before, they don’t know us yet,” Jethro said.
“You’re the boss on this. I’m trusting you to know what’s best.” Morgan turned to Justin.
“You call it in. They won’t have your cell phone number. They’ve got mine and probably Tyler’s,” Morgan said.
Justin nodded and grabbed a phone book to look through the Yellow Pages for the closest pizza place.
“What did Dodge have to say earlier?” Tyler asked when Jethro and Justin were busy arguing about pizza.
“He says he has a couple of things he’s working on, to give him one more day and he should have something.”
“Man, this could all be over in the next thirty-six to forty-eight hours. Hard to believe. It feels like we’ve been on the road for weeks instead of a few days,” Tyler said.
“Yeah, it does.”
Morgan and Tyler walked back next door to where Amanda was watching TV. She looked much better than she had earlier. It was odd how fast things changed with her.
Tyler grabbed the bed by the outside door and sat down to watch TV. Morgan slipped behind Amanda so that she could lean back against him. Her scent teased at his nose. He kissed the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her. She felt good there. For a fleeting moment, he thought about how good it would feel to hold her when her belly was round with the baby. Then he shook his head and dropped his arms for a minute at the idea.
“Hmm? What is it?” Amanda asked, leaning her head back so she could see him.
“Nothing. Just thin
king”
“You know, I’ve been thinking.”
“Uh-oh,” he said.
She popped his hand. “Hey! Really, what if I let him catch me and you guys follow so you can get proof that he’s trying to hurt me?”
“Are you crazy?” He hugged her tighter. “There is no way we’re going to risk you like that. Something could go wrong, and we wouldn’t be there to help you. Hell no.”
“Well, it was an idea,” she sighed. “I’m tired of not doing anything but running. I know your friends aren’t going to want to hide me for another six months, Morgan.”
“It’s not going to come to that, Amanda. Just relax, and don’t worry. It’s not good for the baby. Let us worry about keeping you safe.”
He heard her sigh. She was right, though. They couldn’t keep running for the next six months, and what happened when she had the baby if Guy was still after her? If it came to that, the twins could help him get a false ID and set her up somewhere safe. He’d stick around long enough to be sure she was settled and able to take care of herself and the baby.
He realized he had his hand over her belly. It wasn’t his child, but he felt protective of it just the same. It had to be an extension of how he felt for her. He cared about her, so he naturally would care about the baby, as well. That was all there was to it. He carefully removed his hand and settled it on her arm instead. If she noticed, she didn’t let on.
Justin stuck his head in the door. “We’re going to pick up the pizza. Going to stop by a convenience store to pick up drinks. What are your faves?”
Tyler and Morgan both said beer. Amanda shook her head and told him she wanted milk and juice of some sort. He nodded and said they’d be back in about thirty minutes.
“Lock your side of the door in case someone comes in over here for some reason,” Justin cautioned them.
Tyler nodded and jumped up to lock the door. He stretched, then walked into the bathroom and closed the door.
“Morgan?” Amanda asked.
“Yeah, baby?”
“I’m sorry I dragged you into my mess.”
“You didn’t drag me. I walked in of my own free will. Now stop worrying about it. Everyone here is here because they want to be.” Morgan nuzzled her neck.