Railed (Courage MC #2)

by Kara Hart

  “You two need some privacy, or what?” The driver called out, smiling. “Congrats, you two! You did it. Should be smooth sailing from here.” Behind us were the sounds of the police sirens and helicopters. An intercom echoed: “You are surrounded, come out with your hands behind your head…” And little by little, the sounds disappeared. We were free. We were free! The meaning of that reverberated throughout my mind. I placed my head against Adam’s chest and felt his rapid beating heart. “The name’s Jonathan.” The driver said. “I’m with Avery.”

  Adam’s eyes widened. “Well, I’ll be damned.” The driver saluted. “You did it, Rose.” He kissed the top of my head, breathing in my scent. “We did it.”

  Seconds turned to hours. We were leaning against the inside of the truck, smiling in a heavenly daze. Our bodies were flooded with a hundred different endorphins. I couldn’t believe I had just robbed a bank. I guess I’ll check that off my list of things to do before I die. Adam coughed and looked over at me. “What?” I asked him.

  “You never did tell me what happened when you left. It’s Brianna, right?” I nodded my head. “Shit, Rose. How the hell did you figure out how to get out of that one?”

  “I learned from the best.” I said, smiling wide.

  “True. You did. Ain’t gonna’ fight you on that.” He winked.

  Chapter 29

  “We got a long drive ahead of us. Just stay cool and we’ll make it.” The driver said.

  “Where we headed to?” Adam asked cautiously.

  “Beautiful, luscious Idaho!” He called out, slapping at the ceiling.

  “Idaho, huh. Yipikaye.” Adam muttered. The driver nodded.

  “Yeah, we got a little collective down there. You know, a house and shelter. A place where you can lie low for a little bit. Just until things smooth over.

  Adam fell over, exhausted. He checked his arm. “Shit this thing hurts!” He said, wincing at the pain. He smiled after he wiped some blood away. “Ever done surgery before?” he asked me. The look on my face must’ve told him everything.

  “Okay, well. I’m gonna’ need you to stitch me up, Rose. I’ll take out the bullet, but you need to close me up. I’m counting on you.” Blood was seeping out of his wound. It wasn’t bad, but he’d need medical attention soon.

  “Are you kidding me? You have Jonathan here. Why can’t he do it?” I winced at the sight of his blood dropping onto the floor.

  Jonathan turned around. He looked annoyed. “I’m driving. Can’t do two things at once. What, does the sight of blood freak you out?”

  “Alright, give me the tools.” I said with a strange confidence in my voice.

  “That’s my girl.” Adam said. He reached into his bag and pulled out a small first aid kit. “I’m always glad I keep this thing with me. Here you go.” He gave me the kit and I opened it up. I must’ve looked confused. Before I could say anything, he grabbed a needle from inside and a roll of thread.

  “You ever sew anything before? You just gotta’ feed the thread through the needle. Like this.” He tied the thread through and knotted it carefully. “Now’s the fun part.” He laughed. “Hey Jonny boy! You got any vodka up there or something?”

  Jonathan smiled and reached to his side. “Do I ever. Here. Drink up.” He tossed a half empty bottle to us in the back and Adam unscrewed the top, taking a sip before pouring it all over his arm.

  “Gotta disinfect the wound first. I forgot the other stuff, so this’ll have to do. Fuckin’ stings though!” He smiled and took another swig. “Here.” He handed the bottle to me.

  I took a drink for myself and felt the strong burning sensation and awful taste hit the back of my throat. “Ugh…” Adam laughed loudly, slapping his leg.

  Adam grabbed a pair of what looked like pliers from the case. He poured some vodka on them and simply went for it. He pushed it against his open wound and dug deeply. Blood spilled out all over his shirt, dripping against his thigh. “Fuck, this hurts!” He cried out. “Wait, I think I got it…” Sure enough, he pulled his hand back to reveal a mashed up piece of bullet.

  “You did it!” I screamed.

  “It ain’t over yet, kid.” He was now sweating profusely. His eyes looked tired and pained. He wiped the sweat off his forehead and took a few deep breaths, regaining his strength.

  Adam held up the thread into the light and sighed. “Alright, now watch carefully…” He held the needle steady and pressed against the soft flesh. “Son of a bitch…” He whispered. “1-2…3!” He pressed it against his wound. Slowly, but surely, the needle pushed through with a popping like sensation. I jumped back. “One down. Now for the other side…” He threaded it through and pressed against the other side. It went through tight, though I could tell this hurt Adam more than the first time. He gave me half of a smile. “Now it’s your turn…” He breathed deeply, handing me the bloody needle.

  He poured some more vodka on it and sighed. “Okay…” I muttered. My hand was shaking. This was by far the easiest thing I had done this whole trip, and yet it was easily the most repulsive and unsettling.

  “You’ll be okay. You just shot a man in his leg! Remember that? This is nothing.” He smiled and gave me a kiss.

  I bent down and breathed in slowly, bringing my heart down to a normal rate. “Okay. I got this.” I pressed the needle against the skin and felt it pop through. Adam winced and nodded his head as if to say, “You’re doing good. Keep going.” I threaded it through to the other side, pulling the wound tight. “Just a few more…” I whispered.

  “Well, hurry it up. I wanna’ kiss you again.” He smiled.

  “You can kiss me any time you want now. We’re free now.” I smiled.

  He looked at me solemnly. “It ain’t over yet, kid.”

  I avoided having this discussion. I wanted to bathe in the illusion that all this was over now. But it wasn’t. I knew it wasn’t. Brianna and Jorge were still out there, waiting on the sidelines, watching for any inconsistencies in our movement. “Alright. Last one.” I said, puncturing his thick skin. I tied it tight, holding the other side of the string with the pliers. “Voila!” I smiled. He poured some more vodka on the wound and wrapped it in gauze.

  “That really hurt you? I thought you were a tough guy.” I said, about to break out in laughter. He grabbed me in his arms and held me tight, kissing my face all over.

  “You try getting shot.” He said. “I saved your life back there. I think I deserve a thank you.”

  “My knight in shining armor…” I joked around. Then I turned serious, “Adam, I’m glad I met you.” I said. He told me that the first time I told him I wanted to be a part of his crew. ‘The Family,’ as he called it. It was time I told him just how glad I was. “If I lost you back there…I don’t know what I’d do. I’d probably go ahead and die.”

  He grabbed my face and held me still. “Don’t you ever say that, Rose. Never. If I die, you go on living for the both of us. That’s a fucking order.” He muttered. “Anyway, I ain’t dying anytime soon.” He grabbed a cigarette from his bag and lit it up, sighing from enjoyment.

  “If you keep smoking those things, you just might.” I teased him.

  Chapter 30

  The day turned to night and we had been sleeping for at least a few hours now. I woke up to find Adam holding me against his chest. He was patiently staring up at the open road. “What is it?” I asked him, blinking my eyes open.

  “Mornin’” He said, petting my hair. “How’d you sleep?” He was still staring at the road.

  “Pretty good, considering… What you looking at?” I squinted my eyes to see the road. It was fairly dark out. I could barely see a city in the distance, maybe 10 miles away.

  “Ah, it’s nothing.” He said, scratching his head. He looked over at his bandaged arm and then back at the road. “I just can’t shake the feeling. It’s like we never escaped that bank. It’s like our celebrations are in vain. They’re out there, Rose. Somewhere close. I can sense it.” He flexed his muscles, as if
it were a reflex and gripped me tight.

  “How? How can you sense something like that, Adam? We’re hundreds of miles away. If we were going to get caught, we would’ve gotten caught by now.” I grew worried, even though I was fairly certain I was right.

  “Nah. That’s not how they work. Jorge and Brianna are silent observers. They’re two snakes in the grass. And when they find the right moment, they’ll strike and get us both.”

  Jonathan turned around, “He’s right. They’re 100 percent evil. I tell ya, there’s some bad motherfuckers out there. None of them are like Brianna and Jorge. They don’t play by the rules of the MC. They cross all the lines.” He tapped at the steering wheel and turned on some talk radio. We were suddenly very quiet as a woman told the news of the day.

  “And the search for Rose Fischer has been called off. Let’s listen to what Police Chief Donald Westman stated in today’s press conference: ‘Despite being seen in Oregon, there has been no sightings in the past week. The hotline will still be available to those with more information, but because there is very little evidence or resources to build the case further, we have no other options, but to cancel any further investigation. Our condolences go out to the Fischer family…”

  That was it. That’s all that was said. The hunt was over. I leaned my head against Adam’s chest and sighed. “Thank God…” I said. He ran his finger around my earlobe and neck. I felt so warm against him. In these moments of victory and defeat, we were everything because we stuck together. We were two pieces in an enormous, convoluted puzzle. And we would not be pulled apart again. We would not accept defeat.

  “How are we on gas, Jonny?” Adam suddenly asked. “I gotta’ pee pretty bad.”

  “Piss in this bucket. We’re not stopping for another 65 miles. I can’t risk it.” He said in a serious tone.

  “Dammit. Hate this shit.” Adam muttered under his breath. He walked to the front of the truck and grabbed the bucket, looking slightly embarrassed. “Don’t look at me like that.” He said. I couldn’t help but laugh. He unzipped his pants and—CRACK!

  The sound of something popping outside pushed me to my feet in alarm. “Adam!” I cried out. He threw the bucket and ran over to me.

  “Hold on to my body!” He said. The front tire outside had burst and began flapping against the road. “Ah, shit!” He cried out. “Jonny, is that the tire?”

  “Fuckin’ seems like it. No worries everyone. I got a spare.” He parked the wobbling truck on the side of the road and got out.

  “Hurry it up, will you?” Adam called out.

  “Yeah, I hear you.” He replied.

  He grabbed the spare tire and began working at it with haste. “Adam, I’m scared.” I said.

  “Don’t worry, everything’s fine. It’s just a flat.” He said. I felt stupid giving into my fear like that, but it was a tense time for all of us now. I just wanted to make it to Idaho, so we could settle down for a second. Ever since we started this trip, it had been chaos over and over again. I just wanted a moment of peace before the next storm turned up.

  We didn’t have a clear view of the road. All I could see was through the front window and it seemed to be all dust and insects. A few hills shown in the distance. “I’m going up front.” I said to Adam. I walked up to the front and looked out the window. Sure enough, Jonathan was just doing what he needed to do. He was bent over with a flashlight in his mouth, mounting the new tire in.

  But after a minute or so of this, a car pulled up behind us. A man got out, looking friendly enough. “Hey, are you guys alright?” He called out. “Looks like you got a pretty bad flat there.”

  “Who is that?” Adam called out.

  “I don’t know, but get down just in case. If he’s seen the news, he probably knows about the bank robbery. I’ll come back there in a second…” I ducked my head down, but slowly peeked out the window.

  Jonathan shook the man’s hands. “Yeah, it happens. It’s mighty nice of you to stop for me, but I’m okay. Almost done here.” He continued working on the wheel.

  “Aw, come now. You look like you could use some help.” The man smiled.

  Jonathan, not looking at the man, replied, “Look, I said we’re okay—” But as soon as he raised his eyes, he realized what was going on. The man had a gun pointed directly at his face. Jonathan quickly put his hands up.

  “Shit!” He cursed under his breath. I looked back at Adam, who had no clue. I was about to shout out to him to grab his gun, but as soon as I opened my mouth I heard the door open.

  “Need a hand?” A familiar voice asked.

  Adam looked horrified. “Jorge. We meet again.” He muttered.

  “Buenos dias, friends.” He smiled.

  Chapter 31

  We sat on our knees, with guns to our heads. Handcuffs scraped against our wrists. This was it. The gang was caught. How they knew our plan, I had no idea, but they figured it out alright. “Fucking snakes.” Adam said underneath his breath.

  “Get them into the car.” Jorge said. The two men who were with him grabbed us by our shirts and pulled us into their car. At that moment three familiar black SUV’s pulled off to the side as well. Brianna stepped out of the car.

  “Good job, Jorge!” She exclaimed with glee. She ran up to me and grabbed my cheeks, scraping her fingernails across them angrily. “You almost got away with it, Rose! Almost…” I couldn't help but spit a giant loogie right onto her face. It dripped down her forehead, into her eyes. I turned to Adam and saw that we were both smiling. “You little bitch…” She said to me. She slapped my face and wiped the saliva away from her eyes. “Take them away!” She screamed.

  “You heard her!” Jorge called out. He pushed us into his car and suddenly we were speeding into the darkness.

  “Where are you taking us?” I asked Jorge, thrashing wildly in the backseat. A cage-like divider separated us from him. Tell me, God dammit!”

  “If only you had listened.” He said. “If only you had played along, little Rose. You wouldn't be in this mess. You'd be back home, alive. With your family.” He shook his head and continued driving.

  “I'd rather be dead and forgotten than give Adam to you bastards!” I spit. I rested my head on Adam’s chest and closed my eyes tight. I wanted to disappear forever.

  “And that’s why you’re here, right? That’s why we’re having this conversation. It’s cute though, your love for Adam. It’ll be the reason for your death. Makes a good story, right?” We were silent. “Right Jonathan? I guess you can’t agree to that, homes. In this little fairytale, you’re just some sidekick who failed them. That ain’t too good, is it?”

  Adam looked at Jorge, rage building. “It wasn't his fault. He did the best he could do.”

  Jorge smiled, showing off his gold tooth. “Yeah, I guess you’re right, old friend. But still, you can't help but wonder…did he give you up? What about Rose? Did she spoil your little party?” I turned red. I shouldn't have left that night, but I had no choice. I did what I could. I failed, Adam. I just hoped he would forgive me.

  Adam slammed his head into the seat, demanding Jorge’s attention. “Keep smiling and I'll pull that gold tooth right from your gums.” Jorge pointed his gun at Adam. He was shaking slightly. “Go ahead. Pull the trigger. But deep down in your heart, you know if I weren’t wearing these handcuffs, I'd a cut that bald head clean off. I'd put 8 bullets in your body. I'd send each limb to another part of the continent. All for love. All for Rose.” Adam was more determined ever. I felt my heart and body warm up.

  “You'd forget all about our crew? You'd really forget all about courage and loyalty? What about our family, homie. We used to be something. We stood for something real. Now you're going on, talking about love and shit. Please. That ain’t real and you know it. Blood. Now, that's real.” He smiled and nodded his head, as if he had revealed something in that moment. Blood, our blood of course, was the only thing that mattered to him.

  “Family used to mean something. Now it’s just a wo
rd. It's something you say when you want your actions to have purpose. You're nothing but a politician, Jorge. All this rhetoric don't mean shit. I've realized a lot in these past few months. The only thing that matters in life are those that love you. That's the real life-connection, brother. But you never loved me. And to go around pretending like you did, would be a bunch of bull. No, you liked the money and the drugs, perhaps you liked the women too. I ain't about that life anymore. Homie.” Adam pressed his forehead against the barrel of Jorge’s pistol, challenging him in that moment.

  In the end, Jorge resisted the temptation. “Whatever you say, Adam. You always were the smart one. It ain't up to me though, Brianna will decide what's best. In a couple minutes, you won't be my problem for a while.”