by Grey, Helen
Kathy’s arms tightened around my waist, and I knew she saw them too. “Those guys, are they part of your old gang? They’re pretty close to where I left my car.”
“I’m not sure, I can’t tell from here.”
Her fingers dug into my abs. “I don’t want to go over there, Ash. Can you just take me home?”
I circled around, heading back the way we’d come. “How will you get your car in the morning?”
“I’ll just call a cab or something. I really don’t want to go over there. I have a bad feeling.”
To be honest, I did too. “Hang on,” I told her and shot out into the street, hitting the gas hard.
She squealed and held on tighter, but didn’t tell me to slow down. I made random turns, circling back, then additional randoms, keeping my eyes on the mirror the whole time.
“Where do you live?” I asked after a while.
“Thornton, just off one-twentieth.”
I had two choices. Highway or street. The interstate would be faster, but Kathy was nervous enough without me adding the stress of interstate speed to the mix. So I stayed on the roads and dealt with the stoplights, relaxing when bikes didn’t appear in the mirror.
Twenty or so minutes later, we hit one-twentieth. “Which way?”
“East,” she said, pointing. “Stay on this road until you hit Goldenrod.”
As I followed her directions, I got more and more pissed off. Kathy had been frightened not once, but twice today by bikers. No wonder she thought we were all assholes.
As she directed me to her apartment complex, I began to think of ways I might make it up to her. I knew how I wanted to do that. I wanted to use my mouth, my tongue, my fingers to make her forget. I wanted to tell her I was sorry for scaring her by making her come so hard she could think of nothing but me. I wanted to hold her all night, sooth away any nightmares. Hold her close…
Wait.
What the fuck?
I’m not a fucking cuddler.
I slowed for a red light, and the deceleration caused her to press harder against my back, her arms to tighten around me. She felt so good there. So right. Maybe some cuddling wouldn’t be so bad. Maybe I just hadn’t been with a woman I wanted to hold that close for that long. Maybe I—
Shit.
A glance in the mirror caused me to do a double take. Behind us were two bikes. A car behind them and then two more, and yet another two behind them. Fuck. I couldn’t tell if they were the same group as on the mountain or at the store.
“Hang on.”
Her hands tightened, but she still squealed when I shot across the intersection and into a large park on our right. The bike roared as I opened the throttle and sped down the winding narrow asphalt lane through the trees.
“Where are you going?” Kathy shouted, her voice filled with anxiety. “What are you doing?”
I ignored the question, focusing instead on finding a spot to hide. A side road appeared just after a picnic area, and I swung us onto the narrow trail. The thick grove of trees on our left would be perfect. I stopped the bike behind an enormous one and cut the engine.
“What’s happening?”
“I saw a group of motorcycles behind us,” I explained. “I don’t want you to be frightened, but I just wanted to make sure they weren’t part of my old gang.”
“And what if they were? Are? Do you have a reason to be afraid of them?”
“I’m not afraid. I just don’t want to deal with them with you in the mix.”
Before she could reply, the distinctive sound of motorcycles echoed around us. They were moving slowly, a cluster of six bikes, the rumble of their engines causing the birds to immediately take flight.
Kathy squeezed harder as they approached our little road, then relaxed when they passed by. I waited for a glimpse of their backs, then saw the emblem. Outlaws. They all wore handkerchiefs over their faces, but I thought I recognized the build of a couple of them. It looked like one of the guys in the lead was Digger. What the hell?
Kathy sat stiff on the seat behind me. I didn’t think they could see us here through the trees, even with her red shirt. I had to let go of the bike’s handles, I was squeezing them so hard. When I realized my heart was pounding, I blew out a deep breath, willing it to slow down.
I wasn’t afraid. Well, not for myself. But I wasn’t alone. I had this sweet, innocent woman sitting right behind me. An overwhelming surge of protection surged through me, competing with the adrenaline that had jetted my system just minutes before. I had gotten her into this and no way in hell would I let her get hurt.
As I watched them grow smaller, the same questions rattled through my head. It was clear that they were worried about me talking, that was the message back on the mountain. “Keep your mouth shut. We’ll know if you don’t.”
Talking about what?
Had they found out that I was the one who’d tipped the authorities about the sex slave ring, getting that shit shut down? If so, I don’t regret it. I still can’t believe the Outlaws would get involved in something like that. I’d been careful, not leaving the gang until almost a year later. One, I didn’t need fingers pointed at me. Two, I wanted to monitor the situation. Make sure all the women in that ring were safe.
If they’d learned that I was the leak, they’d stop at nothing to punish me. No, kill me. But why go through this much trouble to do so? If that was the case, they could have taken me down anywhere. Hell, they could have tossed me from that mountain just a few hours ago. What had stopped them?
That question was the key.
After the bikes disappeared around a curve in the road, I started mine up and eased back onto the asphalt. “Hang on,” I said for the third time that day and opened the throttle.
“Ash!”
I didn’t have to ask. Even over the roar of my bike, I heard them. But where did they come from?
Guilt washed over me. I should’ve known better. After Bones received his warning, and even after I received mine, I hadn’t taken it seriously, not seriously enough. I pushed the thoughts from my head. I needed to focus. Lose these assholes. Get Kathy someplace safe.
Thinking quickly, I considered all my options. The best bet to shake them was to head west, into the foothills, but I had to get there first. In between lay more suburbs, numerous highways branching off the interstate. There really wasn’t anywhere to disappear before then unless I managed to lose them on the streets.
“Hang on!”
“I wish you’d stop saying that,” she yelled back, but her grip became almost painful.
Her legs tightened around mine. Her grip tightened even more as she pressed her body close against my back, the side of her helmet digging into my shoulder blades. She huddled against me, as if trying to make herself smaller, to disappear. She expected me to protect her. I would do my best. I had to.
I heard several cracking sounds. At first, I thought it was one of the bikes misfiring. But just ahead of me and to my left, bark flew off a tree trunk. Fuck! They were shooting at us!
Swearing loud and long, I swerved off the asphalt road and careened down a slope, marring the near perfect manicure of the lawn near one of the picnic areas. My focus intense, I darted into the tree line again, trying to dodge trees, jerking the wheel back and forth as I wove my way between them. I had no idea where I was going, but I hoped I would soon emerge from the park boundary and end up on one of the side streets. Not a one-way or a dead end, common in Denver.
Just before we broke through the trees, pain sliced down my arm. I hadn’t heard the shot this time but knew this wasn’t a rock or piece of bark. Behind me, Kathy was a sitting duck. I had to get her out of the firing line.
Punching the throttle, I zig zagged as sharp as possible, making us a harder target. When I finally saw the edge of the park, I jumped the curb, darting in between several cars, the honking of horns and the curses of their drivers barraging my ears. I sped forward. Where was a cop when you needed one? Speeding like this on the surfac
e streets, zooming along at fifty miles an hour in a thirty-five mile an hour zone, I expected to hear a siren any minute. I wanted to. If I got pulled over by the cops, my pursuers would be forced to break off, to let me go. I didn’t even care if I got ticketed. I didn’t care if they arrested me. All I cared about was making sure Kathy was safe.
I searched through my mind for the closest police station, thinking we might be able to take refuge there. No. Stupid idea. If the Outlaws knew I’d been the leak, it had to be a cop who’d told them. Plus, they’d hold me for questioning, probably escort Kathy home. But they wouldn’t guard her. I couldn’t leave her scared and vulnerable like that.
Dammit. I’d known this woman a total of three days, and I’d already screwed up her life.
I took a wicked right turn and darted into the parking lot of a huge mall not too far from where the interstate broke off into a number of smaller highways. Head west or east? West stood the mountains. East opened onto the plains.
West.
Accelerating again, I set off on one of the westward roads. This gave me options, many trails or frontage roads that headed up into the hills. I knew where to go. A place she would be safe.
First, I had to ditch my pursuers.
“Lean with me,” I shouted and felt her press harder on my back. I opened the throttle, and we shot forward. By the time we were at the top of the ramp, we were at seventy-five miles per hour. I hit the gas harder as I merged into traffic.
On the interstate now, the asphalt was nothing but a blur as we ate up the miles. The wind buffeted my body, and I pulled my kerchief up over my nose and mouth. Kathy would be shielded from the brunt of it, but still, going this fast on a bike was a lot different than in a car. Her grip around my waist was incredibly tight. Amazing really. I kept one eye on my mirrors as I darted among cars, heading for the highway that would take me up into Boulder, then to my destination.
Kathy squealed as we whipped by a semi, the tug of its draft pulling at us through the suck and blow created by the massive machine. Horns blared as we passed cars and trucks as if they were sitting still.
Damn, despite the danger behind us, this was fun.
Behind me, Kathy shivered, the jerk of it moving through me. She was cold, and there was nothing I could do right now to warm her. I couldn’t slow down, and the sun was getting lower in the sky.
“You all right?” I shouted at her. She didn’t answer right away. “Kathy!”
“I-I’m okay!” she finally hollered back.
Glancing in my mirror, a single motorcycle headlight was behind me, but I was gaining ground, the white dot of the light growing smaller. Then, much to my relief, red and blue lights joined the white one. Hot damn. A state trooper was on my nemesis’s tail.
Near Broomfield now, I took the first off-ramp we came to. At the bottom, I turned a sharp right, my knee nearly touching the ground. Vice like arms hugged my middle as Kathy hung on for dear life. But I was proud of her. She leaned with me automatically. She was a quick learner.
The Flatiron Crossing Mall was ahead and I turned into the first entrance. I knew that security cameras were prevalent in places like this, but at the moment, I didn’t care. I quickly decelerated and found some shadows near the rear corner of a clothing boutique. Up against a dumpster and shaded by trees. I maneuvered my way through the narrow space and tucked the bike as far behind the dumpster as I could. Turning off the engine, I sat frozen for several seconds, focusing on the off-ramp I could see in the distance.
Nothing. No single light. No rumble. I waited another few minutes to be sure before turning to Kathy. “Are you all right?” I asked quietly.
She didn’t say anything at first, just trembled against me, her teeth chattering. I felt horrible. “Kathy, are you all right?” I tried to speak calmly, knowing it probably wouldn’t take much to incite her to panic.
“What the hell, Ash? Who… who are those guys? Part of your gang?”
“My ex-gang.” I turned to watch the off-ramp again.
“Why were they following you? Why were they shooting at us?”
Her grip was still tight around my waist as I tried to soothe her fears. “I don’t know, and I’m not sure. You’re not hurt?”
She was quiet for several seconds. “No, I’m not hurt, but I think I’m going to be sick.”
Kicking down the stand, I swung off the bike and quickly removed her helmet, dropping it to the ground. Peeling her off the back of the bike, I swept her into my arms and carried her farther into the shadows.
She retched, and I dropped her to her feet, holding her hair back as bile shot from her mouth. Then she began to cry. Not sobbing, panicky cries, more like a weeping. “I’m sorry, I hate to throw up. For some reason, I always cry afterwards.”
“It’s the adrenaline,” I said, crouching down beside her. “Kathy, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean for any of this to—”
She reached out to grab my arm, and I hissed in pain. She pulled her hand away and stared wide-eyed at the blood on her palm.
“Your arm, Ash, you’re bleeding. Were you shot?”
“It’s not bad,” I said, not wanting to frighten her any more than she already was. I shrugged out of my jacket, and sure enough, it was a flesh wound, a six-inch-long furrow that looked more like a deep burn.
“Oh my God, do you have a first aid kit on your bike?” she asked, and I nodded toward a saddle bag. She rummaged through it and began cleaning the wound, her hands steady now, her face serious as she took care of me.
“You’ll make a great vet one day,” I told her as she secured the last bit of tape.
She smiled, but the gesture was tight, turning her lips into a thin line. “Thanks. I’ve been putting Band-Aids on my dolls and pets, anything that would let me, since before I can remember.”
After she put the kit away, I took her by the arms and turned her toward me. “Kathy, I’m so sorry.”
She jerked her arm away. “Answer one question for me.” Her blue eyes blazed up at me, and I swallowed.
“What’s that?”
“I can’t go home, can I?”
CHAPTER 9
Kathy
The question came out softly but inside, I wanted to explode. This was fuckin’ unbelievable. I didn’t curse often, but this was crazy. I shook my head in the darkness of the shadows, not even caring that I had thrown up in front of Ash. Or cried. At the moment, I couldn’t care less what he thought.
An emotion I’m not familiar with slammed into me. Fury. Blinding white hot fury took over my nervous system; I could feel it spread like a disease through each cell. “What the hell, Ash!” I yelled and punched him in the chest. “What the hell!” I pounded again, one fist then the other. “What have you done?”
He didn’t stop me. He just stood there, letting me hit him, letting me get it out of my system until I didn’t even have the energy to do that.
He wrapped his arms around me, pulling me to that firm chest, holding me close while I shook uncontrollably. “I have a place we can go for a couple of days, Kathy. You’ll be safe there. I promise.”
“Safe from what, Ash?” I demanded, trying to keep my voice down. Nevertheless, it was filled with harsh anger, accusation, and disbelief.
“The Outlaws seem—”
“Seem?” I asked in disbelief. “They shot at you. At us!” I tried to pull away, to look up at him, but he held me closer. “If I go back home, they’ll find me because they think I’ll know where to find you, won’t they?”
“Just for a few days,” he said, his hands stroking up and down my back. “I’ll take care of this. I promise. I just want to make sure that you’re safe—”
I swiped at his uninjured arm. “And how am I supposed to go to work?” The panic began to build again. “It’s obvious that they know where I work, Ash. Take a couple of days off? I just got promoted to assistant manager! I can’t afford to take days off. I have bills to pay!”
“I’ll take care of it,” he said. “Right now,
I just need you to trust me. You can’t go home. You can’t go back to work. It’s not safe.”
I banged my forehead against his chest. “I’m so angry with you right now, Ash. So frickin’ angry!” I don’t know whether it was anger or fear, perhaps even both, but my eyes filled with hot tears that spilled over and made their way down my cheeks. “I don’t need this, Ash.” I shook my head, like I was trying to shake all this craziness away. “I don’t need this. I can’t deal with this.” I looked up at him, the anger melting into uncertainty. “If I don’t go to work, I won’t get paid enough to pay my rent. For crying out loud, Ash, I was just promoted to assistant manager, that extra dollar an hour means a lot to me. If I don’t show up for work, my jackass manager will fire me!”
“I said I’d take care of it,” he said, glancing between me and the off-ramp. I glanced that way too but didn’t see anything but cars. “I think we lost him,” he said softly, wiping a tear away with his thumb.
“Lost who?” I nearly shouted and jerked away from his touch. He let me go this time.
He looked down at me. Genuine regret wore heavy on his features but, regret wouldn’t help me one bit.
“You got a cell phone on you?”
I glowered up at him. “Of course I have my cell phone!”
“Let me use it for a minute, will you?”
I frowned. “Where’s yours?”
Without replying, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket, placed it on the ground, and stomped on it. Then, much to my surprise, he picked it up, removed the backing and pulled out the Sim card before ripping out the battery. Tossed the Sim card into the dumpster, the battery into a drain, and stooped to pick up the pieces, tossing them into a trash bin nearby.
“I don’t have one.”
Thanks to my crime show addiction, I had no need to question why he’d destroyed his phone. So they couldn’t track him. Couldn’t ping his location. But could they have done that anyway? You needed the cops to do that, or at least I thought so. Or else superb hacking skills and software. I didn’t think a motorcycle gang would have such skills or connections. But I wasn’t stupid. I knew it was possible. I reached for my flip phone, took off the back, pocketing the battery. He watched me. “We better move away from here before you use my phone.”