by Grey, Helen
Running back to the room, I raced inside and closed the door, holding back the sobs that wanted to escape me. Then the hair on my neck prickled and I stood very still, barely breathing.
Slowly, very slowly, I turned from the door and would have screamed had there been enough air in my lungs.
A figure stood on the other side of the room, and it wasn’t Ash. A surge of panic raced through me. This couldn’t be Bones, could it? The figure was short but stocky with a shaved head. One of those obnoxious ring things in his ear lobe. His cheeks scarred with acne that not even a couple days’ growth of stubble could hide. He didn’t have a shirt on but wore a leather vest over a hairy torso. My stomach heaved at the sight of his protruding beer belly.
He stepped toward me, a grin turning up the corners of his
mouth. “Well, well, well, what do we have here?”
I stiffened my spine, tried to act tough even though my legs felt like cooked spaghetti and my heart pounded. “Get out!” I said as forcefully as I could muster. I backed up until I hit the door, reaching behind me for the knob, glancing around the room for some kind of a weapon. “Who are you?”
“The more important question is, who are you?”
Before I could turn, he was on me, a strong hand gripping my arm. I came around swinging, but he deflected my punch easily and pushed me to the bed.
Instead of landing, I rolled to the other side, grabbing for the lamp from the night stand. It was bolted. Grabbing the clock radio, I yanked it from the table, throwing it with all my strength.
He sidestepped it with a laugh. “Gonna throw a pillow next, pretty girl?”
I didn’t answer. Dammit, there was nothing else I could use as a weapon. Nowhere to run. I was cornered. I opened my mouth to scream, but he leapt over the bed, surprisingly fast for a man his size. He knocked me down and was on top of me in an instant, his hand clamped over my mouth. I gagged at the smell of engine grease.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he said, his face too close to my own.
I didn’t know what he had in mind, but I wasn’t about to find out. Without hesitation, I lifted my knee right into his groin, then pushed him with all my might. He fell onto his side, cursing and cupping his balls. I rolled from the bed, racing across the room and opened the door, opening my mouth to scream the mountain tops down.
And ran straight into a wall.
Bouncing backward, the first thing I noticed was black leather as I fell hard to the floor. A guy with stringy blond hair towered over me, a swastika tattooed onto the side of his neck. I stared at the two hands reaching for me. Dirty, stained, the fingers heavy with silver rings. I tried to scream, but hands grabbed me from behind.
In the next instant, a bandanna was bound over my mouth, cutting into the edges of my lips. I bit my tongue. Infuriated, frightened noises escaped my throat. I tried to slam the heel of my shoe against the guy’s shins, but he was wary of me now. Lifting my fist, I tried to pound into Stringy Hair’s face. If I was lucky, maybe I could break his nose. Scratch his eyes out. Something. But before I could even do that, my hands were clasped together in front of me in one of his. He laughed. A distinctly unpleasant sound.
I continued to struggle, giving it everything I had. But they were so strong. I cried out as something hard was shoved against the middle of my back. Oh my God. A gun?
“You’re going to walk out of here real calm like. We’re going to walk back into those woods and get on my bike. You’re going to get on. You’re going to sit still. You got it?”
Swallowing heavily, nearly choking because my mouth was so dry, I offered a jerky nod. Fought back against the tears that threaten to flow. Oh my God.
What were they going to do?
CHAPTER 12
Ash
I hadn’t expected to be gone more than twenty minutes or so. Right after Kathy left, her phone rang.
“Bones.”
“Meet me at the turnout up the road from the motel. It’s about a mile and a half up, on the western side of the highway. At the end of the turnout, you’ll see a porta potty. Take the foot trail beside it. I’ll be just inside the tree line—”
“What’s going on?” I asked, peering through the side of the curtains. I didn’t see anything moving out there. Hadn’t heard a motorcycle going by either.
“I think I’m being followed. I took a little detour so I didn’t come through Golden. Hurry.”
The call disconnected. While I was alarmed, I wasn’t completely surprised, not deep down. I stepped to the night stand and scrawled out a note for Kathy, then unlocked the door before pulling it closed. If she did beat me back, she could get in.
Moving quickly, I jumped on the bike and slowly pulled out of the parking lot so as not to draw undue attention to myself. The minute I was out on the highway, I opened the throttle. The wind battered against my body, but it felt good. Invigorating. I favored my wounded left arm. It hurt like hell, but I wasn’t about to tell Kathy that. And she was right. I had gotten her into this mess and had more than likely cost her two part-time jobs. I’d be able to pay her rent and bills with no problem, but the jobs? I doubted if I could have any influence on those.
I only passed a couple of cars heading down the hill toward Golden or Denver or points beyond. I was the only motorcycle on the road. It didn’t make me feel better. In just a minute or two, I saw the turn-off Bones had indicated. I slowed my bike and veered onto the turnout, coasting past the portable toilet. It stank. Probably hadn’t been cleaned out in some time. Wrinkling my nose in disgust, I steered my bike down the foot trail that disappeared into the tree line.
I spotted Bones straddling his bike abut fifteen yards away, nearly hidden in the shadows. Like me, he wore jeans and a t-shirt. No indication that he was part of a gang. I pulled up next to him and shut off my engine. He stared at me with narrowed eyes as his gaze took in the bloodied sleeve of my jacket.
“What happened to you?”
I gave him a brief rundown, then asked the burning question. “Were you with any of the gang members last night? Have you heard anything about what the hell is going on?”
He nodded. “Spider got confirmation that someone in the gang is a plant. An informant. They think it’s you. They’re watching me too. After all, birds of a feather, you know how it goes. They also suspect you ratted on that sex ring. Not sure where they got that idea.”
“Shit.” I stared into the trees for several moments, trying to organize my thoughts. “Kathy’s with me. Well, right now, she’s running to the pharmacy in Golden—”
“How?”
“Taxi,” I replied and glanced down at my arm. “She insists on taking care of this.”
“So they followed you, or somehow knew that you were taking her back home last night? To Thornton? Are you sure they were Outlaws?”
I shook my head. “I’m not damned sure of anything at this point. All I know is that I can’t go back to my loft, can’t let Kathy go back to her apartment, or her jobs. Too dangerous.” I looked at my friend. “If they’re serious enough to shoot at me… what the hell do they think I know?”
Bones sighed. “We’ve both heard rumors about Spider trying to get in with the cartel, right?”
I nodded.
“Apparently, it’s supposed to be a secret, but nothings a secret, and there’s been rumblings. Half the gang is for it, the other half against.”
“And what does that have to do with me?” I held up a hand. “Don’t answer that. I already know.” If the gang leadership believed I was an informant or an undercover Feeb, cop, or DEA agent, they knew that there was only one way to ensure my silence. This didn’t bode well.
“I’m not an informant, Bones. You know that, right?”
“I know it, Ash. But I also know that both of us, at one time or another, has anonymously called the cops or the feds to give them a heads up about some of the gang’s activities.” He glanced down at his gas tank. “That’s bad enough. But this thing about you being a
n informant? You know how Spider can be once he gets an idea in his head.”
“So let me guess. They put a hit out on me?”
Bones nodded. “You’d better make yourself scarce and do it quickly.”
“And therein lies the problem.”
“Your girlfriend?”
“She’s not my… we’ve only known each other a couple of days. But I can’t just cut her loose.”
“Agreed,” Bones said and thought a moment. “Tell you what. I’ll get some money put together. You lay low for a couple of days.” He dug into his jeans pocket and extracted a flip top phone like Kathy used. “Here. It’s a burner. Use this and not hers. See if you can’t get rid of her. Send her someplace for a bit.”
I said nothing but nodded. It made sense, the only sense. If the gang had put out a hit on me, Kathy couldn’t be seen anywhere near me.
Shit. What a mess. I glanced at Bones, my anger growing. “Who the hell put the bug in their ear that I was a fuckin’ informant?”
He shrugged. “Probably Digger. He never liked you.”
“I hate his fuckin’ guts too,” I snapped.
“I’d better get going.” He reached into his other back pocket and pulled out a small envelope. “Here. Take this. You’re going to have to use cash, no electronic trail so don’t withdraw anything anywhere. Let the dust settle for a day or two and then we’ll arrange to meet. You can make plans to disappear. Send your girlfriend home or something. Get her set up someplace. Whatever.”
Unbelievable. With a sigh, I nodded. “As soon as she gets back to the motel, we’ll find someplace else to spend the night. Maybe around Silverthorne near the Dillon Reservoir. Plenty of shit motels over there.”
Bones nodded and glanced at my bike. “You might consider ditching this. Get a car or something.”
Again, I nodded. We couldn’t go back to Denver for Kathy’s car. It had probably been towed anyway. Even so, the gang would probably know what she drove by now, especially since they had seen us together on more than one occasion.
Bones flipped up his stand. “We’ll get this figured out.”
I had no doubt that I could trust Bones, but he was also risking a lot by helping me. The gang knew we were friends. “You lay low too,” I cautioned. “I don’t want to see you get hurt because of me.”
I had lived with the guilt of that burden hanging over me for a decade. I didn’t need to add any more people to that list. Without another word, Bones slowly wove his way out of the trees and back onto the turnout. His bike gradually disappeared, and moments later, I also started my bike and headed back toward the motel.
Such a calm, ordinary day. But not for me. Not for Kathy. I kept shaking my head in disbelief. Me? An informant?
Then again, what did I expect? The Outlaws were a biker gang. Naturally prone to suspicion, even paranoia. I had made my bed, and now I had to lie in it. The problem was, I had dragged Kathy into that bed with me. Maybe even Bones.
I pulled into the motel parking lot and once again maneuvered my bike to the side of the building. I climbed off and headed for the door to our room. I stepped to the door, knocked once, and then opened it, expecting to see Kathy sitting on the bed waiting for me. She wasn’t there, but she had been. Pharmacy bags were scattered everywhere.
“Kathy?”
The room was silent. I stepped into the bathroom. The door was open. Empty. I turned around, frowning. The beds looked rumpled. Not slept in, but not recently made either. My balls tightened when I saw the clock radio lying against the wall.
There had been a struggle here.
Heading back to the door to search outside, I was stopped when her phone rang in my pocket. I yanked it out and frowned at the blocked number.
“Who is this?” I barked into the phone
“Hello, Ash,” the voice on the other end said.
I said nothing. The voice sounded like it belonged to Mops, but I couldn’t be sure. It could have been any one of his underlings.
“I thought we told you to keep your mouth shut.”
I played along. “I have been. I don’t know what you guys think, but I’m not—”
I heard a stifled scream in the background. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. My heart plummeted to the pit of my stomach. The voice on the other end laughed.
“We have your girlfriend, Ash, and a pretty little thing she is too.”
My blood pressure erupted, and the edges of my vision grew dark as adrenaline surged through me. Every muscle in my body stiffened with rage. They had kidnapped Kathy? “You hurt her and—”
“And what, Ash?” Evil dripped from the words. “You going to hurt us?”
“Worse,” I growled. “What do you want?”
“Why, we want you, Ash. Let’s trade.”
I knew what they were saying. Me for Kathy, but I didn’t trust them any farther than I could spit. They wouldn’t just hand Kathy over. I knew it. I tried to maintain control, give them the appearance that I wasn’t unduly concerned or intimidated by their threats. Inside though, I was shaking. My fault. This was all my fault.
“Where and when?” I said, my voice devoid of any tone.
“Tonight. Eight o’clock. The abandoned gas station in Aurora. You know the one, don’t you?”
“I do. And I’m warning you, if you cross me—”
The call disconnected.
I knew they were going to cross me. It was their nature. It was how they operated. If they thought I was a snitch, there was no way in hell they were going to let me go. And they wouldn’t let Kathy go either. She was an innocent in all of this. She must be terrified.
I pulled the burner phone that Bones had given me just minutes ago. Saw only one phone number logged into the call list. Dialed it. No answer, but I wasn’t surprised. If he was riding, he wouldn’t hear the phone. I knew that as soon as he stopped though, he would check it.
“Get back here ASAP. We have a problem.” I disconnected the call and slid the phone into my pocket.
Now I could only wait.
*
I was pacing impatiently in the room, hoping some of them would come back and try to take me. I’d prefer the fight, the possibility that I could win, to this not knowing. Not knowing where to look for Kathy. Not knowing if she was okay.
I glanced at the time. Eight hours. I had eight long, excruciating hours to wait. What was Kathy feeling right now? Was she all right? Was she being terrorized? While I knew exactly where the abandoned gas station was, I knew they weren’t being honest with me. What would happen if I showed up and Kathy wasn’t there?
Sweet Kathy with the baby blue eyes and innocent spirit. I fought against the guilt that nearly overwhelmed me. Made me want to sink to my knees with regret.
Less than twenty minutes later, the phone rang. I grabbed it from my pocket and flipped it open.
“What’s up, Ash? I just—”
“The gang’s got Kathy.”
Silence.
“Bones, did you hear me?”
“I did. I just can’t believe it. What would they want with her?”
“Me. They said they would trade, but I don’t believe it for a second. I need your help. I need to find her, and you’re the only person I can trust.”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes. You’re still at the motel, right?”
“Yeah, but we need to find her. Fast.”
“Just keep it together, Ash,” Bones said. “We’ll find her. I’ll be there soon. We’ll get her.”
I had no idea how, but if I had to, I would storm the gang’s main hangout at a local bar and grill. An old, former decrepit diner off of the interstate down in Aurora. It had been taken over by the gang years ago, where it now served as a sort-of bar and grill by a former member of the gang; one too old to ride anymore, but a die-hard member nevertheless. At this moment, I wished I carried a gun. I supposed it wouldn’t be too hard to find one. Would it come to that? My God, it would if they hurt one hair on Kathy’s head—
I took a deep breath, froze where I stood, my chest heaving, trying to get my emotions under control. Going off half-cocked wouldn’t help me plan. Going in without a plan, letting my emotions overcome my common sense, wouldn’t do me any good. Neither would regret or guilt. I could deal with all that later. Right now I had to focus on one thing, and that was getting Kathy back. Unharmed.
Would the gang members hurt her? God only knew what Spider would do if he felt seriously threatened, which he obviously did if he’d put out a hit on me. I didn’t want to think the worst. Didn’t want to imagine Kathy’s fear, or what any of the gang members might do to her. But if they knew anything about me, they knew I wasn’t afraid to fight.
I continued to pace, waiting for Bones to arrive. Maybe he would be able to get some information. He was still on the fringes, might still have a few contacts in the group willing to talk.
I had to come up with a plan. I didn’t trust Spider. I didn’t trust any of them. While I wanted to believe that they would trade, I doubted that they would keep their word. Why should they? I was a walking target. And they had found a way to get me to do exactly what they wanted.
And I would too. If it would keep Kathy safe.
I heard the distant rumble of a motorcycle, then another. I cursed and stepped to the window, parting the curtains to look. I saw a bike come around the curve in the road just beyond the motel, and then another. When Bones pulled into the motel parking lot and then slowly made his way to my room at the end of the row, I recognized who was with him.
Sarge.
Sarge was also a member of the biker gang, and like Bones and myself, had pretty much hung around on the fringes. Once in a while, I saw him with Spider. Why the hell had Bones brought him here? I didn’t know the guy that well. Didn’t know if I could trust him. Or if I should. What I did know about Sarge was that he was a former Marine. In fact, he could have posed on a Marine Corps recruiting poster. Square jawed. No-nonsense expression. Still wore a buzz cut. Little longer on the top. Never cracked a smile. Thick neck, hulking shoulders, huge forearms tattooed with the Marine Corps emblem on one side, Semper Fidelis on the other.