by Zoey Parker
I kept the note brief. “Bard – Thanks for the patch, but I need to take care of this first. I'll be back for it.” I folded it and tucked it into the denim vest, then detached the key to the shed from the ring and laid it on top neatly.
I used the toe of my boot to lift the kickstand, then wheeled the bike out of the shed. I straddled Rosie and inserted the key into her. When I turned it, she came to life between my legs, purring for me just like she always had. I savored the moment, enjoying the vibration that buzzed my inner thighs before wrapping itself around my hips and lower back. Even my best dreams hadn't compared to the joy of being with her again.
I strapped on my helmet, revved the engine, and blazed out into the night. It took six blocks for me to realize I was laughing like a loon. I had my freedom, I had my Rosie and soon, I'd have my revenge.
A quick search online at an internet cafe gave me the address for Maggia's on Grand Avenue, near LaSalle. It also gave me a chance to grab a couple cups of black coffee and sober up after the whiskey shots I'd taken at the Nest. My plan was to track Angelo back to Jester, and that kind of stealth meant I'd need to stay sharp.
I parked my bike about five blocks away from the restaurant so they wouldn't hear me coming. I knew Jester had kept tabs on me while I was inside, which meant he almost certainly knew I'd been let out today. I figured it was a stretch for him to guess I'd show up at Maggia's to stalk Angelo, but I couldn't afford to take any chances.
The good news was that I knew what Angelo looked like. I'd seen him a few times when I was dating Abby. He and Jester would usually hang out in corners whispering to each other, and everyone knew they were talking about the gangland assassinations they'd done or were going to do. Angelo had been friends with Jester since they were kids and it was common knowledge that they played cards and drank together until dawn almost every night. So it was almost a guarantee that if I tracked him, I'd be within shooting distance of Jester by midnight.
The bad news was that Angelo knew what I looked like too, which would make following him without being noticed a real pain in the ass.
Going in through the front door seemed like a bonehead play. Even without the Reaper patch on my back, I still looked like a biker, which meant someone might figure out that I meant trouble and tip off Angelo that I was there. I figured my best bet was to try to find a back way in so I could stay unnoticed, scope the place out, and make sure Angelo was there so I could follow him later.
As I walked up to the alley next to Maggia's, I saw a woman approaching it as well. Thanks to the streetlights, I could tell that she was in her early twenties and extremely cute, with long brown hair pulled up in a ponytail and a gorgeous pair of tits tucked snugly into her tight blouse. The pleated skirt she was wearing made her look a little prim and stuck-up, and I figured she probably worked in an office somewhere, but the legs under it were long and lovely. Her pale, delicate hands looked like they'd never done a hard day of real work. She was walking quickly with her eyes staring straight ahead.
Good idea, sweetheart, I thought. You don't want to pay too much attention in a shitty neighborhood like this. You just trot on home to your doll collection or your six cats, or whatever the fuck your deal is.
I hung back and lit a spare cigarette I'd gotten from one of the Reapers at the party, giving her a chance to get some distance. She looked like the type who'd scare easily and I didn't want to spook her by making her think I was following her or something. She seemed too mousy to panic and make a scene that'd draw attention, but again, I wasn't in the mood to risk anything tonight.
I'd waited too long.
I heard a couple of guys' voices yelling in the alley. One of them sounded like he was crying, and the other seemed to be cursing angrily, but I wasn't close enough to make out the words. It looked like the woman ahead of me could, though, and they were scaring the hell out of her. Her spine stiffened and she started to tremble. I figured she'd forget about passing the alley and just make a run for it instead, but she kept moving toward it, one step at a time.
Holy hell, sweetheart, what the fuck is wrong with you? I thought. Life's not exciting enough for you? You wanna see some guy get beaten half to death by a bunch of Mancusos for trying to skip out on the bill? Go on and get your ass out of here!
Ordinarily, I wouldn't have given a fuck about some strange girl risking her safety like that. But if she saw something scary enough, then what? She might call the cops, and if they showed up, that could seriously fuck up my plans. Angelo could end up spending the night answering questions at the local precinct instead of leading me to Jester.
But there was something else, too. Even though she looked like the kind of girl who couldn't look at someone like me without wrinkling her nose in disgust, I still didn't feel like watching something bad happen to her. She was hot and curvaceous, and what the hell, she probably deserved the chance to get on with her boring-ass, college-educated life.
Suddenly, a series of gunshots echoed from the alley. I saw the girl's shoulders jump with fright.
No, sweetheart, don't look, just run away, I silently begged. But even as I did, I knew she'd turn her head to peer down the alley, probably without even meaning to. It was human nature. When a person hears a loud bang, they'll always turn to look in the direction it came from, even if it scared the fuck out of them.
Sure enough, she turned and looked.
I tossed my cigarette aside and pulled the handgun from my waistband, jogging over to her. As I did, I heard more yelling from the alley. This time, I was close enough to hear the words clearly. “Jesus, who the fuck is that? Grab her! Now!”
I recognized the voice as Angelo's and my heart sank. So much for my clever fucking plan. There'd be no following him to Jester now. The only thing I could think of was dragging the girl away from the alley before Angelo's next few bullets went into her chest.
She was still standing there, too shocked to move. I grabbed her shoulder and her head jerked around. Her eyes were as wide as tires as she stared into my face, her lower lip trembling.
“Come with me,” I said.
Her legs seemed to unfreeze and she let me drag her away from the alley just as Angelo stepped out of the shadows, firing his gun again. His first bullet hit the pavement where the girl had just been standing and the second went wild, shattering a window across the street.
I broke into a run and the girl followed close behind, kicking off her high heels. From where I was standing, that seemed like the first smart thing she'd done all night. Angelo chased after us, along with a younger guy wearing a sharp suit and sporting a shaved head.
Probably Angelo's personal bodyguard and flunky, I thought. He must have come up in the world since I got put away.
I heard rapid footsteps behind us and a few more gunshots, but I knew better than to stop and try to return fire. As long as they were running and we stayed moving targets, I knew they wouldn't be able to aim for shit. I glanced over at the girl and saw that she was zig-zagging as she ran, which was definitely smart move number two.
The other people on the street were ducking behind cars and mailboxes to avoid the stray shots, and I saw that some of them were whipping out their cell phones to call the cops. That gave me another reason to blow out of here fast, before some bystander told the police I was carrying a gun and I got busted for violating parole.
There was no way I was going back to Potawatomi. If Jester wanted to come at me out here, fine. I'd take my chances. But I'd be goddamned if I was going to be a fish in a barrel for him to fuck with again.
I saw Rosie just a block ahead and ran even faster, pushing myself to the limit. The girl started to fall behind, but I could already hear sirens getting closer. I couldn't hear the footsteps behind us anymore, though, so I stole a glance over my shoulder.
Angelo and his bald pal had given up on chasing us, and were sprinting back to Maggia's. They probably realized they looked like total psychos running down the streets firing guns, especially since the civilians all around
us might be taking snapshots and videos with their phones. I'd have bet anything that Angelo was already on the phone with his lawyer, trying to get his story straight before the cops pulled up.
The girl stumbled, falling behind. I thought about leaving her to make her statement to the police, since she wasn't in immediate danger anymore. The last thing I needed was having to worry about some random chick.
Except I knew once she gave her statement to the cops, she'd be dead within twenty-four hours of leaving the precinct. The Mancusos would never leave her alive to testify against one of their own.
So what? a voice inside me asked. Her problem. You've got your own to deal with, like making Jester bleed. What are you, a fucking good samaritan all of a sudden?
But there was something about her. I couldn't let myself leave her to get wasted by some Mancuso scumbag.
Besides, as a way to get to Jester, Angelo was toast. The cops would be on him like flies on a dumpster, and until things cooled off, Jester wouldn't let Angelo anywhere near him. He'd be too smart for that. But what if she'd seen or heard something in the alley that could lead me to Jester?
It was a slim chance, but I had to take it. Otherwise, I could still be trying to find Jester a year from now, provided he didn't find me first.
All this stuff went through my mind in less than a second. I bent down and put my arm around the girl's waist, lifting her to her feet. I couldn’t help but notice her delicious ass as I did.
The bike was just a few feet away and I grabbed the helmet, tossing it to her. “Here! Put this on and climb on! We're getting out of here!”
She fumbled the helmet and it clattered to the ground. She quickly picked it up and fumbled with the helmet's strap until the buckle clicked into place.
“Hang on!” I said, revving the engine. I felt her arms squeeze my torso so hard I thought she might crack a rib. We sped away just as the squad cars pulled up in front of Maggia's.
I rode up LaSalle and turned at Chicago Avenue, roaring toward Lake Shore Drive. Beyond that was the highway, where we could disappear from the city for a while and I could find out what she knew about Jester, if anything.
The girl's arms gripped me even tighter, until it was hard for me to breathe. I could feel her hot, panicked breath blasting against my ear. “Let up, sweetheart!” I gasped. “You're gonna choke me out!”
“I don't want to fall off!” she yelled.
I should have guessed she'd never been on a motorcycle before, and I counted myself lucky that I wasn't feeling her piss all over me and the bike seat, given how scared she probably was. “Fine, then how about not yelling in my goddamn ear?”
“Who are you?” she asked. Her voice was still too loud next to my head. “Who were those guys?”
“My name's Rafe,” I replied. “And as for those guys...”
As I rode north past the Belmont exit on Lake Shore, a pair of black sedans veered onto the highway behind me. Men in suits leaned out the passengers'-side windows, aiming handguns at us. One of them squeezed off a shot that hit my left rear view mirror.
I jerked my hand away from the handlebar for half a second and almost lost control of the bike. The girl shrieked in my ear.
Fuck, I thought. While Angelo was calling his lawyer, his bald amigo was probably making a call to their Mancuso friends up north to keep an eye on Lake Shore Drive in case we came up this way.
“...they were friends of these guys,” I finished.
There was another gunshot and the bullet hit the ground next to my front wheel, chipping the pavement. The girl yelped again. I could tell we were in real trouble this time—the drivers were going steady and the gunmen were taking the time to aim properly.
Worse, the shots were starting to panic the drivers around us and ahead of us, causing them to brake and swerve erratically. It was forcing me to slow down and drive more defensively, which was letting the Mancuso cars close the distance.
“Remember when I told you to let up earlier?” I grunted. “Fuck that. You're gonna want to hold on as tight as you can for this.”
She gripped my sides again so tightly that I could almost feel my ribs crack.
Before I was sent to Potawatomi, I'd been known as one of the Reapers' all-time best riders. Some were faster than I was and others could ride harder for longer, but when it came to pulling off berserk, balls-out, daredevil stunts, no one could touch me. I'd amused myself and the other guys by popping spinning wheelies, riding makeshift obstacle courses, or jumping my bike over rows of cars at the junkyard.
I hadn't had a chance to practice any of that stuff in seven years. I gripped the handlebars and prayed that it would be just like riding a bicycle, except more badass.
I sped up and started weaving between the cars as they skidded and honked. One of the sedans chasing us was forced to stop as three cars in the lane ahead of it collided with each other in a messy pile-up. The coupe ahead of the other sedan started to slow down, but the sedan accelerated, smashing into one of the coupe's tail lights and sending it spinning off to one side.
In my remaining rear view, I watched as the sedan continued toward us relentlessly, closing the distance. Its engine roared like a tiger bearing down on its prey. Its passenger leaned out again, leveling his gun at us.
I turned my attention to the cars directly ahead of us and found one with a smoothly-inclined trunk and rear window. I rode up to the back of the car and tried to match its speed perfectly.
This'll be a neat trick if I can pull it off, I thought. If they suddenly decide to swerve or brake, this could end with a wrecked bike and broken necks for both of us.
I reared the bike back on its rear wheel, hearing the girl scream again. I had never done this with someone on the back of my bike before, and for a dizzying moment, I thought Rosie would flip over backward and smear us both across the highway.
Instead, Rosie balanced perfectly on her back tire for a glorious few seconds that seemed to stretch out forever.
Then the front wheel came down, catching the trunk of the car ahead. The tires gripped and Rosie was pulled forward over the roof of the car with us on her back.
I accelerated and Rosie jumped off the top of the car, hitting the highway just inches away from its front grille. I pushed the bike as hard as I could to widen the gap, then risked another look at the rear view. The car screeched to a halt and the sedan plowed into it.
The road was clear ahead of us.
We'd lost them.
The girl was still looking at the chaos behind us. “Those poor people!” she gasped.
I let out a grim chuckle. “It was them or us, sweetheart,” I said. “Besides, they look like they've got plenty of insurance against car wrecks, whereas I ain't insured against bullet wounds.”
“My name's not 'sweetheart!'” she said. “It's Jewel!”
“Jewel?” I asked, smirking. “What are you, some kind of stripper? You dress up as a secretary for your act, is that it?”
“I'm not a secretary, I'm a receptionist,” Jewel answered. “And no, I'm not a stripper! Jesus, do I look like a stripper to you?”
No, but you've got the bod for it if you feel like changing careers, I thought. In spite of the frustration over how things went down with Angelo and the adrenaline jolt from the high-speed chase, I had to admit that the feeling of her tits pressed against my back was starting to grow on me.
“What the hell's going on?” Jewel asked. “Where are we going?”
“You're in the middle of something very bad,” I said. I turned onto an exit that would take us north toward Wisconsin. “I'm gonna take you someplace where you'll be safe. You just have to trust me and do what I say, okay? And when we get there, you have to tell me everything about what you saw. Otherwise, I won't be able to help you. Understand?”
I was trying to sound just scary enough to keep her around, without scaring her so much that she'd run off. Most of all, I knew I had to keep her in the dark as much as possible to keep her off-balance.
“Okay,” Jewel said into my ear. “I wish I could just go home.”
“You'll get to go home when all this is over,” I assured her, not really caring whether she'd get to or not. When this was over, she could testify to the feds and join the Witness Protection Program, or run off and join the circus for all I cared.
But I needed to make Jester pay, and that meant finding out what she knew.
Chapter 7
Jewel
From the moment Rafe looked into my eyes and told me to come with him to the moment we entered the motel room, I had a strange feeling like I was watching everything around me happen on a TV screen.
Part of my brain shrieked and babbled, terrified, as I was chased by men with guns and bullets flew around me. It screamed at me that this was all just too much to handle and insisted that I had to shut down completely. It said that the only sane response would be to just give up, to stop running and lie down on the ground and either wake up from this nightmare or put an end to it by simply dying. It told me that I wasn't strong enough to deal with this or fast enough to run from it, so it must be the end of me.