by Rye Hart
His chair creaked under his weight as he pushed himself up and followed me into the kitchen, leaning against the door frame.
“I was surprised that you weren’t home last night.”
I glanced over my shoulder at him and shrugged a little, stirring the milk into my coffee.
“Yeah, a friend wanted to go out and celebrate. She just finished her finals and she wanted to unwind,” I explained, not feeling too bad about lying to him.
I’d spent most of my adult life lying to my dad, I didn’t see why I should stop now. Besides, I didn’t want him to know I was at the biker bar. At the end of the day he was my dad and I felt some guilt about ignoring the note he’d left for me.
He just nodded at my explanation and glanced at my coffee. “Why don’t you put that in a to-go cup?” he said, his voice strangled and weak.
I frowned deeply and glanced down at the coffee. “Why? Are we going somewhere?” I asked curiously.
He took in a sharp breath and nodded. “Yeah, we’re actually going on a trip. We’ll be staying overnight at a hotel. ”
I blinked, surprised by the statement. Mike and I avoided each other at all costs the majority of the time, and it was strange that he seemed to be showing a sudden interest in me. I furrowed my brow and looked down at my coffee, hesitant in giving my answer. I was like any other girl, honestly. I’d always wanted to be a part of my father’s life; he just wasn’t interested in me being part of his. At least, that’s how I felt.
As I tapped my spoon on my cup I felt hope well inside of me. Were my dad and I finally going to patch things up? Was he going to try and be the dad he should have been all this time? I turned to him and smiled, finally nodding.
“Yeah, that sounds nice. I’ll go pack a bag,” I said, running back up to my room and throwing a few pieces of clothing and my shampoo in my backpack.
I didn’t even care where we were going. It would be nice to finally have some time with dad that didn’t include him smoking, drinking, and shooting up. Maybe we’d go fishing or do whatever normal families did.
He offered a strained smile and I didn’t put much thought into it. He was probably hung over and crashing. He always looked just a little bit uncomfortable, mostly when he’d gone too long without a beer. I was used to the strained tone, so it wasn’t strange to me at all.
I poured my coffee into a travel mug and followed him out to the bike but he shook his head and pointed to his work truck.
“We’re going to be driving a while. I don’t think taking the bike is the best idea,” he said softly.
I was a little shocked and gave the bike a second glance but shrugged and smiled a little. “Okay,” I said softly, hoping into the truck and leaning against the window, a happy smile dancing on my face.
He looked at me, face full of guilt. I could only assume that it was over all the days he’d lost with me and all of those times he left me on my own.
He put the truck into drive and headed down the road. “Let’s get going, Kiddo.”
Chapter Eight
Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was a quiet summer day and the birds and bees were fluttering through the trees. Everything was so green here. I hummed and tapped my fingers against the door of the truck, watching the trees flash by. After a moment I turned to my dad and smiled.
“So where are we going exactly?”
“We’re going to a small town near the Tennessee border,” he said, his voice stiff.
“What are we going there for?”
“There’s some, uh, good camping,” he murmured, keeping his eyes fixed on the road.
I frowned a little and sat up in my seat, eyeing him up and down. “Camping?” I asked, putting my hands on the dash. “What do you mean? We didn’t bring any camping gear.” Actually, come to think of it, we didn’t own any to begin with. “And you said we were staying in a hotel.”
“We’re renting a cabin,” he said, his tone harsher than I expected.
I frowned but leaned back into the seat, closing my eyes. The sun was warm and I was still a bit sleepy from the night before. It wouldn’t hurt to catch a few more hours of sleep. We were still quite a ways from the Tennessee border.
I wasn’t sure how long I dozed off for, but when I opened my eyes, the car had come to a stop and I could hear muffled voices outside. I lifted my head and was shocked to see that we had pulled over into what looked like an abandoned farm. A group of bikers stood around my dad, chatting and smoking. Anger flooded every inch of my body.
How could I be stupid enough to believe that my dad would actually want to spend time with me? He didn’t want to spend time with me! He was just dragging me to one of his stupid biker meetups. What was the purpose of this?
After a moment I unlocked the car and kicked the door open, storming out to where my dad was standing.
“What the hell is going on?!” I demanded, the anger clear in my face.
My dad seemed shocked to see me out of the truck and laughed nervously. “What are you doing out here, angel?”
“Dad, what is this?” I asked, throwing my arm out and motioning to all the other bikers who were standing around, staring at us.
He offered a nervous laugh and rubbed the back of his neck. “What do you mean, angel?” he murmured.
“Why are we here? You said we were going camping.”
The disappointing click of someone’s tongue was the response to the question. The sound came from behind me and I swung around, trying to see who it was. I came face to face with the same man who’d saved be before. Dylan.
He smiled down at me, his piercing blue eyes staring right through me. “You told her you were taking her camping? What a cruel lie, Billy,” he said, addressing my father.
I turned back around to look at my father, my eyes wide. “Lie?” I whispered, though I was hardly surprised. “What does he mean? What’s really going on here?” I asked, my tone lowering as I became more afraid now.
Dylan spoke for my father, taking a few steps around me and turning to face me. “Your father has some unpaid debts,” he said simply, his cold eyes trained on me. “He owes some bad people a lot of money,” he murmured, frowning at my dad. “You aren’t safe with him so we’re taking you under our wing, much to my dismay.”
“What?” I whispered betrayal washing over me like a flood.
“Your daddy used to be one of us, so we don’t have a choice. Law of the land kind of deal,” Dylan grunted, crossing his arms over his chest.
“No! If you don’t want me around then don’t take me!”
“Alex. If you don’t go with them you’re going to end up dead,” my dad said sadly. “You need to go with them. They can protect you.”
“Dad?” I whispered, staring at my dad with wide eyes.
“I’m sorry Kiddo,” he choked as two of the larger men grabbed me by the arms and started carrying me over to one of the bikes.
I struggled against them and when they finally let me go I screamed, my heart pounding in my chest. “I’m not going anywhere with you!” I screamed, my chest heaving with fear.
“Oh yes you are,” one of the men grunted.
I immediately recognized him as the man named Snake. He grabbed my arm. My heart dropped into my stomach and my face drained of all color. I whimpered and slowly straddled the bike, still staring back at my dad. He looked fucking pathetic and didn’t bother to stop what was happening. Even if he was protecting me from some immenent danger, the least he could do was tell me the truth to my face. I wasn’t sure if this was for my own safety or not. I didn’t know what was true and what was lies, but there wasn’t anything I could do about it. If I ran, they’d just catch me again. We were in the middle of nowhere and I knew they were packing guns. It didn’t leave me a lot of options.
I turned my head away, not wanting my dad to see me cry. I didn’t want him to know how scared I was and how hurt I was. I felt betrayed and I felt tossed aside. Was I really that disposable to him? For the first time sin
ce I’d arrived in Georgia, I had a desperate desire to be with my mother. She would never have put me in this situation. I should have gone back to live with her. I should have sucked up my pride.
Damian came back into view and got on the bike I’d been forced onto. The bikes roared to life and jolted forward as we took off. I was forced to wrap my arms around Dylan’s torso, closing my eyes against the sting of the wind. Even with my hate for biker gangs, I had always loved being on a bike in the past. This time I felt nothing more than a deep fear.
I took one last look over my shoulder, my mind spinning. I knew that my life, as I knew it, was coming to an end and there was nothing I could do about it.
Chapter Nine
We rode on into the sunset, leaving Georgia behind us. We were right at the Tennessee-Georgia border and so we managed to cross into Tennessee within an hour. We kept driving, weaving through the mountains before we finally stopped in a small town called Mont Eagle.
The bikes were parked and hotel rooms were rented. I noticed that Dylan used a fake name and had to wonder if there were possibly warrants out for his arrest.
I had just settled on one of the queen sized beds in the room that I was apparently now going to share with Dylan – a practical stranger. I was terrified, angry, and wished this was all just a dream. I still knew nothing about Dylan or his men, but I had a feeling I was going to be finding out sooner rather than later. Atleast, I knew that Dylan saved me that night at the bar, and there must have been a reason for that. I would do my best to use this to my advantage.
Dylan sighed and pulled his shirt over his head, rolling his neck and his shoulders a little as he looked down at me. I turned my head, hoping to hide the fact that my cheeks were flushed.
"Where are you taking me?" I murmured.
“Doesn’t really matter, does it?” he asked, looking over at me. “You end up where we end up. That’s all you need to know.”
My chest was practically bubbling with frustration. I wanted to reach out and slap him across the face I wanted to hit him until he was black and blue. I just wanted to do something. I was tired of sitting around like a damsel in distress.
“I don’t want to be here,” I whispered.
He frowned and crossed his arms over his chest. “I don’t really care if you want to be here or not. Look, I helped you out, but right now I’m doing my job” he murmured, pulling a pack of cigarettes out of his jacket pocket. “You have to square with the fact that you’re here now and that isn’t going to change for a long time” he said.
His words dug into me and I looked away, angry and frustrated. I wanted out of this place, but it seemed I was going to have to get creative to get out.
He must have seen the determined look in my eye because he leaned back, focusing on me. He blew a plume of smoke out of the corner of his mouth and I almost wanted to remind him that this was a no smoking room, but that was stupid. He didn’t care.
“What’s going through that pretty head of yours?”
“None of your damn business.”
“You think you’re going to get away, don’t you?” he hummed. “You think you’re going to run away and get out of this mess, well, I have news for you, girly,” He growled. “You have nowhere to go. You going to go back to dear old dad? Let the real bad guys get you?”
I didn’t say anything, I just looked straight ahead and tried to keep myself under control. The last thing I wanted was to cry. I didn’t want him to know how badly those words stung.
“You think I’m doing this because I want to?” he grunted. “You think anyone is in this situation because we wanted to be? Hell no. I’m taking care of you because your dad used to be one of us and once you’re in the family, you’re in the family for good. I owe him the years he dedicated to us. It’s our code. You may not understand that but tough shit.”
I didn’t say anything because I had nothing to say. I laid back and stared up at the ceiling, my heart racing. The worst part of it wasn’t that I was stuck with this gang now. I could have handled that. What stung so bad was that Dylan was right. Even if I managed to get away, I didn’t have anywhere to go. Who would protect me?
I had to stay here.
Chapter Ten
I hated it but I was now the property of a biker gang. There wasn’t much I could do about it except be smart and try to find a way out. We loaded up on the bikes the next morning and started back towards Nashville. We drove through the city and it took my breath away. As miserable as I was, I couldn’t hold back my admiration for the beauty of this place. Atleast I had that.
I found myself in a new city completely alone and without a method of escape. I had no money and no way to get home, and even if I did, I didn't have a home anymore.
We kept driving through Nashville and didn’t stop until we hit the rural, rolling hills of a town called Dickson. We drove down a long dirt road, and as we did certain bikers started turning into the driveways of small homes. Children ran out to greet their fathers, throwing their arms around the men as they walked inside their houses.
Dylan finally came to stop at a classical looking plantation house. It was big, though it wasn’t ridiculous. It was definitely a kind of status symbol. He clearly wanted to make sure everyone knew he was top dog. He parked the bike in an attached garage and helped me off. I shook him off, not wanting to seem dependent. I was trying to maintain some of my dignity.
I crossed my arms over my chest and followed him into the very classical looking house. It was lovely but had very few furnishings and decorations. The house was big, and it must have been handed down to him. I had a hard time believing that being the leader of a biker gang was a lucrative career.
“Pretty big house,” I murmured, looking around.
“The only perk of being the leader,” he murmured.
The only perk? Did he not like having all this power?
“So you live here in this big place and everyone else lives in little houses,” I snorted.
“We get by. My people are happy,” he said simply.
“How’d you get this house? Who did you have to rob?”
“Look Alex. I get this is the last place you want to be and I’m doing my best to be civil. But you’re acting like an damn brat. You keep acting like that and see where it gets you,” he snarled.
My eyes widened but I fell silent and turned away from him.
We wandered through the house until we came to a set of bedrooms. They were side by side and one was much larger than the other. The smaller one was decorated in soft, pale blues and whites and had a nice, airy feel to it.
“Well, this will be your room, I’m sure you’ll want to get settled.”
My brows were knitted together as I stared into the room. He glanced at me and looked me up and down. “Is there a problem?” he grunted.
“Why are you giving me my own room? Aren’t you going to chain me up in a dungeon or something?”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because that’s what criminals and drug dealers do. Besides, what if I run away?” I said, crossing my arms over my chest.
“I might be an asshole, but I don’t work with junkies. We don’t deal drugs and at the end of the day, we aren’t the bad guys. We are trying to make a difference in our communities,” he said, leaning against the door frame. “You’re not here out of cruelty, Alex. You’re here because that’s business,” he said. “And I’m not worried about you running. We’ve already talked about where that will lead.”
I was at a loss for words when he answered, mostly because I knew he was right. Everything he said was truth, but I wasn’t about to admit it. n
“But if you don’t deal drugs and kidnap people, then what do you do?” I asked.
“We’re vigilantes,” he said. “We take care of the guys who beat their wives or hurt their kids. We make sure that the law catches up with the scumbags of our city. We’re just trying to help the people the law won’t help. You think they come out here? You think t
hat some of these people are able to get help? Sometimes we’re the only guys who can take out the trash,” he murmured, putting an unlit cigarette between his lips. “Sometimes my men can get a little carried away like my guy, Snake - but we do our best to show everyone the right way. You’ll come to understand how we work around here.”
He watched me, clearly enjoying the shocked look on my face. He smirked and leaned in, brushing his fingers along my jaw. I hated the way the touch electrified me.
“Good night, Alex. I’ll see you in the morning.”
He left me in the hall way, stunned and flushing from embarrassment. This man was getting under my skin and I couldn’t bring myself to fight the pulsating attraction I felt for him. Not only was he incredibly sexy but I was now even more intridged by his story about his group’s mission. They was here to actually help people? How is that even possible? A vigilant biker gang? We’ll have to see about that.
Chapter Eleven
The night passed slowly. A part of me was afraid to go to sleep; I was waiting for the other boot to drop and that fear made it difficult to close my eyes. This was all so strange. They were rough around the edges, but somehow I could see some good in here. I was stuck, so I guess I had to see some good.
I laid awake, staring up at the ceiling, my eyes wet with unshed tears as I thought about what might happen to Mike. He was a douche bag but he was my dad after all. I still hated him for giving me over to the biker gang without warning, but I was beginning to accept that he didn’t have much options. He was afraid for my life. He couldn’t hand me back to my mom because he would be left risking both our lifes at that point.
As expected, I didn’t sleep well that night despite the cool southern breeze and the soft bed. The sheets were musty and a bit unkempt, but still comfortable.
I tossed and turned all night, dozing off here and there until the sun finally started to rise. As the sun peaked over the rolling Tennessee hills I stumbled out of bed and wandered into the kitchen, my eyes red and stinging from a combination of crying and not enough sleep. I took it upon myself to go through the cabinets and locate dishes and food. I secretly thanked the universe when I saw a box of Pop Tarts shoved into the back of a cabinet.