Chasing Thunder (2 page)

After all, he wouldn’t be around forever.

“What time is the party?”

Joe glanced at his watch. He was running late, as always. “Ten minutes ago,” he answered with a wry grin. He turned for his office, cell phone in hand, to tell Susan he would be running a little late.

“As usual,” she said, and he could almost see her rueful smile. He cradled the phone lovingly to his ear, melting all over again at the thought of his lovely wife. He had met her on a beach in 1966. The dazzling brunette had worn a memorable navy-blue bikini with big white polka dots. He’d been smitten ever since. “But you get a reprieve this time, mister. She’s not even here yet.”

His eyebrow lifted. Mojo hadn’t been able to talk about anything other than her sixteenth birthday for at least a month solid. Now she was late for her own party? Before he even had a chance to ask, Susan was quick to fill in the blanks. “She’s with Cooper.”

“Ah,” he said, and sat at his desk. Cooper Scoggins was Molly’s first real romance, and it had taken up quite a bit of her time as of late. But he was a good kid and a hell of a mechanic, so Joe had allowed them to date despite the fact that she was barely sixteen and he was a more mature twenty. Most of the time they spent together was around family anyway, so he already knew that Cooper genuinely cared for her, and that mattered more to Joe than something as arbitrary as age. In a couple of years, it wouldn’t really matter anyway.

The thought stopped Joe cold. These last twelve years had gone by much too fast. In just two years she’d be off on her own, a grown woman. His job raising her would be over, and he wasn’t quite ready to retire. All he wanted to do was hold onto each precious minute they had left together while she was still his kid to love.

Joe called Cooper next, to tell him to bring Molly by the shop for her gift. Cooper had done a lot of the restoration on the bike, so he already knew what surprise was in store for his favorite girl. The young mechanic assured him they would be there in ten minutes or less.

That was perfect timing. Jim was already closing up the showroom, ushering out the few customers who remained. Joe headed to the warehouse to dig out something festive to deck out this once-in-a-lifetime gift for his favorite sixteen-year-old.

Not even a mile away, just down the beach, Molly Joanne Bennett sat on a blanket next to her boyfriend, watching the sun set on her sixteenth birthday. Cooper had provided a blanket to wrap around their shoulders against the cool marine air. His arm draped around her shoulder as he held her close. She grinned up at him, losing herself in those warm, dark eyes that had captured her from the moment she’d first tripped into them, two years before.

She had been such a baby then, she thought to herself, barely fourteen. She had even worn a bit of baby pudge around her middle, but Cooper never seemed to care. He loved to make her laugh, and they became friends immediately.

It had taken him a year and a half to muster the courage to ask her on a date. Most of that had to do with her formidable grandfather, who ruled over Wyndryder Custom Cycles like a cantankerous grizzly bear. He was president of both the shop and the Wyndryder MC itself, and his shadow loomed large. He was soft as nougat on the inside, though, and once Cooper figured that out it had been a lot easier to woo Joe’s favored princess.

It didn’t hurt that Cooper knew how to treat women. He didn’t see them as conquests to be had. He liked her as a person first, and he treated her like a friend. This had won over both Molly and Joe Bennett in the end. Cooper wasn’t out to bag some underage girl. He was barely a man himself, but he already knew he was willing to promise this incredible girl forever.

Her big green eyes were wide as she stared up at him. “Now?” she asked.

He grinned. “Not yet,” he said, turning his attention back to the sunset. “It’s your first kiss. It has to be perfect.”

She knew that it would be perfect, just because it was with him. But she didn’t say that. She just waited for the last little sliver of the sun to disappear. The second it did, his warm hand cupped her chin and turned her to face him. She lost herself in those eyes as his mouth descended towards hers. She released a slight sigh as their lips met for the first time.

His hand wound in her long tangle of red curls as he deepened the kiss. He had dreamed of this moment for months, but nothing could have prepared him for the way his body responded as her mouth opened under his. She was so innocent to the havoc she wreaked on his senses. He dragged his mouth away while he still could. “Happy birthday, Mojo,” he said, using her grandfather’s nickname for her, making her swoon even more.

“It is now,” she told him before boldly reaching for yet another kiss.

He could only indulge her for a second. His phone buzzed in his leather jacket. They broke apart so he could answer. He grinned, keeping his side of the conversation cryptic until he disconnected the call. “It’s your grandfather. Change of plans. He wants us to meet him at the shop.”

She couldn’t contain her squeal. She knew what that meant. He had tried to be sneaky. Hell, they had all tried to be sneaky. But she knew that her Pops wouldn’t let her down.

She had wanted only two things for her sweet sixteen. One, she wanted the boy she loved to kiss her at last. They had dated for months, but he had been nothing but the perfect gentleman, respecting her age (and her grandfather) enough not to take advantage of her youthful enthusiasm. It had driven her crazy, but she was equally crazy about Cooper. She knew he was worth the wait.

The only other thing she wanted, and even more worth the wait, was a bike of her very own. She was tired of being a baby that people had to protect and take care of, which is what she felt like every time she climbed behind a rider—always male—who had his own bike. She wanted to show everyone how grown she was, how mature she was, how ready she was to take control of her own life.

She’d spent her whole life training to be everything her Pops knew she could be. This was more than just another birthday. It was a new start, one in which she could control her own destiny at last. And she wasn’t about to wait one minute longer than she had to.

She sprang to her feet, pulling Cooper up with her. She’d finally shed her baby pudge, thanks to her grandfather’s grueling workouts, so she was every ounce lean muscle as she raced toward Cooper’s bike. She flew across the sand and onto the parking lot with an enthusiastic “Let’s go!”

Cooper sauntered off of the sand and onto the pavement, taking the time to pick off the residual grains of sand one by one. She practically hopped in her seat as he approached. “I can’t help but notice that you’re excited.”

“Cooper!” she groaned. She already had her helmet on and was raring to go. If he didn’t get a move on, she’d hop off the bike and run all the way to the shop. She said as much, crossing her arms in front of her chest defiantly.

He chuckled as he put on his helmet. “Keep your shorts on. I’ll get you there in no time.” He swung his leg over. “Maybe we’ll take the scenic route. How do you feel about San Francisco?”

“Cooper,” she sighed.

“Yeah, you’re right. It’d be too cold and rainy. How about San Diego? I hear it’s lovely there this time of year.”

She growled a little and tickled his sides. “You’re mean and evil, Cooper Scoggins. It’s a wonder how I can love a jerk like you.”

He glanced over his shoulder with a knowing smile. “But you do,” he told her confidently, with that smirk she adored. She nodded as she cuddled against his back, planting a peck on his lips before he turned to face the road, starting his restored chopper with a thunderous roar.

She was smiling the entire eight minutes and twenty-seven seconds that it took them to reach Wyndryder. The neon sign buzzed over the darkened showroom, where she knew her present waited. She was off the bike almost before Cooper could even put it in park. She used her key to let herself in, and with a great big smile she hit the light switch to reveal the best birthday present of her life, on the best birthday of her life.

The resounding click, however, did not bestow illumination throughout the darkened showroom. She tried again, but the building remained dark.

Too dark.

And too quiet.

“Pops?” she called out softly, taking a tentative step inside. Glass crackled under her boot. Suddenly terrified, she raced toward the offices in the back.

There was a sliver of light under the door to her grandfather’s office. As she approached, she could hear voices from the other side. She flattened herself up against the wall and inched closer.

“You’ve hurt my business, Bennett,” she heard a man say. “Taking my best talent and sending it God knows where.”

“Only God knows,” Joe agreed. He sounded cool but guarded. She had heard that tone in his voice before, usually when he was trying to defuse a volatile situation between two angry bikers.

“God and you,” the man corrected. “That means you have something I want. And I will get it, one way or the other.”

Molly cringed when she heard the sickening sound of a punch landing against flesh. She glanced through the crack in the door and watched Jim double over as two masked men in dark clothing held him by the arms. Another man she could only see from behind stepped away, cracking his knuckles through leather gloves.

“Leave him alone,” Joe commanded. “He has nothing to do with this.”

“And you have nothing to do with me. Yet here we are. You can either tell me where you sent my girls, or you can replace them yourself. Maybe starting with that cute little granddaughter of yours.” He let the suggestion linger, then his slick voice elaborated. “I always liked those crazy redheads. I bet she could make me a lot of money.”

Joe was out of his chair like a shot, but before he could advance, the smaller man withdrew a pistol with a silencer on the end. “Go ahead. Make a move. I’ll shoot you where you stand and take her anyway.”

Joe paused as he reassessed the situation. Molly knew he was calculating the minutes until her arrival at the shop.

“Wouldn’t it be easier to give me the whereabouts of my own girls?” the man asked.

Molly glanced toward the showroom. Where was Cooper? As she inched closer along the wall, she realized there was another scuffle coming from the other part of the shop.

Worse, it was getting closer.

Molly glanced around frantically. She knew she had to hide. If these intruders were threatening her, then her making her presence known would give them all the leverage they needed to force Joe into doing what he was trying so hard not to do. She scrambled into a supply closet just as two other masked intruders dragged a bloody, nearly unconscious Cooper toward Joe’s office.

She crouched low in the closet behind unpacked boxes of merchandise, straining to hear what was going on in the other room.

“Found this guy outside, boss,” one of the men said as they opened the office door wide, spilling light into the hallway.

“Ah, yes. The boyfriend. That means sweet little Molly isn’t that far behind. Go find her.”

“Stop! Leave her alone!”

“That’s a pretty big favor, Joe. What are you willing to give me in return?”

“Don’t do it, Joe,” Jim said, but he was quickly silenced by another brutal blow.

“Molly’s not here,” Cooper lied easily. “And she’s not coming. So take me. Do what you want. Just leave these people alone.”

The boss chuckled. “Sorry, mate. You’re too old, and you’re not pretty enough for my purposes. But if you have a little brother, maybe we could renegotiate.”

Cooper growled at his captors and was immediately beaten back down. Molly cringed and ducked even lower, helplessly listening to her boyfriend get pummeled.

“Stop!” Joe cried out. He could bear their violence no longer, especially when he knew it risked Molly most of all. “I’ll give you what you want.”

“I thought you’d see it my way,” the man said.

Molly peered over the tops of the boxes and watched as her grandfather stood, hands raised, and headed toward his locked file cabinet. He unlocked it, pulled it open, and withdrew a handful of folders Molly had never seen before. She inched around the boxes for a better look as Joe handed the folders to the man she could only see from behind. The man glanced through the folders. They were all one color, a vibrant red. Her brow furrowed as she looked back at the open file cabinet, taking note of the other colors used there. What had her grandfather been up to? What did it all mean?