Chasing Thunder (7 page)

“I dunno, man,” the other one said. “You might be doing him a favor.” The assailants laughed.

Haley rounded the corner as quietly as she could. For once, being short and slight worked in her favor. She flattened herself against the brick building as she drew closer. She could see Todd on his knees, his nose already bloodied from a punch.

The hum of electricity from a nearby transformer made her hair stand on end. She watched one of the attackers caress the side of Todd’s beautiful face with the sharp tip of his switchblade. “Maybe we should just pull his teeth out one by one. He doesn’t need them anyway, since he’s nothing more than some fucking little cocksucker.”

She could tell that Todd was scared, but he said nothing. He didn’t even bother to fight back. He endured, just like he endured all the other things he had to do to survive. He stayed submissive on his knees as one of his attackers held him by his long hair. The other shrugged out of his jacket, revealing a muscled torso that bulged against a tight white wife beater tank top. This action revealed a bold sleeve tattoo on his right arm, which featured a goat’s head and a pentagram.

It was exactly like the towering statue in Isbecky’s bedroom.

With a gasp, she turned away—right into the chest of yet another young man wearing the same dark clothes and tennis shoes.

“What do we have here?” he mused, smiling down at her. “Haley, is it? The boss is going to be real happy to see you again.”

Before she could bolt, he twisted her arm behind her back and forced her over to his other companions, where Todd was still down on his knees.

“We found her,” the new aggressor told his friends. “Let’s go.”

“Nuh-uh,” the one in front of Todd said, unzipping his jeans. “I ain’t done yet.”

The one holding her chuckled. “I guess we got some time.” He shoved Haley down to her knees next to Todd. “We can’t touch you, but you can watch. Maybe you’ll learn something.”

She tried to look away as the assailant exposed himself, but her captor turned her head, forcing her to look on. Her scrambled brain struggled to process the noise of the city just feet from where she sat, terrified. Her mind raced, trying to think of what she could say or do to save herself and to save Todd. All hope seemed lost.

And that was when she heard another sound rising in the distance, cutting through the city noise. It was low at first, like the roar of a lion in the distance. The ground vibrated beneath her as the sound grew louder and more distinct, with the chest-rattling rumble of thunder.

But that couldn’t be right. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

Yet a storm was coming, and it arrived on a black Heritage Softail that jumped the corner and skidded right into the alley.

Haley’s elation that they might be saved was short-lived. The rider took off the matching black helmet, revealing a long braid of copper-red hair and piercing green eyes surrounded by heavy dark makeup.

It was a woman.

This sight took everyone in the alley off guard. She took her time dismounting, making sure that her helmet was in place and her leather jacket was slung over the side. She stood at her full height. Though she seemed slight next to the massive bike, she wasn’t dainty by any means. In fact, she was probably the most striking woman that Haley had ever seen. She wore her black T-shirt and jeans like a second skin, and her thick biker boots added another two inches to her height, for a total of five feet and eight inches. There were fingerless leather riding gloves on her hands and a worn American flag bandana secured around one wrist.

The woman spotted the half-naked aggressor in front of Todd. She adopted a smirk and crossed her arms against her chest. “What’s he supposed to do? Pick his teeth with that thing?”

Haley heard the pop of a spring-loaded switchblade near her ear. Her captor tugged her head back by her hair and laid the cool metal against her vulnerable neck.

“He’s gonna get a mouthful of my cock,” the other assailant said. “Get on your knees and I’ll give you some too.”

“I really don’t think you have enough to go around, Junior.” The man’s expression darkened, but she was undaunted. “How about you let these kids go so we can all party together?”

“Naw.” He shook his head. “But maybe we’ll start with you.”

The woman barely moved as he approached her, almost as if she were inviting him to do so. Haley watched breathlessly as the man grabbed the woman by the wrist. In one fluid motion she stepped toward him with her right foot, which he clearly wasn’t expecting. She used his own momentum against him to lift the wrist he thought he had captured and ram her elbow right into his chin.

The action was so graceful and so quick that his head jerked back like a candy dispenser. He didn’t even see it coming. In that split second of confusion, she grabbed his body and rammed her knee right into his solar plexus. He fell backwards onto the ground, gasping for breath.

His two companions released Todd and Haley to advance on this mysterious biker, who was now a larger threat. Though Todd had the good sense to quickly dart out of sight, Haley stayed right where she was, transfixed by the fight unfolding in front of her. The street was just feet away. She could easily have bolted. She could have gone for help.

Instead she found herself compelled to watch as the two thugs tried to circle this odd woman. She stepped backward, keeping her eyes on both assailants as they brandished their weapons and prepared for battle. The one closest to her unraveled the chain he wore around his waist, and they laughed when her eyes widened. Their laughter quickly subsided when she took a step toward the man with the chain. He raised it like a whip, but when it came down, she caught it up near his own hand, her leather gloves taking the brunt of the impact. Like before, she brought her attacker into her body, and right into that knee, until he too was winded by a decisive blow to the solar plexus. He gasped for air. His buddy’s switchblade clattered to the ground, and he took off for the safety of the busy street.

The woman turned her attention towards Haley, who was the only person left standing in the alley. “You okay?” she asked. Haley thought she nodded, but she was too stunned to know for sure.

As the woman helped her up, Haley saw one of the assailants struggle to his feet behind her. It was the half-naked one. He grabbed his friend’s chain and advanced toward the females.

“Look out!” Haley screeched, and the woman turned around, using her body as a shield for the younger girl. The thug’s scowl was ominous.

“It’s on now, bitch,” he promised.

With a strength that took Haley by surprise, the woman grabbed her around the waist and pulled her to the bike, throwing her on the back. She swung her leg over, fired up the ignition, and skidded away from their attacker just as the heavy clank of that metal chain hit the pavement right behind them. Haley could hear it slice through the air precious millimeters from where she now perched on the rumbling bike.

“Hold on,” the woman told her. Haley nodded and grabbed her new savior by the waist as the bike revved and skidded out, barely missing yet another strike from the chain.

Now Haley wondered if this woman was playing with the guy. She was spinning out in the alley, leaving black tread marks on the pavement, keeping the guy in her sights. He was wearing himself out with each swing of the chain. She drew him deeper and deeper into the darkened alleyway, toward the electric hum of the transformer.

He swung the chain again and she ducked just in time for it to miss them by a hair. There was no fear present on her rescuer’s face or in her body language. Even though she was focused on her opponent, Haley knew that this woman didn’t miss one detail around her. This was why she had been the only person on the crowded boulevard just steps away who had known what was about to happen to Todd.

The rider was able to dodge each and every swing of that chain, just like a piston in a machine. Her moves were precise and deliberate. She led the attacker into a darkened corner, allowing him to get closer and closer.

Haley spotted the open voltage box before he did. “Look out!” she found herself screaming, more to the mysterious biker than to the advancing gangbanger. But by then it was too late. The redheaded woman maneuvered the bike easily, skidding sideways. The last swing of the chain missed them by a hair, instead making instant contact with the transformer.

Sparks flew behind them as electricity seared through the attacker’s body. His flesh sizzled as he fried. With tears in her eyes, Haley watched the man die over her shoulder, unable to look away, as the bike sped down the alley and back towards the street. The biker wasted no time, and they raced from the scene.

Haley didn’t know whether to feel relieved or terrified. She grabbed onto the woman’s waist and held on for dear life as they popped off the curb and wove through the traffic on the street. The further they got from the alley, the more alarmed Haley grew. She had learned about “stranger danger” in school, and she knew that being moved from one place to another was bad news. She just didn’t know how that worked, exactly, with someone who was willing to take on three scary guys to protect a couple of street kids.

Was this woman friend or foe?

There was no real way to know until they stopped and Haley learned what payment would be demanded in exchange for her life.

Hollywood faded into the distance behind them as they raced along Sunset Boulevard. The mosaic of Los Angeles passed alongside, from West Hollywood to Beverly Hills. The bike didn’t stop until they reached Santa Monica, where the rider finally turned off the main boulevard to a smaller side street, easing up to a nondescript white building with a green neon sign that read The Snake Pit.

Her rescuer hadn’t bothered to say a word during the long retreat. She killed the motor and slid from the bike. As she turned to face her, Haley didn’t know whether to thank her or scream for help. Those green eyes pierced right through her. “Got a name?”

Haley thought about it a second. She instinctively knew that she had to bury her identity in order to protect it. “Baby,” she finally answered. It was what both Billy and Tammy had called her, and it seemed as good an alias as any.

“Of course,” the biker said, reaching for her jacket.

“What about you?” Baby asked.

“M.J.,” she replied. She looked the young girl aboard her bike up and down, then handed her the jacket. “Here. You may get cold in that tissue you’re wearing.”

Baby only hesitated a moment before she dismounted and shrugged into the oversized jacket, which wrapped around her like another, more modest dress. With a satisfied nod of her head, M.J. turned on her heel and headed into the dive bar without another word. Baby was quick to follow.

The heavy steel door slammed behind them. Classic rock blared from the sound system. The bar was filled with bikers of all shapes and sizes, and every single one of them turned to see who had entered. Baby found herself shrinking behind M.J.’s lean frame, intimidated by the crustier clientele. M.J., however, stalked purposefully toward the bar, where a tall bearded man was making drinks.

He was rugged and handsome, towering over six feet tall, with broad shoulders barely contained by the black T-shirt he wore. His thick brown hair curled by the nape of his neck, while a neatly trimmed beard trailed along his strong, square jawline. Though he was rough around the edges, his dark eyes were kind. They regarded the redhead with playful affection.

“Look what the cat dragged in,” he said, smiling. He rounded the bar and took her up in a massive bear hug. “I oughta kick your ass for staying away so long,” he growled, holding her close.

“If you think you’re man enough,” she teased with a smile of her own.

He kept M.J. in the crook of his arm and turned his attention to Baby. “And who is your friend?”

“This is Baby,” she said. “Baby, this is Snake.”

Baby held out her hand and he shook it with power and authority. Despite his venomous moniker, for the first time in a long time, Baby actually felt safe. She offered him a small smile, which pleased him. He rounded the bar to pour her a soda. “Any friend of M.J.’s is a friend of mine,” he announced. “You hungry? I think we have just enough chili left for one more bowl.”

M.J. groaned. “I just got this girl out of Hollywood. I’m not sending her to the ER because of your chili.”

He held a hand to his chest. “I’m . . . I’m hurt.”

Baby couldn’t help but giggle. He was a charmer, there was no doubt about it. “I’ll risk it,” she said with a shy smile.

“See? She’s not afraid. Lori!” He hollered to the waitress across the room. “Set our friend up with a bowl of chili.” He leaned across the bar from Baby with a teasing gleam in his eye. “They’ll have to scrape most of it off the bottom of the pan with a chisel and a rock. Good stuff, though.”

Again Baby giggled. He gave her a wink and turned back to M.J. “So. What’s up?”

M.J. glanced down at Baby, who turned her attention back to her soda. With a wave of her finger, she led Snake away from the bar and into his office, closing the door behind them.

“Hollywood, huh?” he asked, perching on the edge of his cluttered desk. She shrugged in response, as if he should have known better than to ask. And of course he did. Molly Joanne Bennett had been patrolling Hollywood for nearly ten years, taking up the mantle left behind by her grandfather, Joe. She still wore his signet ring on the index finger of her left hand, and now she wore his bandana on her wrist and his dog tags around her neck as well. His mission had become her mission. It was her duty. It was her calling. All of that was status quo.