Rising Heat (21 page)

I watched as he reached into his back pocket and retrieved his wallet. He pulled out some bills, handing them to me. I fingered them, then looked at him with a raised eyebrow. He had given me three hundred dollar bills. “I don’t think first aid supplies will cost this much.”

“Better to just take extra. Then you don’t have to worry about not having enough to pay the taxi. Get whatever else you need.”

“Will your friend be here soon?”

Ash glanced at the room’s clock radio. “He should be here within twenty minutes. Can I borrow your phone again? Just in case I need to call him?”

I nodded and handed him my cell phone. I was nervous about leaving Ash here while I went into town by myself, but I would be innocuous. I would be quick, ask the taxi driver to wait while I ran in and grabbed a few supplies. I didn’t think I’d be gone longer than thirty minutes.

“Okay, well, I’ll go now. If I see your friend’s motorcycle here when I come back, do you want me to just wait in the office until he leaves?”

“Only if it makes you more comfortable,” he said. “But honestly, you don’t have to be afraid of Bones. I would trust him with my life.”

“Let’s hope you don’t have to,” I muttered. Shoving the money into my pocket, I turned toward the door. “I’ll be back as soon as I can, okay? Maybe you and your friend can figure out a way to fix this.”

He nodded and reached for me, pulling me against his chest. He kissed me. Hard. I was panting by the time he let me go, and by then, I didn’t want him to. “Thank you, baby. For everything. Be careful out there.”

Pressing my fingers to my swollen lips, I nodded. “You be careful too. See you soon.”

He looked at me with such tenderness that I had to swallow back the emotion it induced in me. No one had ever looked at me like that, and I felt lost inside his gaze. Lost in him. To him.

Which was ridiculous.

Turning, I opened the door and practically ran from the room, gulping in large doses of clean air. The midmorning sun shone down onto my back as I nearly ran to the motel office. The beauty of Colorado’s mountains surrounded me, and I forced myself to slow down. I inhaled deeply, allowing the peace and quiet to calm my heart. My thoughts.

Stopping just outside the office, I considered calling the taxi, but asking to take me home instead of to the pharmacy. I could pick up my car from the pet store and leave town for a few days. Oh, I hated this. The thought of abandoning the life I’d created for myself hurt more than I thought it would. I didn’t have much, but everything I did have, I’d gotten on my own.

Even as I considered leaving Ash, I knew I wouldn’t. I was scared, but at the same time, I couldn’t just abandon him. Maybe my vagina was overruling my brain, but I didn’t want to leave him. Besides, someone needed to take care of his arm. God knew he wouldn’t.

He needed me.

If I left, I would be turning my back on him just like his family had.

Shit. I didn’t owe him anything. If anything, he owed me. Regardless, I didn’t know what to do. First things first. I would take care of his arm, then see what kind of plan he and his friend had come up with. If I didn’t like it, maybe I would ask him to loan me some money so that I could get out of town for a while. I didn’t want to lose either of my jobs, or my apartment, or my semester at school, but I also wanted to be safe. Not have to look over my shoulder every minute. To be afraid.

Dammit. I was overthinking again.

Pushing open the door to the manager’s office, I asked if he could call me a taxi. He nodded, punched in some numbers on his phone, and gave the taxi service the name of the motel. Not exactly the friendly type, but he got the job done. “He’ll be here in about five minutes.”

He went back to reading his paper while I pretended to keep myself occupied looking at the myriad brochures of local activities tucked neatly into one of those travel cases near the front window. I didn’t see any movement from Ash’s room. I was surprised when only a couple of minutes passed before I saw the taxi pulling into the parking lot. As Ash had said, he was an independent taxi. The vehicle he drove wasn’t painted yellow but looked like a personal car. It had a magnetic sign on the door panel.

Golden Taxi Service. We’ll take you anywhere you need to go and have fun doing it.

After thanking the manager, I stepped out of the office and headed for the taxi. The driver got out and opened the rear door of the older sedan for me. I climbed in, and he settled himself behind the wheel.

“Buckle up, miss,” he said.

I did so. “I’m just stopping over on vacation, but I need to go to a pharmacy. Is there one nearby?”

The driver, an older man who looked like he probably would’ve been more at home on a horse or tractor than behind the wheel of a taxi, nodded. Without saying another word, he pulled out of the motel parking lot and headed down the highway. Just as he left the driveway, I glanced back at our room. Thought I saw the curtains shift.

I focused my thoughts on the supplies I would need at the pharmacy. I didn’t want to get ahead of myself. I would make a decision about what I was going to do when I got back to the motel and was able to talk to Ash.

It only took ten minutes or so to arrive in downtown Golden. A few minutes later, he was stopping at a Walgreen’s front door. “Will you wait for me here?” I asked him. “I’ll only be a couple of minutes.” He nodded, and I jumped out of the car.

Inside the store, I grabbed medical supplies and a large bottle of ibuprofen. If he didn’t want them, I could certainly use them. Shampoo and conditioner, soap and a hairbrush. Two toothbrushes and a tube of toothpaste. I passed the condoms and stared at them for several minutes before reaching out and grabbing a pack. A girl could hope. Even if I decided to leave, I wouldn’t say no to one final romp in the sack.

On the way to the checkout area, I grabbed bottles of water and protein bars. Some nuts and other quick snacks. I looked into my shopping cart and was glad he’d given me extra money.

I fidgeted while the checkout girl appeared to move in slow motion, but was soon out the door. I was relieved to see that the taxi hadn’t deserted me.

“Sorry, I had to wait for people at the register.” He didn’t say anything. As the driver pulled out of the parking lot and headed back up into the hills toward the motel, I wondered if Ash’s friend had arrived yet. He was probably still there. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, not sure if I wanted to meet another biker, another member of the Outlaw Biker Boys, whether he was on the verge of leaving or not. Maybe Ash trusted him, but why should I? I didn’t know these people.

I scolded myself. Ash told me he wasn’t a criminal and that he hadn’t engaged in any criminal activity, and I wanted to believe him. He said he’d risked himself to protect others. I wanted to believe that too.

Even as I tried to think the best, my mind insisted on thinking the worst. There was no such thing as honor among thieves. Once again, my mind was racing. After I took care of Ash’s arm, I had to figure out what to do. No more waffling. I couldn’t believe it, but I was wavering between staying and going. What the hell was the matter with me? Where had my common sense flown? I should get as far away from Ash as I could, and the faster I did that, the better.

But I didn’t want to. Plain and simple. “You’re such an idiot,” I muttered to myself.

“What was that?” the driver asked.

“Oh, sorry, nothing,” I replied. “I was talking to myself.”

As we neared the motel, I gathered the bags containing my supplies and paid the driver, giving him a generous tip. He nodded his appreciation. I didn’t think Ash would care.

Back in front of the motel office, I stood looking toward our room, uncertain as to what I should do. I didn’t see another motorcycle, but it could be behind the building too. Maybe his friend didn’t show up. Or had left already. I’d only been gone about forty-five minutes, but who was to say?

Blowing out a breath, I walked to the room. When I got there, the drapes were still drawn. I lifted my hand to knock, then reached for the door knob instead. It turned easily in my hand. I pushed the door open.

“Ash?”

Nothing.

“Ash?”

Still nothing.

I tossed the bags onto the bed and stepped toward the bathroom, tucked behind a short wall. The door was open, and the room empty. I scowled, even as my heart picked up speed. I hurried to the door and stepped outside, moving to the corner of the building where I could see if his motorcycle was there. My heart crashed into my stomach. His Harley was gone.

I stood frozen, not knowing what to think. At first. Then all kinds of thoughts began racing through my head. Had he just left me here? I didn’t want to believe it, but it wasn’t like I knew him very well. I glanced around the parking lot and over the hills nestled around me. I heard nothing except for the sound of a breeze gently blowing through the trees. He couldn’t possibly have just abandoned me here, could he? He was one who told me it wasn’t safe to go back to Denver, so what was I supposed to do? Wait? Would he return in a few minutes?

What if he didn’t?

How much would it cost for a taxi to take me all the way back to downtown Denver, to the pet store where I could pick up my car? My stomach sank. Was that the real reason he gave me so much extra? Because he knew he’d be leaving me to find my own way home?

My confusion had morphed into fear, and now my fear was morphing into anger. “Dammit!” I swore. Biting my thumbnail, I had to make a decision. What to do? What to do? I was furious with Ash. How could he have just left me here? Why would he have done that?

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?

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.