ROUGHNECK: A DARK MOTORCYCLE CLUB ROMANCE (11 page)

I
couldn’t believe
the little fucker was following me.

He made the turn too wide when we got on to third street and gave himself away. It wouldn’t do any good to tell him to back off. He was too set on redeeming himself. I just had to hope he would possess good enough sense to stay at a distance. I didn’t plan on holding my breath.

The meet was going down in some shitty motel out in the sticks. I didn’t know the guys I was meeting, but Ray vouched for them.

It was supposed to be a simple gun deal. A quick transaction. Ray even said they would sell them at a discount.

There were only two cars parked in front of the place when I got there. Good. I didn’t like surprises.

“You Roughneck?”

I dipped my head to look over the frame of my sunglasses. He was standing in the walkway outside of the room.

“You than man with the goods?” I answered.

He waved me inside.

The place was typical. The small, round table that normally lived in the spot beneath the window had been pulled to the center of the room.

“Have a seat.”

“I’m alright, brother. I’m not gonna be here long enough to get comfortable.”

“Suit yourself. Money?”

I produced the bankroll from my back pocket.

“Four-fifty, right?”

Just then, his friend walked into the room and whispered something into his ear. I’d seen the friend, too. He was sitting in one of the cars facing the door. I pulled the bills off the roll and waited for an answer. The guy nodded and his partner disappeared.

“Rock said you had some kind of disorder goin’ on up there. What’s that all about?”

“Club business,” I said, sternly.

“Club business, huh? That why you need to pick up a couple of pieces?”

“Something like that,” I said. “Listen, this shouldn’t be too hard, I put the cash on the table, and then you give me what I need. Then, we go our separate ways.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” he said. “That is, until I found out you brought a goddamn trailer with you. Now you got me wondering if something else is going on.”

The door opened again, and Jared stumbled forward with a shotgun placed firmly in the center of his back.

My “trailer”.

“Sit down next to him, boy.”

He didn’t dare make eye contact with me as he settled into the chair. The other one circled around and now pointed the big gun at both of us.

“Damnit, Jared,” I whispered under my breath. “He’s okay. He’s with me,” I said, trying to defuse the situation.

“Start talking,” said the one with the gun.

“Yeah, start talking fast because if Rock hadn’t said you were cool, you’d already be dead.”

I eased out a long sigh. I hated it when I had to explain myself.

“So what was the plan? Make the deal, then have skinny boy over there show up and you guys rob us?”

“The truth isn’t that exciting, fellas,” I said, letting out a little laugh.

They looked at each other.

“What’s the truth, then? And get to it, because I’m getting real tired of looking at your faces.”

The “tough guy” act was starting to test my patience.

“He doesn’t know his ass from a hole in the ground. He’s just a prospect with no damn common sense,” I said, plainly. “We weren’t looking to rob you guys any more than you were looking to pull one over on us, and he was supposed to stay back watching a safe house, not chasing me cross town on his fucking bike. Now can we do this deal so me and my simple friend can get the hell out of here?”

“You’re talkin’ pretty loud for a guy with a shotgun pointed at his head.”

“And you’re making a lot of threats that I haven’t seen you follow up on,” I said. “So, let me put it to you this way… my money’s here.”

I tossed five crisp hundreds on the table.

“So, go get me what I want before I take that gun away from you and smash you in the face with it.”

He stormed forward, pushing the barrel into my chest. I could read his face like a book. He wasn’t prepared to pull the trigger.

Rule number one: Only point a weapon at something if you’re committed to destroying it.

I yanked it free of his weak grip and turned it on him faster than he could react. The asshole’s finger never even touched the trigger guard.

“Easy, easy!”

They each held their hands up in surrender.

“Let’s everybody calm down here.”

“I am calm,” I growled. “I’m here to pay you for your services. Now tell me where my fucking guns are.”

They both looked toward the black duffle back at the foot of the bed.

“Jared, pick that up,” I instructed.

Jared opened the bag and held it for me to see.

“All the ammunition you need is in there too, man,” said the tough guy from earlier. His voiced quaked.

“Shut up.”

“Please don’t kill us, man. We were-”

“I said, ‘shut up!’ Here’s how it’s gonna go, guys… you’re each gonna lay face down on the floor, close your eyes and count to fifty. Then, and
only
then, can you get up. I see you assholes poking your head out the door any sooner and it’ll be the last time you do.”

“Okay,” they said in unison.

When they got to their knees, I nodded for Jared to wait outside.

“The money is on the table. You can keep the change. And this one…” I displayed the shotgun above my head, “this one will be under that car out front. Don’t touch it until you can’t hear the sound of our engines.”

I stepped slowly through the door keeping my eyes on both of them until the door closed between us.

Jared sat astride his bike. The duffle bag with the guns was lashed to my seat.

“At this point, it feels like you’re trying to fuck things up,” I said.

“I’m sorry man, I owed you one,” he whined. “I thought I could back you up if something went wrong.”

“YOU are what went wrong,” I said. “And what the hell is going on in your head? Why did you think it was a good idea to leave your sister all alone?”

“I… I didn’t think you’d…”

“You didn’t
think
. That’s the problem.”

We rode in silence, but when we got back to the condo something felt off. It was unsettling. Jared had run ahead of me. I think he knew better than to walk by my side. When I reached the door, he was standing in front of it with his head down.

“What are you doing?”

When he faced me, he was as white as a ghost.

“What is it?”

He held out a piece of paper. I had to flip it over to see what it said.

You know where to find her. Bring the boy.

I
t all happened so fast
.

There were at least two of them. I didn’t get many details because they pulled the hood over my head so fast. Going by the tone of their voices, they didn’t seem too concerned with being seen.

“Get her in the van!”

I struggled with every bit of energy I had, but they were too strong. They held me down and bound my hands with a rough rope. My feet kicked wildly.

“Hold her still, I’m gonna stick her.”

“No man, Dirty said to bring her in sober. He doesn’t want her all drugged up.”

Dirty?

They were taking me somewhere… to someone. I thought I heard Hale say that name when he was on the phone earlier, but I couldn’t be sure.

“Where are you taking me?”

I tried to sound strong, but my voice shook.

“My brother is inside. He’s expecting me any minute, so when I don’t come back he’s gonna call the cops. He probably already did, so you better let me go.”

“Don’t lie to us, bitch. Your brother and your man are both out of pocket. We watched them leave.”

How did they find us? Hale said the place was safe. He never would have left me here if it wasn’t.

Jared.

He left last night. Even after Hale told him not to a thousand times. Someone must have spotted him when he went out to buy that beer.

Hale said the MC had eyes everywhere. All it would’ve taken is one person to see him in town and follow him to the condo.

“What are you going to do to me?”

“Be quiet. You’ll find out soon enough.”

“Find out what?”

My fear was giving way to anger.

“Is this what you guys do… take young women and deliver them to your boss? That sounds like the work they give to the punks. Isn’t that what they call you guys who take the orders?”

Maybe, if I could piss them off they’d make a mistake. If they pulled over or something, I might be able to get out and run.

“You’re not gonna be talkin’ so tough when you get to where you’re going.”

I was laid out across the van’s middle seats. It was a bit of a surprise when they didn’t secure me in place. I guess they figured I couldn’t do any damage with my hands behind my back. I was about to prove that theory wrong.

There was a small gap where the bottom of the bag came to rest against my neck. If I tilted my head back far enough, I could see a little bit of what was in front of me.

The guy in the passenger seat had his hands in his lap. From what I could tell, he didn’t have any kind of weapon on him. I couldn’t nudge the bag high enough to see above his shoulders, but that wasn’t especially important. The driver was going to be my target.

Step one was going to be easy. All I had to do was navigate to the other end of the bench seat. If I could do that, then I could see the driver.

“Do you guys know Roughneck?” I asked.

They didn’t answer right away. I could imagine they were looking at each other trying to see if the other one was going to say anything. Either way, it gave me enough time to flip my position.

“You think that prick is gonna save you?” said the passenger.

“So, you do know him?”

“I know he better bring your brother’s dumb ass to the clubhouse or Dirty is gonna take out his frustrations on you.”

It took a minute to get my bearings, but from the new position I was able to see the steering column and part of the van’s instrument panel. The speedometer showed we were doing about forty. As long as we weren’t on the freeway, I knew I’d have the guts to go through with my plan.

“He sounds like a charmer.”

“Yeah, he’s a regular Casanova. Now, would you please shut the fuck up?”

“Not much for conversation, huh? That’s okay. I can occupy myself.”

“Good.”

Yeah. Good. Just keep thinking that, asshole.

From the steering wheel to the driver’s head had to be no more than three feet. That gave me a better than good approximation of where to aim. My legs would be plenty long enough to find the mark. With any luck, I’d hit him square in the temple.

The rope around my wrists was too tight. But, if I had some wiggle room, it would be a safe bet that I could get the hood off. That’s all I would need. If the crash didn’t bring bystanders, my screaming would.

“Where are we?”

I knew I wouldn’t get an answer, but it was worth a shot. I didn’t care if they tried to do something, because they wouldn’t have enough time to react.

“Put a gag in her mouth,” ordered the driver. “If we have to keep listening to her, I’ll kill her before we get her back to the house.”

“House? You mean clubhouse? I can’t wait to tell the police all about this…”

The passenger rustled in his chair. He was probably trying to climb out of his seat. If he didn’t have a belt on when we crashed, all the better.

I scooted down further on the seat, positioning my right leg in the center, between the two captain’s chairs.

“I think I’m going to get out, now.”

They didn’t make it past their laugh before I struck.

I kicked hard at the spot I’d measured. The heel of my running shoe led the way. It connected with a powerful thump to what I could only guess was the back of the driver’s head.

The van swerved violently to the left.

“Shit!” yelled the passenger. I heard him fall into the dash.

We cut back to the right. The tires squealed against the hot surface of the road. The action of the van made me afraid it might catch something and flip over. I’d be killed for sure, if that were the case. Without being strapped in, I’d bounce around like a piece of corn in a popper. Truth be told, that seemed like a better option than being dragged away by these animals.

“Dime, get it under control!” shouted the passenger.

I’d fallen to the floor in between the front and back seats. Although it was probably only a few seconds, the crash seemed to be happening in slow motion. Maybe it was because I was blinded by the bag, but all of my other senses felt more in tune.

“I’m trying,” screamed the driver. “That bitch kicked me.”

And I was about to do it again.

From the floor, I couldn’t see anything. The sound of his voice would be a good enough to lead my foot to his face.

I spun and braced myself against the base of the passenger seat. This time I used my left foot as I balanced on the opposite knee to extend my range. The first try hit air, but the second found its way to his neck.

I connected with soft flesh. Just as the van was being pulled under control, it went right back off the rails.

“Ahh, c’bon, get ter!” His words were muffled by a hand. Maybe it was his nose I hit instead.

We fishtailed through rocks and dirt. In my mind, we were on the shoulder of the road. The driver stomped on the brakes. When the van bounced, I felt sure we were going to flip upside down and roll. But we didn’t.

After a skidding turn, the van came to a rest. The body of the vehicle rocked on its worn shocks. Then, there re was silence.

I knew I couldn’t waste a second. From my seat on the floor, I quickly brought my tied hands beneath me and looped them over my feet. Thank God for the six years of gymnastics when I was a kid.

The bag came off my head with little resistance. They hardly tied the thing in place. I could see for the first time.

The scene was similar to what I imagined in my head. My captors were both very typical looking bikers. Even in the van, they wore their leather riding gear.

The passenger was slumped over the dash board. There was a spiraling web of cracks in the windshield above his head. His breaths came in shallow, slow repetitions.

The driver wasn’t in much better shape. His nose seeped blood. It could have been the result of the crash, but I was happy to believe it was from my kick. He was awake, but clearly stunned.

I, on the other hand, seemed to be free of any thing more than a few bruises. My arms and legs both worked and that was what mattered most. Maybe it was the thrill of the crash, but I felt
great.

I lunged for the sliding door. A frantic moment washed over me as I realized I didn’t know how to open it. I frantically searched for the handle.

Behind me, one of the guys was beginning to stir.

C’mon Addy. You can do this.

I stopped myself, took a deep breath, and focused. My fingers searched the normal places while my eyes scoured the rest of the door. There it was! A small, pull-style, lever. It was slightly higher than I’d been looking. I pulled and the door rolled open.

Run!

I stumbled out of the van.

“Help! Somebody please help me!”

I screamed and waved my arms, but I was talking to trees. We were somewhere outside of town on a deserted road. It was paved, but in desperate need of repair. The van sat perpendicular to it on the sloped shoulder.

I’d waited too long to make my move, and now there was no help to be had.

“Stay there!” yelled the driver.

No way
.

I sprinted in the direction we’d come from… At least, I hoped that’s the direction I was going. It was hard to be sure after the accident.

Someone was bound to come along and see me. With the head start, neither one of the bikers would be able to catch me on foot, and I was pretty sure that van wasn’t going anywhere. I was athletic enough to really
run
, and the sheer adrenaline flowing through my veins wouldn’t allow me to stop. I rounded a small turn and realized just what kind of trouble I was in.

The road was long and straight. I could see for days. There were no cars coming.

I focused on the vanishing point and prayed for a car to come over the horizon. I reasoned that even if one did approach, it might not stop for some crazy woman. I decided if someone did come, I’d risk being run over to jump in front and get them to stop.

In the short distance behind me, I heard an engine sputter painfully to life. So much for the van being out of commission. I chanced a look back over my shoulder, and sure enough, they were getting turned around to follow me.

My options weren’t ideal. I could continue along the road and hope someone and witness got in range before they did, or I could go off the road and try to hid amongst the trees. My legs chose for me.

I turned away from the road and started running even harder toward the tree line. It couldn’t have been more than fifty yards away. The van wouldn’t be able to follow me there.

Maybe it was the motion from the running, or maybe it was pure luck, but the binds on my wrists started to shake loose. I worked them as I moved. With a little effort, they slipped over the wider parts of my hands and fell to the ground.

I was half way there when I heard the van skid to a stop. There were faint sounds of the men cursing and then climbing out to follow.

A small wire fence blocked my path. I hadn’t noticed it from the road, and once I spotted it amongst the tall grass… I was too late to avoid it. I made a last ditch effort to hop over, but the combination of my speed plus the soft condition of the ground I was running across caused me to come up short.

I crashed into it at full speed. My upper half when tumbling over, while my lower got caught up. My shorts snagged on one of the protruding wires. I struggled to break free but the way I was hanging had me at an awkward angle. I couldn’t reach the place where I was caught.

“Hurry!” yelled one of the guys from behind me. “She’s getting away. Don’t let her get over that fence!”

They were closing in fast. Their harsh breaths flowed in unison with their heavy steps.

I struggled with everything I had against the fence. I pulled myself further over, hoping my body weight would help me to break free. While I got over to the other side, it just left me hanging… almost completely upside down.

“Grab her!”

They were within spitting distance.

I gave it one last pull. The fabric stretched under the pressure and finally broke free. My shorts ripped down the side, and tore almost completely from my body. But I was over the fence.

I scrambled to my feet just as the two bikers crashed into the fence behind me. Their momentum, along with the weight of their bodies almost took the fence to the ground. The tumbled in a heap.

My legs felt like jelly. It was as if the conquering of the fence took all of the remaining energy out of me. I wobbled toward the trees.

“Get off of me! Get up!”

The canopy of the thicket blocked out the sun. Though it was the middle of the day, the area was dark. I ventured in with no real idea of where to go. I wanted to disappear. That’s all I knew.

My body didn’t want to carry me any further. The only thing I could do was pick a spot to hide and pray they didn’t find me. Up ahead, there was a small clearing. I figured that if I could get beyond that and get down by the base of a tree, they’d have a harder time figuring out which way I went.

They were on their feet again and running. I had to decide fast. I picked one to the roadside. I didn’t want them to have the opportunity to cut me off from the road.

“Where the hell did she go?”

Their whispers were blunted by the surrounding foliage, but they were close enough that I could still hear. I held my breath and tried not to move a muscle. A car went by in the distance.

Just my luck.

Their voices trailed off. I couldn’t tell if they were past me, or if they had stopped talking. I wanted to close my eyes and pretend this wasn’t happening. If they spotted me back here, there would be no getting away.

I wouldn’t be able to hide forever. The area wasn’t that large. If they split up to look, they’d find me in a matter of minutes. I had to keep moving.

It was hard to know where they were. The way I was leaning against the tree had my back to them. I think they passed me but I couldn’t be sure.

Count to ten, Addy.

If I didn’t hear anything by the time I got to ten, I’d run back to the road.

One…

The fence wouldn’t slow me down this time.

Two…

Maybe they left the keys behind in their hurry to catch me.