FOUND: A Motorcycle Club Romance Novel (18 page)

“Think you can ride a Harley?”

“You're really going to give me your bike?”

“Why not? Just tell me if you can ride.”

“Yeah, think I can manage. I've ridden bikes a couple times. And it's been a while since I was that girl who struggled learning to ride her bicycle.”

He smirked. “Good. I remember that summer I spent teaching you.”

“Any tips?”

“Yeah... All you need to know is -
don't fall off
.”

“Good advice.”

“ Now let me make you some coffee while you get ready.”

I left Boyd in the kitchen and headed towards the shower. While he may have been waiting in a house for someone capable of doing anything to return, he kept his cool under pressure. But then again he was never the type to do otherwise. Never once did he back down from a fight and this sentiment within him appeared to have grown through the years. Still, I wasn't so confident of this ending so smoothly. I listened to his instructions and rushed as fast as I could to get ready.

I walked through the door to find Boyd shutting his phone. His friendly gaze had switched to one of focus. That same business look I saw in Anton at the clubhouse.

“Think I'll be able to ride in this?” I asked with a pose, already knowing what he would reply.

“Nice outfit,” Boyd commented the second I walked through the door. “You'll turn some heads in
that
.”

“
Hey
... It's the best I could do.”

It really was. The purple-pink kinda prom dress I found was the only item of woman's clothing that fit. Coupled with it was a huge blue jersey of some English soccer team I'd never heard of and a pair of beat up old sneakers. The big Air Max kind. It was quite the ensemble, but I needed to get out of my red dress. The bad memories I attached to it reminded me of the past. I wanted a fresh start. More than anything, Boyd teasing me about the outfit helped break the tension of the past few days.

“It'll do.” Boyd took a roll of bills from his pocket and handed them to me. “Take this. You can buy something something decent when you get to the city.”

“And what city is that?”

“Barstow, though---”

“
Barstow
! Death Valley? We're out that far?”

“Yeah. It's small so you may wanna move on after a meal and a change of clothes.”

“Barstow's a long way from Midnight,” I commented as he led me outside.

“Tell me about it, but it was worth it to see you again. Would have killed me to see you locked up in a place like this any longer...”

I reached out and placed a hand on his arm. “Boyd...”

“Wait 'til later. Just get on my bike and follow the GPS. I've logged it for you already. There's a spare cell, the one I use for emergencies, below the seat with my number dialed in if you need to call...”

I sat across the bike and took his helmet in my hands. The leather under my butt was hot from the sun.

“...Remember, just get to a hotel some place and hold tight until I come looking for you. You're safe now Cassie. You've got nothing left to fear.”

“I'm out of trouble, but what about you?”

“Trust me. I'm fine. The club are already burning rubber to get here and who's to say he'll even come back? I'm staying here just to be sure. With all our coke he's got, Young's doubtless too high to even drive his way back.”

“And what if he does?”

“Don't worry... If he don't get back by nightfall when the MC gets here, I'll come looking for you. Boyd's gonna be alright.”

Hearing him encouraging me to get to safety only made me anxious. Boyd seemed completely in control and capable, though the thought of being away from his strength shook my bones.

I placed his helmet on my head. “Why don't you come with me and wait until everyone arrives? I hate to think of you being all alone out here.”

“One last time...” He smiled. “When Jerome came up here, his tracks show he took the long way. He'll probably take it if he gets back. Follow the other path I've dialed into the bike and you'll be fine. It's fine, Cassie. It's fine.”

“It's not...”

Boyd stopped any further protestation. He took control of the seat and the handlebars and began wheeling the bike - and me with it - around to the second trail he had come in on. “Cassie, there are some things a man has to face himself... And this is one of them. All I know is I can't risk you being here if shit hits the fan.”

“
OK
... I understand.”

He positioned me steady before putting the key in the ignition, flicking the kill switch and pressing the starter. The engine came to life under me with a vigorous blast. He shouted, so I could hear, “You got this?”

“Yeah! I'll treat her right!”

“You better. This Road King is my baby girl!” He joked before giving my ass a light smack when I brought the bike to life.

“Boyd. I'll---”

“See you soon. Now get.”

I left with a cloud of dust rising around me. Stopping about one hundred feet from the house, I waved back to him.

~ Chapter Nineteen ~

I rode for miles and miles until I saw anything that resembled life. And even that wasn't human. It was groups of wild stallions running along the mountain views in the distance. It was a beautiful scene. I only wish I could have appreciated it.

The house Jerome kept me captive in certainly was far out. I quickly realized as I rode alongside sand dunes that there is the touristy Death Valley some know and there's what I experienced then.
Death
Valley is about right. There was next to no life. The feeling of being this cut off from all humanity made any thoughts I had about being locked up in that dungeon all the worse. I prayed Boyd would be safe up there.

The first stop on the map after riding up dirt roads was Death Valley Junction. Then Evelyn. Both were nothing more than ghost towns. Barely a flicker of memory from a past forgotten. The buildings that once stood were now crumbling wooden ruins, scorched white by the sun. The only semblance of modern life existing were the warning signs about rattlesnakes. There were a lot of them.

When I cut through Shoshone and Tecopa human life started inching back into view. People lived out here in this harsh environment, as unlikely as it seemed. In both towns I began to see tourist cars heading back up to the Park. When I saw a family – mom, pop, and two kids smiling and kidding around in the back – my heart was warmed.

Though not until I finished up Highway 127 and got to Baker did I see anything that honestly resembled a town. Baker seemed to be the crossing point for Barstow and Las Vegas and you couldn't miss it. The World's Largest Thermometer, funnily enough the town's premier attraction, could be seen from way out. It stood above everything else and guided me forwards like a beacon.

At this point I had been on the road for over two hours and was in desperate need for a stop and something to drink. Lucky for me there was a Denny's slap bang in the middle of the town. I got off the Harley and just about managed to keep it steady. I don't know how Boyd was able to get all the way out of here from Midnight. My hands were sore only from keeping hold of the handlebar and, even riding down the straight roads I followed, it was tough to keep control of it. I had ridden motorcycle's before, but nothing with the raging horsepower of this one.

Leaving the keys in Boyd's hiding spot, I stepped into Denny's and sixties pop music blared back at me. Girl pop stuff about love and heartbreak. It seemed strange, totally odd to be playing on the speakers, but otherwise this was any ordinary Denny's. Of course, it was an empty one. I took a seat at the counter. It was just me and the server.

“Welcome to Denny's,” the Latino girl at the counter greeted me when I sat down at the counter. “What can I get you? Drinks? Food?”

“Hi.” I dropped the helmet on the seat next to me. “Two Cokes, please. Two
very
large and cold Cokes.”

She smiled back, before turning to make the drinks. “You look hot. Come in on a bike?”

“Yeah. A Harley... It's been a long ride.”

“No kidding. It must be eighty out there today.”

“Feels hotter.”

She placed both ice-cool drinks in front of me. “Drink them and you'll feel much better.”

Before she finished the sentence, I had polished off the first glass. “Thanks. Exactly what I needed.”

“No worries.” Her young face smiled, She had a childlike face, so pure and innocent. Next to the strippers at Ez's club and the harsh characters I had spent the past few days with she was purely angelic.

Though as I contemplated polishing off the next Coke, I felt her eyes from across the counter drift over the cut above my eyebrow. It was easy to spot and she found it. The swelling and redness remained and without any make-up in Virgil's place all I could do was run water over it. Wanting to get her mind off what she noticed I asked, “Your music?”

She laughed. “You could tell? Our manager is out and the chef don't care... I like playing this kind of stuff. It makes work funner... It helps me get through the days, you know? Well... that and reading.”

I couldn't see the book she flashed at me. “What's that?”

“
The Picture of Dorian Gray
. You read it?”

“Me? I've never been much of a reader. Any good?”

She held it close to her chest. “You wouldn't believe.”

“Well...” I stood up and glanced at her name badge.
“Kaitlin
I look forward to hearing you tell me all about it when I get back... You got a bathroom in here?”

She shook her head. “Kinda. The girl's is out of action, but the men's is good. Just a warning though, there's a guy in there so you might want to ask if you can use it first.”

“I will. Thanks again.”

I walked across to the other side of the large empty restaurant and towards the restroom. The friendly waitress was right. A big out of order sign covered the women's bathroom door.

“Hello? Anyone in here?” I called out tentatively, not wanting to catch a glimpse of anything I shouldn't.

Though I didn't get a reply. From the looks of it the Kaitlin must have not noticed whoever she thought was in here exiting. Needing to go bad, I rushed straight for the nearest cubicle, locked the door and sat down.

“Well, well... You got nine lives, you unlucky bitch!”

I gasped and looked up. Jerome's leering face drilled down at me. Instantly, it seemed like the cubicle walls were closing in on me. Every fear, every concern, every torment I experienced back out in the desert sucker punched me again. It got even worse when he lifted his gun over the top of the booth and pointed it straight at me.

“Now here I was,” he continued, “getting my black ass back from Nevada and treating myself to a fucking burger and milkshake. The last thing I expected was you...”

I stared down the barrel of his Desert Eagle, not daring to move.

“...I wanna know, how the fuck did you get out here?”

I gulped and prepared myself for anything. “I hitchhiked.”

“Funny bitch. What's the deal?”

“That's my business.” I glared up at him. “Now do you mind? I need to finish.”

“No problem,” he casually spoke before dropping to the floor with a thud. “I'll be outside. And I warn you, be cool.”

I finished up and, while staring at the back of the wooden door, a million thoughts of how I could play this situation raced through my mind. I considered every possibility. Screaming, running, fighting. Though with the gun containing a bullet with your name on it less than two feet away it's hard to do anything. I only wish I didn't leave Boyd's spare cell in the bike. Coming in here I figured I wouldn't need it. Now I would give anything for it to be in my hand.

He knocked on the door, the metal of his weapon thudding against it loudly. “Open up. I ain't going to ask nicely again.”

“OK... I'm coming out.” I flushed the toilet.

The second I turned up the lock Jerome burst into the stall and pressed the heavy weight of his gun against my temple.

“Bitch – fucking tell me,” he growled between teeth in need of a brushing. “How the fuck did you get out here?”

“I walked.”

“You going to get funny with me when this motherfucker is pointed at you?” He pressed the barrel deep into my forehead.

“You really going to try something? Out here? I know you're stupid, but are you stupid enough to do anything in a restaurant?”

He laughed. “Think that barely legal illegal piece of ass out there can stop me? She raises an eyebrow and I'll blow her fucking head off.
You
raise an eyebrow and I'll light her ass up too.”

Jerome may have been talking tough, but I believed every word. He would have unloaded a clip into her without a second thought. He killed the cop, and after that I didn't want to see him hurt anyone again.

I raised my hands between us. “OK... OK! What do you want?”

“Shit girl,” he spoke aggressively, yet softly as not to arise suspicion, “you better start talking or this thing is being let rip. I wanna know how the hell you got here... You didn't just unlock yourself and walk across the desert.”

I racked my brain for an answer to satisfy him. I would never reveal the truth of Boyd finding his way up here. I needed something good. Something believable.

“
Virgil
... You know, that friend of yours who owns the place you locked me up in and trashed. He came back and found me. He was pissed... Just five minutes ago did he drop me off here in Baker. Said I could catch a bus from here out.”

His fierce expression altered and puzzlement fell across his features. He tilted his head. “
Virgil
?”

“
Yeah
... He came back and I managed to convince him we were in the middle of a sex thing... You were leaving me down there while running errands as
punishment
. I kinda convinced him we were naughty. He thought it was crazy, and wasn't too happy about the mess, but I think I managed to convince him. Jerome... I made sure to say nothing else.”