Outlaw (11 page)

AJ fell in with them.

Angel noticed that Cole’s brothers followed behind
them.

When they reached the picnic table where Mack was
now sitting, Cole turned to her, and said, “Wait here, darlin’.” Then he gave
Mack a look.

Angel watched as Cole and the group moved on around
the side of the building into the darkness.

Mack pulled her down on the seat next to him. He
motioned with his head, and several more guys followed Cole. Mack turned to
her. “You sure about this?”

She nodded.

He studied her eyes a moment, and then stood up,
leaving her sitting with three other brothers.

Angel watched him walk over to the porch, and say
something to Wyatt, whom she remembered. Wyatt turned, and said something to
one of his guys. That guy motioned to another, and suddenly the stereo was
turned up to the volume where you could barely hear conversation. Then Wyatt
and Mack both headed around the building.

It was a long time before Cole came back. When he
finally did, he was with Mack and a couple of the others. They sat down at the
table. Someone got them all a beer. Cole put his arm around her, and pulled her
close, and kissed her forehead. “You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“You were right,” he confirmed, looking into her
eyes.

She nodded, afraid to ask what they’d done to him.

Cole looked away, taking a hit off his beer.

“Chuck came by earlier,” she informed him.

He slowly lowered the bottle, looking back at her.
He nodded. “He’s next on the agenda.”

Wyatt came back around the corner with some of his
guys. He looked over at the table, and jerked his head toward the building.

Cole and Mack both got up, and followed him up the
porch steps, and inside. The volume on the stereo was suddenly turned back
down.

They were inside for a long time.

Angel was getting really tired. She drank the last
of her beer, and set the bottle down on the table, yawning.

“Want another beer, darlin’?” Crash asked her.

Caught yawning, she smiled at him, and shook her
head. “No, thanks.”

“Okay, babe. I’m
gonna
get
me one. Be right back.” He grabbed her empty, and got up, leaving her there
with several of his other brothers.

Angel put her hand to her neck, massaging it, and
rolling her shoulders, her eyes traveling around the grounds. She froze as she
spotted Chuck standing across the yard, watching her. Hugging the flannel shirt
tighter around her, she tried not to tremble.

He smiled an evil grin at her.

Tearing her gaze from him, she glanced up at the
porch, and saw that Cole was now standing there, staring at her. His eyes slid
from her to where Chuck was standing. She watched as the look on his face
hardened, and he stepped off the porch heading toward Chuck.

Angel noticed a couple of his brothers following at
a distance.

Cole walked up to Chuck, his hands in his pockets.
“Hey, man.”

“Hey, Cole. It hasn’t been two weeks yet. If you’re
looking for the rest of that money-”

“Naw, man. I said I’d give you two weeks.” Cole
looked back at Angel. “It was a good trade, actually.”

Chuck looked from Cole toward Angel. “How’re you
liking her?”

Cole looked back at her,
then
turned back to Chuck. He nodded, smiling. “She’s a handful, alright. You
weren’t kiddin’.”

They both laughed.

Cole lit a cigarette. “Sure would be nice to get my
hands on some more like her.”

“Really?”

“Yep.”

Chuck nodded. “Well, I’m sure I could find you some
more. Maybe you could cut that debt down.”

Cole nodded. “Maybe.” He took another hit off his
cigarette. “She told me some story about an Asian guy you bought her off of.”

“She did, huh?”

“Yeah. She did. Is it true?”

Chuck shrugged.

“Maybe you could hook me up with this guy.”

“Yeah. I don’t think so,” Chuck replied, shaking his
head.

“Make it worth your while.
Mack’s
talking about opening a cathouse.
I get some young pussy like that. Make
the place. I clear your debt. We cut you in for a piece of it.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.”

“I didn’t know the Evil Dead were into running
pussy.”

Cole stared him down. “Dead Souls don’t know all our
business.”

Chuck nodded.

“Can you get me a face-to-face with this guy?”

Chuck thought about it a minute. “Sure. I guess.”

“Where’s he at?”

“Here and there.”

Cole nodded, seeing Chuck wasn’t going to give up
too much information. “How far we got to ride?”

“Not far.”

“Think you could set up a meet for tomorrow? Score
you some big points with Mack. With the patch over, and all.”

Chuck studied Cole a moment. “Yeah. Okay. I’ll make
a call.”

“Sweet. Let me know.”

“Okay.”

Cole walked away.

Returning to the picnic table, Cole sat down next to
Angel. He looked over at Mack, who was sitting on his other side. “You headin’
back tonight?”

Mack puffed on a cigar. “Yeah.”

Cole nodded. “I got some unfinished business with
Chucky. I’m gonna stay until tomorrow.”

Mack glanced at Angel, then asked Cole, “You need some
guys?”

“Yeah.”

Mack nodded. “Take who you need.”

“Thanks.”

Mack stood up. Cole stood up with him. Mack looked
from Cole to Angel. “Been a very successful trip.”

Cole nodded. “Yeah.”

They slapped each other’s backs in a bear hug.
“Thank the lady for me,” Mack said in his ear.

They broke apart.

Cole looked in his eyes. “Will do.”

“See ya back at the clubhouse tomorrow?”

Cole nodded.

Mack walked off. The six brothers standing around
the table stayed. Angel noticed the rest leaving.

Cole sat back down. He put his arm around her,
pulled her close, and kissed her. He pulled back, and looked up at someone
beyond Angel’s head. “We all set?”

Angel turned her head and saw Chuck standing at the
end of the table.

Cole could feel her instantly tense. He tightened his
arm around her.

“Yeah. Said he can meet us around 10am tomorrow.”

Cole looked at Crash, and back at Chuck. “Where?”

“There’s an abandoned rest area out on I80.”

“How long will it take to get there from here?” Cole
asked him.

“Fifteen or twenty minutes.”

Cole nodded. “Great. Mack said to pass on his
appreciation for making this happen.”

“Cool.”

“So, we’ll hook up in the morning?”

“Yeah. Okay. Got some real good weed over there if
you want,” Chuck offered, nodding toward the group at the fire.

“Me and the lady are gonna go find us a spot.”

Chucky looked at her, and smiled. “I know a nice
little spot just over that hill.”

“Yeah. I heard you do,” Cole replied in a deadly
voice, his eyes taking on a predatory quality.

Chuck smiled, and walked away.

When he was gone, Cole gave Angel a squeeze. “You
okay?”

“No.”

He pulled her close, and kissed her forehead. “I’m
right here, baby. Don’t worry about him. He’s never gonna touch you again.”

She nodded.

He looked down at her, and brushed a stray lock of
her hair out of her eyes.

“Now what?” she asked.

“Now we find us a place to crash. You don’t mind
sleeping on the ground again, do ya, baby doll?” He smiled down at her.

She groaned.

“How’re we
gonna
handle
this tomorrow, Cole?” one of the brothers asked.

Cole took a hit off his beer, and looked around to
make sure no one would overhear. “Here’s what I’m thinking. First light
tomorrow two of you head out on I80. Look for that abandoned rest area he was
talking about. Scout it out. See if it can be seen from the interstate. When
you find it, call me. Me, Angel and Crash go with Chucky to the meet. The rest
we play by ear.”

“Wyatt okay with this?” Crash asked.

Cole nodded. “He’s done with Chucky.

Cole stood up, and pulled Angel with him. “Come on,
babe.”

Chapter Five

Cole had his back to a tree trunk, and Angel wrapped
in his arms, nestled between his legs. His blanket was thrown over them.
Someone nudged his leg with a boot. He squinted up into the early morning
light.

“We’re headin’ out.”

“Yeah. Okay,” Cole replied quietly. He watched as
his two brothers walked off toward their bikes. He pulled Angel closer. A
moment later, he heard the engines fire up.

Cole’s gaze took in the yard and field around them.
Everyone appeared to be passed out. The bonfire was smoldering. As he heard the
engines fade into the distance, he kept watch, making sure no one followed them
out. Pulling his cell out of his pocket, he flipped it open. 5am.

Angel stirred. She opened her eyes, and tilted her
head to look up at him.

Cole leaned down, and kissed her lightly. “Go back
to sleep, baby doll. We’ve got hours yet.”

She snuggled against him and soon drifted off again.

Within the hour, Cole’s cell phone vibrated. He
flipped it open, and put it to his ear. “Yeah.”

He quietly listened to the report. They’d found the
rest area. Overgrown.
Far enough off the road.
Perfect
setup.
An underpass just before it.
Perfect
place for the rest to wait, unseen.

Cole ended the call, and flipped his phone closed.
He stroked Angel’s back, looking down at her, wondering how he was going to let
her go when this was over.

“Cole?” she whispered.

“Hmm?”

“That guy last night?”

“Yeah?”

“What if he already gave the feds something?”

“He didn’t.”

“How do you know for sure?”

His hand stopped stroking her back. “A man tends to
tell the truth when his fingers are being cut off.”

She sat up, twisting to look at him. “I…I didn’t
hear any screams. The music…”

He stared at her, but made no excuses.

“Is he…
”

“He didn’t suffer long.”

“I think I’m going to be sick.” She pushed out of
his arms, and crawled around the tree.

Cole stood up, and went to her. He squatted down
next to Angel, and held her hair as she emptied her stomach. When she was done,
he handed her a bottle of water to rinse her mouth out. “You okay?”

She shook her head no.

Cole took a deep breath, and looked at the horizon.
“This isn’t done yet.” He looked back at her, his face blank, his expression
carefully remote. “I promised you two more. Today.”

She looked away.

“And they deserve it,” he reminded her. Reaching
down, he pulled her to her feet. He slid his hands in her hair, and tilted her
face up to his. “I forget how young you are. You gonna be okay with this?”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s what your father would do. You know that,
don’t you?”

She stared at him.

“Think of all the other girls they’ve done this to.
And there’ll be more. Doesn’t
that
turn your stomach?”

She nodded, and bent her head, about to break down.

He pulled her to his chest. “Come here, babe.” He
held her a long time.

The rest of the crew began to stir. Crash was
standing up stretching, popping his spine.

“Hey, Crash,” Cole called.

“Yeah, man?”

“Go inside. See if you can find us some coffee.”

“You got it, boss.”

A few minutes later, he was handing them each a
Styrofoam cup full of steaming black coffee. “Hope you like it black. I
couldn’t find any cream or sugar.”

“This is fine. Thank you,” Angel replied.

They moved to one of the picnic tables, and sat down
to drink their coffees. The other guys soon joined them.

“You get the word?” Crash asked Cole.

“Yeah.” Cole filled them in on what they’d found
out.

“Sounds perfect. We wait at the underpass for your
signal.”

“Which will be?” one of the brothers asked.