by Lee McIntyre
Tugg’s eyes widened and Adam could see the smallest trace of a smile on his lips.
“Best song ever,” Adam said.
“That may be,” the cop broke in. “But you guys are stone cold idiots riding around here with that on your truck. There’s an outlaw motorcycle gang called The Reapers up in Malheur. Their motto is some damn thing in Latin. They see this and you just might fear the reaper.”
“We’ll take our chances,” said Tugg.
“Mortui Vivos Docent,” said the cop.
“Huh?” Adam said. “I thought you didn’t know Latin.”
“It’s my grandson’s school motto. Only thing I know.”
“What’s it mean?” Tugg said.
“The dead teach the living.”
Chapter 21
“You should’ve let me drive,” Adam yelled from under the tarp. “How the hell am I going to handle the shotgun from back here?”
The two dots ahead had grown larger.
“Just let me handle the truck,” Tugg said, turning his head to the small window behind him. “I don’t think they saw our tailgate when we were with the cop. If we stay back, maybe we’re good.”
“Why are they going so slow? I thought motorcycles always hauled ass.”
“They usually do,” Tugg barked. “Stay ready.”
Adam couldn’t see a bloody thing. Big Wheels. Board games. Stuffed animals of every kind known to man. The tarp was loose now, but he dared not poke his head up till Tugg gave the signal. Then all hell would break loose.
“Maybe the cop called them,” Adam yelled.
“What?”
“Maybe the COP CALLED them!”
“Shit,” Tugg said. “They’re down to forty-five. I’m going to back off some more.”
Adam felt the truck slow as he fingered the shotgun. “How many shots?”
“FIVE!”
“What the hell?”
“One in the chamber and four in the mag. Adam, just shut up, okay?”
The truck slowed again.
“Adam, they’re signaling us to pass. This ain’t good.”
“When you get alongside just ram ’em!” Adam shouted.
“Can’t.”
“Why the hell not?”
“It’s a biker thing. You don’t ram a bike with a vehicle even if he’s your sworn enemy. If the club back in Portland found out, they’d kill me themselves.”
“Shit, Tugg, you’re worried about some biker code? Now? Let’s take our chances. We’re gonna die if we don’t do something here.”
“Shotgun!” Tugg yelled. “You wait for my signal.” The truck picked up speed at an alarming clip and Adam heard the braaaaaap of engines kicking down an octave as the bikes fell behind.
“They see us?” Adam called.
The motorcycle engines picked up.
“How many?”
“Still just two,” Tugg said.
“What’s happening?”
“They’re signaling me to stop.”
“You gonna?”
“Adam, pay attention! You’ve got one at each tail light. Ten and two. Go left, then right. Got it?”
“Maybe I can blind them with the tarp.”
“Adam, don’t be a fucking idiot. You’ve got one chance. Put your back against the cab.”
Heart slamming.
Engines whining.
Pin pricks of light.
A thousand needles at the back of his neck.
When Tugg’s voice finally came, the release was sweet as morphine.
Chapter 22
The Big Wheel exploded on the pavement in a shower of red and yellow plastic. The motorcycles swerved to the side and back, leaving a look of shock on the bikers’ faces that was visible from 15 feet away, even at 70 m.p.h.
But now Adam was in trouble.
With the element of surprise gone, it was only a matter of time before the bikers got the advantage. Adam had done enough to piss them off, but not enough to stop them.
“What the hell are you doing?” Tugg screamed. “Did you just throw something at them?”
Adam steadied himself against the cab and opened one of the board games. The wind suddenly took it and scattered fake money, board pieces, and bits of paper all over the road. This had a slightly better effect than the Big Wheel, as one of the bikers backed off forty feet, then came roaring back, drawing his finger across his neck in the universal sign for execution.
“Adam, for God’s sake, just do it!”
“I’ve got a plan!”
“No, you don’t. Do it now!”
One of the bikers reached into his vest. Adam flinched when he saw bright metal, but it was only a cell phone.
A cell phone?
Adam grabbed a basketball and threw it straight at the biker. He missed by three feet, but the commotion was enough to cause a momentary wobble and the biker dropped his phone.
The wind muffled an indecipherable bark of cursing, as the other biker pulled to within ten feet of the tailgate.
The angle was perfect.
If they fell back again Adam might not get another shot.
He fell on his belly and rolled under the tarp. Adam grabbed the shotgun and slithered through the stuffed animals toward the tailgate.
The roar of the engines was tremendous.
Do it for Kate.
Tugg was holding the truck steady.
Do it for Emma.
Adam popped up and steadied the barrel on the bright blue tailgate.
BOOOOM!!!
A shower of rubber and screaming metal arced into the sunshine. Adam watched as the biker struggled to control the skid and spun off the side of the road in a cloud of red dust.
The second biker braked hard and angled off, but Adam still had a shot at the side of his bike.
BOOOM!
Missed. The biker jumped off and ran for the ditch.
BOOOM!! BOOOM!!! BOOOM!!!
In a shower of debris, Adam saw leather, chrome, and a front tire rise up and fall back to the asphalt.
Adam almost lost his balance as Tugg hit the brakes.
“FIVE SHOTS,” Tugg said.
“DONE!”
“You need more?”
“Done! Look out the back.”
Tugg stopped in the center of the road and whipped his head around. Two dead motorcycles, one smoking and one in flames, burning in the distance.
Adam’s lungs were on fire.
“You get ’em?” Tugg said.
“Don’t know. We need to go back?”
“What the hell for?”
Adam peered down the road. No sign of the bikers.
“You okay?”
“Yeah,” Adam replied. “My ears are ringing.”
They were both silent as they watched the smoke rise. Adam climbed out of the truck bed and came around to the cab. The wind had picked up.
“Why did you do that?” Tugg said.
“I needed to take out two bikes. Not two bikers.”
“You almost got us killed.”
“No I didn’t. My plan worked.”
“Define ‘worked’.”
Fingers of black curled into the aqua sky.
“Someone’s going to see the smoke,” Tugg said.
“We’re almost to the mountains.”
Tugg turned his head and looked back one more time. “Good.”
Chapter 23
The smell of marijuana, sweat, and engine grease hung in the air like a blanket. The only light in the clubhouse came from a window draped with an American flag.
Adam kept peeling his beer label like it was an orange, trying to get it off all in one piece. The whole room was focused on Tugg, who was finally wearing his colors.
Adam wondered what Emma was doing this very minute.
“That’s not what we heard!” a voice boomed. “We heard you threw dog shit at ’em.”
The crowd roared.
“Not me, him,” Tugg said, pointing.
Suddenly all eyes were on Adam. A dozen
bikers and two braless women in black leather vests and Daisy Mae shorts waited for him to say something clever, as Adam kept his attention fixed on his bottle.
“Hey prospect, get your pal another beer,” a voice said to Tugg.
Adam looked up and saw green eyes grinning between a thatch of oily black hair and a close-cropped beard. “Filthy Few” his patch said. In another world, he was George Clooney.
Adam shook his head. “Still working on this one, thanks.”
“You damn sure? Today you can have anything you want.”
Adam had heard one of the bikers call him Spider, and he was pretty obviously the leader. Long and lean, he had a full set of shirtsleeve tattoos running down both arms and a big black spider web etched on his neck.
Spider reached out his hand and slapped one of the women on the ass. “I mean anything.”
Adam looked at the floor and smiled. What in the world was he doing here?
“Big Wheels,” a huge guy near the door said. “How the fuck did you think of that? Righteous insult. That’s what they should be riding.”
“He didn’t really need the shotgun,” Tugg said. “But Adam took the bikes out so they couldn’t follow us.”
“He took them out?” Spider said. “Maybe we got the wrong prospect here.”
Everybody laughed except Adam and Tugg.
“But they’d be scared shitless to follow you all the way here,” Spider continued. “I love it anyway. Take out their horses and make ’em walk.”
“So how you gonna pay us for the Big Wheels?” someone said.
Everyone laughed again.
“Spot those,” Spider exhaled. “He can earn ’em off over the next few days.”
“I’m sorry,” Tugg said. “Wish we could, but Ontario said we had to be back by noon tomorrow. We’ll have to drive all night.”
“Fuck that.” Spider reached for another beer. “Let me talk to ’em. We need you here and you need our votes, prospect. Your friend can just chill.”
What was this? They’d have to stay here? While his little girl was out there somewhere waiting for him?
One of the girls walked over and sat next to Adam.
“Okay well then, g’night.” Adam jumped off his chair, then flushed red when he realized how that looked.
“Crystal, it’s not even dark yet, but this man wants his jammies. Show him where he’s staying,” said Spider.
Crystal smiled and took Adam’s arm.
“I — I —”
“C’mon,” Crystal said. “I’ll show you.”
Adam stole a glance at Tugg, but he looked just like the rest of them. Grinning like idiots.
Chapter 24
“What happens in Ashland stays in Ashland.”
Adam looked over at Tugg in the front seat of the truck and wanted to slap the grin off his face.
“I told you, nothing happened,” Adam said. “I went to bed.”
“Yeah, I know,” Tugg said, looking ahead at the strip mall.
“Good. I’m glad you believe me.” Adam looked at Tugg. “Why do you believe me?”
Tugg looked over and grinned again. “Because Crystal came to my room last night after you shut her out.”
Adam nodded. He was smiling too.
Adam hadn’t bothered to ask Tugg where they were going so early. Adam had been up since dawn, afraid to open his bedroom door, and jumped at the chance to get out when Tugg had knocked.
I-5 North, Medford, one mile.
“Where are we going?” Adam asked. “Back to Ontario?”
“First, a Wendy’s.” Tugg pulled into the parking lot and shut off the truck.
“We going to eat it here?” Adam said.
“No, but I hate the drive-through. Listen, can you go in and get me —”
“Yeah, yeah. I remember.” Adam slid off his seat and headed for the door.
The truck engine fired up.
“Hey!” Adam turned his head as the truck pulled out.
Tugg leaned out the window, but didn’t stop.
“I’ve gotta do something for the club today. You can’t come.”
“What?!” Adam walked toward the truck, but Tugg just kept rolling.
“Don’t go back to the club. I’ll pick you up here after dark.”
“Tugg, what the hell?” Adam just stood there as he watched the bright blue truck disappear into traffic.
Chapter 25
Wendy’s. Wal-Mart. An old Phillips 66 station that hadn’t changed its sign in thirty years. It went on like this for miles in either direction.
Adam’s cell phone was still dismantled in the glove box of the truck. Thirty-eight bucks in cash. Probably should get off the street.
Damn Tugg for stranding him here.
He’d headed north, likely for I-5. But where? And why couldn’t Adam come with him?
For your own good, Tugg would say. And he was probably right.
A whole day to kill, when he was dying every fifteen minutes.
Where was Emma right now?
Maybe Tugg’s plan would work, maybe it wouldn’t. But what might happen in the meantime, if it really took six months for Tugg to join the motorcycle club just so he could ask Wanda one goddamn question?
There had to be a better way.
“Collect call from Adam Neighbor. Will you accept the charges?”
“Who? No!” Mrs.Nguyen hung up the phone.
“Sorry,” said the operator. “She doesn’t seem to know you.”
Adam slammed down the receiver.
The sun was higher now and traffic was picking up at the gas station. Whenever a customer pulled up to the pump, the little guy at the counter jumped off his stool and eyeballed Adam as he walked by the bench outside. One of only two states left in the nation where you couldn’t fill up your own tank. Probably one of the last to have a pay phone out front, too.
Adam watched as the attendant popped the hood and checked all the fluids as the gas pumped.
He picked up the phone and dialed again.
“Collect call from that nice young man with the motorcycle who came to visit your neighbors. Will you accept the charges?”
“Who? Yes!”
"Go ahead, please."
“Mrs.Nguyen, it’s me. Adam Grammaticus. I’m sorry about the trick, but I’m desperate. If I call back in fifteen minutes, can you have Kate come to your phone?”
“No.You shitty. You leave her. Why don’t you call your own phone?”
Adam swallowed hard. He cleared his throat and tried to channel some of Tugg’s charm.
“Mrs.Nguyen, you’ve always been such a great friend to our family. What you’re doing now for Kate is wonderful and I’m sure she appreciates it. But I didn’t leave her. If you go get Kate, I’m sure she’ll be happy to talk to me.”
“While I pay.”
“We’ll reimburse you for the call. Please don’t hang up! Just get Kate and ask her to answer your phone when I call back in fifteen minutes. Would you do that for me?”
“For her, not you. She pregnant. Why don’t you come home?”
The attendant closed the hood and stood by the driver’s window with his clipboard.
“I can’t right now. But I might if I can talk to her. Will you do it?”
“Still shitty.”
“Fifteen minutes.”
“You already said.”
“Kate? It’s me.”
“Adam, are you all right? Where are you?”
Naturally there was a break between customers and the little guy was sitting at the counter just a few feet inside the open front door, pretending to read a magazine.
“We can’t talk about that, but yes, I’m fine. Are you okay? Have you heard anything?”
Ding. Ding.
A car pulled up and the attendant hopped off his stool. Adam turned his head so he didn’t have to look at him.
“No.Nothing. Adam, what’s going on?”
“Kate! Quiet for a minute. Someone was listening, but he’s gone
now. Tugg and I have got a plan.”
“Minh Chau is standing right here.”
“Okay, just listen then. We think we might be able to find out where Emma is, but it’s going to take some time. Have you heard anything that I don’t know already?”
“No, nothing.”
“Any contact with Castro?”
“She won’t talk to me. Adam, they’re looking for you.”
“Yes, you might tell that to Mrs.Nguyen, so she understands why I can’t just pop back home.”
There was a pause on the line.
“She’s been terrific. Some people from work have been helping me during the day, but Minh Chau has been staying over every night. I couldn’t do it without her. Not with you gone.”
"Still shitty," he heard in the background.
“I’m doing the best I can,” Adam said. “I miss you.” His stomach felt hollow.
“We’ll get through this. I’m doing okay,” Kate said.
Mr.Goodwrench was headed for the door.
“I’ll call again when I can. Send Minh Chau my love.”
Adam heard some sharp tones in Vietnamese as the phone hung up in his ear.
“Steve? It’s me, Adam Grammaticus.”
Outside a Wal-mart now, on a pre-paid cell phone. No sense having some ambitious cop trace too many collect calls back to Ashland.
“Adam, is that you?”
“We still privileged, Steve? Can I talk to you?”
“I told you before, I’m not a criminal lawyer. And I’m not your lawyer anymore either. You need to get one and come in. Didn’t Kate tell you?”
“She told me, but I’m looking for Emma. Do you know where she is?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
“Can’t or won’t?”
“Both.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Adam caught his voice.
Couples were milling through the parking lot, drunk on the hot sun, as Adam sat near a coin-operated rocking horse, under an awning at the front of the store.
“It means it would be better for everyone if you came in,” Carnap said.
“Is Emma in danger?”
“She’s not with her parents. Any time a child is in that situation, there’s a risk of danger.”
“Stop being a lawyer for five minutes and just talk to me, okay?”
