by Brook Wilder
I snapped out of my trance and bolted to the window. Sure enough, there were two burly looking bikers standing right next to my parked truck. They didn’t look armed, but I was sure they had guns hidden somewhere beneath their leather jackets. They nodded at each other before heading toward the building’s main entrance.
“We’ll have to go out through the courthouse,” I said, my mind slowly churning back up to its normal speed. “There are a couple of back doors to the alley behind the building. I’m not sure where we’ll go from there, though. The only exit for that alley would dump us out right next to my truck. Surely they’d see us.”
“We can work on that as we go,” Emmett said, pulling the door open. “Just grab your stuff and let's get out of here.”
I hastily threw all of my personal belongings in my purse and rushed out the door after Emmett. We barely took five paces before I heard him curse and duck into an empty office, pulling me in behind him. It wasn’t until we were both crouched behind the door in the dark room that I saw why we were hiding. There was a third biker now, and he was slowly making his way down the hall toward my office. I turned away from the opening, my heart racing in my chest
“Excuse me, ma’am,” I heard him ask one of my co-workers. “Would you be able to point me toward Olivia?”
I hazard a peek out the door and saw him talking to Diane, our office manager. His back was turned to us now, and I quietly leaned further out of the office, hoping to catch Diane’s eye. I heard Emmett hiss at me and he started to pull me back into the room, but I batted his arm away. She spotted me, and I immediately put my finger to my pursed lips, hoping she’d take the hint.
“Well, uh,” she sputtered, her eyes darting away from me. “Can I ask why you need to speak to Olivia?”
“It’s kind of confidential,” the biker growled. “What is it, attorney-client privilege?”
“Alright, sir, her office is down there at the end of the hall, but I saw her heading down the stairs not too long ago. I think she has a hearing today and…”
“Thanks,” the biker interrupted as he turned to walk toward my office. I ducked back into the room just in time and I listened as his heavy boots stomped past our hiding spot. Emmett and I locked eyes, and the look that passed between us told me he had no idea what to do next. Neither of us moved while we listened to the biker tear my office apart, cursing. I heard more heavy footsteps come from the hall as the two other bikers rushed in.
“Tex, what gives?” one of the three asked.
“She ain’t here,” Tex growled. “I talked to a bitch who said she might be downstairs.”
“Do you really want to search this place?” said another voice.
The sound of police sirens cut through the air and I breathed a silent thank you to Diane for calling the cops.
“Nah, let's get out of here,” Tex said. “You two should head over to Emmett’s place with Gunner. Once the heat dies down, I’ll come back here and keep watch over her car. And keep your eyes out for the two of them.”
Without another word, all three bikers booked it out of the office and slammed the door behind them. I turned to Emmett with five different plans already turning over in my mind.
“Let's get out of here before the cops show,” he said. “They might think I’m in on this, too.”
“Alright,” I said. “There’s a stairwell just down the hall. I’ll lead the way.”
We scrambled to our feet and moved swiftly out of the office. Diane was already talking to the cops near the front door. Since their attention was focused on her, Emmett and I were able to slide into the stairwell without notice. I made a mental note to buy Diane a thank you present once this was all over.
We were able to slink through the rest of the building easily. I could tell Emmett wanted to bolt of here as fast as he could, but I forced us to slow down. The immediate danger was over, and the courthouse was a busy place. Running would only draw attention. It wasn’t until we closed the alley door behind us that I let out a breath I hadn’t realized I’d been holding on to. I paused for a moment by the closed door trying desperately to take stock of the craziness that had just happened.
“Come on, Olivia,” Emmett said. He was already halfway down the alley and looking back at me with an impatient scowl on his face. “My bike isn’t too far from here.”
“Where are we going?” I asked as I jogged to catch up with him. Neither of us could go home and it wasn’t like we lived in a big city where we could just melt into the background.
“I’ll tell you once we put some road between us and Black Rock,” he said as we reached his bike.
The engine roared to life and he barely waited for me to hop on before we started speeding down the street. I clung to his strong back as the wind whipped my hair around my face. Fate sure had a crazy way of working. One second I was lamenting that my time with Emmett was over and then the next I was catapulted into another, way more intense adventure. Ultimately, though, I was just glad to be so close to Emmett again, and I laid my cheek against his warm back as we left Black Rock behind us.
Chapter 16
It was almost an hour before we stopped for gas at a dusty, weather worn station on the side of the highway. I wasn’t sure exactly where we were, but as long as it wasn’t Black Rock, I was happy. I hopped off the bike while Emmett pumped and stretched my legs. Before I met Emmett, I’d never ridden on a motorcycle before, and I was surprised at how much strength went into just staying seated on the bike. My legs were sore already and my neck ached. I could ignore the pain, though, as the alternative was death at the hands of the Devil’s Martyrs.
“Why did you come for me?” I asked as I gazed out over the lonely highway. We were officially in the desert now, and scrub bushes stretched out over the landscape. Mountains towered out on the horizon line and it would only be a matter of hours before the sun dipped behind their peaks.
“What do you mean?” Emmett asked as he watched the pumps dials slowly tick upward. The calm tone of his voice made it seem like we were just taking a scenic ride, not running from a gang of bikers who wanted our heads. Maybe this kind of thing was more within the realm of normal for Emmett.
“You were so mad at me yesterday that you kicked over your coffee table. I didn’t take you as the kind to forgive and forget so quickly.”
“Honestly, Liv,” he said, turning to me with a weary look, “I want to be mad at you, I really do. I just don’t have any energy left. We can deal with all that shit later. Right now, we just need to get of town and warn my brother. If the Martyrs are after us, it won’t be long until they add Knox to the list. Besides, he’ll have the police on his tail now, too.”
“I understand that I guess I’m just confused about the ‘us’ part. Why not leave me back in Black Rock? It’d certainly be a lot less hassle for you.”
“You were just doing your job. No one deserves to be killed for that,” he said, his eyes darting away from mine.
He finished pumping the gas and slid the nozzle back in place before heading toward the run-down building to pay. I didn’t follow and, instead, watched him as he strode away from me. While what he said made sense, I hoped his actions were motivated by something more than altruism. I’d thought about Emmett and my feelings for him during the entire ride out of Black Rock, and I’d come to the terrifying conclusion that I really, truly cared for this man. His risking his neck to save me gave me hope that the feeling was mutual, but the waters were still murky between us. I sighed as he stepped through the station door and walked back toward me. I needed to put my feelings on the back burner for now and focus on getting through the next couple of days alive. Emmett threw a bottle of water at me, which I caught and drank greedily.
“We shouldn’t have to stop again until we reach the motel,” Emmett said as he started the bike’s engine. “It’s only an hour or two more. I thought about just heading straight to Knox’s place, but we won’t get there before sundown and it’s a bitch to find in the dark.”
“Hold on,” I said, finally processing where we were heading, “does this mean you’ve known where Knox was this whole time?”
“Can we make a deal?” Emmett said with a sigh. “I’ll tell you what happened the day of the murder, and you’ll stop acting so offended about the fact that I want to protect my brother.”
“Deal,” I said as a small blush rose to my cheeks.
“Like I’ve said before, I knew the hit was going to happen at some point, but I had no idea when. That morning, I was still sleeping when Knox climbed through my bedroom window. He shook me awake and blurted everything out. Earlier that night, he’d snuck into my house while I was gone and stole a gun. He’d shot Wildcard on Wendell’s orders and was going to bug out to a trailer he occasionally stayed at that’s parked in a stretch of woods not too far from Black Rock. I’d helped drag it out to there back in the day and we used to go there to get away when our Dad’s benders turned violent. He barely had enough time to tell me that and jump back out the window before the police started banging down the door.”
“Thank you for telling me, Emmett,” I said with a smile.
Emmett nodded and climbed onto the bike. I hopped on behind him and we started off down the highway. As I watched the landscape slip by me, my mind worked over this new bit of information Emmett had given me. I’d grown up in a family that was so normal, so loving that Emmett’s tales of his childhood felt very alien me. I thought back to my father and couldn’t imagine being so afraid of him that I felt the need to set up a hiding place to escape him. Also, I just couldn’t see myself going to the same lengths as Emmett to protect my brother. Maybe being a twin was different, but my thought was that if my younger brother got into trouble, that was his issue to deal with. Sure, if he was charged with murder I’d use my knowledge and skills to help him, but go to jail for him? The thought boggled me.
When my thoughts turned to Knox, another set of questions sprung up within me. How had the police not seen Knox escaping the morning of the murder? Did they follow him to Emmett’s place, or did the police only go there after they reviewed the tapes? I also realized that, as outsiders, Jon and I didn’t know about Knox, but those two grew up in Black Rock. Surely the police knew Emmett had a twin brother. Was no one looking for Knox? Surely I wasn’t the only one who had noticed the tattoo in the security footage. I tried to push those thoughts out of my mind. Dwelling on them would do me no good and I couldn’t hope for any more answers until we found Knox.
Just as the last rays of the sun were slipping beyond the horizon, we reached the motel. It looked like it had been a happening place back in the 60’s, but its heyday was long gone now. Its sign read ‘The Palms Motor Hotel’ in garish neon that was half burnt out, and it boasted air conditioning and color T.V.s in each room. An empty, cracked pool sat in front of our parking spot and, judging by the graffiti, I doubt it had been used for swimming in the past few decades.
“Nice place,” I said sarcastically as Emmett knocked down the kickstand on his bike.
“I know it ain’t the Ritz,” he said. “But it’s either this or huddling under our jackets in the desert.”
“The Palms it is!” I said, as cheerily as I could manage, though I was definitely now worried about getting eaten alive by bed bugs.
We strode up to the front desk and had the key to our room in a matter of minutes. My anxiety level started ratcheting up as we headed toward our room. Emmett had breezily asked the attendant for a single bedroom, and I wondered what was going on in that brain of his. Was it all for show, to complete the image of a biker couple just taking a scenic ride or did he have something else on his mind?
Chapter 17
I closed my eyes as I let the hot water flow down my body and wash away the dust and sand from our road trip through the desert. I’d already used the motel’s free soap and shampoo to scrub every inch of my skin and hair, and now I simply stood in the shower, hoping the warmth would calm me down. I knew I should probably save some hot water for Emmett, but it seemed so much safer in here. Beyond that closed door was a man who stirred up confusing and conflicting emotions within me, as well as a gang of bloodthirsty bikers who wanted to take my life.
I shook the rising fear away and turned the shower off. I could hear the low blare of the TV from the other room and the gentle click as Emmett flipped through the channels. As I towelled off, I looked down at my dirty clothes. The thought of climbing back into that outfit after I’d spent so long getting clean irritated me, but it was either that or go nude. I sighed and pulled my shirt over my head, doing my best to avoid getting my wet hair dirty again. Once I was fully dressed, I threw my hair up in a town and prepared myself to exit the bathroom. Just as I had put my hand on the doorknob, I heard Emmett stand up from the bed and open the door to the room. It closed behind him and I heard his heavy footsteps as he strode away from the room.
The TV was still on, showing the local news station, and I turned the volume dial all the way down. Judging by the station guide hastily scribbled on a sticky note which was taped on the back of the controller, we only had three channels to choose from. No wonder Emmett had been constantly flipping channels. I wondered vaguely where Emmett had gone as I went to the dresser to rummage through my purse for my phone. I hadn’t heard the sound of his bike engine, so maybe he just went out for some fresh air. I had just found my phone when I spotted Emmett’s beat up leather wallet laying open next to my purse. There was nothing terribly special about it, except for the photo tucked into the clear pocket that most people normally used for my driver’s license.
It was old, dog-eared and slightly torn but I could still clearly see two young boys, probably about 8 or 9 years old, smiling back at me with gap-toothed grins and posed in front of a studio photographer’s gray backdrop. They both had matching bowl-cut blond hair, button noses, and lopsided smiles. Even their outfits were the same, save for the fact that one boy had a red shirt and the other blue. I had just picked up the wallet for a closer look when I heard a gentle cough from behind me.
I turned and saw Emmett standing in the doorway holding a large pizza box and a six-pack of generic looking beer. We stood there frozen for a moment, just staring at each other. His face, though not as hard or cold as it usually was, still had an unreadable expression, and I wasn’t quite sure what to say. I floundered but Emmett only smiled as he set the food down at the edge of the bed. I unwound my hair from the towel before sheepishly handing his wallet back to him.
“I ordered us pizza, I hope pepperoni is ok,” Emmet said.
“Do pizza guys deliver beer around here?” I asked incredulously.
“For an extra twenty on the tip, they do,” he said with a laugh. It died in his throat, though, when he looked and saw the silent question on my face.
“Right before she died,” he said quietly, “my mother insisted that my brother and I get our picture taken. Dad said it was a waste of money, so she went behind his back and took us to the mall while he was working. I’m the one in the blue shirt, by the way.”
“It’s a nice photo,” I said. “I didn’t realize you two were identical twins.”
“Yeah, we are. We used to have a lot of fun with it, too, before we grew different enough for people to tell us apart. We’d fool people all the time, switching names back and forth, swapping girlfriends in high school, all sorts of stupid shit.”
Emmett laughed, his eyes glazing over, as he cracked open a beer. I grabbed one as well, twisting it open and enjoying the cold, foamy taste. The pizza smelled heavenly and, as I took a bite, I realized how ravenous I really was.
“Why do you keep the picture?” I asked through a mouthful of pizza. Emmett took another bite of his slice before answering.
“I dunno, I guess it just reminds me of a time before everything went to shit in my family. My mom was still alive then and my dad hadn’t started pushing the MC life on Knox and me yet.”
I nodded, still eating, and at a loss for what to say next. We
ate in silence for a while before Emmett set his beer down and looked my square in the eye.
“You know what?” he said. “I think it’s about time I learned something about you.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, wide-eyed.
“All we ever seem to talk about is my shitty past, and I’m sick of it. What about you? Do you have any siblings?”
“I have one brother, younger than me. He’s in California now doing something in technical in Silicon Valley. We're twins too, in a way. Irish twins.”
“What does that mean?”
“Basically as soon as I was born, my mom got pregnant with Jason. I was planned and he was a total accident, but I never noticed any difference in the way my parent’s treated us. We were close too as kids, probably not as close as you and Knox, but we grew apart during school when it suddenly became less cool for Jason to hang out with his nerdy, older sister.”
“What was it like, for you growing up?” Emmett asked. “I assume you were all pretty well off.”
