by Marla Monroe
Chapter Five
When River climbed on behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist, Merrick smiled in satisfaction. She felt right leaning against him like this. Her unfettered breasts pressed tightly to his back had his dick protesting against the jeans he had on. It was going to be one hell of a long ride with the vibration of the engine under his cock and balls and her soft tits rubbing his back. Fuck he loved it!
“Ready to ride?” Cassius’s voice reached out over the speakers in his helmet.
“How are you doing back there, kitten?” he asked.
“Wow! Speakers in the helmets. I’m fine. Let’s go.”
He chuckled and pulled out behind Cassius. Walker followed him, making sure no one snuck up on them. They were taking her home with them. It was the only place he thought they would be safe short of hitting the road. Even then they wouldn’t know if they were riding right into the territory of whoever was looking for her. No, holding up at the clubhouse while Turk worked his computer magic to find out what the fuck was going on was their best bet.
“I’d forgotten how much fun riding on the back of a bike could be.” Her sweet voice filled his helmet.
“Ridden much?” he asked.
“Used to ride all the time when I was in high school and college. Not so much now.”
“Nothing like it. It’s freedom,” he said. “As much as anyone can have these days.”
“Heads up. Got company coming up on us. Looks like Skulls, guys,” Walker said told them.
“How many?” Cassius asked.
“Four,” Walker answered back.
“River, do not take that helmet off for any reason. Understand?”
“No problem. I’m glad my hair is under the jacket,” she said in his ear.
“If we stop, give me some room to move if I need to, but keep your hands on me. You’re my old lady,” he told her.
The other bikes roared up to them, spreading around them. One of the men pointed to the side of the road and jerked his helmet in that direction. Merrick shot him the bird and ignored him. He didn’t speed up. It would only give them a reason to assert themselves, but generally fucking with them was expected.
“You know we’re going to end up pulling over, Merrick,” Cassius snarled. “Why are you jerking them around?”
“I want to get as close to home as possible so if we have to make a run for it, we aren’t too far away,” he told him.
“Don’t overdo it, man. We can’t afford for them to see her if we can manage it.”
“Got it,” he snapped back.
They rode another mile before the obvious leader of the group swerved on him and pointed to the shoulder again. Merrick figured they’d have to be close enough because the ass wipe was out of patience. He waved the man off.
“Okay, we’re hitting the shoulder. Walker, move in as close as you can but leave room for us to haul ass if we need to. Don’t cut your engines,” he said as he slowly pulled off the shoulder, making sure he stopped on firm soil.
He jerked his facemask up and glared at the bastard that had pulled up next to him.
“What the fuck do you want? You’re on our turf, asshole,” he snarled at them.
“Looking for someone. Thought you might have seen her.” The man looked pointedly at River.
She’d immediately leaned back some when they’d stopped, but was rubbing his back with one hand while her other one had a finger in a belt loop. She was playing it good.
“What do I look like to you, the goddamn eHarmony man? Go hook up on Match.com. Maybe you’ll get lucky and they won’t reject you,” he said, laughing with the others.
“Hey, good one, M. The eHarmony man.” Walker laughed.
“Shut the fuck up! She belongs to a friend of ours and he’s paying big bucks to get her back. You guys pop bounties all the time. You help me find her and I’ll share part of it with you,” he said.
“What’s to stop us from just finding her on our own and keeping it all for ourselves?” Merrick asked.
“You don’t know who is looking for her,” he said looking smug.
Merrick shrugged. “Women are trouble. I’m not chasing after some bimbo for some bastard that can’t hold on to her for chicken scratch. If they’re serious about finding her, they’ll look us up eventually, anyway. You’re on your own. Good luck. Once we get called, you’re out of a job.” Merrick grinned and closed his face shield back down.
When he revved the engine to signal that he was leaving, he felt River slowly lean up against his back once again. Her hands roamed around his waist to rub his thighs before she gripped him and he took off. He knew it had been a show for the Skulls, but damn if it hadn’t felt real to him. His cock was going to have thread lines from his jeans crisscrossing it by the time he got the damn things off.
“Now where did you learn that move, River?” He heard Cassius ask.
“Like I said earlier, I used to ride a lot back in school. I was a bit rebellious back then and leaned toward the bad boys around town,” she said with a soft chuckle.
Merrick couldn’t help but grin at that bit of news. It sounded to him like she had a good bit of biker in her after all. That was good news to him. It meant that no chance in hell scenario he’d been working with had been upgraded to a one chance in a lifetime. He’d take that and run with it.
* * * *
River couldn’t believe she’d actually run her hands over Merrick’s thighs like that. It was a clear come-on to a biker. Merrick would know she’d only done it for show for those strange bikers who’d pulled them over. Wouldn’t he?
She’d been afraid they would make them get off the bikes or demand that she remove her helmet. If she had, they would have known she was who they were looking for since her face hadn’t healed all the way yet and she had the right hair and eye color. She needed to color her hair and get contacts if possible. Once they stopped wherever they were taking her, she’d tell them she needed to grab some stuff.
After another fifteen minutes, they slowed down. She looked around Merrick’s wide shoulders to see a huge concrete block building with several double-wide trailers attached and sticking out the back. They coasted through a gate that had been opened for them then closed behind them before speeding up and heading for the building. There were several garage bays to one side with various cars, trucks, and motorcycles inside and waiting in line. This had to be where they worked. Why were they stopping here?
Merrick pulled up in a line of bikes with Cassius parking next to him. Walker moved up the line a few spots and pulled in there. Did they have designated parking spots? How weird was that? She waited until he had the bike stable and started to swing off. To her surprise, Cassius’s large hands plucked her off the back and eased her to the ground.
“Your ribs okay? Did I hurt you?” he asked.
“No. You just startled me. I’m fine. Why did we stop here?” she asked.
Merrick had climbed off the bike and was putting their helmets away. He grinned and she knew she wasn’t going to like the answer.
“This is home, kitten. You’re going to hide out with us until we can figure out who’s after you. Welcome to The Ghost Riders’ clubhouse,” he said.
Her jaw dropped open, but she immediately snapped it closed again. “I can’t stay here. I’ve got to leave the state. They won’t find me if I’m across the country.”
“It’s too dangerous for you to take any form of transportation out right now. Whoever it is will be watching them. You can count on that. They’ve got a lot of money to have hired The Skulls to search for you. They don’t work cheap. They have too many other irons in the fire to take on pissant jobs of finding missing women,” Merrick said, leaning down so that his face was only inches from hers. “You’re staying here until we learn more about what to expect. We’ve got one of the best hackers around. Turk will find out what is going on and then we can figure out how to keep you safe.”
She turned to Cassius. The other man’s face held
the same grim determination as his brother’s did. She pulled her hair out of the back of the jacket. She was getting hot now that they weren’t on the bike with the wind blowing. It didn’t look like she had much choice.
“I need some hair color and sunglasses so people won’t recognize me as easily,” she finally said.
“Smart idea,” Cassius said. “I bet the ladies can help you out there. Come on in and meet everyone.”
They steered her toward a door off to the left of the bays keeping her between them. Cassius opened the door and urged her in ahead of him. They followed and she found herself in a small office complete with desk, chair and file cabinets. Sitting behind the desk was a husky woman with enormous breasts. She grinned and stood up.
“Hi there, honey. I’m Jugs. I take care of everyone around here. You must be River.” She held out her hand. River shook it.
“Hi. Thanks. Nice to meet you,” she managed to get out.
“Where’s Dom and Reece?” Merrick asked.
“Kitchen. They were drinking coffee and talking with Turk and Butch,” she said.
“Let’s go see if they know anything yet,” Merrick said, gripping her upper arm in a light clasp.
She followed them through the opposite door into a large family room of sorts. There were several couches and loveseats scattered around and what looked like a bar running the length of one wall. It even had barstools in front of it. She wasn’t able to see much more since the two men pulled her along as they strode from that room into another room.
This one had a large kitchen on one end with an equally large eating area with one massive table and a smaller table to one side. Right now, three men sat at the big table talking and drinking coffee. When they walked in, all heads looked up. She recognized Reece, as he’d been to the hospital once while she’d been there. She didn’t recognize the other two men.
“Trouble?” One of the men she didn’t know with shaggy black hair leaned back in his chair.
“Four Skulls caught up with us a little over halfway here and pulled us over, asking if we’d seen a woman fitting River’s description. They even offered to share the bounty on her if we helped them find her,” Cassius told him.
“Do you think they recognized her?” the man asked.
“No. She’s familiar enough with bikers that she was pretty convincing,” Merrick said with a smile.
The man stood up, walking around to where she stood, and held out his hand to her.
“I’m Dominic, the leader of this merry band of misfits. I understand you’ve already met my right-hand man, Reece. That one over there is Turk. He’s got magic hands when it comes to anything electronic. That includes computers. We’ll find out what is going on,” he assured her. “In the meantime, you’re more than welcome here and are under our protection. They will introduce you around. I know the other ladies are anxious to meet you, as well.”
She couldn’t help but respond to his smile. He seemed much less intimidating with the smile in place. Still, she knew he wasn’t a man to mess with. He and Reece both looked as if they didn’t take crap off of anyone. Then, again, Merrick and Cassius looked that way as well, but she wasn’t scared of them.
“Thanks. I’m sorry for all the trouble I’m causing. I told them I could just leave the state, and then you wouldn’t be involved,” she said.
The instant tensioning of the two men on either side of her wasn’t lost on her. Evidently it wasn’t missed by the man standing in front of her either. He gave her a slow, slightly scary smile.
“We thrive on trouble, River. Since Merrick and Cassius have taken a liking to you, then you’re essentially family and we protect what’s ours.”
It was her turn to stiffen this time. She opened her mouth to deny that she was anything to the two hulking men standing next to her but Cassius spoke first.
“What have you found out so far?”
“Have a seat and let’s talk,” Dom said. “Coffee is fresh, there’s beer and soft drinks in the fridge. Help yourself, River.”
“I’ll get it. Have a seat. You’re supposed to be resting,” Merrick said with a growl.
Everyone at the table burst out laughing then sobered when Merrick growled at them. Cassius led her to a chair and sat down between her and Turk. Merrick called from the direction of the industrial-sized refrigerator.
“There’s Diet Coke, Sprite, Dr. Pepper, tea, and water. What do you want, River?”
“Um, Diet Coke, please,” she said.
An ice cold drink appeared in front of her followed by a plate of what appeared to be homemade cookies. He returned to the table a few seconds later with two cups of coffee and sat on the other side of her. The other men smiled and Turk reached out a hand to snag a cookie. Cassius slapped it and glared at the man.
“You’re not the one who needs to gain weight, asshole. You could stand to lose a few pounds if you ask me,” Cassius fussed.
“Fuck you, man. I’m in prime shape. The women go crazy over this body.” Turk stood up and preened, showing off his bulging biceps.
“Settle down, you two.” Reece chuckled. “We’re working against the clock here, guys.”
“First of all, River, I admire your work. Really intense stories,” he said.
“Thanks.” She was surprised that he knew anything about her work. Again, she was jumping to conclusions about them. That needed to stop. They were putting their lives on the line for her.
“Second of all, I apologize up front for digging through your life, but I needed to know what we were dealing with.” Turk opened a folder.
“Excuse me? What do you mean, digging through my life?” she asked, more than a little scared now.
“Turk hacked into your records to try and figure out what made you important enough for someone to want you back,” Dom said. “I told him to. Don’t get pissed at him.”
She opened her mouth to tell all of them to fuck off. She didn’t appreciate anyone going through her life. She’d worked hard to keep her personal life separate from her professional one. She didn’t get the chance.
“They want you back bad enough to offer a million-dollar reward for you, River,” Dom said softly.
She closed her mouth. Maybe all he’d been able to dig up had been related to her professional life. She was probably jumping to conclusions.
“I’m going to jump straight into her last trip since that seems to be where it all started,” Turk said.
River relaxed. Work. Relief poured over her like a bucket of warm water. She could handle anything they dug up when it came to her job. She was proud of her work and though she’d walked some lines, she didn’t think she’d ever crossed any to get the story she wanted to show the world.
“River, you arrived in South America at Macapa, Brazil on June 10. On June 11, you bought a lot of equipment for an extended trek into the Amazon rain forest. You listed your route to be along the Amazon River. On June 12, you hired a guide by the name of Rubi who was to take you to Iquitos. You were planning to travel by boat at times, by Jeep when possible, and on foot when necessary. Rubi’s younger brother was with you to help with the gear.” Turk stopped and looked down in her direction. When she didn’t say anything, he continued listing her whereabouts over a three-week period.
“From there, things got patchy. You were in Boca do Jari on the fifteenth, and Almeirim on the nineteenth. You showed up again on the twenty-third in Santarem and in Parintins on the twenty-fifth.”
“How were you able to find out where all I’d been? I don’t understand.” She gaped at the man sitting on the other side of Cassius.
“Pretty much any place you go in the world you leave an electronic footprint. Now, granted, you didn’t leave me much to work with since you rarely used any sort of electronic payment in most places, but you had your cell phone on fairly often. I was able to pick up where your signal had originated based on the tower or satellite it was paired with at any given time. The GPS function on your phone only works in the US, so th
at only helped me once you returned to the states,” he said.
River watched him as he continued to outline how he’d managed to track her so precisely. There was no hint of pride or that he was bragging on his face or in his voice. It was just something he did at his leader’s request. No big deal. Fear gripped her now. He would be able to find out anything if he really dug. No thick layer of cover or levels of secrecy would prevent this man from learning every dirty little secret in her life.
Cassius studied her face. “River?” Are you okay?”
Chapter Six
She swallowed and plastered a smile on her face. “Y–yes. I’m just shocked at how much he was able to find out. It’s a little unnerving to realize that I’m that vulnerable to someone picking apart my life.”
Turk smiled, finally showing a little smugness at his abilities. “Don’t worry. There are maybe a handful of people in the world who can delve beneath a life to the depth that I can. You’re safe.” He frowned. “Or you will be when we figure out who’s behind your kidnapping and why.”
“What have you found out other than where all she’d been while in South America?” Merrick snapped.
“The thing is, according to her itinerary she was supposed to travel all the way to Iquitos, but didn’t finish the route. Instead, she veered off at Rio Apuau then showed up in Rio Jauaperi. She flew out of Manaus, stopping only once to change planes before arriving back stateside in Albuquerque, New Mexico, July.”
“So she made a sudden detour and then a complete change of plans, leaving the story unfinished to fly back to the US. That definitely points to finding out something important and running for your life,” Cassius concluded leaning back in the chair.
“Only I don’t think she was running for her life,” Merrick spoke up in his gruff voice. “She isn’t the type to give up. Look what she’s gone through already. I bet she had evidence of something and was trying to get it out of the country to show the world.”
