They relaxed when they reached the main highway without incident and Patch and Six settled down to try and get some rest. Taking on the driving duties meant that Crash needed to stay focused, and it was for this reason that he first noticed the black sedan. It was a powerful enough vehicle to easily overtake the truck, but the driver seemed content to hang behind them.
Crash knew it could just be the nervousness of being on a job making him imagine things, but the fact the car seemed content to tail them rather than coming past seemed suspicious to him. When he saw the sign for the gas station a few miles ahead, he made up his mind to pull into it and did so when he finally reached the entrance.
“The truck was filled up before we left,” Six commented.
“Yeah, I can see that,” Crash replied and looked at the gauge on the dashboard as he brought the truck to a stop in front of the large pay station.
“So, why are we stopping?” Six went on.
“Nerves are getting to me,” Crash answered.
The other two men glanced at each other before looking at him.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Patch asked.
“I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t sure,” Crash said. “But I got the distinct impression there was a black sedan tailing us on the highway.”
“For how long?” Six asked.
“I first noticed it around twenty minutes ago,” Crash carried on. “It could easily have gone past us, but it sat a couple of hundred yards behind and just matched our speed. It might have just been a careful driver for all I know, but it seemed suspicious.”
“It didn’t follow us into the gas station?” Six queried.
“No,” Crash said. “It carried on past when I came in here.”
So… it was just your imagination,” Patch said.
“I guess so,” Crash replied. “Do either of you want anything from the store?”
“We might as well come in with you now that we’ve stopped,” Six said.
The three of them got out of the vehicle to go inside and all bought a sandwich and a drink. It was a quick breakfast as they sat on a bench in front of the pay station and they returned to the truck to get the journey restarted when they were finished eating.
“Let’s get this done,” Six said.
Crash turned the key in the ignition and headed for the gas station exit to get them on the highway. He tried to relax when the truck was traveling smoothly in the traffic, but the niggling doubt that the car he saw meant trouble wouldn’t leave his mind. It was thirty minutes later when he knew he was right.
“Fuck,” he cursed in a harsh voice. “It’s there again.”
“The black sedan?” Six asked.
“Yeah,” Crash answered. “It must have gone on ahead when we turned into the gas station then found somewhere to stop and waited.”
“You’re sure it’s the same car?” Patch asked.
“Same car, same fucking distance,” Crash replied. “It’s sitting about one fifty to two hundred yards behind and just tailing us. I’m sure of it.”
“Can you see who’s in it?” Six asked.
“It’s too far,” Crash said. “And the windows are blacked out. This is fucking bad news.”
“Is it the cops?” Patch asked in a nervous voice.
“How the hell would they know about our job?” Crash asked.
“Slow down and see what happens,” Six ordered.
Crash gradually let his foot rise on the accelerator pedal to slow down the truck and kept his eyes on the rear view mirror.
“They’re not catching up,” he said after a few minutes. “Whoever there fuckers are, they’re definitely shadowing us.”
“Shit,” Six cursed.
“Do you think the job is a set up?” Patch asked.
“Well, something isn’t right,” Six went on.
“So, what do we do?” Crash asked.
“Just keep driving for the moment,” Six replied. “Then turn off at the next gas station and see if they carry on again.”
The cat and mouse game continued as the black sedan trailed in their wake and showed no signs of catching up or passing. It was around forty miles before they approached the next station and Crash signaled at the last moment to turn in the entrance.
“They’re doing the same as before,” he said as he slowed the truck and glanced towards the highway to see the sedan carry on along the highway.
He brought them to a stop in one of the parking bays at the front of the paying station and the three of them looked at each other.
“I need to speak to the boss,” Six said and they got out.
He brought out his phone to make the call, while Crash and Patch went to sit on a bench. Both were deep in their own thoughts for a minute or so before the conversation started.
“This is shit,” Patch said. “It’s starting to smell like a fucking set up.”
“Why would the Disciples set us up?” Crash said. “It doesn’t make sense.”
“Who knows?” Patch replied. “Maybe they want to cut in on our trade in Oregon. Fuck, maybe they want it all. For all we know this could be their message to the Roadrunners to stay out of their area. They agree to a deal for weapons then set us up for a fall.”
“Set us up with who?” Crash asked. “If it’s the police in that sedan and they have information we’re carrying weapons, then why not just jump all over us in San Francisco? What’s the point of this cat and mouse tailing shit?”
Patch shrugged his shoulders and they returned to their own thoughts as they stared out towards the highway. Their conversation about who was tailing them never started again because Six came over to them.
“The deal is still on as far as the boss is concerned,” he said.
“How the fuck can that be?’ Patch hissed and looked around to see if anyone heard before going on. “If we restart this journey, then a few miles up the highway we’re going to have that sedan up our ass again. Something isn’t right and we can’t just carry on as normal.”
“We’re not going on the highway,” Six replied. “We’ll turn off at the next exit and make the trip on the back roads until we are sure we’re not being followed. It’s only then that we’ll get on the highway.”
“This deal is fucking compromised,” Patch insisted. “Someone has let the cat out of the bag; otherwise, how could that sedan be following us?”
“Look, the boss came back to me after my call,” Six went on. “The Disciples are telling him that everything is clean at their end and they want the deal to be completed.”
“And the boss believes them?” Crash asked.
“The deal goes ahead,” Six said in answer. “Get the truck and bring it over there.”
Crash looked to the quiet corner of the station parking lot that was being pointed at. He didn’t ask any questions and just went to the truck to drive it over while the other two walked.
“Keep an eye out,” Six said.
He opened the rear doors to get inside the vehicle then removed the crowbar from the wall of the truck to lever the lid off one of the boxes.
“Fuck, do we really need that kind of firepower?” Crash asked when he saw the automatic rifle.
“We don’t know what the fuck is going on here,” Six answered as he slammed a magazine in the weapon. “So let’s just be prepared. Is anyone looking in this direction?”
Patch and Crash looked around then shook their heads. Six half hid the gun under his leather jacket then got out of the rear of the truck and closed the doors. He was quick to move around to the passenger door and opened it to put the rifle inside.
“Let’s go,” he said.
The tense atmosphere was palpable when they got in the truck and nothing else was said as Crash got them moving to drive out of the gas station exit. They saw the sign for a turnoff only a few miles later and it was Six that broke the silence.
“Any sign of that sedan?”
“No,” Crash replied. “As far as I can tell we’re
not being followed at the moment.”
“Then get off at the next exit,” Six ordered.
“It’s going to be a shitty country road,” Patch pointed out.
“Doesn’t matter,” Six went on. “We just get off and take the long way round. All that matters is that we aren’t followed.”
Crash put his foot down to get them to the exit as quickly as possible, but needed to slow down straight away when he turned on to the deserted single-track road.
“Any sign of them?” Six asked.
Crash slowed even more and kept his eyes on the rear view mirror to see if any vehicles followed them off at the junction. If meant his concentration was focused on the road behind and it was Patch that shouted the loud warning.
“WATCH OUT!”
Crash brought his gaze forward at the sound of the yell to see the Sedan racing towards them from an even smaller side road. He was only given a fraction of a second to react and chose to hammer his foot down on the accelerator. It almost got them out of the way of the insane charge of the car, but not quite, and the collision caught the side of the truck just behind the rear wheels. It sent them spinning wildly out of control and all they could do was cling on as best they could to stop themselves being thrown around in the cab. It seemed like an eternity before they came to a stop, but they needed to recover instantly.
Six reacted first to grab for the automatic rifle as Crash desperately turned the key in the ignition to try and get them moving. The engine turned over but wouldn’t catch, and they realized it was too late to make a run for it when they heard the sound of the shots cracking against the side of the truck. Their only choice now was to fight.
“Driver side!” Six yelled and the other two didn’t need to be told twice.
Crash yanked the door open and threw himself down to the ground, with Six and Patch almost landing on him when they piled out of the door. They ducked down as the gunshots continued.
“How many of them?” Crash hissed.
“I caught a glimpse of two getting out,” Six replied. “But there could be more.”
“Are they still by the sedan?” Patch asked.
“Yes,” Six replied. “But not for long.”
He checked the weapon to make sure the safety was off then swung the barrel around the rear corner of the truck and raked the black sedan with a heavy barrage of automatic fire. It got the desired effect when he hit the fuel tank and the explosion rocked the quiet countryside around them. The silence that followed was eerie, but the three men at the truck remained out of sight just in case.
“I don’t think they saw that coming,” Crash said quietly.
“Yeah, I think they’re fucked,” Patch agreed.
“Better them than us,” Six said. “But we better get moving or we’ll be fucked too. That explosion won’t exactly go unnoticed.”
He swung the gun around and fired a few more shots at the burning vehicle then ducked out of sight behind the truck. There was no response to the gunfire and he crouched down as he made a darting run towards the sedan. He saw the two bodies straight away lying a short distance from the vehicle.
“Fuck,” he cursed.
“I don’t think they’ll be giving us any answers about why they were following us,” Patch commented as he came up behind.
The pair of them approached the two men cautiously, but it was apparent they hadn’t survived the explosion.
“See if you can find anything on that one,” Six said and pointed.
He knelt down to rifle through the pockets of the other dead man and came up with a wallet. Flicking through the contents, he found a credit card.
“Carlo De Luca,” he said as he straightened up.
“This one is Enzo Santini,” Patch said. “These are fucking Mob guys.”
“Yeah,” Six agreed. “But what the hell are they doing trying to ambush us? And how did they find out we were doing a weapons run?”
“More to the point,” Patch said, “what the fuck do we do now? There could be more of them up ahead and the Mob is hardly going to take the loss of two of their men lying down.”
“Shit,” Six cursed in a loud voice then wiped his prints from the wallet he was holding and threw it down on the ground. “We need to get out of here now.”
He turned to walk to the truck and Patch followed. They found Crash crouched down at the rear of the vehicle looking at the damage the collision caused.
“How bad is it?” Six asked.
“Well, those crazy fuckers caught us hard enough to wreck the bodywork,” Crash replied and pulled at the twisted metal. “And this wheel is out of alignment, but I think we can keep going if we get the engine started. Pop the hood.”
“OK,” Patch replied and moved to get in the driver’s seat.
“Turn it over,” Crash shouted as he lifted the hood to look inside.
He listened to the sound of the engine cranking and waited until Patch stopped to reach in and make a couple of adjustments.
“Try again,” he shouted.
The engine turned over and sounded as if it wasn’t going to catch before finally spluttering to life. Crash slammed the hood down and he and Six quickly got in the passenger side. Patch put the truck in gear and eased his foot down on the accelerator slowly to make sure he didn’t stall. It got them moving and he gradually sped up to get them away from the chaotic scene of the fight.
“How the hell did they know we would turn off at that exit?” Crash asked in a loud voice.
“Lucky guess,” Six replied and shrugged his shoulders. “We think it was the Mob, and for all we know there are more men waiting ahead. The crew we just took out must have realized they were spotted when we stopped again at a gas station so quickly. Maybe they just chanced their luck that we would try something different and get off the highway.”
“Well, they guessed right, but it didn’t do them much good,” Patch said.
“Only because we outgunned them,” Six said. “If all we were carrying was handguns, it might have ended up a different story back there.”
“So what do we do now?” Crash asked. “Phone the boss again?”
“The deal’s off,” Six said with conviction. “I’ll speak to the boss when we get somewhere safe, but the only choice we have now is to lay low until this mess blows over. It’s likely the cops will be all over that scene before long, and the Mob isn’t going to be happy about what happened to their men. We need to keep our heads down.”
“Where do we go?” Patch asked.
“It will be better for us if we get out of California,” Six replied. “Head across the state border into Oregon and we can take shelter in one of the safe houses there.”
The steering wheel pulled at Patch’s hands, with the out-of-alignment rear wheels making the truck difficult to handle. The battered state of the vehicle meant they would have to keep out of sight as much as possible, and there was no choice but to stay on the back roads and hope that the police were slow in responding to the situation.
There was silence in the truck as the three men contemplated their situation. What seemed like a straightforward transport job at six o’clock that morning was turning into a total fuck up only a few hours later and they knew they were in deep shit.
All they could do now was run and hide.
Chapter 9
The sound of the ringing brought Carrie awake, but it needed a few seconds for the fog of drowsiness to clear from her brain. It was only then that she realized it was a phone she was hearing and a frown creased her brow. She looked towards where her bag was lying on the floor of the bedroom and the flash of panic lit up in her mind. Throwing the covers off, she moved across the room and dropped to her knees.
It was only when she was opening the bag that she remembered her phone was switched off. The sound of the ringing continued and she finally cottoned on to the fact it must be the landline in the apartment. Getting to her feet, she walked through to the lounge and wondered what to do. Crash would return the fol
lowing day and she could think of no reason why he would call.
That left her with a couple of choices. Either someone was trying to get in touch with him or, more worryingly, her whereabouts were known and someone was trying to contact her. If the latter was true, then it was more than likely her father was making the call, and that made her reluctant to answer it. In the end the decision of whether she should or not was taken out of her hands when the phone went silent. She let out a quiet sigh of relief, but remained in the lounge in the expectation that the ringing would start again.
Club Property: Adults Only Motorcycle Club Romance: Roadrunners MC Page 9
