Shooter (Burnout)

by West, Dahlia

  “Right after I switched your ass so the sting of sitting down constantly reminded you of how badly you fucked up.” Hayley gaped at him. “Seeing you on the back of Prior’s bike was not a good thing, Hayley. Prior’s not like us. Not respectable. Doesn’t give a shit about what belongs where. If he wanted you, he’d have chained you to his bed. But instead he used you, and I’m not sure that’s much better.”

  Hayley’s eyebrows knitted together. “Used me how?”

  “Brought you back here. Now Shooter owes Jack. And that, Slick, is not a good thing, either.”

  “What does that mean? Chris owing Jack. What would Jack want? What could Chris give him?”

  Tex shrugged. “Could be anything. Money. Weapons Jack wouldn’t normally have access to.” He paused. “Shooter’s skill set.”

  Hayley gasped. “He wouldn’t- he wouldn’t ask Chris to…kill anyone.”

  “He might. The thing about Jack is, he’s always playing chess. That’s how he got to be President in the first place. Always two or three moves ahead of everybody else. A favor to Jack wouldn’t just be a favor. It’d have implications. Consequences. It’s a step closer to him getting what he’s wanted for years.”

  Hayley was almost afraid to ask. “What does he want?” But she already knew.

  “He wants Shooter, Slick. He always has, since they were kids. Jack always saw himself as VP and Chris as Prez. And it burned his ass something fierce when Shooter enlisted and left him behind. But now? Chris is our lieutenant. Always will be, whether we’re enlisted or not. Where he goes, we go. We’d follow him into Hell if we had to. If Shooter patches into the Buzzards, we patch in. All of us. To protect his ass. Even Doc and probably Easy, too, now that he’s not so sore-assed at us. Five ex-Army special operatives for the price of one.”

  Hayley felt numb all the way to her toes and half walked, half stumbled to the office chair and sat down. “He couldn’t do that. He couldn’t get Chris to join just for pulling me off a bus.”

  Tex sighed. “Two or three moves ahead, Hayley. Suppose he asks Chris to get him weapons? Or worse, take out an enemy of the MC. Then gets photos of it. Or video. Either Chris can go to prison or he can patch into the Buzzards. And I don’t think Chris is going to face 25 to life and leave you unprotected. Hell this way works out even better for Jack ‘cause he gets to stay Prez, leading Shooter around by the nose with evidence of a crime stashed away somewhere where we’ll never find it. And we wouldn’t even be able to take him out, ‘cause Jack’d have a contingency plan for that.

  “Fuck, the man doesn’t piss without a contingency plan in place. Word is, even his boys don’t know all the ins and outs of the MC. So if there’s dissention in the ranks and they’ve a mind for mutiny, they’d lose his contacts and half the money he brings in through ‘em. Jack Prior is a devious motherfucker, and as if he wasn’t scary enough to look at, he’s also amazingly smart. Don’t let the GED fool you. The man is a fucking genius. I’m sure he’s had eyes on you the minute Shooter staked his claim. Probably got a contact at the bus station set to give him a ring if you showed up.”

  Hayley sat down in the office chair and dropped her backpack on the desk. “I didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”

  Tex’s face softened and he came away from the door to sit down on the couch situated across from her. “What happened, Hayley? Did you get scared? Did you just decide it wasn’t gonna work out? He doesn’t deserve a face to face conversation that you’re leaving?”

  Hayley shook her head as tears rolled down her cheeks. “It wasn’t like that! I swear!”

  *********************************

  Chris headed for the office door. Both men were left looking a little worse for the wear with Chris having a cut above his eye and Hawk nursing some bruised ribs. Some of his anger had dissipated from the fight, which he realized was the point of the whole thing. Hawk was protecting Hayley from Chris’s wrath and even if Chris wasn’t sure he saw the need for it, he appreciated the man’s willingness to put himself out there for her. He was still pretty angry when he opened the door but whatever was left took an instant ice bath as he saw Hayley sobbing at the desk.

  He was barely in the room before she launched herself at him, throwing her arms around his waist and crying into his chest. Chris sighed and wrapped his arms around her. Slick blubbered all over both of them, apologizing, and he was able to pick up words like “Buzzards” and “prison”. He looked over the top of her head at Tex. “What did you say to her?”

  “Told her the truth.”

  Chris scowled. “You shouldn’t have done that. You scared her.”

  “She needs to know her fuck ups have serious consequences.”

  Chris rested his jaw against the side of Slick’s head. “I can handle Jack Prior,” he told both of them.

  “Well I hope so,” Tex replied. “Because I’m sure as shit not too fucking excited about being an assassin for a one percenter gang.”

  Chris leveled a gaze at his former squad mate. “I will never let that happen.” His tone sounded confident and clear and it was easy to be swayed by his conviction. “I will end Prior myself before I let him have any of you.”

  “What happens to her?”

  “You take her for me if I can’t. Get her out of South Dakota. The Buzzard’s reach won’t extend very far without Prior. No one in the club can do what he does, and they won’t have access to his network to find her. Hawk’ll have his sister and her kids to take care of. Easy’s too green. Try to get Caleb to come with you rather than retaliating against the whole club, but you might not have much luck with that. You’re the one I trust her with the most.” Chris felt Hayley’s grip on him tighten. He ran his fingers through her hair. “We’re just talking worst case scenarios, baby. It won’t happen. What did Jack say to you?”

  “Nothing. Just that he has eyes everywhere and that I belong to you. And that I don’t get to choose when to leave. But-”

  “Why would you leave?” he demanded. “Why wouldn’t you talk to me? You’re not even taking all your shit,” he snapped, jerking his chin at the contents of the bag strewn on the table. “What the hell is going on, Hayley?”

  “L.T.,” said Tex and tossed Chris the phone when he glanced over. “Memory’s wiped. Scratches on the back. She’s had it a while.”

  Chris stared at the phone then leveled his gaze at her. “You lied to me.”

  “I didn’t,” she argued. “I mean it was before I really knew you at all.”

  “You’re hiding things from me. Lying to me. And now you’re sneaking out of town.”

  “I- I left you a note.”

  “A note. Really? A note. What did it say? ‘Dinner’s in the oven. Have a nice life.’? ”

  “No! I just need to go away for a few days. Maybe a week. I was coming back!”

  “You don’t get to make these decisions alone! We’re together now! You talk to me when something comes up and we come up with a plan, together. You need to get somewhere? You tell me and we go together. Are you sensing a fucking pattern here, Slick? You’re not alone anymore so stop acting like you are.”

  “I want to know who she’s gonna play nurse for,” Tex drawled.

  Chris looked at his friend. “What?”

  Tex dug out the scrubs and the shoes underneath the other clothes and laid them out on top of the pile.

  “My mom called. My dad’s in the hospital. He had a heart attack. They need me. So I thought I could get in to see him dressed like a nurse and maybe visit him a few times until they release him. No one would know I was family. I wouldn’t even go their house, just stay at a motel. Just for a few days. Just to help mom and see him through. That’s all.”

  “And if it’s a set up?”

  “How could it be? It’s a heart attack. It’s not like he was poisoned or anything. And like I said, no one would know I was family and-”

  “He could be watching the room, Hayley! He could be waiting, hoping you show up!”

  “I
t’s a crowded hospital!” she argued. “There are people everywhere! He couldn’t-”

  “He could! All he needs is an empty room, a corner in the basement, a fucking broom closet! This is a bad plan, Hayley. The only people who know who you really are are your parents. And neither one of them is capable of protecting themselves. Especially not your father right now. What if he kills them first? Hell he could even make your father’s death look like a complication from his heart attack. No one would even be looking for a murderer! Then he could have hours with you, that’s if he can’t get you out of the hospital alive. Which I have no doubt he could. A service entrance, graveyard shift with minimal security, delivery truck. There are about a thousand ways to get an unconscious person out of a hospital without anyone knowing. Then he could keep you alive indefinitely, Hayley. You want to be his prisoner for months? Years?

  Hayley’s shoulders shook as she started to cry. Chris’ anger dissipated rapidly. He hadn’t meant to scream at her like that, but Goddamn, the sight of her on Prior’s bike, the thought of her sneaking away and putting herself in danger. He definitely wasn’t able to handle all of that as calmly as he’d like. He grabbed her suddenly and yanked her into his arms.

  “I’m sorry,” she sputtered.

  “It’s alright,” he assured her. “Everything’s going to be alright.” He obviously wasn’t certain of that, since he had no control over Hayley’s father’s health. But he could for damn sure control everything else and make this operation as smooth and seamless as possible. “I’ll take care of it,” he told her. “We’ll go visit your folks. We’ll go right away. I’ll keep you safe.”

  It made him uneasy, the way he always did before they rolled out in the desert. But he knew from experience all he could do was make sure no mistakes were made on his end. He’d promised her he’d protect her. And that’s exactly what he intended to do. He tried not to think about the other promise he’d made, that he would let her go whenever she decided it was time. She missed her family something fierce. And he wanted her with him more than he’d ever care to admit out loud to anyone. And that was a hell of a situation to find himself in.

  Chapter 32

  Chris left the garage in the capable hands of the boys, even Caleb put in for some vacation time to help out so they didn’t get behind. The night before they left, Hayley told him everything. All the details that he’d been missing. That she was from Raleigh, North Carolina. That her parents were still married and still lived in the same house she grew up in. He’d nodded, taking it all in, and then urged her to get some sleep because they would be hitting the road early the next morning.

  After she fell asleep, he slipped out of the bedroom and grabbed his cell phone off the kitchen counter. “Her name is Sarah Marie Davis,” he told a sleep-fuzzed Caleb. “She’s from Raleigh.”

  Caleb made a grunt that was something like a cross between acknowledgement and frustration. “I’ll dig up what I can,” he promised.

  Chris nodded, mostly to himself. “We’re taking the truck to Virginia. Then we’re renting a car from there.”

  “Sounds good. I’ll call you when you’re on the road.”

  Chris hung up, double checked their bags and set them by the front door. He didn’t much like going in blind. He hoped Caleb would be able to pick up something, anything that might be useful. When he couldn’t possibly find anything else to do, he finally slipped out of his jeans and into a pair of shorts and slid into bed next to Slick.

  Her breathing was steady and even and he pulled her close, breathing in her scent. There were so many things that could go wrong, not the least of which was Slick simply deciding she’d had enough of running and refusing to go back with him. He pushed the thoughts out of his head. He could only afford to focus on things he could control.

  The next morning, they woke early and he sent her out to the truck with her black duffel back. After sending her away, he headed to the bedroom and opened the closet door. The .44 was too big, way too conspicuous. He pulled out a footlocker tucked into the back corner of the closet and unlocked the stainless steel padlock. He drew out a .38, checked the barrel, and slid it into an ankle holster. He grabbed a few speed loaders for good measure. He strapped on the gun and stored the speed loaders in his own bag.

  He obviously didn’t need the gun for the 1,700 miles it would take to get to North Carolina, but the holster was unfamiliar and he wanted the use the time to get used to wearing it. He zipped up the bag, shouldered it, and grabbed the cat.

  Chris dropped off the furball next door with Easy. If Easy was irritated about having to take care of the little ninja, he didn’t show it. He seemed to understand that what they were doing was inherently dangerous and wasn’t going to dump a bunch of trivial shit on them. He actually hugged Hayley and wished them a safe drive. Chris promised to call that night when they hit the motel they’d be staying at half way between SD and NC.

  Hayley, for her part, was putting on a brave face. Between fear for her father and fear for her life she seemed to be holding together remarkably well. Chris wished he’d had time to take her to a range and teach her to shoot. He could’ve gotten her a similar holster with perhaps a .25 or a .38, something small for her hands. But it would’ve taken weeks, probably months, before she’d be comfortable with it and longer than that to become proficient at it. He’d have to shoulder the entire responsibility of their security himself.

  The ride was smooth, but achingly long. The hills of the Dakotas gave way to the flatlands of Nebraska and Kansas. They caught sight of the St. Louis Arch just before sunset. Chris was winding down anyway, and chose the first hotel off the highway they saw a sign for. He checked them in and helped Hayley carry their bags upstairs.

  They ordered room service, traded off showers, and climbed into bed in record time, both of them exhausted from the miles they’d put on the odometer. Hayley was tired, too, even though she hadn’t driven, but not so tired that she didn’t press herself against his thigh, revealing that while he’d been in the shower, she’d gotten into bed wearing only a t-shirt. He’d seen her pack a box of Morning After pills in her bag the night before. He needed no other encouragement to take her.

  Neither of them spoke. Neither of them wanted to give voice to their own fears. She pulled him on top of her; he drew her shirt up over her head. Her legs wrapped around his waist and her fingertips pressed into his back, urging him inside her. It wasn’t the edge of desperation, but it was something like it. He buried his face in her neck and his cock in her pussy and prayed like hell for the first time since he asked God to make sure Jimmy found his way to peace.

  Chris wanted peace of a different kind with this woman. And he’d kill to get it, if that’s what it took. He silently thanked God that killing was within his ability to do. All he needed was for God to provide the opportunity.

  In the morning, while Hayley showered, his phone rang. He swiped the answer button and left the room.

  “I couldn’t find shit,” Caleb declared, sounding pissed. “Raleigh PD’s got nothing. DNA they can’t match, a description of a car they could never find. Hayley and Jake were taken to farmhouse outside of town, owned by a 90 year old man who’d been placed in a nursing home a few months before. He had no immediate family, so no leads there.”

  Caleb let out a sigh. “If it makes you feel any better, I’d have to guess this guy’s lucky rather than good. Not bright enough to realize Hayley was still alive when he left her in the ground. Dumb enough to leave his prints and DNA everywhere. He obviously knows they can’t catch him based on that, but he’s apparently not thought about the fact that if they ever do catch him some other way, they can link him to at least two other couple abductions up and down the coast where the DNA matched up. There have been a few other disappearances, too. No bodies on those, yet, though.”

  Chris frowned. It wasn’t anything he could actually use. “Thanks for trying. We’ll be in Raleigh tonight. We’re going to the hospital after Midnight.”

&n
bsp; “Well, good luck and stay safe. Any idea when you’ll be headed back?”

  “No. A lot depends on his condition. A few days at the most, though. The longer we stay the more exposed we are.”

  A few minutes later, Chris disconnected and headed back to the room. He’d considered having Tex or Caleb come with them, but had ultimately dismissed it. The bigger their group was, the more likely they were to be noticed. And even if the asshole wasn’t staking out the hospital now, a busybody nurse could put a call into a local news station and a reporter could swoop in in an effort to get an exclusive interview with The Coastal Killer’s only living victim.

  Caleb had told him that only one reporter had made the connection between Hayley’s abduction and murders in three other states, probably through a leak in the department. Apparently the local police hadn’t wanted to broadcast that information for their own reasons. The reporter, though, had run with it and nicknamed the asshole The Coastal Killer. But there had only been two disappearances since Hayley’s abduction and since no one had found any trace of them, they couldn’t be officially linked to the same perpetrator. No story had run on the so-called Coastal Killer in more than a year. Hopefully that would keep Hayley from being recognized by anyone.