Monroe, Marla - The Edge of Night [The Protectors 3](Siren Publishing Classic)

by Marla Monroe

  The man stepped further into the light. It was one of The Skulls. Morgan was careful to step so that he had his back to the door and could see ahead of him. The other man chuckled.

  “She looks to be a hot one. All that red hair proves she’s got a temper, though.”

  “You’re thinking about someone else then. She’s got brown hair, but you’re right, she’s a hot one.”

  “Right, if you get tired of her, send her my way. I have a thing for feisty women.” He turned away and walked back around the building.

  Morgan knocked twice on the door. A few seconds later, Tyler opened the door to the bar, then closed it and removed it so Morgan could step inside. He noticed that Tyler had his shirt off and realized the air wasn’t on.

  “What’s going on?”

  “Air went out. Called the desk clerk, but they don’t have another room open, and their maintenance person won’t be here until tomorrow,” Tyler told him.

  Morgan looked over to where Amanda sat cross-legged on the bed with one of his T-shirts on, but no jeans. She smiled wanly at him, then turned back to watch TV.

  “I ran into a Skull outside the door. He was looking for her,” Morgan said.

  “He knows she’s with us?”

  “No, he was fishing to see if she might be who he’s looking for, though. Tried to trick me with a reference to her having red hair. I don’t like it.”

  “What time are we supposed to leave in the morning?” Tyler asked.

  “Not till around eleven. I say we leave earlier.” Morgan glanced over toward Amanda again.

  “We’re not going to get a lot of sleep in this heat anyway,” Tyler said.

  “Well, better get to bed now and sleep as much as we can.”

  Morgan walked over to the other bed where Amanda sat and pulled on her hair.

  “Ready for bed?” he asked.

  “It’s too hot to sleep with covers on,” she said.

  Her eyes said she wasn’t sure how she could sleep without them. He knew she didn’t feel comfortable being naked around Tyler despite finding it a turn-on for him to watch them have sex. He smiled and shucked his shirt before sitting on the edge of the bed to remove his boots and socks. Then he peeled off his jeans and climbed up on the bed in nothing but his boxers. He looked over where Amanda still sat at the foot of the bed and crooked his finger for her to come up to where he was.

  She smiled and crawled up the bed until she was sitting next to him. He pulled her down and kissed her, then wrapped his arm around her and told her to go to sleep. He prayed they didn’t have any trouble getting to the state line tomorrow. He didn’t have a good feeling about the day ahead of them.

  Chapter Fourteen

  A loud banging on the door woke Morgan from a restless sleep. He rolled out of bed to see Tyler doing the same thing. A glance at his watch made him wince. It was only seven in the morning.

  “Who is it?” Tyler asked.

  Morgan looked through the peephole. It was Rock and Ace.

  “Get in bed with Amanda and look like you were sleeping with her. I’m going to let them in,” Morgan told him.

  Amanda turned wide eyes on him. “Morgan?”

  “It’s going to be okay, Amanda. Remember to look sleepy and keep your eyes closed as much as possible.”

  Tyler crawled into bed with Amanda, and Morgan had to swallow to stop the growl that threatened to erupt. This was stupid. He’d never cared before if Tyler slept with their current woman. He watched as the other man wrapped Amanda in his arms and pulled her head against his chest to hide her eyes. At his nod, Morgan answered the door.

  “Yeah, hold your fucking horses,” he yelled through the door as he made a lot of noise unlocking it.

  He held the door open and squinted his eyes at the other guys. Ace frowned at him. Rock pushed past him to walk through the door. Ace followed.

  “Close the door, Morgan,” Rock said.

  “What’s up, Rock? It’s a little freaking early to pay a social visit.”

  “Seems The Skulls think you’re hiding someone and are planning on relieving you of her. Think it would be a good idea if you leave now, not later, like you’d planned. We’ll keep them here for as long as we can, but you’re going to have to get out quick. I don’t trust they don’t have someone watching you.” Rock glanced over at Amanda and Tyler and grinned. “At least you had a few hours of downtime.”

  He walked over to the door. He opened it and looked outside, then back at Morgan.

  “Roll your bikes as close to the street as you can before you start them. I’m going to get a few of our guys to crank theirs at the same time you do outside their window so they don’t realize you’re leaving. Give us fifteen minutes, then go.”

  As soon as Rock and Ace left, the three of them jumped up and dressed as fast as possible. Morgan noticed that Amanda didn’t bother changing tops or putting on a bra. She pulled on socks and jeans, then her boots, and crammed everything into her bag and was ready when they were.

  “Let’s go,” Morgan said.

  They piled out of the hotel room. Tyler and Morgan pushed the bikes as close to the road as they could get, then waited until they heard the other bikes crank up before they started theirs. Amanda jumped on back with Morgan, and the three of them took off.

  He could feel Amanda’s breasts pressed tight against his back. Without a bra, she felt so much bigger against him. He nearly moaned out loud at the need that suddenly hit him. He wanted to pull over and fuck her against the bike. He bit back a curse and concentrated on getting them out of town and out on the highway.

  “How are you doing back there?” Morgan asked.

  “I’m holding on,” she said.

  They rode for nearly an hour with no sign of anyone following them. Morgan began to relax a little, thinking maybe they’d gotten away without anyone knowing they were gone.

  “Morgan, I’m trying really hard to hold it, but I’m going to have to go to the bathroom soon.”

  He blew out a breath. “Okay. Next turnoff we’ll stop.”

  At the next exit, they pulled off and into a small mom-and-pop grocery. Amanda was off in a blur, running for the bathrooms advertised on the side of the building near the back.

  “I’m going with her. You see about getting us something to eat to tide us over till we hit the state line.” Morgan followed behind Amanda to be sure she would be okay.

  He heard her slam the bathroom door just as he rounded the corner. The men’s bathroom stood open. He waited for a good five minutes before he got worried and knocked on the women’s bathroom door.

  “You okay in there?”

  “Yeah, I’ll be out in just a second.”

  He sighed and leaned against the bricks next to the door. Several seconds later, she emerged from the bathroom with a freshly washed face and a relieved look on her face.

  “Sorry, I really had to go, or I wouldn’t have said anything,” she said.

  “No problem. Come on. Tyler is getting us something to eat.” Morgan led her back to the front of the building, where Tyler stood holding a couple of bags and several drinks.

  “They had sausage and biscuits, so I got us a bagful.” He handed a bottle of milk to her and kept the colas for them.

  They ate their meal over the bikes. Morgan discussed their route with Tyler and watched Amanda eat her sausage and biscuit. She seemed to be hungry, so he pulled out another one and handed it to her. She ate it slower, but finished all of it.

  “You about ready to go?” he asked Amanda.

  She finished the milk and nodded. “I’m ready.”

  They climbed back on and then got back on the interstate. Morgan kept watch for other bikes, but so far, they hadn’t run into any other riders on the road. That could be a mixed blessing, he supposed. Other bikers would help hide their presence, but other bikers would also mean they might have company they didn’t want.

  Thirty minutes out of Satarcia, the little town on the state line they were headed to,
Tyler rode up next to Morgan and jerked his head backward. Morgan looked behind them, and sure enough, there were nearly twenty bikes catching up to them.

  Shit. He sped up until they were doing close to ninety, with Tyler right behind him. They weaved in and out of traffic, trying to put as many cars as possible between them. They managed to get a good five hundred yards between them, but it wouldn’t last if they didn’t keep it up. Sustaining that kind of speed for very long was going to be tough in the traffic they were in. He could hear honking in the back, so he knew the bikes behind them were causing havoc with the cars. They kept that up, the highway patrol would soon be in the middle of their problems.

  As if suddenly realizing this, the other bikers slowed down and stopped harassing the traffic ahead of them. Morgan and Tyler slowed down enough to keep ahead without causing problems. They hit the exit ramp for Satarcia doing thirty. The other bikers were soon directly behind them. He wasn’t sure what they were going to do now. They circled the town twice, looking for a way to stop without them being able to snatch Amanda. With there being so many of them, Morgan and Tyler didn’t stand a chance of keeping her safe. Amanda seemed to know this, as she kept a firm hold around Morgan’s middle. They would run out of gas if they kept circling the town without stopping.

  About the seventh or eighth pass around the town, several patrol cars pulled out behind The Skulls and flashed their lights. The Skulls finally pulled over, giving Morgan and Tyler time to disappear. They pulled in behind a Dumpster in an alley, where a building would hide them on one side and the Dumpster on the other.

  “Tyler, watch our backs.” Morgan unclipped his cell and punched in Jethro’s number.

  “Who are you calling?” Amanda asked with a hitch in her voice.

  “Our backup,” he said.

  “Hey, you’re up and about mighty early.” Jethro’s voice sounded tired.

  “You sound like you haven’t been to bed.”

  “Yeah, well, we decided to drive all night and set up in Satarcia for when you get here,” Jethro said.

  “Fuck, you’re kidding. You’re already here?” Morgan blew out a breath.

  “Here? Does that mean you’re here? What happened?”

  Morgan gave him a condensed version and asked if they had any ideas on how to get them out of the alley.

  “Hang tight and let me talk with Justin. I’ll call you right back.” Jethro hung up.

  “What did he say?” Tyler asked as he watched behind them.

  “They’re already here. Rode all night and are staying at that first hotel we passed coming into town. He said there are already several bikes there, so it won’t look out of place for us to have ours there.”

  “Except they’re going to recognize our bikes,” Tyler pointed out.

  “Yeah, I think so, too. Let’s see how they plan to get us out of here first. Then we’ll worry about the hotel.”

  A few minutes later, the phone buzzed on his hip. So far they hadn’t seen the other bikers ride through the area.

  “Yeah.” Morgan answered on the second ring.

  “Best thing is for us to pick you up behind us and leave, heading to Oklahoma. If they don’t see us exit, they won’t know we’ve left. We’re in the truck now, heading your direction. Be ready. When we stop outside the alley and honk twice, pull out behind us and keep up.” Jethro laughed. “Those assholes are busy right now talking to the cops outside the police station. That will give us enough time to get out of town without them knowing it.”

  “We’ll be ready.”

  He hung up the phone and told Tyler to be ready to pull out when they honked twice.

  “The cops have the others holed up at the police station doing something.”

  “Perfect,” Tyler said with a smile.

  After nearly five minutes, they heard the two honks and pulled out of the alley behind a solid black Dodge Ram. They had no trouble keeping up in town, but were surprised when the twins cranked it up on the highway to nearly eighty. They drove like this for a solid hour before slowing down to seventy for another two hours. They took several exits and seemed to be heading toward Nevada and not Oklahoma, but Morgan would leave the navigation to them for the time being.

  When they finally pulled off the interstate to a truck stop, he heard Amanda sigh. Poor thing was probably starved and in need of the bathroom again. It wouldn’t be long till the sun set as well. He wasn’t too sure how long they planned to drive, but he knew Amanda wouldn’t be able to hold on for an all-night ride.

  They pulled into the truck stop. Morgan and Tyler rode around the building several times before finally parking next to the black Dodge Ram. He had Amanda wait until Tyler was off so he the other man could help her off and stand by her while Morgan climbed off.

  “Baby, they’re going to help us. Don’t let them scare you. Remember, if anything happens to me, you go to Tyler. Anything happens to both of us, you go with them. They’ll take care of you.”

  “But nothing is going to happen to you, right?” she asked.

  “Nothing is going to happen to any of us. Let’s go inside and get something to eat.”

  He watched Amanda and knew she didn’t believe him.

  * * * *

  The twins had long black hair pulled back at the nape of their necks and gray eyes. They looked tougher than even Morgan did. When they saw them walking toward them, both men stood up and reached across the table to shake Morgan and Tyler’s hands. They had to be pushing six feet seven inches.

  “Jethro, Justin, thanks for the help,” Morgan said.

  He pulled out a chair opposite the twins for her to sit in, and he took the other. Tyler took the end seat on the other side of her.

  “Hey, if it means action, you know we’re there,” one of them said. Amanda couldn’t tell them apart.

  “This is Amanda,” Morgan said.

  She smiled the best she could considering she was terrified of them already.

  “The one on the left is Jethro, and his brother on the right is Justin.”

  “Um, hi.” She turned to Morgan. “How do you tell them apart?”

  Everyone at the table laughed except for her. The twins shook their heads, and Tyler winked at her.

  “I’ll tell you how later,” he said.

  “Hell no, you’re not,” Morgan told him.

  “Spoilsport,” Tyler said.

  “Jethro is just crazier than Justin. I can tell them apart ’cause I’ve known them a long time.” Morgan placed an arm around her shoulders.

  Jethro grinned at Morgan. “I take it she’s not into foursomes.”

  Tyler rolled his eyes.

  Amanda gasped and burrowed closer to Morgan.

  “Don’t scare her, Jethro. You know damn well she’s off-limits.”

  “He just had to see for himself that you were serious,” Justin told him.

  “So, what is the deal with this Guy?” Jethro asked.

  “He wants Amanda to have an abortion and has already tried to force one on her. He’s still after her, and I figure he isn’t going to back off. She’s a liability to him since he’s running for mayor in Memphis and is engaged to some socialite.” Morgan squeezed Amanda’s shoulder when she started squirming in her seat.

  “And now you have The Skulls on your back wanting some of that reward money,” Justin continued.

  “That’s about it in a nutshell,” Morgan said.

  The waitress walked up and asked about ordering.

  “So, what did Dodge find out?” Justin asked.

  “The man has money and is connected. He has fingers in several different pies around the southern states. Thing is, he appears squeaky clean, but since he was…seeing Amanda, I figure he’s got someone else out there he had seen in the past with a story to tell. Dodge is digging deeper. No one is that clean.”

  Tyler frowned. “So we have a heart-to-heart with him and convince him that it’s for his own good that he leaves Amanda alone?”

  “I wish it were that
simple, but it seems he’s sticking close to home. It’s his goons we have to worry about right now. Well, them and anyone interested in the damn reward.”

  “How much is it?” Jethro asked.

  “Ten grand,” Morgan said.

  “That puts a lot of people into play.” Jethro leaned back in his chair.

  “That’s what has me worried,” Morgan said.

  “So basically, we’re surrounded.” Tyler took a sip of his coffee.

  “Man, when you get into something, you jump right on it,” Justin said.

  “So, any ideas?” Morgan asked.

  “We need to buy some time for Dodge to come up with something because if he’s serious enough to offer money for her, he’s serious enough to want her dead even after the baby is born. She’s a liability to him even without being pregnant,” Jethro told them.

  “He’s threatened to take the baby from her if she has it, so he’ll sue for custody and take her baby that way if he can’t get her to abort it,” Morgan added.

  “So, what, we hole up somewhere and wait it out?” Tyler asked.

  “No, they can outwait us. I say stick to public places and move around. We’ll ride another two or three hours and find a good hotel for the night, then keep moving.” Justin leaned back in his chair.

  “We can eliminate the goons, but he’ll probably just send more. Someone like him probably has mafia and police connections,” Jethro added.

  “That’s what I’m afraid of,” Morgan agreed.

  “So, we’re in agreement?” Justin asked.

  Morgan and Tyler nodded. Morgan squeezed her hand. She wasn’t sure what they were going to be doing, but she trusted Morgan to try to keep her safe. She just wasn’t so sure he could do it with everything going wrong.

  * * * *

  “You three ready to roll?” Justin asked.

  “Amanda?” Morgan asked.

  “Yeah, I’ll be right back.” She stood up to go, and Morgan grabbed her hand.

  “Tyler, go with her. I don’t want her walking around alone.”