Faith: Biker Romance (The Virtues Book 2)

by Lynn, Davida

It was so strange to hear myself called by a different name. If she had been calling me in a crowd, it would have taken five full seconds for me to realize and respond. Luckily, I was the only person in the office with her.

  I stifled a laugh. I just couldn’t see the ripped biker that I’d ridden across the country with as a Jason, but what can you do? “I hope he only said nice things about me.”

  I didn’t decide to, but I adopted the sweet girl persona. It was an act I had perfected after every church service, so why not put all those years of training to use?

  She leaned in like it was juicy gossip. “Oh, honey, he is crazy about you.” After extending her hand, she added, “Call me Delores.”

  My cheeks flushed at the compliment. As much as I liked to hear about Eddie, I wanted to change the subject. “This is one of the coolest places we’ve stayed at on our trip. Thank you so much for having us.”

  “This place ain’t nothin’ to write home about. I do all right during the springtime, but most of the year, this place is in the red. Albert didn’t mention any of that to me before he decided to cash out.”

  I didn’t have a response to that. “How long have you lived in Mesquite?”

  She came around the desk, “This ain’t a business deal. Have a seat with me, Ella.”

  I obliged, sinking with unease into one of the ancient seats. I expected to hear creaks and groans of protest, but it was actually comfortable. Delores slid down into the one next to the water cooler, giving it a look of contempt as if it wasn't her fault that it was empty.

  “Albert and I moved from Amarillo in ‘73, I think. He didn’t like Texas. We had a little money and bought this place when Mesquite was nothing but a rest stop on the way to Las Vegas. We weren’t sure if we were gonna settle here, but the road kept getting busier, and we were always full, so now here we are. Well, here I am.”

  “I’m sorry about your husband.” Even though my next statement wasn’t entirely true, humans just love to commiserate, so I couldn’t resist. “I recently lost my parents. I know how hard it can be without them.” I found it a huge weight off my shoulders without them, but I wasn’t going to be so insensitive to Delores and tell her about my emigration from the church.

  There was something magical about her, and I loved to hear her story. It was the story of simple folk, but it had a power about it that I couldn't get enough of.

  She reached across the chairs and gave my hand a pat.

  “When they put that casino in, we were set. Steady customers almost all year. After Albert passed, though, I just couldn't get a handle on this place. I was never great at managing the books, and suddenly I had an entire business dropped into my lap. It’s been quite a few years now, and look at the place.”

  “It has character,” I offered. I could hear the sadness in her voice, and it killed me. I loved the Dusty Lodge and the town.

  “Ha, character. You call dirt and cluttered messes character? Ella, you are hired. My brand new marketing whiz.” Her body may have been failing her, but Delores had a youthful soul.

  We talked about Texas, and she made it sound like a fantastic place for a barbecue. I added it to my mental list of places to visit. Two days from home, and I had been through three states, heading to a fourth, and I was already compiling a list.

  It was hard to reign myself in. Eddie had freed me, and I felt like the world was at my fingertips. I didn’t want to think ahead, but if the robbery went well, maybe it was just the start of things. We could save up enough to travel all over the country, and maybe even the world.

  As Delores told me about her late husband, I thought of Eddie. They were nothing alike in most ways. Albert worked most of his life for a factory.

  “He was a hard worker, but I saw it wearing him down more and more. We came up with the idea, and we saved every penny for four years. Two weeks’ notice, two weeks to pack the house, and we were gone.”

  The similarities were staring me in the face. “Was it hard for you to leave Texas? Like, did you miss it and want to visit at some point?”

  “Hell no. We were both so sick of the place, and we knew it was time. The closest I’ve come to being back in Amarillo was a funeral for my brother in Pampa. It’s north and east. I drove out there with a friend, sat through the funeral and got right back in the car. There was no one there I wanted to talk to, and there was nothing there I wanted to see. I breathed a sigh of relief when we crossed back into Nevada.”

  I looked away, letting out a sigh. “I’m not sure if I’d ever like to go home or not.”

  “Is there anything waiting for you that’s worth it?” She gave my hand a squeeze.

  My parents were waiting for me. I knew they would be, but were they worth it? Were they worth leaving the open world behind and traveling back to the land of churches?

  I shook my head. “Nothing I can think of.”

  She smiled again. “Then go out and find what’s yours. You and Jason find a place and settle in. Your own Mesquite.”

  Delores was a special woman. I hated lying to her or even bringing her into our plan, but we needed the solid alibi, and I knew she’d stick up for us if she had to. It made my heart ache, but I steered the subject.

  “Did Jason tell you we’re going to stay another day?”

  She nodded, looking out the window into the small parking lot. The Harley sat outside of room seven, but it was on the other side of the building. If it stayed there, and she didn’t leave the office for the parking lot, Delores would never notice it was gone. We were counting on that.

  She smiled. “He did, he did! I’m so glad you’re spending an extra day in Mesquite. Got something big planned?”

  “We sure do. An entire day of nothing.” She gave me a look of confusion. “We aren’t leaving the room for the whole morning. TV movies, snacks, and relaxation for us. You can bet.”

  She might have read into it a little deeper than I had intended. “Oh, a little time for just you two. I understand. Well, I won’t disturb you. I promise.” She gave me a wink, then pushed herself up from the chair. “I’ll even mark you down as a late checkout.”

  I laughed. “Thanks, Delores.”

  She nodded. “Now, I’ve got to get back to these damn books. Albert’s writing got worse each month toward the end, so the ledgers might as well be written in hieroglyphics. You and Jason take care and enjoy the day tomorrow.”

  I thanked her and headed back to room seven, knowing I had held up my end.

  I walked through the door, and Eddie leaned out from the bathroom. “Are we good?”

  “As good as it’s going to get, I think. She thinks we’re spending all day tomorrow having sex.” I fell back onto the bed.

  Eddie stepped out of the bathroom. “You know, that sounds like a great plan.”

  Before he made it to the edge of the bed, his shirt was off, displaying all those muscles I clung to. He was working his pants off when I took over. I got him naked, and before I could reach for my own clothes, he was manhandling me and stripping me down.

  Eddie took me from behind. I felt his hands digging into the flesh of my back. The excitement of his body slamming into mine, coupled with the robbery planned out before us made it so hot and amazing. I came harder than I had in the shower the night before.

  He was strong, turning me and lifting me wherever he wanted me. I cried out as Eddie filled me again and again, sending pleasure rocketing throughout my body. When he collapsed on the bed, I was a giggling mess. He laid his hard body against me.

  “What’s so funny?”

  I rolled over, resting my head against his chest. “Nothing. Just making sure our alibi is concrete.”

  We were up early the next morning. I felt rested, but I still had two cups of the blackest coffee in existence. Eddie had made it in a hurry, and he must have poured every last coffee ground in.

  The thick black liquid was a great start to the day, which was going to be long. Eddie and I packed everything back inside the duffel bag, minus the gun
. Just around sunrise, we headed out to the Harley. Eddie wheeled it through the parking lot, waiting until we were almost a block down the road before he fired it up.

  The truck with Arizona plates was at an upscale (for Mesquite) hotel near the casino. Eddie had no problem slipping the lock and getting inside. It was old enough that a few simple wires were enough to get the truck started. Eddie used the Swiss Army-like pliers to yank out the ignition so the wheel would turn. I hopped behind the wheel and took Eddie back to the bike parked a short distance away.

  So far, the day had barely begun and the town hadn’t stirred. We crossed into Arizona and stashed the bike beneath I-15. The semi-trucks that infested the highways paid us no attention. Why should they? Seeing a truck or a motorcycle on the service roads was probably nothing new to them.

  On the drive back to Mesquite, I pulled my hair back into a tight bun. In a perfect world, I might have dyed my hair, but time wasn’t on our side. I’d have the sweatshirt up over my head, and a pair of sunglasses in the truck’s glove box covering my face.

  Eddie smiled at me. “You look good. You look good.”

  He suddenly seemed much older to me. The closer we got, the older he seemed. Maybe I was feeling younger. I thought the fear might grip me, but Eddie must have sensed it, because he calmed me down.

  “Talk me through the plan from your end.” He had a hand on my shoulder, massaging and keeping me at ease.

  I closed my eyes. “Back in, keys in the truck. Head in, ready to slide over the teller counter when you call out. Go for the tens, preferably still wrapped. Only a few handfuls. That will be well over a grand. Out the door while they are still unsure what is going on. No paint splatter bag, barely time to hit the panic button.

  “I go out the door first while you watch the employees for any Rambos. Into the truck, and I drive. We head straight for the Harley. While I drive, you wrinkle the bills, mix them up, get them dirty. Most of them are stowed in the bag and the saddlebag when we get to the bike.

  “From there, we head back into town. Probably drive right past the cops looking for a rusty old truck. Check out of the hotel later that morning, preferably not in handcuffs, and head west.”

  When I said it out loud, it sounded easy. It was easy. The plan went off without a hitch.

  Back in the hotel, my heart threatened to give us away. It was beating hard and loud. Eddie had more than two hundred dollars stuffed into his pockets with more in the bag, plenty enough to get us to Bakersfield. Of course, I’d never tell Esther how we paid for the trip.

  I was the one to jump Eddie this time. Our alibi was airtight, since we went at it all day, waiting for the time when we’d head back out on the road. I rode him like he was my Harley. His strong hands grabbed, pinched, and twisted me to so many orgasms I lost count. Sex between us was getting rougher, and I loved it.

  I was getting so much more comfortable with my body. I was used to hiding it beneath conservative dresses. Now I was loving the feeling of walking around naked with my man’s eyes on me. He filled me with warmth and desire. I wanted to get a whole new wardrobe when the warm California sun would shine down on me, something a bit more in line with Eddie’s rockabilly style.

  Around three in the afternoon, he and I walked hand in hand to say goodbye to Delores and Mesquite. After the excitement of the bank robbery, I was ready for the next adventure. If I had known it would only be a few days away, I might have requested another day of rest in Mesquite, but of course, I didn’t.

  I had told Esther that we were three days out. In theory, I was right. In practice, life got in the way.

  It was at the hotel on the second night that Eddie confessed to me that it was his first major robbery.

  “But you were so calm, and it was planned out so well.” I massaged his shoulders as he sat on the edge of the large bed. We had severely undercounted our take from the First National Trust in Mesquite. We had stolen around twelve hundred dollars, more than enough to get us to Bakersfield in style.

  Eddie turned back to me. “I’d been thinking about it for a while.”

  I couldn’t believe it. “You are one crazy idiot.”

  He laughed. “A crazy idiot who got away with a fuckload of money. We were inside the bank for, what, two minutes tops? We could have taken nearly ten grand in another three.”

  His back was hard, knotted from a long ride into Las Vegas. I was about to get up and start the shower for him when he said that.

  “You think that we could have taken that much from that tiny bank?”

  Eddie lifted me up and lowered me down to the bed on my back. As he crawled up my body, he growled at me. “Sure, why not? We had plenty of time before that fat, old sheriff woke up from his nap. We could have taken every nickel and dime in the place and gotten away.”

  As he kissed me all over my body, I thought about it. He was right. We could have gotten away with it. We could have gotten away with it all. Inside that huge Las Vegas palace of a hotel room, we were both thinking the same thing. Once just wouldn't be enough.

  Earlier that day we stopped for gas, and Eddie counted the money. When he did, we knew our plans had to change. With over four thousand dollars, we were backed against the wall. The two of us couldn’t keep paying for hotel rooms in ten dollar bills all the way to California, and with that many bills being taken, the serial numbers were surely making the rounds.

  We sat at the service station trying to think of a quick way to dump the money and keep it at the same time. I had my head in my hands when I overheard two guys talking as they passed us. They were headed to Las Vegas, one of them for some poker tournament. Then the idea struck me.

  Looking up from my hands, I said, “I’ve got it!”

  Eddie stared at me. “Well, don't look so fuckin’ pleased with yourself. Tell me the idea.”

  “Why not take our money to the place where it moves so much and so fast, no one will bat an eye no matter what we bring in? Let’s go to Vegas. We’ll cash it in for chips. Play some slots or poker or whatever, then cash out. They won’t give us the same money back, right?”

  A wide smile appeared on Eddie’s face. I knew I’d struck gold. “Right. Those bills will just get shuffled in with all the other money coming in. Thousands and thousands of dollars a day, all getting mixed in with our consecutives. Faith, holy shit. That’s brilliant!”

  We filled our stomachs, filled the tank, and headed south toward Sin City.

  My guess was right. Even as we pulled into the city and headed down the strip, we knew we’d have nothing to worry about. There were other hikers, people driving fancy cars, and other people driving rust buckets. Las Vegas was an equal opportunity place. No matter your standing in life, your creed or color, the casinos would be more than happy to take your money from you.

  We cashed in, and the woman didn’t even give us a second look. She handed us back four black chips with $1000 printed on them, and various other colors adding up to what we had taken in Mesquite. When we turned away, Eddie handed me the black chips. I slid them into my bra, the safest place I could think of.

  With a wink, I said, “You know, for safe keeping.”

  We wandered around the adult playground. All the lights and sounds were mesmerizing. It sounded as if there was someone constantly shouting with joy. My head was spinning in all directions, barely able to keep up with all the excitement.

  It felt like an endless line of slot machines, with just about every theme and design you could imagine. The people were rooted in their stools, buckets in hand, waiting for that inevitable (to them) sound. Even watching people gamble was a thrill.

  We passed a roulette table, and I stopped and pulled Eddie to a stop along with me. The marble was spinning against the wheel’s own rotation, pulling me into a trance. It finally lost momentum and snagged on a peg, sending it bouncing.