“Even if by helping me you’d piss off Brett?”
“I’d love to piss him off. But I’m not getting in the middle of a hen squabble.”
“This isn’t a hen squabble. I need a ride out of here.”
“Ask Lil.”
“I can’t involve her. I’m not coming back.”
He eyed me, taking a long swig of beer. “Does Brett know?”
“No. I need to leave before he comes home.”
“Why?”
“I can’t tell you. Please, just help me. I can give you money for gas when I get home.” Whenever that might be.
“Not until you tell me what this is about.”
“Fine, but you won’t believe me.” Stay calm.
“Probably not.”
“I overheard Brett. He said he had to kill me.”
Rand sputtered his beer. “Shit.” With the hem of his shirt he wiped his mouth, revealing his abs.
I was mesmerized for a moment until I remembered who those washboard abs belonged to. Why didn’t Emily want him? They were both pretty on the outside with a sour center. They were perfect for each other.
“What the hell did you just say?” he asked.
“Brett said he was going to kill me.”
He leaned back, observing. “You’re out of your mind,” he finally said.
“I knew you wouldn’t believe me. But I have no way out of here except you.”
“Then you’re stuck.”
“Think about it this way. If we ran off together, you’d piss off Brett. That’s a bonus, right? And you’d make Emily jealous. Another bonus. And all you’d have to do is get me out of here.”
“Emily jealous?” he scoffed.
That was it. Emily was my answer again. Rand didn’t care as much about angering Brett as he did about making Emily jealous. He must still have feelings for her.
If Emily was standing in front of me, I’d have kissed her.
“Emily wants what she can’t have,” I said. “If she thought we ran off together, she’d be livid. It’s a win-win for you.”
“And then I come back without you and she wouldn’t give a damn again.”
“Then don’t come back right away. Help me find a hiding spot and hang out with me for a while.” What in God’s name possessed me to say that?
Desperation. Pure desperation.
He looked thoughtful for a moment but then shook his head. “I have work.”
“The trial is tomorrow. You were going to work on the day your niece’s killer defended herself?”
“No, I was planning on going.”
“Then, please help me.”
“You’re serious?” He eyed me. “You really think Brett is going to kill you?”
“I know what I heard, and I’m scared. If you asked me that same question a few hours ago, I’d have thought you were insane. I don’t know what to think now. I just need time and a safe place.”
“And then what? You can’t stay in your cocoon forever. Someday you’ll come out. Brett’s no dummy. If he wants to find you, he will.”
“By then, I’ll hopefully have the answers I need.”
“How?”
“I know a few ladies that will help me if I ask.”
Rand chugged down the rest of his beer and stood. “Sure, why not?”
Shocked at his agreement, I stood stalk still. “Great,” I finally said. “Let me get my suitcase.”
“Leave it.”
“But my things—”
“Won’t fit on my bike,” he interrupted.
“Your bike?”
He lifted the keys off the counter. “It’s the only wheels I’ve got, sweet thing.”
“Don’t call me that.”
“Why not? Brett does.”
“He also said he was going to kill me.”
“And I’m his replacement, sweet thing.”
I crossed my arms and scowled, but it only made him laugh.
“This might be fun, sweet thing,” he said, picking up his leather jacket. “Do you have one?”
“A jacket?” I shook my head. “It’s a hundred degrees out.”
“I thought it was in the eighties.”
“Well, it feels like it’s in the hundreds.”
Rand disappeared down the short hallway and into a room. He came back moments later with a helmet and a feminine version of his leather jacket. He tossed it to me.
“Put it on.”
“Who’s is this?”
“Emily’s.”
“It probably won’t fit,” I said.
“Try it.”
“Fine.” I slipped one arm on and then the other. It was snug, but as long as I didn’t hug anyone, the shoulder seams would hold. The zipper on the other hand . . .
“Can’t zip it?” he questioned.
“No,” I muttered, struggling to yank the jacket closed.
“Here,” he said, swiping my hands away. “Suck in.”
“That’s hardly the right thing to say to a lady.”
“If you’re riding on my bike, then you’re not a lady,” he said, a smile tinting his words that might have otherwise offended me. He managed to zip the jacket halfway. My other “ladies” wouldn’t let him go any farther. “That’ll do,” he said, stepping back to look. “Not bad, sweet thing.”
“Stop calling me that.” It was like a knife plunging into my stomach.
He shook his head. “Sorry, you’re riding with me now.”
“What does that have anything to do with it?”
“I never called Emily by her name while riding.”
“Then what did you call her?”
A wicked smile spread on his face. “My bitch.”
Hands on my hips, I cocked a brow. “It’s no wonder she left you.” I had no doubt that he would call Emily his . . . well, his whatever. But from his smile, I suspected he was intentionally trying to rile me. It worked. “Do you have a pen and paper?”
“For what?”
“To write a note.”
“For what?”
I huffed an exasperated breath. “To let everyone know we’ve run off and are going to be blissfully happy somewhere far, far away.”
“I think they’ll figure it out when we don’t come back.”
“They might assume we’re lying dead in a ditch.”
“They’ll call first.”
I sighed. “Fine, just bring your phone charger. I’ll need to borrow your phone for a bit later.”
Once we were geared up and on the bike, I put my arms around Rand’s waist as best as I could with the snug jacket restricting me, and winced at the close proximity to Rand. Well, there was one good thing that came from all this, I thought as he started the bike, revving it until my teeth chattered: At least I didn’t have to talk to the man while he drove. It’d give me time to think.
And cry.
Chapter 10
The new morning sun stole into the room through the small rips and tears in the curtain, splattering the wall with dots. Rand slept on one side of the lumpy bed, softly snoring as if he didn’t have a care in the world. And I was on the other side, not sleeping at all, with all the worries and no clue how to fix anything.
Today was the day. Annie would be in court, and I’d be . . . hell, I had no idea where we were. Maybe there was a phone book around somewhere, I thought peeking into the nightstand drawer.
No phonebook. Just a Bible and a forgotten packet of condoms.
Closing the drawer, I resumed staring at the ceiling. My phone was laying silently beside me, still powered off. There were so many times I had wanted to turn it on and call Brett. There had to be an explanation. What I had heard and what I had felt in his arms were two very different things. Was I just blind?
Love was blind. I’ve heard that several times before. But you don’t love someone and incorporate them into your life just to kill them later. Was I like a pet pig before the slaughter?
And why did T seem okay with it? If I ever got back to Wis
consin, I’d have a conversation with Emmy. She was head over heels for the bastard. What if she was part of the let’s-slay-our-loved-ones contract too?
I took a deep breath to calm my racing mind and even faster heartbeat. No, she couldn’t be part of it. T would have mentioned it.
Rand’s phone rang, the screen lighting the nightstand next to him. When he didn’t move to see who it was, I nudged him.
“Wha?”
“Your phone is ringing.”
“I dun care.” He shifted, turning his back on me.
I reached over him to pick up the phone. I was dying to know who it was, even though I wouldn’t answer it. There hadn’t been any calls last night, and I wondered if Lil had thought I had napped through supper only to find me gone in the morning.
“If you’re going to hover over me, at least make it worth my while,” he said.
I snatched the phone and retreated to my side. “Go back to sleep.”
“I can’t now,” he said, pointing toward a growing tent.
I averted my eyes. “The bathroom is that way,” I said. “I’ll turn on the TV.”
He chuckled, his voice rough with sleep. “Give me my phone.”
“Why?”
“You wanted to know who called.”
I passed him the phone. He took it, swiping at the menu. “You’re going to have to talk to him eventually.”
“No, I’m not. Why? Did he call?”
“No, it was Lil.”
“Call her back so she doesn’t worry.”
“Why don’t you call her?”
“I’m a horrible liar. She’d never believe I ran off with you.”
“But you did. So it’s the truth.”
“Yes, but we’re not in love.”
“You don’t have to be in love to run away together.”
“Were you?” I blurted before I thought better of it.
“With Emily?”
I nodded.
“Yeah,” he admitted.
“You were both young.”
“Not as young as when I met her.”
“When was that?”
“Eve brought her home one day and introduced Emily to the family. She had a dirty nose and pigtails.”
“That must have been second grade,” I said, thinking back to what Brett had told me. “You’ve loved her since second grade.”
He laughed. “I wouldn’t say it was love. She was a dirty, snot-nosed brat. But I recognized there was something that pulled me toward her.”
“Aww,” I sighed, not being able to help it. “When did you know for sure?”
He rolled his eyes and tossed the blankets aside. “You have two choices. Either straddle me and I’ll answer all of your questions, or shut up and I’ll take care of my own needs in the bathroom.”
I shook my head. “I almost forgot you were a jerk, but you keep reminding me.”
“I aim to please,” he said with a smirk and waltzed off to the bathroom with his phone in hand.
I was never going to touch that phone again.
* * *
Rand counted his money after paying for breakfast. “We aren’t going to get very far if we don’t stop at an ATM.”
“Brett will be able to track us, then.”
“He’ll track us with or without credit transactions.”
“But it’ll be harder without.”
“How many credit cards do you have?” he asked.
“Four.”
“I have three. If we take out the maximum on each card, we’ll have enough to tide us over for a couple of weeks. Maybe a month if we’re careful.”
A month with Rand? Crap. The fact remained that I needed his help no matter how much we disliked each other. He must really want Emily back if he was willing to put up with me for a month.
No, it wouldn’t take that long. If I didn’t have the information I needed within a few days, it wouldn’t matter anymore. Brett would find me. And whatever the result would be, it’d be on his terms, like always. I was up against a wall with no options but to take Rand’s help; and I needed to call the ladies to fill them in.
“I guess we have no choice,” I said. “But we’ll need to change directions. We can’t follow the same highway we’ve been driving.”
“He’ll expect that. We’ll continue on.”
“Continue on to where?”
“East Coast.” He shrugged. “Maybe the city. We can decide later.”
“I want to buy a burner phone with some of the money.”
“There’s a convenience store across the street. We can get the money and the phone there.”
I stood, wincing at pain in my rear quarter.
“Sore?” He chuckled. “We can take it easier today. If Brett thinks we’re running away, he’ll expect us to run fast. We can take it slower today.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem, sweet thing,” he said, smacking my butt as he waltzed out the door.
I glared daggers into his back. This was going to be a long trip.
* * *
It was later in the day when Rand finally parked the motorcycle. He had said he’d take it slow. My sore behind argued that he had done otherwise—and had enjoyed every agonizing bump in the road.
I slid off the bike and into the sand. Wherever we were, it was beautiful. I should have been paying attention to signs, but my fatigued mind wandered and may have even dozed off.
Not bothering to pick myself up off the ground, I lay in the sand and watched waves lap the shore. They weren’t rolling monstrosities, just calm and smooth.
“Where are we?” I asked.
“Gulf of Mexico,” he answered. “We’re getting close to Pensacola.”
“You didn’t follow the same highway like you said you were going to.”
“I thought we could sleep here tonight.”
“Where?” I looked around but didn’t see a hotel anywhere. In fact, there was nothing around.
“Here.”
“In the sand?”
“Got a problem with that?” He eyed me, ready for complaints.
“No, but I’ve been wearing the same outfit for two days. I already feel gross.”
“We can pick something up for you tomorrow.”
I nodded and relaxed in the sand. “Has anyone called?”
“I turned off my phone.”
“You did?”
“If Brett can track you by your phone, what’s not to say he won’t do the same with mine?”
“I didn’t think about that.”
After Rand and I had withdrawn money out of the ATM and bought a burner phone, I had immediately turned on my phone so I could retrieve contact information from it. If Brett looked for us, he’d know we had stopped at a convenience store anyway, just from our transactions, so turning on my phone then seemed to be the best time to do it.
I had tried to avoid looking at the many new texts from Brett, but I couldn’t stop myself. I tapped his name and held my breath. Before I could read, Rand snatched the phone away and shut it off.
“You’ll torture yourself if you read those,” he had said.
He was right.
If Brett had said he loved me and that I misunderstood what he’d said, would I believe him? No, it was better not to know.
Now that we were hundreds of miles away and stationary for a bit, I’d call Kym and Mrs. Janowski and find out what’s been going on.
“I think I’ll take a walk,” I said.
Rand looked down at me as I struggled to stand. “Need help?”
“I wouldn’t need help if you’d kept your promise.”
“I don’t make promises.”
“You said we’d take it slow.”
He reached down, grasping my hand to tug me up. “We’ve stopped, haven’t we?”
I rubbed my bum. “That’s not the same thing as taking it easy.”
“You’ll feel better after you walk,” he said, smacking my sore butt again.
“I hate you.�
��
“Feeling is mutual, sweet thing.”
If I could’ve bent down, I’d have tossed a handful of sand at his smug face. Instead, I walked away and dialed Mrs. Janowski on my new phone.
“I’m not going to buy your magazine or pledge my kidney,” Mrs. Janowski stated when she answered the phone.
“Mrs. J., it’s Mars. I’m using a different phone.”
“Girls, it’s Mars!” she shouted. “Mars, we’ve got the whole gang here, and we’re working around the clock.”
“Did Brett try to contact you?” I asked.
“He did. He asked where you were.”
“What did you tell him?”
“We told him the truth. We had no idea where you were.”
“I’m on the road with his uncle. We’re lying low.”
“Oh, that’s perfect. The girls and I have been so worried. As soon as Annie was released from jail, we started working hard on our defenses. But since we didn’t know where you were, we’ve been—”
“Annie was released?” I interrupted.
“Yes, just this morning. It’s been all over the news. Protests and everything. I think there was some underhanded money exchange.”
“Oh my God.” Here I’d been worrying about Brett, and now Annie was free. I sat on the sand, stunned.
“And another box showed up at the Hog.”
“Oh no.”
“I know. I know,” Mrs. Janowski said. “But don’t worry. We have the biker brigade ready to move out. Just tell us where you are and we’ll be there.”
“No, that’s not a good idea.”
“Nonsense. You need support. Just tell us where you are.”
“I don’t—”
“Near Pensacola,” Aaron shouted in the background.
“How did he know?” I asked.
“We’ve been talking for enough time that he tracked your phone,” Mrs. Janowski said.
Crap. I used a burner phone so Brett couldn’t find me, but I never thought about the ladies. I had wanted their help, but from the safety of Mrs. J.’s home.
“We’ll be there in seventeen hours,” she said. “No, make that twenty hours; a few of us might need extra potty breaks.”
“Mrs. J., please don’t come down here. I’m trying to hide. If you show up with the bikers, you’ll lead Brett and Annie right to me.”
Biker Brigade Page 10
