“We should go to the bar where those fuckers hang out. Maybe we’ll see him there, for starters,” Abe said. I got off my stool to follow Girth and Abe out of the bar, but Lila had caught my arm and she was pulling me back to herself.
“Hey, Rodeo, what’s going on with Jordan and you?” she asked, dropping her voice to a whisper. I looked around to make sure that nobody else was listening in on this conversation.
“What do you mean? I fixed her door,” I said, trying to act casual. Lila had tilted her head to the side and pursed her lips, she was giving me a knowing look.
“Can I guess where you went last night when you stormed out of here?” she asked and crossed her arms over her chest. I ran a hand through my loose hair and shook my head.
“Yeah, whatever, I went to her place. So what?” I grunted and Lila sighed.
“Rodeo, she’s a sweet girl and she’s scared right now. I know you like her. I can see it on your face and the way you look at her. Just don’t fuck with her all right? She’s really vulnerable right now. There are loads of women out there to choose from, just don’t take her along on your rollercoaster if you’re not going to treat her right,” she said. Lila had always tried to knock sense into me, she’d been doing that for years—but she had never spoken about a woman like this before.
I clenched my jaws and stared at her. She continued to glare at me and I had no other choice but to nod my head in agreement. Lila was right. I shouldn’t have gone to Jordan’s place the previous night. I shouldn’t have fucked her like that if I had no plans of staying in the morning. I had seen the disappointment in her eyes when I refused to even accept her coffee.
“I gotta go,” I said to Lila and gave her a quick peck on the forehead before I rushed out of the bar.
Girth and Abe were waiting for me outside with their bikes.
“Let’s go find this motherfucker,” Abe shouted, revving up his engine. I couldn’t fucking wait.
***
We rode out to the bar where the Hell’s Drifters hung out. It was still midday, which meant that most of their MC members might not have been present, but it was still worth staking out.
We parked our bikes behind a wall and stood watching the entrance to the bar from a distance. Abe passed cigarettes around and we smoked a few as we waited.
There wasn’t much activity at the bar at this hour, but I was willing to wait as long as it took, just to get a glimpse of the guy who had killed Fred.
“Was the chick sure about the patch?” Abe asked.
It made me strangely annoyed to hear Jordan being referred to as a ‘chick’. It felt disrespectful somehow, but I couldn’t say anything to Abe about it because that was how we spoke about women all the time. I didn’t want Abe getting any ideas like Lila had.
“Yeah, she described the patch to me. Jordan doesn’t know anything about MCs. She wouldn’t have known about their patch if she hadn’t actually seen it,” I replied, pulling in a drag of nicotine from the cigarette. Abe nodded his head and I looked at Girth, who had his eyes focused on the bar doors in the distance.
For some reason, I felt a sudden connection with him. In a lot of ways, the two of us were in similar positions. If he hadn’t met Lila, if he hadn’t been sent here to fill in for a job at our MC—he would have been a free and independent man, just like I still was.
I was happy for Lila, and I was glad that she had found herself a man who was capable of taking care of her the way she deserved. But at the same time, I couldn’t help but feel sympathetic for Girth, for being tied down. I wished I could have spoken freely with him and asked him how that was working out for him. He seemed happy, but I was forcing myself to be pessimistic.
“And she said this guy was bald with a thick long beard?” Abe broke through my thoughts again and I nodded my head.
“Yeah, that’s what she said. She got a good look at him because he took off his helmet and stared up at her,” I replied. Abe was scratching his head.
“It’s kinda weird that they haven’t come after her yet,” he added.
I clenched my jaws.
“She’s pretty much been with me this whole time, since I broke into her apartment,” I admitted. Abe’s eyes lit up and there was a grin spreading on his face. Girth had shot me a surprised look too. I refused to meet either of their eyes.
“You tapping that ass?” Abe asked and thumped my back in congratulations.
“She’s scared, I felt responsible for her so I spent the night at her place. It’s no big deal,” I said and Abe laughed.
“Didn’t say it was, brother,” he said, still laughing. Girth on the other hand was eyeing me curiously. He had a knowing look on his face, like he had a pretty good idea of what was going on. I knew Lila wouldn’t have told him about any personal conversations between her and me—it was just the look of a guy who had gone through a similar thing. He was the one sympathizing for me now.
“Whoa hold up. Do you see that motherfucker?” Abe ducked and I followed his line of vision. He was staring at a rider parking his bike outside the bar doors. I waited and watched, hoping that he would take his helmet off.
I could see his beard already, and it looked similar to what Jordan had described.
He did take his helmet off and now I saw that the man was bald too. He had the Hell’s Drifters patch on his leather cut at the back, just like Jordan had said and now he was walking into the bar.
“Fuck! Do you want to go after him?” Abe hissed.
I saw Girth counting the number of bikes parked outside the bar.
“There are at least twelve of them in there. If we go after them, none of us are coming out of there alive,” Girth mumbled, like he was calculating things in his head.
I clenched my jaws, trying to hold myself back from darting across the road to the bar. Every cell in my body was screaming for me to do something. He was right there. The motherfucker was right there in front of me!
The shooter disappeared into the bar and none of us had made a move.
“We should hold back,” Girth said.
“Yeah, I agree. At least now we’ve identified him. We know for sure that the shooter is from Hell’s Drifters,” Abe said and thumped me on my shoulder again.
I knew they were right. I knew it would be stupid to just walk into the bar and open fire right now. All three of us would get shot and they wouldn’t let us live. Then they would come after the rest of the MC, and Lila and Jordan…I couldn’t let that happen.
“We need to get that guy alone, and we need to do it soon,” I mumbled.
The three of us were walking back to our bikes now. Girth and Abe nodded their heads. I had to force myself to be satisfied with the little progress we had made. At least I had a face matching the description. At least I could follow this guy and keep an eye on his whereabouts.
We were riding back to T Bone together, and again, I found myself thinking about Jordan. I was itching to go back to her, to check on her, to apologize for getting spooked like that in the morning. But this time, I forced myself to have better control. I wasn’t just going to show up at her apartment tonight. I needed a break from her.
Chapter 12
Jordan
Back in the diner that night, Flora was refusing to meet my eyes and it was making me sick. I could sense that she was avoiding me, even though I desperately wanted to talk to someone. I had been feeling worse since Rodeo left that morning, I needed someone to lend a friendly shoulder to lean on.
I had woken up feeling much better about my life that morning, just knowing that he was a part of it in some way. It had only been a day since I’d known him, but we had been together intimately, he kept me close to him and then spent the night at my place. I had somehow convinced myself that all of those things meant something.
When I woke up and saw him getting dressed, I felt safe. I was glad that he hadn’t snuck out in the middle of the night—a part of me was hopeful that maybe our sudden meeting could turn into something else.
/> But I had been foolishly hopeful. I had seen the look of annoyance in his eyes when I offered him coffee and breakfast. He couldn’t have bolted out of my apartment fast enough.
I had spent the rest of the day trying to study, trying to focus on my life. I was still too afraid to leave my apartment, I was too scared to even come to work. I had no choice though, no matter what was going on in my life; I still needed to get paid.
At the diner, things seemed normal—other than my rapidly beating heart. I was still suspicious of every person who walked through the doors. The fact that Flora, my only friend in this place, was refusing to associate with me; made matters even worse. I couldn’t stop the shaking of my hands, I couldn’t stop looking over my shoulder at every face in the diner.
Nervously, I walked around, trying to get my job done. I took orders, delivered food at the booths and cleared up the tables. As usual, I was getting a lot of stares from the men at the place, as were all the other waitresses but tonight, I couldn’t deal with it. I wanted them all to just stop looking at me and to leave me alone.
Rodeo had said that I could call him if anything happened, but I wasn’t going to. He had made it very clear to me that his responsibility towards me was over now. I blamed myself, maybe I pushed him too hard. Maybe this was all my fault.
I had to try very hard to not just burst into tears as I got through my shift. It was late at night and I was already worried about walking back to my apartment alone later. But I had nobody to turn to, I couldn’t even ask Flora to walk with me anymore. She didn’t want to have anything to do with me.
The bells above the diner door chimed, and I turned to see a man in a leather jacket walk in. I scanned him quickly, to check if he had a patch. He didn’t, but his eyes were fixed on me. For some reason, he had sought me out immediately and I had the chilling feeling that he had come looking for me.
“Table eleven, hun,” Nelly, my manager called out to me from the cash register. She wanted me to go to him and take his order. I gulped, feeling for the notepad in the pocket of my apron. I breathed in and out deeply to calm my nerves. Whoever he was, he couldn’t hurt me here; not in front of everyone—could he?
I walked towards him, forcing a smile on my face. He was watching me too, his eyes scanning my body like he was already undressing me.
“Hiya, what can I get you?” I tried to put on a cheerful voice when I came to a stop next to him. I could see the tattoos peeping out from under the sleeves of his jacket now. He had thick chains around his neck and his boots tapped the linoleum floor.
“A cheeseburger and fries,” he said, without looking at the menu. I wrote it down on my notepad and I was about to turn from him, but he had reached out and grabbed my wrist. I tried to yank my hand away from him, but he pulled me to himself.
I fell on his lap with a gasp, but he was laughing now.
“Where do you think you’re going sweet tits? Give me a kiss before you leave, come on, right here,” he laughed, showing me his rough cheek. I struggled on his lap, but he wasn’t about to let me go.
I looked around me with horror, and Nelly had a bored expression on her face. She was used to this sort of thing. A lot of the waitresses flirted with the customers regularly to get better tips. Nobody was coming to my aid, they all thought this was acceptable somehow.
“Let me go!” I squealed loudly, making some heads turn in our direction now. The man’s grip on my wrists became tighter, and he kept me pinned down on his lap.
“Not before you give me that kiss you promised,” he snarled, leaning his face closer to my face as I struggled on his lap.
I wanted someone, Nelly or Flora or any of the other girls to come and help me. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me in front of everyone and nobody was doing anything about it. Didn’t I look scared enough?
“Let me go!” I yelled again, and this time, I managed to get out of his grasp and I hurled myself forward, right into Rodeo’s arms.
***
Rodeo had caught me in his arms with a firm grip. He stroked my hands, squeezing me and peering into my eyes. He was concerned, he wanted to make sure that I was fine.
“Are you okay?” he asked and I managed to nod my head. I was glad to see him but I was also in shock from everything that was going on.
What was he doing here? I didn’t think he wanted to see me again, but there was no time to think about that, because he had pushed past me and stepped over to the man who had just manhandled me.
I whipped around to see them facing off. The man stood up from his seat, and they were glaring at each other. They were almost the same height, Rodeo was a little taller.
“Keep your hands off her!” Rodeo barked and shoved him back with both hands. He stumbled back but came charging at Rodeo in the next second.
“What did you say motherfucker?” he growled and his hand was at Rodeo’s throat.
I shrieked when I saw Rodeo punch him in the gut, loosening the man’s grip from his throat. The man stumbled back again and came at Rodeo again. I was in the grip of violence again, and this time I didn’t duck in fear like last time when I saw Fred being shot.
“No! Rodeo!” I screamed. I didn’t want Rodeo to get hurt.
We had caught the attention of the people in the diner by now. Nelly, Mac and some of the other members of staff had gathered around us. Mac, who was the owner of the diner, pushed past me in anger.
“You boys take it outside. Not in here or I’ll call the cops!” Mac yelled. Rodeo, who had his hand at the man’s neck now, turned to glare at Mac.
“Outside!” Mac yelled again and pointed at the door.
“Fine!” Rodeo growled and grabbing the guy’s jacket collar, he started dragging him out of the diner. The man struggled and kicked but allowed himself to be dragged out.
“Where do you think you’re going?” Nelly screamed after me, as she saw me taking my apron off.
“I’m going after them! You guys did nothing!” I shrieked at her, and turning on my heels I ran after Rodeo who had dragged the man outside by now.
“Rodeo, please stop,” I screeched, bursting out of the doors.
The two of them were hitting at each other now, and they had both landed effective punches. Rodeo had a bloody lip, matching the bruises on the man’s face.
Neither of them even seemed to notice that I was there. I clasped my hands to my mouth as I watched them punching each other.
“Rodeo!” I screamed again, but he didn’t even turn to look at me.
“What the fuck do you want? Are you with the MC?” Rodeo yelled as he pushed the man against a wall. He had him pinned up now, lifting him up a few inches off the ground by the neck. The man’s limbs flailed as he tried to loosen Rodeo’s grip on his neck.
“No, just let him go. Let’s get out of here!” I begged Rodeo, but he wasn’t paying me any attention. I was afraid that he was going to get badly hurt. He was already hurt, he was already bleeding. I just didn’t want it to get worse. But to me, it seemed like now that Rodeo had a taste of the fight, he wasn’t going to stop till he had knocked the man unconscious…or worse?
“Fuck you, motherfucker!” the man growled, and then he spat on Rodeo’s face which made him knock his head back against the wall. I screamed when I heard the sound of the man’s skull ramming against the wall. How was he still conscious? How did he still have the strength to fight back?
I could feel hot tears rolling down my cheeks now. I couldn’t keep looking at this scale of violence, it was making me sick. I didn’t want to imagine what it would be like if the roles were reversed. If it was the man who had Rodeo pinned up against the wall.
“Please, Rodeo, please stop. Let’s just go!” I begged as I watched Rodeo squeeze the man’s neck. I couldn’t understand what had made him this mad? Was it because the man had touched me? Because I had screamed? What was he even doing here?
The man kicked Rodeo, and this time he wasn’t prepared and he went hurtling back. Rodeo was on the ground
and the man gathered himself and jumped on him.
“Oh my God! Rodeo!” I screamed in horror as I saw the man take a punch right at Rodeo’s jaw. He was going to die! I was going to lose him!
I couldn’t stop crying. My vision was blurred. Rodeo was going to die because of me!
That was when I felt the hands on my body. I felt them before I saw them. Two sets of arms wound around my torso, and one hand was on my mouth. There were at least two men who had crept up behind me and now they were dragging me away.
I screamed and kicked, my screams chaffed the back of my throat but my voice was muffled because of the hand on my mouth. I was being pulled away, in the opposite direction, while Rodeo was still on the ground, while the man was still sitting on him, pinning him down.
I hadn’t seen the men who were carrying me away, but I had a pretty good idea of what was going on. It was time. They had finally come for me, and they were going to take me away or kill me, right in front of Rodeo and he wasn’t going to be able to do anything about it.
Chapter 13
Rodeo
I tasted the metallic flavor of blood in my mouth, and till that moment; all I could hear was white noise. I blinked rapidly, just as the guy was about to punch me in my face again. I was jolted back to my senses. I heard Jordan’s scream behind me and realized that the fucker had me pinned to the ground.
I rammed my palm into his fist, using all the strength in my body to push him off me. He had a bleeding nose too and I could feel that my knuckles were badly bruised. I whipped around to see Jordan being dragged away.
There were two guys in leather jackets with the Hell’s Drifters patches on their backs and they were pulling her away.
“Jordan!” I roared, just as the other guy, the one who I had pushed away, jumped on my back. I was down on the ground again and he was holding me back.
I could see Jordan kicking and screaming as they were dragging her away. There was a muscle car parked at some distance, and I knew they were dragging her to it. If they managed to get her in that car, I would lose her. I knew that.
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