Because Lori was a druggie and druggies resorted to a lot of bad things to score, she had bought the cheapest phone for her. It was unlikely the woman would see the phone good for bartering and would put it to good use to keep her and her son safe.
“Make the call.”
Lori took the phone, and her finger hovered over the keys. She blinked a few times, but Piper said nothing. She could only imagine what it took for the woman to ask for help. Most likely whoever the person was, she’d burned many bridges with them in the past.
Finally, Lori dialed and put the phone to her ear, looking more resolved to the conversation to come.
“Daddy,” Lori began in a voice that sounded almost childlike. “Can I come home?”
The sob that escaped the woman’s throat had her son’s eyes widen in fear.
Lori nodded to a conversation Piper couldn’t hear while wrapping her son in an embrace. “I’ll call you when I get close to the bus station. And, Daddy…thanks.”
The phone closed on a click and Lori held it out to return to Piper.
“No, keep it. Where are you headed?”
“Indianapolis.”
There wasn’t a bus with a straight shot to Indianapolis that was leaving anytime soon. There were, however, a few that had stops there along the way. Piper bought three tickets, two to Indianapolis and one that continued to Kansas City. She would determine what to do once she got there. For some reason, she felt the need to follow this woman all the way to make sure they made it safely to Lori’s dad. It might have been the memories of Piper’s birth mom’s drug induced abandonment that made her need to see Mikey safe.
“You’re going with us?” the boy asked, using an uncommon amount of words. He hadn’t said much, but seemed extremely pleased by the possibility Piper was going with them. That warmed Piper’s cold heart so much, she smiled back at him.
“Most of the way.”
She ruffled the boy’s head and followed them on the bus. After they were settled, Piper offered Lori a bottle of water and one of the Tylenol PM tablets she’d also bought during their impromptu shopping trip. The woman needed to sleep. And if she started to go through withdrawals, it might be better for her son if she slept through most of it. She had no experience with that type of thing; she only hoped it would work.
Lori popped the pill in her mouth and drank the water down without question. Piper had to guess that was part of the woman’s problem, too trusting.
Piper had just closed her eyes in the seat behind the pair, not planning to do more than rest her eyes, when a small hand landed on hers. She cracked an eye open to see Mikey sitting next to her with the coloring book and crayons they’d bought.
After coloring finally wore the boy out, she allowed her eyes to close while keeping part of her brain on alert. She needed to be up at every stop. She couldn’t risk Lori taking off.
As the wheels continued to churn, she thought about Ender and what he might be doing. Would he have given up on her by now or was he still searching for her in vain? He didn’t seem like the kind of man who would give up easily or lose in anything for that matter.
What she didn’t know was Ender was watching a crime scene unfold as blue and red lights filled the parking lot she’d left only a few hours ago.
19
Lights flashed in a chorus of blue and red, as Ender got as close as he dared. He watched in utter fascination as a man was led out of a door by two cops who tried to keep him contained.
“That bitch!” the handcuffed man spat as he glanced toward the parking lot.
Ender followed the guy’s eyes to an empty lot.
“I was robbed, and you’re arresting me. She stole my car!”
They ducked the guy’s head as they shoved him into the back of a cruiser. Ender walked away, not wanting to be questioned. He got on his bike and mused how his little Piper had gotten herself a car. That wasn’t good. It would give her the capability to outrun him.
His time was almost up, and he didn’t have it to waste. He’d most likely have to give up his hunt as he contemplated his next move. What would Rocky say if he told him Piper had gotten away?
Piper prayed the text she’d sent to her handler would be enough. Otherwise, she would have more than one person looking for her. She opted not to call for a chat. If he told her she needed to come back, he would expect her to leave without question. And she had to make sure Lori and Mikey were safe first.
The ride was long, with a string of roads and green highway signs that held little interest. Fortunately, there had been a few stops where they were able to get out and stretch their legs. Unfortunately, the views from various new towns weren’t scenic since they never saw more than truck stops, adding to the monotony of the trip.
The Tylenol PM proved to have little effect on the woman, so Piper shadowed Lori like a ghost. However, the woman hadn’t needed babysitting. Lori seemed determined to get home. The harsh realities of living must have been enough to prove that being on her own wasn’t as great as she’d thought it would be.
The boy, on the other hand, seemed unusually attached to Piper. More than not, he held the hands of both his mother and Piper while sandwiched between them. Piper, who hadn’t thought herself kid-friendly, found him endearing. She’d rewarded the smiles he brought out of her with a gift of candy or small toy from the convenient shops at each of the pit stops.
When the driver finally announced Indianapolis was next, Piper gathered her things. Even though she was continuing the journey, she hadn’t left her stuff on the bus at any time. However, she’d encouraged Lori to leave hers. She needed the woman to have a reason to get back on the bus, though she had begun to trust the woman wanted to make a change in her life.
With no encouragement from Piper, Lori placed the call to her dad, giving him advance notice of their arrival. When they reached the destination and stepped off the bus, Piper watched an older couple race forward to envelop their daughter and grandson.
They traded hugs while clinging to each other like saran wrap. Piper remained a few steps behind them, not wanting to interrupt the love fest. However, there was something she needed to say before she let the family go on their merry way.
Lori’s dad was the first to notice her presence.
“Did you encourage our daughter to contact us?” he asked, stepping up to her.
Piper nodded. “Lori’s a good egg. Mikey’s pretty great as well.”
Before she could stop him, she was encircled into a fierce hug. “Thanks,” the older man whispered in her ear.
“Sure,” Piper said, pulling back, unused to that type of contact in recent years. “Lori’s going to have a hard time the next few days.” Piper pulled out what she had left of the cash she’d stolen from Lori’s dealer. She wasn’t sure how long Lori was in his clutches, but she figured the woman had earned the cash Piper had lifted from him. “It’s probably best you put her in a facility, at least for a few days, to help with any withdrawals she might experience.”
She assumed Lori’s dad was aware of his daughter’s drug abuse, so she didn’t explain more. She spied the older model Ford Taurus Lori’s parents had exited upon their arrival and knew the cash would be useful.
“Take this,” Piper said, placing the wad of cash in the man’s hand.
“We couldn’t,” Lori’s dad said, shaking his head, pride written all over his face.
“It’s her money,” Piper lied. “But she’s in no position to do the right things with it right now. She needs help. And I know you’ll get it for her.”
Tears shimmered in the humble man’s eyes. “Thanks again.”
Piper nodded and knelt down. “Mikey, you be good.”
The boy leaned in and hugged her. “Thanks for taking care of the bad man.” Then he kissed her cheek.
That innocent action might have melted Piper’s cold heart if she still possessed one. She waved as the family departed and watched as they got in the navy blue car and pulled off.
Pi
per had taken careful recon of the area, not only for Lori’s family, but for potential adversaries when they arrived. Piper, leaving the state of New York without prior approval, wouldn’t go over well with her bosses. She didn’t take it for granted she couldn’t be hunted with the most up-to-date technology money could buy. There was no way an asset like her could get away scot-free. Having scouted the area, she felt secure when she turned to make her way back to the bus.
A voice rang out. “Headed somewhere?”
The sight of the big, beautiful man made her gasp. She stepped back, feeling like a trapped rat.
“How’d you find me?” Piper hated that her voice sounded timid and breathless.
“I believe I warned you that I would always find you.”
That doesn’t answer a damn thing, she thought, a second before she ended up against the metal framing of a nearby bus.
“Scared of me, babe?”
She was so not afraid of the asshole. She was just protecting herself. “What’s there to be scared of?” she challenged.
“Oh, I can think of a number of things. Starting with me telling you not to run and you did. Now, here we are far off course. That pisses me off, and when I’m pissed off, I tend to break things.”
During his rant, he caged her in. As he hovered over her, his arms limited her personal space on either side of her body. Heat wafted off him in waves, making her feel scorched.
“What do you want from me?” she spoke through clenched teeth. Her body responded to his presence like a cold glass of water on a hot day. She instantly got wet. She didn’t want him to hear the desire in her voice nor see it in her face. So she turned her head to the side as he spoke.
“What I want I can’t have. What you’re going to do is get on my bike without giving me shit.”
He had her. She couldn’t run. There was no telling what he would do. She wanted to ask again how in the world he’d found her, but she knew he wouldn’t answer. He’d laugh in her face and make her feel like a bigger fool than she was.
Chastised like a child, she marched to the beat of Ender’s steps as he made a path to the side lot, where his lone bike was parked. Harder than being caught was climbing on the back and wrapping her arms around him.
Hours later, they turned off the highway. That was the beginning of several twisty turns. They ended up down a road with tall, wavy, golden-colored grass that swayed in the breeze. It felt like they were in the middle of nowhere. That seemed to be the theme of each of his stops, as the clubhouse they’d been at before was similarly located in a remote area.
Ender hated to come back. It was his devotion to his club that he was here. It took all his control not to pull out his guns and shoot every man on sight for what some of them had done.
They pulled to a stop in front of a low gate where a guy sat nearby on a tree stump. It wasn’t until he hiked a shotgun over his shoulder did Piper tense. Her gun was still hidden in her backpack, tucked in one of Ender’s saddlebags.
She took stock of the area. The gate couldn’t stop anyone if they really wanted to get in. It was more of a deterrent for cars and motorcycles from just riding up to the farmhouse ahead.
The blond man with a longish goatee walked over. He took only a moment to size up Ender before the two men clasped hands in the weird male handshake.
“Is he expecting you?”
Ender nodded at the guy he knew well. He was one of the few at the compound that wasn’t a total asshole.
“Yeah,” Ender said. “Can you radio ahead for me?”
The guy nodded before his gaze slid to the woman that still held Ender tight. Piper studied him right back. The guy couldn’t see much of any skin she rocked, as she was covered in leather and denim. But that didn’t stop his eyes from sliding over her ass. She rolled her eyes before the stranger met hers again. She took in his extreme buzz cut, so short he may as well have been bald. That and his tats told her a lot.
“Who’s she?” the stranger asked.
“She’s with me,” Ender said, his tone going from friendly to dangerous.
The other man nodded before he unclipped a small walkie-talkie from his back pocket and stepped back, half turning while keeping his eyes on them.
The guy murmured words that must have been code. Interesting, Piper thought. She leaned over a bit to see that Ender kept his gaze trained on the guy as he also watched the house ahead.
Piper decided she hadn’t been focused. Obviously the main threat wasn’t the guy in front of them. Who knew how many men or women trained with guns were inside or around the back of the house. She glanced toward the road they’d driven up on. There was nothing on either side except the occasional tree. Isolated, they were a long way from a main road or any potential neighbors.
Ender caught movement on the west side and tensed. When three men appeared, he shifted slightly. The gun on his ankle was the only one he could reach. With Piper hostile and looking for the first chance at possible escape, he hadn’t worn a shoulder holster or tucked a gun at his back or front.
The men took their time making their way to the gate, which hadn’t been opened yet. Ender gave Piper a glance to let her know to dismount. Her movements were trained as she kept all the men, including Ender, in her line of sight as she got off the Harley.
Ender followed suit and stood to the left of the bike, not wanting the men to position themselves in a way around the bike that would bar him from leaving in a hurry. The way they ended up, they were on either side, with the bike as a barrier if things went south.
“Eric,” a man said, who although older, wore it well.
Piper glanced at Ender, and he gave her a weary glance back. So that was his real name.
“It’s been a while since I’ve seen you, son.”
Piper couldn’t determine if son meant the man was Ender’s dad or if the older man called everyone younger than himself, son. What she did notice was that all the men were bearded. Seeing a man sporting a beard in and of itself wasn’t strange. But seeing that every man in this place had one, including Eric, meant something. That and all the guys were bald, except the first stranger and Eric, so she knew this crew was more than another biker gang.
“Yeah, I thought I’d stop by and see you in person. I have a proposition for you.”
The older man nodded and then gave a quick tilt of his head to the person on his right. The guy stepped forward, and Ender took the position most would only do when about to be arrested. Ender, on the other hand, expected it.
Knowing what was coming, he announced, “I have a gun in my right boot.”
The guy was going to find it. No reason to keep that fact a secret. After the guy patted him down, he glanced up at the older man, who was obviously in charge.
“Leave it. He is my son.”
20
With the emphasis on is, Piper surmised she’d just met Ender’s father even though they’d yet to be introduced. The guy stood, his dark beard dipped as he glanced Piper up and down. Ender stepped in the guy’s path, blocking Piper from the man’s inspection.
Ender held up his hand. “No one touches her except me.”
There was no way any of them would get that close to her. He wouldn’t fail her. He couldn’t.
Piper watched, still reeling that the older man was Ender’s father. Her next thought was to wonder how she was going to handle the pat down, until Ender shut that down. She might have sighed in relief until Ender came over and stripped her of her jacket. His hand pulled at her tank top, causing it to cling to her barely there curves, letting everyone who watched know she wasn’t hiding anything in her confining sports bra. He briefly lifted her tank to reveal an inch of her skin just above the waistband of her jeans. Then he turned her around to expose her back in the same fashion. Her jeans were so tight, he didn’t have to smooth his hand down her legs to make the point she wasn’t concealing anything. But he did it anyway. He hid the smile at her back before lifting her jean leg’s hem with a tug to expose her boot a
nd that they also didn’t hide anything. After doing the other side, he yanked her around.
“You know how we do things around here. Did you bring her to share?”
Ender growled at his dad. “I’m not here as one of you. I’m here as a representative of Devil’s Edge.”
“So, she’s your old lady, and you’re asking for us to follow the rules of hospitality?”
“She’s mine and yes, I’m asking for hospitality.”
It didn’t take a genius to understand what was going on, even if Piper wasn’t sure what band of bastards these guys were. Lots of organizations came to mind, like a cult or skinheads. She wasn’t sure which or if they were some combination of both.
“Open the gate, Cody.”
The guy on the older man’s other side stepped forward and undid the lock. He swung the triangular gate wide as Ender waited for the men to start back to the house before hopping on his bike. The ride would be short. Piper could have walked, but she was unarmed and didn’t want to be left behind with Cody and the gatekeeper dude. She hopped on before Ender peeled out toward the house.
He didn’t park out front. He pulled in the back, having lived there for several years of his life before he’d grown big enough balls to leave.
Out in the vast land behind the main house grew a plentiful crop of trailers and other small houses for the community members to live. Two hundred plus acres of land were owned by his father and supposedly the community at large. But he knew better. Being his father’s son, he’d lived in the main house, a privilege only known to a few.
Piper got off, and he was irritated that he missed her warmth especially on a sunny day like that one. He pulled out her bag and tossed it to her unceremoniously. She caught it with a steel spine and an even sharper tongue she kept idle. He turned away from her annoyed stare and waited for the men on foot to show their faces.
Ride or Die (Devil's Edge MC #1) Page 10
