“The chief riding your ass to take us down?”
She nodded, but remained silent.
“I figured as much. I told you enough of the story, enough for you to understand that we have a common enemy here. It’s the Hell Riders, Anna. The Black Souls are not the problem. You have to believe that. The Hell Riders need to pay for what they’re doing,” I said.
I watched her eyes search my expression. The worry on her face was clear as day, and it drew me closer to her. I was on an adrenaline high from Lucifer’s meeting, but there was one thing I knew for certain. I didn’t want Anna getting caught up in all of this.
We only just met, but there was something about her that made me believe she was too good for all of this. She had a daughter that needed her, and I could see that even after everything the chief told her about us, she was questioning how true it all was.
She listened to what I told her without judging me, and that meant more to me than she’d ever know. She treated me like a human being, and that was the first time anyone outside of the Black Souls had ever done that.
Her features softened and lips turned up into a beautiful smile while she brushed the palm of her hand against my arm. It comforted me in a way no woman had ever done before. I had to be more careful. I didn’t know what it was about her, but I felt like I could trust her with my life. If Lucifer found out, he’d kill me, but I at least have to try and fix this. I couldn’t watch the Black Souls go through the loss of another president. And I sure as hell couldn’t lose my closest friend.
“Ryker, come on inside. We can’t talk about this out here. It’s not safe.” she offered.
“Are you sure that’s such a good idea? Isn’t your daughter—”
“Hope’s asleep. If we keep quiet, she’ll stay that way.” Anna stood, and I followed her up the stairs to her apartment. By inviting me in, she was opening the door to her life even though she still hadn’t made up her mind about me. I wanted to believe that she was attracted to me as well, but I had to keep my guard up until I heard what else she had to tell me.
When I entered through her front door, I took in the small, clean apartment. There was a single beige couch in the corner by the window, a candle lit on the kitchen island, and not much else. She motioned for me to join her on the couch. I sat down on something and pulled what looked like a teddy bear out from under me.
“I’m sorry about that, it’s Hope’s,” she said, taking it from me as she smiled.
“It’s alright.”
“Can I offer you anything to drink?” she asked.
I shook my head, no. “Thank you, Anna. I’m okay. I need to talk to you about what’s really going on here. I know you’re still trying to decide if you can trust me, especially with all the crap the chief must be telling you, but I need you to know that we don’t want any trouble. All we want is to go back to our lives as normal, without having to deal with the Hell Riders destroying everything we’ve built. Like my bike getting destroyed in a fire.” She raised a brow at me, and it wasn’t until she did that I realized how heated talking about it made me.
“You really care about that bike, huh?” she asked.
“That bike was my soul, Anna. I know that may be hard for you to understand.”
“So, I’ll help you seek justice for what happened. It’s grounds to at least open up an investigation into what the Hell Riders are doing,” she said.
The look in her eyes told me she was serious and passionate about justice. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was how she talked to clients. I wasn’t a client and I didn’t want to be one. I wanted more and that scared me.
I needed her to see that there were bigger problems at play here, and we needed more than an investigation if we wanted to take them down for good. I still didn’t know what she really wanted. For all I knew, she was just offering to help so she could get the information she needed on me to take to the chief. The last thing I needed was a warrant out for my arrest.
“When someone messes with your soul, Anna, you can’t settle that in court. The Hell Riders are on their way to having everything they want. The minute they’ve fucked everything up for us here, they’re gonna head right back to Tijuana like nothing happened. What are we going to do then?” My voice raised higher than I intended.
“Will you keep your voice down? I can’t have you waking Hope,” she commanded.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to do here. I’m coming to you because I know you want to do the right thing. You don’t seem like the rest of them do. I’ve seen some cops do some fucked up shit to get what they wanted, and I’ve seen my buddies go to jail for something as stupid as running a red light,” I said, and that was the truth.
“That’s impossible. Harold would never—”
“The chief is capable of doing whatever it takes to get a conviction. You know that because you wouldn’t have allowed me to take you out to a bar just to talk if you didn’t. If it’s information you want, I can give you what you need on the Hell Riders. You’re after the real bad guys, right?” I asked, and she nodded at me, gulping.
“I want to do the right thing. I’ve seen how they act, how they ride around ready to take whatever they want. I was almost subject to that, and I don’t want anyone else to go through what I did.” She tucked her hair behind her ears.
“I hate to break it to you, Anna, but they already are. This is what they do, and they don’t give up, even when the cops are after them. Don’t you see? They don’t care what happens to them, and they’re not afraid to throw one of their own under the bus to clear their names. It’s sick, and it’s not what we’re about. I need you to understand that.”
She was hanging onto every word, listening attentively while I rehashed some of the terrible things I’d seen the Hell Riders do to people that didn’t deserve it. I went into detail, telling her everything I could remember because I needed her on my side. This wasn’t going to happen without her now. She was the only person that could do anything to save us from all of this. She had to decide that it was time to start hunting down the Hell Riders. Only then would I have what I needed to face the heat and tell Lucifer what’s been going on. He was going to be furious with me, but I hoped he would see all I ever did was try to put his safety and the club first.
“Okay, Ryker. I’ll help, but if this is going to work, we have to agree to be completely honest with each other. No secrets, no lies.”
“How can I trust that you’re not going to run back to the chief with everything I tell you? How can I be sure that you actually want to help?’ I asked.
“You can’t, but from the looks of it, I’m your best bet. I’m not going to do anything to hurt you or the Black Souls. You saved me from the Hell Riders, and I’ll never forget that. I’m more grateful than you’ll ever know. We will do this, together,” she said, looking up at me with a smile.
It was the first time in a while that I believed we were finally going to get somewhere. I had a sickening feeling in my stomach at the thought of how quickly this could all get out of control. But it would be worth every ounce of effort if we settled this with the Hell Riders once and for all. I already sacrificed my bike, and put myself right in the middle of the crossfire to get those Hell Riders to get out of my town. I wasn’t going to sit on my ass anymore and let them continue to take things from me.
Anna was going to need protection the closer she got to all of this, and I already promised myself that I would do whatever it took to keep her safe. I felt different when I was around her, like I didn’t have to shut out the parts of myself that I’d been trying to hide for such a long time. She saw me like no one else ever did, and I didn’t want to lose that.
I still didn’t know what these feelings meant, but I would do everything within my power to do the right thing for us both. She was going to get just as much out of this as I was, and if we worked together to get the Hell Riders behind bars, it was possible she would leave us alone as a result.
She could just be telling me wha
t I wanted to hear to get me to cooperate with her, but I didn’t think so. Either way, she was the best shot we had. I had no choice but to take it. I hoped she’d help us get out of this. She was the only one that could make a real difference here.
Please, don’t make me regret this.
I left Anna’s place near midnight, heading back out onto the streets. I started retracing the path the Hell Riders took to get out here when I followed them the last time. It wasn't far from here that those fuckers cornered Anna and threatened to put their hands on her.
Wherever they were hiding had to be close by. I told myself I’d spend all night looking if that was what it took to find out where they were. I didn’t have it in me to let time keep passing me by, or hoping things would work themselves out. I needed to take action, find evidence that would make Lucifer take action. I knew he wanted to fight back. He was just waiting for the right time. I didn't think there was a right time anymore. There was only now, or too late. He had to take his pick.
The sound of bike engines popped in the distance, and I followed the sound. It wasn’t long before I saw at least four bikes pull into an old townhouse. The place was rundown, with windows boarded up out front, mail overflowing in the mailbox, and a hole cut right into the center of the wire fence. I parked my bike a few blocks down, and hid behind a nearby building so I could get closer. heard the familiar cackling and howling of the Hell Riders, and knew I’d found the right place.
I retrieved my gun, holding it close in case I’d have to use it, and made my way around the property. It wasn’t long before I was right up against the window, peering in to see them all drinking, laughing, and enjoying a smoke together like they had nothing to worry about.
They really believed they were going to get away with all of this. Who in the hell did they think they were waltzing in here claiming Coronado like it was their own. I’d be damned if I’d let them ruin my city.
I listened closely, trying to make out what they were saying. Thankfully, the window was cracked open and it let out enough sound for me to hear what they were saying. I waited patiently for one of them to crack. Give me something to work with here, fellows.
I stayed put, listening to them talk about everything apart from what they planned on doing to Lucifer. I took a step closer, and when I did, I heard the sound of police sirens in the distance.
I watched as all of the Hell Riders scrambled to their feet. A few of them came running out to the front porch, and I felt a pair of large, grubby hands grab me by the back of my neck.
“What the fuck are you doing here, scum?” he asked.
I recognized him from the night I rescued Anna. “Don’t look now, it seems like you’ve got bigger problems than me, pal.” I replied. I elbowed him in the cheek and he fell back, long enough for me to position my gun, and fire off the first shot right into his leg.
He fell to the ground, just as the rest of the Hell Riders joined me outside. I managed to get behind the large trash cans, and ducked for cover as I downed as many of them as I could.
What the fuck did I just do?
It was hard to make out their faces in the dark and see which ones were more concerned with me than the fact the cops were now pulling up on the property. The cops yelled for all of us to get on the ground, and for a moment I thought the Hell Riders were going to handle this. I thought they had enough men to down these police officers and get lost, but I was wrong. A moment later, backup arrived. There was no way that I was going to be able to escape this time. They had me right where they wanted me. Fuck.
I sighed, watching as the police officer approached me first, waving his gun around. If I didn’t do what he said, I had no doubt he’d shoot me.
“On your fucking knees. Drop the gun,” he said.
There was no way out. I had no choice but to obey. I dropped my gun and it rolled down the porch stairs and it hit the pavement with a loud clunk. He bent down to pick it up, and handed it off to another officer. He approached me with handcuffs ready.
You’ve got to be kidding me. I was going to be booked right alongside these fuckers and there wasn’t anything I could do about it.
Lucifer, I hope you got through with the sheriff, because if you didn’t, it looks like I’m going away for this.
10
Anna
I spent two solid days going over everything I had on the Black Souls and any ties to additional biker gangs in the area. I’d hardly slept a wink and I was exhausted. And it appeared to be all for naught.
I presented a good case to Harold, but he refused to budge. He had his sights set on taking them down regardless of what the evidence suggested. He didn’t care that I had been attacked by Hell Riders. All he wanted was for me to stay focused on the Black Souls.
I hadn’t heard from Ryker in two days, and I was starting to worry about him. I was so riddled with anxiety. I didn’t know how to reach out to him. Not that I had anything worthwhile to tell him.
He was angry and worried that the police coming after the Black Souls at the same time the Hell Riders were would make it nearly impossible to fight back and win. I didn’t want him doing anything stupid, especially because I promised him that I’d help him seek justice.
I took a break, made my way over to the fridge, and poured myself a glass of orange juice. The house was quiet since Aunt Fern took Hope to the park earlier this morning. It gave me just enough time to clear my head before she got back.
I didn’t want Hope to see my distress. I had no choice but to plaster on a smile whenever she was around. It had been hard to do that when we were living with her father, and I didn’t want to put her through that again. She’d always been the one to console me when things got to be too bad. As little as she was, she was smart, resilient, and I was so proud of the person she was becoming.
There was still a part of me that felt like I was failing her, though. I couldn’t get my shit together long enough to be the mother she deserved. It was eating away at me, destroying any semblance of hopefulness I had inside of me.
I hated it.
I needed to be stronger for her.
I needed to do better at my job.
And I needed to show up for the people that needed my help.
I sat on the couch with my glass of orange juice, and clutched the ends of my robe tightly around me. I had to figure this out. Before I lost myself to my thoughts, my cell phone buzzed. I didn’t recognize the number, and my heart started to beat out of my chest.
“Ryker? Is that you?”
“Hello, is this Anna?” A deep voice I’d never heard before rang through the speaker.
“Yes, who’s this?”
“This is Lucifer.” His tone was softer this time.
He was the last person I’d expected to call me and my mind immediately thought the worst. “Did something happen to Ryker?”
The line was silent for a moment, then I heard a deep sigh. “He was arrested two days ago when he was out tracking down the Hell Riders. When their hideout was surrounded by cops, Ryker got caught in the middle of it. They released him on bail this morning, but I’m afraid the chief will try to make an example of him. He told me about the meeting you both had. I warned him not to speak to you again, but he trusts you. I don’t usually step in like this, but I can’t think of anything that will help his case right now. I was wondering if you might be open to paying him a visit.”
I sat there for a moment trying to process what he said. Why the hell hadn’t I heard about this? Harold had to know that Ryker was arrested. He should have informed me.
Ryker was so mad when he left my apartment. I worried he would get himself in trouble, but I never thought that he would’ve gotten himself arrested.
I promised him I would help make sure that the Hell Riders got what they deserved, and I planned on sticking to that deal. I knew this could get complicated, but I didn’t expect it to happen this quickly.
The urge to rush over to Ryker was strong. Stronger than it should be. I w
anted to do whatever I could to help. I couldn’t imagine him doing anything to warrant getting arrested. He was a good guy who saved damsels in distress.
I, just like the rest of the police force, knew that the law wasn’t cut and dry. The chief had the power to manipulate the law to get the result he wanted. Even if that meant he ignored the facts, and brushed the real issues under the rug. He made that perfectly clear when I spoke to him last. Harold said it wasn’t worth my time going after the Hell Riders not because that was true, but because it was on his agenda.
It’s worth my time now, and you’re just going to have to deal with it.
“I’m on my way,” I replied and hung up before he said anything else.
I didn’t know what came over me, or how to make sense of the mess of feelings that were flitting around inside my mind. I pinched the bridge of my nose, and called Aunt Fern to tell her that I had to step out again.
I got dressed faster than ever before. I took one look at myself in the mirror, smoothing my pale blue blouse before I tossed my coat over my shoulders, and headed out the door.
Ryker needed me, and I had reason to believe that he needed me more than he realized. I knew how Harold operated and I knew what they were capable of doing to him and the rest of the Black Souls if they got him to talk. I’d seen that kind of thing happen before. Men would confess to things they had no part in just because they couldn’t take the pressure anymore. I didn’t want that to happen to Ryker, and I promised to come to his defense if he needed me.
I arrived at his house about twenty minutes later. His home was exactly what I imagined it to be like. A small old house tucked away in the corner of the street away from the busy sidewalks and small-town chatter. There were kids running about, and riding their bikes up and down the street. I could’ve sworn I heard one of their mothers call for them to come inside.
The front door opened. “Oh my God.”
Ryker stood just inside the door battered, bloodied, and bandaged. He was surprised to see me, and for a moment I thought he was going to turn me away, but instead he held the door open so I could step inside.
Ryker: MC Romance Page 7
