Chapter 18 #3
I let out a surprised laugh and tighten my hold on her. “See, and here I was thinking you’d come to express your unrequited love for me.”
“That was definitely not what was going through my head.”
“I’m so fucking glad you stayed, baby. You’ve given me everything I didn’t know I wanted. Fuck, more than that.”
“I love you, Barrett.”
“I’ll never get tired of hearing those words from you.”
Leaning down, I kiss her again, but break it before I get so revved up that we’re going to have a repeat of just a few minutes ago, which is no easy feat on my part.
“Come on,” I say, releasing Camryn and grabbing her helmet. “Let’s get home. We have a couple hours before I have to get Syd from school, and I have a few ideas of how I’d like to spend them.”
Camryn takes the helmet from my hands and puts it on her head. “Funny, I was thinking the same thing.”
We’re back on the highway, and I’m loving having Camryn pressed against me with her arms around my middle. So much so that I’m taking my time getting home.
Through my side mirror, I spot a car behind us. It’s gaining ground, but slows down right behind us.
“Fucking asshole,” I say to myself as I keep one eye on the road and the other on my mirror to watch what this guy’s going to do.
He’s speeding up and slowing down, as though he’s impatient and wants me out of his way.
I move to the side of the road, indicating that he has plenty of room to pass me.
When he does, I’m tempted to flip him off for driving like a fucking prick, but I contain myself. Barely.
The guy passes me just as a truck is coming around the curve of the road. The driver slams on his brakes. I barely have time to react. It’s either run into him or the truck that’s mere feet from us in the other lane.
Terror rips through me as I veer my bike to the right, my front tire hitting the back bumper.
Camryn and I are thrown from the seat, the sound of metal crunching loud in my ears.
I skid through the dirt and tumble down the embankment, landing on my back.
Fear races through me hard and fast, and it feels as though a giant boulder landed on my chest. I cough a few times and shoot up, frantically searching for where Camryn landed.
She’s lying on the dirt a few yards to my left, facing away from me.
I rush over to her on my hands and knees, and she rolls over just as I get to her, a panicked look on her face until she sees me.
“Fuck, baby. Are you okay?” I grab her and pull her to me, needing to feel her whole and in my arms.
“I think so,” she says in a rough voice, clinging to me just as hard. “What the hell was that?”
“A fucking asshole is what that was.” I pull away but keep hold of her arms. “Does anything hurt?” I clock the small cut above her eyebrow and run my hands over her arms and back.
“Can you move your legs?” She does, and I nod, slightly relieved that so far it just looks like she’s a little banged up from the fall.
“What about you?” she asks, looking me over in the same way I just did with her.
“I’m good.”
“Are you guys okay?” I look to the road and see a kid running toward us. “That guy you hit took off. Didn’t even stop to make sure you were alright.”
“We’re okay,” I tell him.
“Your bike isn’t.” He looks behind him then back to us. “It’s scattered all over the highway.”
The last thing I care about is my bike.
I turn to Camryn. “Can you stand?”
She nods, and I slowly lift myself from the ground and hold out my hands to help her up.
When she puts weight on her right foot, she lets out a hiss of pain. “Fuck.”
Immediately, I kneel down and Camryn puts her hand on my shoulders for support.
Lifting her foot, I unzip her boot and examine her ankle and foot.
It doesn’t look broken, but I’m not going to take any chances.
I hold her steady as I stand and hand her the boot before lifting her in my arms and walking up the embankment to the highway.
“Do you want me to call an ambulance?” the kid asks.
“I don’t need an ambulance,” Camryn informs me.
“That’s fine, but I’m taking you to the hospital to have your foot checked out.”
“I can give you a ride,” the kid offers but I shake my head.
“Open the door for me. I need to set her down.”
He runs across the highway to his truck parked on the other side and opens the driver’s side door. When I get to the truck, I set Cam inside and unzip my jacket, pulling out my phone. The screen is cracked to shit.
“Fuck. Do you have your phone?”
Camryn shakes her head. “It was in your saddlebag.”
I look over to where my bike is. Well, what’s left of it. The damn thing is scattered across the pavement.
“You can use mine,” the kid says from behind me, reaching into his pocket and pulling it out.
It’s already unlocked, so I text Ozzy instead of calling him.
Me: Cam and I were just run off the road. Bike is fucked. Need a ride.
Within three seconds, the phone lights up with an incoming call.
“Hey,” I answer.
“Where are you?”
I give him the mile marker of where we’re at.
“Can you let Knox know to pick up Syd and take her home with him. Cam needs to get checked out at the ER.”
“Done. I’m on my way. I’ll have Jude and a prospect come with the van to get your bike and bring it back to the clubhouse.”
“Thanks.”
Ozzy disconnects the call, and I give the kid his phone back.
“You okay, sweetheart?” I ask, cupping Cam’s cheeks.
“Yeah,” she replies in a shaky voice. Tears spring to her eyes, and I immediately wrap her in my arms.
Between finding the flash drive and knowing about those guys who were at the bar last night, I’m more than a little convinced this accident wasn’t a coincidence.
It’s too much at once, and we don’t have the answers we need.
But I’d put money on this having to do with the Russians.
I may not know who exactly the fuck that was, but one thing is certain—when I find him, he’s a fucking dead man.