Chapter 7 Cage
CAGE
The wind whipped around me as I cruised down the highway.
I hadn’t gotten onto the road for long last night before I realized I needed sleep.
And a lot of it. Even though I wanted to keep trekking toward the lodge on Hoover Road, I couldn't get there if my eyes kept falling closed. So, I pulled off the nearest exit and got myself a cheap room around the backside of a motel. About an hour outside of the Redding city limits. After a few hours of sleep, three cups of coffee, and a muffin, I was good to go. I had the energy I needed to get into the city, make my way toward Diesel’s lodge, and beg my fucking case.
Until I looked down at my gas gauge.
“Fuck,” I groaned.
I needed gas, and bad.
“Of course, you do,” I said, sighing.
I pulled off onto the Redding, California exit.
At least I was near the city limits at this point.
I pulled into the nearest gas station, pissed off that I hadn’t left with a full tank of gas.
Had I thought to gas up before I got out of dodge, I wouldn't have had to stop thirty minutes outside the damn city I needed to be in.
“Then again, you are running from the most feared human being in Nevada,” I murmured.
I turned off my bike and put down my kickstand.
It would only take me a few minutes to pump gas.
And in the meantime, I could grab myself some snacks to stow away for my next hotel hop.
I didn’t expect anyone in the Dead Souls to put me up for the night or some shit like that.
I also didn’t want to make any unnecessary trips out in the open with Lars still on my tail.
I let the pump fill up my gas tank as I headed inside.
I went straight for the drinks and picked up a few of my favorites.
Coffee-based energy drinks. Flavored waters.
Vanilla Coke. I was damn near addicted to the stuff.
I reached for some salt and vinegar chips along with some energy bars.
Small, portable, and it would give me the nourishment I needed if I had to hoard myself in the dark and skip a meal or some shit like that.
I had to admit; I wasn’t used to hiding like this.
I wasn’t sure what all I’d need. But I had snacks and drinks for at least a day, which bought me some time to figure out my next move if things didn’t go well at the lodge.
“Good morning, can I interest you in some cigarettes for your journey?”
I looked into the eyes of the woman behind the cash register, watching as that twinkle in her eye shined toward me. I grinned at her as I pulled my wallet out, shaking my head as I did so.
“Haven’t smoked in over two years,” I said.
“Well, congratulations. It’s a nasty habit I’m still trying to break,” she said, giggling.
“I’m sure working with them behind you doesn’t help much.”
“Ah, well. We all need a little challenge every now and again. Yes?”
I nodded. “I love a good challenge.”
Her cheeks flushed, and had I been a free man, I would have asked for her number. But I was still caged. Still chained to a beautiful woman back in Nevada even though I was spitting angry with her. I paid for my things and grabbed my bag, bidding the cashier woman farewell with a nod of my head.
But, as I started out the doors, my jaw dropped to the floor.
“Cage!” Sutton exclaimed.
I blinked my eyes a few times, knowing damn good and well they had to be playing tricks on me. But as she ran closer toward me, I knew I wasn’t being deceived.
“My god, I thought that was your bike,” she said, panting.
“Sutton?” I asked.
She paused. “Hi, Cage.”
“What the hell are you doing here? How did you even—”
“We can talk about specifics later. I promise. Right now, you need to know that my father knows where you are,” she said.
I narrowed my eyes. “And how do you know this?”
“Please, Cage. We have to hurry. My car’s almost filled up. I have no idea when he sent his men this way. For all I know, they’re—”
My eyes darted up as a quick, black movement caught my eye.
My eyes followed the trail of the blur just long enough to catch the black SUV racing by the gas station.
The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.
My heart leapt against my chest. Sutton’s rambling words fell to the back of my mind as I scanned the road in front of us, wondering if I had seen what I thought I’d just seen.
Because Lars’ men drove black SUV’s just like that one.
I tracked it with my eyes as Sutton grabbed my hand.
I let her pull me toward my bike. Toward her car, as she parked next to it.
I watched the SUV race off into the distance, and for a second, I let myself believe it was a coincidence.
Just someone with a nice vehicle trying to get somewhere quicker than they needed to be.
Then, I heard the squealing of tires. Before the SUV surged back into view.
“Get on my bike,” I said curtly.
“What?” Sutton asked.
I ripped my arm away from her grasp and stared directly into those beautiful brown eyes of hers.
“Get on the back of my bike. Your father’s men are already here,” I said.
One last test. One last moment for her to choose as side.
And when she nodded her head with ease, my heart surged with delight.
I shoved my snacks into the compartment on the back of my bike as Sutton raced to her car.
The SUV honked its horn, trying to get around traffic that had already backed up at the light.
“Come on! We don’t have time for this,” I said.
“I just need my clothes. That’s it. Okay?” Sutton asked.
I watched her pull three damn suitcases from the car and sighed.
“Fucking hell, woman,” I murmured.
I ripped the gas pump from my bike and hung it up.
I closed everything up, then went around to help her strap her shit to the back of my motorcycle.
I helped her on before I slung my leg over, peering back one last time.
The SUV had finally broken away from the traffic, but there was a line building up for the gas pumps.
And before me, on the other side of the gas station, was a clear shot at a hole I could exploit.
“Hang on, Sutton,” I commanded.
She wrapped her arms around me tightly and buried her face into my back.
And while I wanted to relish the moment, I couldn't. I struck up my bike and peeled out of the gas station, making my way through the hole just before it closed up.
The SUV honked. Men shouted after me. I looked back just as the hole closed up, then weaved my way in and out of morning California traffic.
Sutton’s cursing filled the crevices of my back as we raced down the road.
The tires of the SUV squealed with every dodge they made of cars.
I kept looking back, making sure we were gaining distance on them.
But it wasn’t enough distance. Cars honked and people flipped me off.
Sutton squealed every time I took a sharp turn without warning.
But every single time I did, I heard the squealing of the SUV’s tires.
They were fucking on us, and they were slowly gaining distance.
I raced by the Redding city limits sign, and I shook my head.
This wasn’t the kind of entrance I had been thinking about last night.
This wasn’t the kind of low profile I wanted to keep in the area.
I cursed myself for not simply getting an energy drink and staying on the road.
I cursed myself for getting a fucking hotel in the first place, delaying myself long enough for Lars’ men to find me.
But I had Sutton.
Sutton had come to find me.
Or, was she spying for her father?
I shook the thought from my head. The road into Redding was a straight-away, and there was nothing I could do other than stay in front of the SUV for now.
I couldn't think about whatever betrayal was clinging to my waist. I couldn't think about whatever side Sutton had chosen, for now.
I couldn't think about the fight we had or think about how the hell she’d found me or think about how her father knew where I was going or how she knew any of this information in the first place.
I had to get us to safety first.
“Cage!” Sutton exclaimed.
I heard the popping of gunshots and zigzagged my bike. Bullets whizzed by us as Sutton screamed into my back. Into my leather jacket. We raced into Redding, and I pulled up the map in my mind. The map all the way to Hoover Road that I’d memorized before falling asleep last night.
I knew if I could take the gunfire to the lodge, the Dead Souls would come out and defend their turf before figuring how what the fuck was going on.
And I needed a bit of backup.
I felt Sutton grip into my shirt, pulling at the fabric as I kept swaying about.
The only issue with zigzagging on a bike was the fact that I was losing distance in an effort to keep us from getting shot.
There was a pause in the gunfire, and I knew they were reloading.
I downshifted and throttled the gas, trying to put a little more distance between us and that damn SUV again.
I came upon the sharp left-hand turn I needed, and my knee almost graced the ground as Sutton shrieked against my body.
“Cage!”
“Hang on,” I said through gritted teeth.
We were so close to the clubhouse. Less than five minutes out.
I took a few back roads, taking stock of how to get back to Hoover Road every time I diverted.
I kept my breathing even as Sutton clawed at my stomach.
Her hands ventured up my chest and gripped my shoulders, trying to hang on as much as she could.
Gunshots made her flinch and I could have sworn I felt her shoulders shaking.
Was she crying back there?
Fucking hell.
More gunshots popped off as I got back onto Hoover Road. I was less than three minutes out. I could smell the lodge. I could smell the safe space I was about to drift bike-first into. I could smell the animosity of bringing gunfire their way before I stared into the eyes of my half-brother.
I could also smell the gunpowder before that damn bullet pierced my shoulder.
“Fuck!” I roared.
“Cage! No!” Sutton screamed.
I let out a wild bellow of pain from deep within my stomach.
The hot metal sank into my skin, blood trickling down my back.
Sutton was hyperventilating. She panicked, the whole of her shaking.
Not a reaction anyone could have faked. Not in the way she was experiencing it.
Sutton’s hands slid to my hips before she moved them around, searching for something as I kept my eyes trained ahead.
I saw the bend in the road I was looking for. Just before the lodge.
“Take this, you assholes,” she murmured.
I heard a gunshot pop off. Then, two. She squealed and cried out with every shot of my gun she took.
And while I wanted to stop her, I couldn't. Whatever she was doing, it was working.
Because the sounds of the SUV faded away.
Glass shattered. The rubber of a tire popped.
The gun clicked as she kept pulling the trigger, mimicking the pulse of my heart that was pushing blood down my fucking back.
I led my bike straight into the parking lot of the lodge as the sounds of the SUV finally faded away.
“Cage. Holy shit,” Sutton said breathlessly.
She tossed the gun to the ground. My bike fell over with me on it, the pain so great my vision began to double.
Sutton’s voice drifted off into the distance as her arms wrapped underneath mine.
The world went in and out. My vision tunneled.
She grunted and groaned with tears in her eyes as she slowly pulled me away from my bike.
“Help! Someone help me!” Sutton shrieked.
And just as the door of the lodge burst open, my world went black.