Chapter 7 On the Way
Nell
After our spectacular wedding night, we took off bright and early and rode four hours to Flagstaff.
It was not my first time on the back of a motorcycle, but it was my first on a cruiser-type.
An old friend from high school had a Ninja back in the day and he used to take me places while neither of us were geared up at all.
That was back when we were dumb and didn’t think we would ever die.
It felt different riding with Rick. The first thing he did was go out and purchase a full-face helmet for me to wear before he would even let me get on. I thought it was sweet.
When we got to the townhome-style apartment I shared with my roommate, there wasn’t anyone home.
I wasn’t surprised to see that all my belongings had been trashed, though.
Most of my favorite clothes were in tatters.
There were a few salvageable pieces and Rick handed me a bag to tuck them into.
My keepsakes, the ones my aunt’s friends passed to me, were thankfully safe where I hid them in the drop ceiling inside my closet.
Once those were wrapped well, and tucked into the bag, we took off.
Rick didn’t say much while we were there, but he was on high alert the whole time.
After checking the whole place out, he watched the entrances downstairs to be sure that no trouble was headed our way.
My husband took his job as my protector seriously and it made me want to throw him down on my bed and do dirty things to him.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have time. He had to get back to Violence by six o’clock for his best friend’s wedding.
That meant we still had another three or so hours to drive and we had to be quick.
“What about my art studio?” I asked.
“I’m assuming it isn’t here, since I didn’t see any supplies in your house.”
“No. I keep a large studio space across town.”
“Does your roommate have access to it?”
“No,” I thought for a minute. “I don’t think she even knows where it is. She’s never been there.”
“Good. Then we have time. After Bigfoot’s wedding, I’ll borrow someone’s pickup and bring one of the guys with me to grab your stuff.”
I chuckled as I shouldered the bag full of what was left of my belongings. “You’re going to need a larger rig and someone who can operate a forklift. I’ll go with you.”
“What the fuck kind of art are you into, sweetheart.”
“Honestly, I want to keep it a secret until you see it.”
“Metal,” he said as his eyes drifted to the silicone ring on my finger. I grinned but didn’t offer any other hints for him.
As we turned off my road, a familiar Harley Sportster turned down it.
He gave the two finger wave to Rick who did not respond and instead kept riding without so much as a glance in his direction.
Since I was wearing a full-face helmet, Johnny didn’t recognize me.
I wasn’t sure if Rick knew who it was, but we had places to be and I didn’t want to fill him in and have him miss his friend’s wedding.
“That was Slicer,” I said when we finally made it to the clubhouse in Violence, New Mexico.
“I figured. That’s why I didn’t fuck around and got us out of there. Didn’t need him calling for backup when he realized it was you on the back of my ride.”
As I got off Rick’s Harley, I took a minute to look around.
The place wasn’t what I expected. They had businesses lining the road down to their clubhouse and then a gate covered the rest of the road leading further back.
Rick explained that the clubhouse and residential area for members was back behind the gate and that the entire area was fenced in with security cameras monitoring every inch of fence line.
All their businesses between that gate and the highway were owned by the club but opened to the public.
We hopped off after Rick parked his Harley Fatboy in a long row of other motorcycles. “There are a lot of people here.” I took my helmet off and handed it over only for Rick to leave it on his motorcycle.
“More than it seems by looking at this lineup,” he said as he took my hand and pulled me toward the clubhouse.
“What about my things?”
“I’ll come out and grab them later. We’re cutting it close,” he said as he glanced down at the watch he wore on his left wrist. I’d almost forgotten that we would be walking straight into a biker wedding.