Chapter 6
Jinx
I’m riding miles out of my way to pick up a car part, almost to the county line.
It’s an expensive one and retrieving it from a private seller will net our store around five hundred bucks in the end.
Plus, I get to take a nice relaxing ride on a bright, sunny day.
Riding on the open road is the best feeling in the world.
I feel the motto ‘ride hard, die free’ so deeply at times like this.
Jasper and Striker increased security around the clubhouse.
They’re not taking any chances on the Hyenas getting into our compound again, like they did a couple of years ago.
We’ve also been taking turns riding out past the Kildare Hills, keeping our eyeballs peeled for the Hyenas.
So far, we haven’t run into any of them.
It’s like they have a secret way in and out of the area.
We’ll fuckin’ find it though, we always do.
Thinking of secrets, Striker didn’t find anything else out about Nora.
But I can’t shake the idea that she might somehow be connected with the Hyenas. I need to put her out of my mind.
My attention is only half on the road when I come flying around a blind curve and see something that pisses me the fuck off. Two Hyenas are a few hundred yards ahead of me. They’re riding those trashy, souped-up bikes that look like they were made from straight-up scrap.
What pisses me off is they appear to be trying to force a small gray car off the road. Images flash in my mind of them robbing the family inside or dragging out the man so they can beat him in front of his wife. They’re known for shit like that.
But not on my fuckin’ watch. Today, I finally get to confront some Hyenas. If I’m lucky, maybe I can even get a little payback for them trashing our parts store and stealing our equipment. Excitement strums in my chest. I turn the throttle, and my bike makes a burst of speed.
That little gray car is trying desperately not to get run off the road. They’re doing a good job of holding their own, in spite of the two bikes trying their best to run it down.
The bike on the left pulls up and kicks at the driver’s side door. The car jerks slightly to get away and slams into the guardrail. Once the car is against the guardrail, physics takes over. The sound of metal on metal scraping reaches my ears and I know it’s game over for that family in the car.
I come upon the scene and give the bike on the left a taste of his own medicine.
He’s slowing down to circle back around to the car.
I ride past him, reach out one big, booted foot and slam it into the side of his bike, sending it skidding into the guardrail.
I can hear him let out a long string of curses.
I immediately roll the throttle again and head straight for the second rider.
He’s come up behind the car and is getting off his bike.
I ride in hot, lift the back of my bike, and slam it into his body.
He gets thrown back against his bike. He lets out a scream of pain, but I don’t have any fucks to give for an asshole who forces innocent civilians off the road. Fuck them both.
This close I can tell they aren’t fully patched Hyenas.
They’re just prospects half-assed trying to do some crime, by the looks of it.
The one I slammed into the guardrail is limping back towards the car on foot.
The one I just knocked into his bike is already scrambling to his feet and making a run for the car.
He reaches for the driver’s door and jerks it open.
“Get the fuck out of the car, you dumb bitch. Your old man wants a word with you,” he growls at the driver.
Whoever he’s trying to get his hands on outsmarts him by climbing out through the front passenger side door.
A familiar female voice screams, “Get the hell away from me!”
I lift my visor to make sure I’m seeing what I think I am. Sure enough, it’s the woman who’s been on my mind for the past few weeks.
Seeing Nora again stokes all those old feelings of desire and warmth. Realizing she’s terrified and trying to keep distance between herself and the prospect enrages me. I jump off my bike, grab the prospect by the back of the neck, and slam him onto the ground.
Putting one foot on his chest, I say, “Don’t even think about laying one hand on her, you stupid fuck,” I spit out, not giving a shit how threatening I sound right now.
He gapes up at me. “Who the hell are you?”
“I’m the guy who’s gonna beat your ass for running a poor helpless woman off the road in broad daylight.”
I’ve spent weeks wondering where Nora went.
Even Striker eventually told me to let it go.
And here she is along the side of a county road with two Hyena prospects harassing the shit out of her.
Nothing about this makes any sense. I don’t have time for questions because the one I slammed into the guardrail has made it to the scene and he’s working his way around the car to get his hands on Nora.
He says something to her I can’t hear. Her chin comes up and she shouts at him to get back. She’s not scared of him at all. If I wasn’t so shocked about seeing her again, then I’d be admiring her courage. But she’s no match for those two prospects, so I’m gonna have to step in.
I press my foot into the one on the ground’s throat, just enough to make him scream. That catches the other one’s attention.
“What the hell are you doing here, Rager?” he yells. “This is Hyena business. It’s got nothin’ to do with you.”
“I need you to step back, because if you don’t, I’m gonna crush your friend’s throat.”
“Get the hell away from us, Rager.”
I just press my boot against his neck some more. The guy makes a pitiful, desperate sound, trying to push my foot away.
The other one throws his hands up. “What is it you want? Maybe we can make a deal.”
“Get on your bike and ride outta here,” I tell him. “That’s the deal. Do as I say and your friend lives. Refuse and you get to carry him home in a body bag. I keep one in the storage compartment on my bike for times like these.”
“What about him?” he points at his friend who is currently gasping for breath as my boot crushes his neck.
“Once you’re gone, I’ll release him. Now fuck off before I change my mind.”
He gives Nora a look that’s filled with loathing, but there’s also something else there.
He’s definitely scared of me, because I have my boot across his friend’s throat.
But he’s scared of her too. Or maybe scared of what she’s worth to somebody.
Before I can work it all out in my head, he says it out loud.
“You’ve got no idea what you’re getting yourself mixed up in, Rager. That’s the Prez’s daughter. That’s Coal’s little girl right there. He just wants her back home where she’s safe. Your interference just triggered a club war.”
“We’re already at war, dumbass. It started before Sturgis, when your club broke into a Sons-owned business and stole from us.
” I wave one hand towards the vehicle that’s crashed against the guardrail.
“This is nothing compared to you assholes stealing from us and tagging our building with your shitty graffiti. Go away before your friend here stops breathin’. ”
Although the prospect looks like he’s about to be sick, he starts to back away. When he gets a few yards away, I remove my boot from the remaining prospect’s neck. Jerking my chin towards his bike, I tell him, “This is your one chance. Get the hell outta here while you can.”
He doesn’t wait even a second before stumbling off.
I stand there for a second staring at Nora. She’s Coal’s daughter. He’s the president of the Hyenas MC.
“Nora, it’s nice to see you again. I wish it were under better circumstances.” I don’t recognize the gentlemanly words coming out of my own fuckin’ mouth right now.
“It’s good to see you too, Jake, or should I say, Jinx.”
Her calling me by my club name answers one of my questions. I’m guessing somewhere between us getting together and me waking up alone, she figured out who I was and hot-tailed it outta Dodge. If that’s the reason, then it makes me feel a bit better that it was nothing I did that scared her away.
“You know they’re gonna call in reinforcements. Your car is undrivable. Do you have a plan for staying safe?” I ask.
“I was trying to get across the county line. I knew I had to ditch my phone and my car but that’s as far as I got.”
“Do you have money? Any place you can go?”
She sighs, wrapping her arms around her belly. “I’ve got a couple of grand and nowhere to go that my father wouldn’t feel extremely comfortable smashing through the door.”
“Then come back with me. I’ll keep you safe.”
She glances down the road, at the prospects who are on their phones, likely reporting it to their chain of command. “I can keep you safe, darlin’. You don’t have to pay me with money, sex, or any damn thing else.”
I hear her boots walking towards me and see the relief on her face. She’s desperate to get away from her father. I don’t know why but I’m damn sure gonna find out. And I’ll do everything in my power to protect her.
“Is this a yes?” I ask.
She nods, tearing up. “Yeah, I’m in danger, Jinx. Anything you could do for me right now, I’d be eternally grateful,” she says back.
I have so many questions and exactly no time to ask them. I gesture to my bike.
“Come on. Get on behind me. I’ll help you.” When she’s close, I lift her onto the seat of my bike. “Put your feet on the pegs.” Getting on in front of her, I say, “Wrap your arms around my waist.”
She slides her arms around me, almost shyly. Glancing over my shoulder, I tell her quietly, “Hold on like your life depends on it. I don’t plan to do any stunt driving unless I have to. Do you understand?”
Nodding, she looks back at the prospects who are now filming us with their cell phones. They’re brazen as fuck, standing there. I want another go at them so badly it makes my fuckin’ chest hurt.
That’s when I understand that gettin’ on this bike while the prospects capture it on video is more than just running away from home.
It’ll be picking a side in her old man’s mind.
Getting on my bike is telling everyone that his daughter climbed onto the back of a Sons of Rage club officer’s bike of her own free will.
There’s no walking this back, not ever, not for her or for me.
I worry that she’ll chicken out. But she doesn’t. She holds strong, hanging onto me, trusting me, maybe even realizing she made a gigantic mistake by leaving me. I’m already working out how to get her somewhere safe, how to buy her a way out that isn’t this.
When I ease out onto the road, I feel her rest her cheek between my shoulder blades, right against the Sons of Rage patch, against the thing that represents her father’s sworn enemy. Before I pick up speed, I ask, “Are you ready to leave the Hyenas’ world and enter the world of the Sons of Rage?”
“Yeah, let’s get out of here before the Hyenas swarm us,” she replies quietly.
I twist the throttle and we pick up speed. She glances to the side when we pass the prospects. They still have their phones up and flip her the bird. She’s considered a turncoat now, a club princess who betrayed her own father to jump onto the back of my bike.
I feel the responsibility I’ve just taken on. It rests heavy on my shoulders. I’ve got Coal’s daughter wrapped around me, and I don’t have any more of a plan than she did. My plan is to get to the clubhouse and protect her. That’s it for now, but is it gonna be enough?