28. Gauge
GAUGE
Wisps of smoke still rose in the distance. The smell of twisted metal and burning fuel scorched my nostrils. I pulled my bike toward the brush. I scanned the wreckage of the building and saw that a few places were still smoldering beneath the rubble of the building we left behind.
I snapped my fingers and held out my hand, and just like that, a can of gas settled in my palm.
“Plug’s got the camera ready,” Mace said as he thumbed over his shoulder.
I nodded as I kicked my leg over my bike.
We were gonna make sure there was nothing about this place the woman could pull and use against us.
Served her right, too, the fucking cocksucker.
I wanted flames sky high. I wanted every single motherfucking police officer for miles to look toward the horizon and see the black flames barreling toward the sky.
I wanted them to etch that woman’s failure across the fucking planet.
“Let’s go,” I said as I walked toward the warehouse.
With Mace and Rico on either side of me, we dumped those cans of gas we picked up all the way around the perimeter of the building.
Some of it ignited the second it hit the ground, spraying flames and gasoline in my general direction.
I shielded myself with my arm as the flames tried to blind me with their colors.
And all the while, Plug snapped pictures.
“Got the north side,” Deadlock said as he jogged back toward me.
“Got the west side and wrapped it down a bit this way,” Mace said in between his huffing and puffing.
I nodded as I shook the last bit out on the side of the building that had been my responsibility. “Plug!?”
He came traipsing out of the part of the building that was still standing. “Yep.”
“You get pictures of the room where Doc was executed?”
He furrowed his brow. “I already told you. Yep.”
I blinked. “Don’t get smart.”
He winked at me. “Kind of hard when you’re me.”
“Let me know when, Plug,” Rico said.
Mace held out his hand. “Give me some of those matches. We’ll have to go back around the whole building with them.”
As Plug continued walking in and out of the building, taking snapshots of everything he felt was important, Rico passed out matches. They were like little twigs in the palm of my hand, and I danced them around with my fingers as Plug continued clicking and flashing away.
“Sun’s coming up,” Mace murmured.
I looked toward the horizon and, sure enough, sunrise was upon us.
I wondered if Char watched it from wherever she was.
“All right!” Plug exclaimed as he headed back to his bike. “We’re good.”
Mace smirked. “Fantastic.”
And as he struck a match against the arm of his leather cut, I watched him flick the entire match toward the building.
The entire east side went up in flames.
“Oh hell yeah,” Rico said as he struck a match.
“Let’s make sure to use all of them!” I called out as I struck a match of my own.
One by one, matches were tossed onto the gasoline we laid down on the ground.
And just like that, fire erupted once more.
We were smart enough not to start anything near the electronic room again, just in case someone somewhere was ordered to figure out how in the fuck the fire started in the first place.
I walked around, kicking dirt and dust and sand over our boot prints and bike tracks as the wall of fire grew thicker and hotter by the second.
“This must’ve been it,” Plug said.
I turned and watched him thwap his palm against one of the only power lines around the fucking place.
“What?” I asked.
He tilted his head as he looked up. “This power line. It’s also a cell tower. This is what she must’ve used to help with her internet capabilities.”
I nodded as I studied the desert-torn wood. “Rico!”
He trotted up to me. “Yeah, Gauge?”
I patted my hand against the pole. “Burn this down, too.”
“Oh hell yeah,” Plug said as he wrapped that camera around behind his back. “Can I help?”
Rico showcased those pearly whites of his. “Absofuckinglutely. Come on, let’s see what we can dig up for fuel.”
I stood back near my bike, watching as Plug and Rico went to town on that fucking pole.
An explosion rocked the building, sending more of it tumbling to the ground.
Wall after wall. Ceiling after ceiling. Succumbing to the flames.
Pipe after pipe, bursting from the pressure of the heat.
It was magical. Like a private fireworks display.
And as the guys cheered and clapped, I leaned against my bike with my arms folded over my chest.
If she could use explosions, then so could we.
“That’s what you get, you fucking bitch!” Plug exclaimed.
Mace held his two middle fingers up as yet another wall collapsed. “Fuck you, motherfuckers!”
“Dumbass cunt!” Rico exclaimed as he struck a match and tossed it at the base of the pole.
The fire crawled up its base, and I couldn’t help but smile.
Another explosion rocked the ground we stood on, and it sent the guys backing toward the shrubbery and brush that cloaked this place off from the rest of the world.
I had to admit, she did good in finding the place.
I had no fucking clue that big of a building was even out this far into the desert.
And as if things couldn’t get any better, bikes sounded over the horizon.
Deac and Rat showed up.
“Heard you guys were having a party!” Rat exclaimed as he put the kickstand down on his bike.
They both cut their engines before Plug practically yanked Rat off his bike.
“You gotta come see this. Come on,” he said.
“Jesus Christ,” Rat muttered. “Deac!?”
“I got it, I got it,” he said as he walked over to Rat’s bike.
“Need any help!?” I called out.
Deac waved me over, so I pushed off my bike. I watched as he unlocked Rat’s storage compartment on the back of his bike, and the smell of burgers and fries wafted up from the darkness.
“Oh, you didn’t,” I groaned as my mouth watered.
He snickered as he pulled things out. “Here, let’s pass all of this shit out.”
“Dinner and a show,” I said as he loaded my arms down with food. “My favorite.”
I curled my tongue over my teeth and let out an ear-piercing whistle.
It rose above the cacophony of the flames as they mounted, taking with it the rest of the building.
It collapsed into a fit of dust and debris as the guys made their way toward me.
I held out my arms, watching as they plucked burgers, fries, and pop-top sodas from my arms.
“They all the same?” Mace asked.
“Yep,” Rat said as he brought up the rear, “take and go. It’s a waiting game now, boys.”
He was right. Our plan worked to a tee. That bitch was on her way here to gather whatever evidence she thought she had, and we’d be waiting.
In the smoldering ruins of what she thought she built.
“You got that footage?” I asked as I looked over at Dallas.
He perched against his bike and patted the breast of his leather cut. “Right here.”
Plug pointed toward his bike. “I’ve got a laptop to play it all on, too. Geared up and ready to go.”
I grinned. “Good. That means we can show her we’ve got all that we need in different places.”
“God, I can’t wait to see her fucking face,” Rat growled before he took a bite of his burger.
“Think I should snap some pictures of the event?” Plug asked.
Dallas chuckled. “I think you should record the whole thing. We could make a documentary out of it.”
Plug pointed at him. “Don’t tempt me. You know how I am.”
“Yeah,” I said as I took a massive bite of my burger, “we do.”
“Chew first,” Deac said as he flashed me a look.
And as slowly as I could, I chewed my food and unhinged my jaw. I turned it around with my tongue, giving Deac the full spectacle as he wrinkled his nose.
“That’s fucking gross,” he said.
I smiled before I swallowed. “Glad I could entertain.”
Yet, as we all stood there, finished with our food, the sun hung heavily over our heads. The morning was upon us, the fires were dying down, and that woman still didn’t show up yet.
“Plug?” Deac asked.
He pulled a phone out of his back pocket and shook his head. “She should be here. Her tracking device is on the property.”
That leapt me into action. “Let’s fan out, everyone. Take a buddy and stay low. She’s watching.”
“Plug?” Deac asked.
“Yep?”
“You’re with Gauge.”
I nodded. “Come on, Plug. Let’s see what happens when we get closer to that blinking dot on your screen.”
He wrinkled his nose as he came to me. “I don’t get it. She should be here. Like, right here.”
“What do you mean?” Dallas asked.
Plug shook his head as he turned the screen toward us. “She’s not hiding or anything. She should be right here. Right where we’re standing. Right within eyeshot of all of this.”
I looked over at Deac and Dallas before we all groaned together.
“Check under the bikes!” Deac bellowed.
We scrambled. We didn’t even try to hide the fact that we were scrambling.
I’d never bolted toward my bike that quickly, well, ever.
I dove to the ground. I ran my hands along the underside of every crook and crevice of my bike that I touched over the years.
She was my pride and joy. The one thing that got me through all of the shit I’d ever gone through as a child.
My motorcycle was one of the first things I ever bought, brand spanking new.
And I’d been the only one to touch her, service her, or revamp her ever since.
Which is how I knew I found it once I ran my fingertips along something that didn’t belong.
“God motherfucking piece of shit damn it!” I shrieked.
I ripped that damn tracking device off my bike before shoving myself up from the ground. I roared out into the oncoming morning, gripping my hand so tightly around the device that I was sure it would burrow a hole into my hand just to try and find a way out.
“Gauge, take a breath. Take a breath!” Deac exclaimed as he slammed his hands against my shoulders.
But all I did was touchdown slam that tracking device on the ground at my feet.
“Plug?” I asked breathlessly as I raised my knee to my chest.
“Yep, that’s it,” he said.
And as I jammed the heel of my boot against that black circular device, Plug sighed.
“Signal gone,” he murmured.
Holy fucking shit, that woman one-upped us again. Even in the midst of my anger, I had to admit that the woman was capable as fuck. Survival was clearly what she did best. Which begged the question…
If Marcie wasn’t with us, was she with Char?
“We have to get out of here,” I said as I turned toward my bike, “we have to get back to Char.”
An explosion at the base of the powerline pole shot me clear off my feet.
“Everyone, get out of the way! Let’s move, move, move, move, move!” Deac bellowed.