Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
MOJAVE
“I want you to meet up with Zero. I don’t trust Battle’s crew and I don’t want him there alone. Make sure he doesn’t get dragged into something that’ll land him in jail.”
I grunted to acknowledge Prez’s request. When we first split up to look for Battle’s little sister with the promise that he and his crew would leave town if she was found, I’d been suspicious.
I’d lingered in town, checking to make sure none of Battle’s crew was hanging around to cause trouble while we were out looking for his sister.
For once, the asshole stuck to his word, his crew splitting up like we’d said to do, and I eventually headed south.
There were abandoned towns all along the border to Mexico with plenty of places to hide.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the girl was brought there.
When Prez had called me with the request, I wasn’t far from Zero’s location.
I felt my anxiety climb higher knowing one of my friends was anywhere near a dangerous situation and drove a little recklessly to get to him quickly.
I found him and one of the Hellfire Riders parked near an abandoned building on the outskirts of town and pulled my bike up beside his, looking around to confirm there weren’t any more enemies nearby.
“Did you find her?”
“Not yet.” Zero shook his head. “There’s a bunch of bikes and trucks in front of the motel though.”
I was glad he hadn’t tried to go check it out by himself. He was an electrician. He had no prior experience with anything like this. He had two kids at home too, so keeping himself safe needed to be a priority.
“I’ll do recon. Stay here.”
Walking away without a word, I ignored the hissing arguments of the Hellfire Rider speaking to Zero and disappeared into the trees. The town butted up against a small copse of trees, giving me cover to get closer without being noticed.
A twig snapped under my foot and I froze, my stomach dropping to my damn boots. A familiar buzzing sensation swept through me, my heart hammering louder and louder until I couldn’t hear anything else.
No. This couldn’t happen right now. I had a mission. If I got the girl out, I could stop looking around every corner, waiting for Battle’s crew to cause trouble. Frankie deserved to live somewhere safe. They needed to go if I was going to keep her safe.
Closing my eyes, I dredged up old training, trying not to think past the necessity of it instead of remembering why and how I’d last used it.
It took a few minutes, steadying my breathing, focusing myself, but eventually I shut down all thoughts outside the mission, feeling a cold numbness sweeping over me until I no longer felt the urge to run in the opposite direction.
I had to get this done. I couldn’t ask anyone else to do it.
Too many of my crew had kids at home now. It had to be me.
Purposely not thinking of Frankie or Rachel, I forced my feet forward, slow and steady, until I arrived at the back of the motel.
There weren’t any guards in the back, there wasn’t even a light back here for them to see if someone was coming at them from another direction.
I waited a few minutes, just in case they had patrols, and studied the building while I did.
There was a window open in the middle. If I got close, I might be able to listen to what was going on inside to at least get some intel on if we were in the right place.
When no one appeared on patrol, I moved closer, keeping my footsteps light so if any of their people were in that room, they wouldn’t hear me coming. The light wasn’t on, but that didn’t mean shit. I knew better than to take anything for granted when it came to stuff like this.
Pressing my back against the wall, I leaned closer to the window to listen. I heard someone grumbling, but the voice wasn’t what I’d expected. It was young, feminine, like there was a very unhappy female in that room. I paused. There was no way it’d be that simple. Right?
Risking a glance into the room, I took in what little I could see in the darkness.
The room was mostly empty, just a mattress on the floor.
There was light coming from under the door that gave me enough of a view to see the figure sitting on the opposite side of the room, their arms tied behind their back and their expression a mix between fear and fury.
“Kim?” I whispered.
Battle’s little sister whipped her head up, opening her mouth to say something, but I shushed her before she could speak, reminding her to stay quiet. She wisely shut her mouth, wiggling closer to the window so she could speak to me directly.
“Who are you?”
“Your brother asked my crew for help. When was the last time they checked on you?”
She glanced at the door, then back at me, lowering her voice a little more. “Maybe ten minutes ago? They don’t check that often.”
Good. If they were lax in checking on her, that meant I could get her out of here and end this sooner. I didn’t want her still in here if Battle’s crew decided to come out here and start a fire fight. Her death would be in my hands for walking away.
“I’m gonna cut the screen and get you out. Don’t make a sound.”
Her expression firmed and she nodded sharply, though I could see the terror underneath. She was tough, even when she was scared. She reminded me a lot of Frankie.
I had to shove that thought aside hard or risk losing focus. Thankfully, I always had a pocket knife on me. I’d had it since my deployment and, while I didn't use it often, it made me feel better to have it on me.
Using the knife to cut through the screen, I leaned in long enough to cut the ties on Kim’s wrists, helping her hoist herself out and nudging her against the wall to wait in case anyone heard us fumbling around.
After a few breaths, I nodded and gestured for her to follow me, heading into the forest and then to the west, back toward where Zero and the Hellfire Rider were waiting.
The Hellfire Rider whipped around when Kim stepped on a twig, drawing their attention.
His gun came out and a wave of adrenaline hit me square in the chest, but Zero grabbed his arm to stop him before he started shooting and his attention was immediately drawn to the girl once she came up beside me.
It was getting harder to ignore the tingling in my fingers or the cold sweat on the back of my neck. I felt a little sick to my stomach, old memories pushing at my psyche, and the need to get the hell out of here dogging my footsteps. I masked it, heading for my bike.
Zero looked stunned, shooting me an incredulous look. “Dude, what the hell? You were only supposed to do recon. We aren’t supposed to go in alone.”
I shrugged. “She was alone in a room with the window open. I cut the screen and she got out on her own.”
He seemed to consider that for a moment, but there wasn’t time to stand around chatting about it and he knew it. “We need to get out of here. Once they realize she’s missing, they’ll scour the area. We can’t be here when they do,” he insisted.
In full agreement with him, I continued toward my bike, ignoring the argument between the girl and the Hellfire Rider. She wanted to stay and get revenge. I wasn’t sitting around waiting for her to figure her shit out. I had to get out of here.
“I don’t care if you get on the bike or not,” I told her as I climbed onto my bike. “We did our job. Got you out safe. Your brother has to keep his end of the deal now. Let’s go, Zero.”
The girl was eventually convinced to go along and we went back to the clubhouse with her where Battle was waiting. I didn’t stick around for the aftermath. The clubhouse was too chaotic, I couldn’t think straight, and once Prez noticed me struggling, he sent me outside to breathe.
I warred between wanting to stick close to my crew until I was sure the danger had passed and wanting to get the hell out of here so I could clear my head.
I ended up pacing the perimeter of the clubhouse, keeping an eye on the few of Battle’s crew who were inside our gates, until Killian came to find me and told me to go home.
“We’re good, man. Prez is going with Battle to the hospital so Mel can check the girl out, and then Battle’s sticking to his word and getting out of town. Wraith will make sure of it. Go home.”
I hesitated long and hard until he gripped my shoulder and squeezed tightly enough to break through the numbness and settle me.
It helped, and I clutched his arm, taking a few deep breaths until I stopped feeling like I was going to crawl out of my own skin.
There wasn’t anything else for me to do here.
I wasn’t a fighter anymore. I needed to step away.
Letting out a final shaky breath, I nodded and headed for my bike, the unease settling a little more when Battle and his crew stepped out of the clubhouse, heading for their bikes and out of our lives hopefully for good.
I was starting my engine when Battle approached me. He spoke above the noise of my engine, words tight with restraint. “I hear you’re the man I need to thank for getting Kim out. I appreciate what you did for me and my crew.”
With barely a glance in his direction, I grumbled, “I didn’t do it for you.” Then I revved my engine and drove off without looking back.
My first thought was to head home. A long drive might do me some good.
But I thought about the quiet that waited for me there and felt the weight of the silence sit heavily on my chest before I’d even turned in that direction.
I couldn’t make myself do it. I found myself heading for Rachel’s house without really thinking about it.
I pulled up in front of the single story stucco, turning off the engine so I wouldn’t wake either of them up.
I didn’t want to knock, I didn’t want to bother them, but I couldn’t make myself leave either.
The front light turned on and Rachel peeked out a minute later. Worry for her made me slide off my bike to go to her, and she opened the door wider to let me in when I got close.
“Mojave? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I murmured, but I couldn’t say much else than that. I still felt like I couldn’t think straight, like I was both separate from myself and too firmly inside my own body and aware of every pinch of tightness and buzzing inch of my skin. I didn’t know what to do about it.
Warm hands touched my face, just fingertips at first, then cupping my cheeks and drawing me down to rest my forehead against hers.
Rachel didn’t ask questions or demand explanations.
She seemed to know I couldn’t answer even if I wanted to.
She just held me, letting me wrap myself around her and soak in her warmth.
And for the first time in hours, the cold slowly spilled out of me and I drew in a deep breath.