Hidden Flames (9 page)

Owen made a noncommittal grunt as if he was considering what she said and settled back, lacing his hands underneath his head. The clouds were still keeping the moon at bay and he inhaled the fresh air, wondering how long it would take Prue to say something. She’d wanted a reaction out of him, maybe an agreement or maybe a denial, but she wouldn’t get either. He closed his eyes, listening for any signs that they weren’t the only ones in the area. All he heard was her uneven breathing as his thoughts went back to the other night.

“You can deal with him in the morning,” Prue muttered from underneath the brim of her cap. She’d brought it down over her forehead when she sank lower into the chair in front of his desk, a beer secured in her right hand. Owen had his feet propped up and figured she’d wanted something when she came into his office with two bottles in hand. He’d literally just gotten back from his vacation. “He doesn’t listen to a word I say. He always has to contradict my suggestions. It has to be because I’m a woman and what I want to say will lose us a damned customer.”

“I’ll talk to him.” Owen took a swig of his beer as he planted his boots on the ground. They’d been sitting like this for over ten minutes, talking parts and bikes, until Prue finally got to the heart of the matter. Unfortunately, being a woman mechanic presented some problems when dealing with macho men who were nothing but assholes who thought that a woman couldn’t possibly know more about Harley Davidson motorcycles than a man. “It’s all right if he wants to take his business elsewhere. Kramer’s is the only competition we have and their mechanic doesn’t know a fifth about classic American made bikes that you do. I’m surprised Kramer hasn’t already made you an offer.”

“What makes you think he hasn’t?” Prue asked, lifting her cap with one finger and giving him one of those rare devilish smiles. The little imp had been holding out on him, but it looked like he didn’t have anything to worry about from her response. He raised his beer and drained the contents. He wouldn’t have another and neither would she. They both had a one-drink rule when riding their bikes. “I’ll start on the oil change for Vern in the morning. He said he needed to pick up his Harley by noon.”

Owen tossed his empty bottle in the trashcan underneath his desk and then stood, stretching his muscles. He’d just arrived home from a trip and sitting in those airplanes seats designed for a smaller person just wasn’t conducive to comfort. He took a few steps around his desk and held out his hand. She eyed it with caution, her previous smile all but dissipated. She allowed him to help her up and then motioned that she wanted to throw the rest of her drink away. He shifted so that she could get around the corner of his desk and toss her bottle in the can.

“You did a fantastic job in keeping this place running while I was away,” Owen said, waiting until she’d been about to pass him on her way out of his office. She was no more than six inches away from him, peering up from underneath the bill of her cap. “Thank you.”

Prue’s dark eyes searched his face as if she were gauging his sincerity. Owen would have been insulted if anyone else had looked at him like that, but not her. She nodded slightly, accepting his appreciation. It was when her gaze skimmed his lips that he stepped forward and slowly reached up to cup her face. Shock pretty much summed up her expression and when her lips parted…he gently kissed her.

Owen slid his fingers to the back of her neck ever so slowly, using his thumb to raise her chin a little more. Her lips were soft and pliant when she leaned into him, deepening their kiss. Her tongue gradually caressed his lower lip and he barely contained a smile when she lightly nipped it. He wrapped his right arm around her lower back and pulled her more securely against him, not wanting to let her go any time soon. She was right where he’d always wanted her and—

“What did that mean?” Prue asked, her voice cutting through the night air. Owen could hear the shifting of her sleeping bag and figured she was either sitting up or had rolled back to her side. He’d closed his eyes and had been about to drift off to the memories when she’d brought him back to reality. He didn’t bother to hide his smile this time, knowing she probably couldn’t see much in the dark. “And I see that smirk, so wipe it off your mouth. I should have clarified my position the other night a little more by saying that I don’t do relationships—ever.”

“So just sex?” Owen heard Prue’s swift intake of air and widened his grin when a string of curse words came out of her pretty little mouth. “I would have taken you up on that a year ago, but I think I want more than just a one night stand. I appreciate the offer though. I’ll just hold out until you realize we have something better than a casual fling.”

Owen was relatively sure that Prue would have thrown something at him had she been near anything she could have used. As a matter of fact, she was probably scaling the grass for a good-sized rock to send his way. He relaxed anyway and did his best not to think of what awaited them in about four or five hours. They needed to be rested in order to handle the next leg of their trip. A couple of minutes passed and he could finally sleep when she muttered the last words as usual, or else he would have known he’d pushed her too far.

“Keep dreaming, Marine.”

P
rue was tired,
hungry, and irritable. They were somewhere in the panhandle of northern Texas using the back roads and still encountering throngs of vehicles and panicked people. There was no getting away from the chaos and she couldn’t help but keep checking the sky to see if the ash cloud was upon them yet. They’d wasted hours maneuvering around traffic jams where there shouldn’t have been any. It didn’t help that Owen was his usual happy-go-lucky self while she stewed over the conversation they had last night. The more she thought about it, the more peeved she became at his dismissive attitude. Would he really not have sex with her if that was all she wanted? Was he saying it was all or nothing? She was focused on the wrong thing, but she couldn’t bring herself to get past it.

“Prue,” Owen called out. His grim tone managed to come through even with his shouted commands, similar to when he’d told her about his conversation with Berke. “Take the lead. I’ll trail. Turn right up ahead and then head north.”

Prue looked in front of them to see a well-traveled gravel road that probably intersected with another blacktop back road farther north, considering it didn’t look like a driveway of some sort. She waited for Owen to explain but he fell back. What was his problem? She slowed down and took the corner, careful of the loose gravel that could cause her tires to spin out from under her. They both were very careful where they rode their motorcycles, but this was extenuating circumstances. She was still surprised that he would want to take this type of unimproved road.

Prue looked in the right mirror to see Owen turn with her, which was when she caught the sound of distant Harley motors power braking behind the traffic. She glanced over her shoulder but didn’t see anything of concern and couldn’t spot the other bikes. They drove in silence until she came to an intersection that put them on a paved road running east/west. She made a left and immediately accelerated. Owen passed her and picked up even more speed. She matched him, and before too long he pulled into a driveway on the left that was protected by a row of dense hill country cedar trees. He cut his engine and she followed suit, wondering what was so wrong that he would halt their progress.

“Owen, what—”

“Listen,” Owen directed, holding up a hand to emphasize his directive. She took off her helmet and sunglasses, straining to hear whatever he was talking about through the trees. The fragrance of the countryside’s wildflowers drifted through the air and Prue closed her eyes for a moment to enjoy the scent. It was then that the rumble of engines cut through the silence. “Bikers. Four of them with custom pipes.”

Images of Deacon and his three buddies floated through Prue’s mind, but she couldn’t imagine they would be this far north when they could have cut down south to the Mexican border. At least, she thought that’s where they said they were headed. It wasn’t long until the sounds dropped off with each passing second.

“Do you think it was the ones we ran into the other day?”

“I know it was the same pipes, but that would mean they’ve been following us at a distance without us detecting them before now,” Owen said, glancing behind them at a ranch-styled house that had seen better days. “I don’t like what that indicates, so we’re going to be backtracking a bit. Maybe even heading south for a change.”

“Why didn’t they try to come for our supplies last night at the park?” Prue asked, not understanding what the men thought they would gain. “It’s not like we have an RV that’s filled with food.”

“They want our weapons.” Owen pulled out his cell phone but his attempts at getting a call to connect were short-lived. Prue’s stomach lurched slightly when she realized what that meant. He shoved it back into the side of the clean cammies he’d put on this morning. “Service is gone, which means satellite communication is taking a hit. Civilian use of the carriers is going to be pared down as their capabilities dwindle. We’ll switch to a short wave radio to keep in contact with the lodge. The radio I have is low wattage and takes time to set up. Mav will have someone monitoring the system by this evening. We can try a message once we stop for the night to camp.”

When they’d originally pulled into the driveway, Owen had done a U-turn that had them facing back north. A chill ran up her spine when she caught sight of the grayish sky. Was it rain or had the ash arrived sooner than expected? As she wondered about the approaching darkness, the large plume became larger and flashed with internal lightning unlike anything she’d ever seen. Fear that had been right below the surface finally made an appearance and her stomach clenched at the thought they wouldn’t make it to California, let alone Washington.

“Put your helmet on and let’s get moving.” Owen started his engine without commenting on the scene before them. His dark glasses covered his eyes but his jaw was set in stone. He felt the ominous change in air as well. “We don’t have a lot of time to waste and this will set us back quite a bit.”

Prue was ready in less than thirty seconds and followed him out of the long driveway and back onto the road, heading the opposite direction than the other four riders had taken. They certainly didn’t need an added threat on top of what Mother Nature was giving them. Her previous irritability was replaced by appreciation for the fact that they both still had a clear road ahead for the time being. Heading back south before they took another road heading west, Prue looked into the mirror and wondered how long they actually had before the ash caught up with them.

*

“We need to
stop soon.”

Prue shook her head, seeing the empty road in front of them and knowing they could make good time if they kept going. They’d been able to make a couple of stops during the day, hitting two gas stations that had been hit by the ensuing chaos. The pumps wouldn’t work because the credit card machines were down and there wasn’t an attendant anywhere to take cash. People were going in and out of the unattended station, taking any items that were left on the shelves. She could just imagine what the major cities looked like.

“We should keep going while we can and before the ash starts to fall,” Prue yelled, trying to pull her bike in front of him. Owen wouldn’t allow that and sped ahead of her, taking the lead and turning off onto a gravel road. They drove for another hour before coming upon a small ramshackle house that had seen better days. “You’re making a mistake.”

“Are your hands numb?”

Prue gritted her teeth at Owen’s question, remaining silent as she took off her helmet and the clear glasses she’d changed out at dusk. Of course her hands were numb. Her back hurt and her legs tingled too, but she wasn’t about to admit it. They were racing against the clock and time was going to win if they didn’t keep going.

“How long?” Prue asked, wanting to know how long Owen planned on staying here. She looked around the small area, noting that it was dark and no one appeared to be home. They had probably been smart and headed for the East Coast. She was rethinking their strategy of going west considering they’d been in the exact area the government officials were telling them was the safest. “We’re just wasting time.”