Outlaw (5 page)

“So I’m supposed to say nothing? You think I’m just
supposed to forget what they did to me, what
he
did to me?” she whispered brokenly, shivering with the memory.

Cole felt the tremble move through her body. And it
affected him. More than he wanted to admit. “Look, I understand retribution.
Retaliation. Shit, I know all about it. I know you want them to pay for what
they did to you, but-”

“But, what?” she broke in, anger flaring through
her, pushing out the hurt and fear. “I’m just supposed to let it go?”

“No, but you need to learn something, and learn it
quick!” Cole snapped back, anger rising in him just as quickly as it did in
her. “You don’t rat on us, and live to tell about it. Got that? You could end
up dead if you try to bring charges against anyone in the club. You hear me?
Dead. They don’t give a fuck if you’re a girl. If they think you’re gonna rat,
they’ll kill you, and not think twice about it.”

“They? You mean you, don’t you? You’d kill me?” She
turned to look back at him, almost daring him to confirm it.

He stared at her. “You gonna make me say it?”

She gasped, “So all this ‘I’m not gonna hurt you’
stuff is bullshit?”

“No. Look, I don’t want to see you hurt. I’m trying
to think of a way out of this. What he did to you-”

“You don’t know what he did to me. Don’t pretend you
do,” she snapped back, turning in his arms to face forward again.

What could he say to that? Not a damn thing. He took
another swig of whiskey.

“I can’t let it go. Could you?” she asked in a
whisper after they’d both had a moment to cool off.

“No,” he exhaled. “No, I don’t suppose I would,” he
conceded.

They sat quietly.

How the hell was he supposed to reason with her? Make
her see? He thought about what he’d do if he were that cop. If he had a
daughter that this happened to. He didn’t have to think about it long. He knew
what he’d do, and it would have nothing to do with the law, but everything to
do with justice.

An idea began to percolate in his brain. He mulled
it over, analyzing it from every angle. This whole situation was fucked. There
was no good answer, only the lesser evil. He considered it long and hard before
he thought about suggesting to her the solution he’d come up with. Hell, it was
the only option he could think of, at least the only option he could think of
that he could actually live with. The two of them were
gonna
have to come to an understanding first, if they had any chance of working this
shit out. He took a deep breath, and blew it out. “Maybe I’ve got a solution.”

She didn’t respond, but she turned her head a couple
of inches to the right to let him know she was listening.

“If I find this Asian guy, and make him and Chucky
pay for what they did to you, would that satisfy you? You leave your father out
of this. Let me handle it. Could you do that?”

She still wouldn’t look at him.

He sighed. “Look, it’s the best deal I’ve got for
you, baby. The other options aren’t so appealing.”

“Other options?”

He took a moment to answer, letting it sink in. “I
think you know.”

She got real quiet.

Cole hated making her afraid, but in this instance,
a little fear was probably a good thing. She needed to realize just how
precarious a position she was in.

Finally, she turned back to look at him. “What do
you mean, ‘make them pay’?”

He looked in her eyes. “Exactly what you think I
mean.”

She stared at him a moment, and then nodded her
head. “Okay.”

He nodded his head. “Okay.”

And as simple as that, the deal was struck.

She stared off in the distance wondering if he’d
keep his end of it.

“Come here,” he said softly, pulling her back
against him. “Everything’s gonna be okay. You just
gotta
trust me. Okay, babe?”

She nodded. She didn’t really have a choice.

They sat quietly for a while.

“Look at all those stars,” she murmured, as if just
noticing them.

“Umm hmm.” He could tell the liquor was relaxing
her,
at least she was letting her guard down some.

“I saw the milky way once,” she whispered.

“Really?”

“Ever seen it?”

“Nope.”

“I was a little girl.”

“So, not so long ago then, huh?” he quipped.

She turned to look at him. “How old are you?”

He looked down at her upturned face. God, she was
young. “Too old for you.”

She studied his face in the moonlight, her eyes
traveling over his features. God, he was attractive. “Tell me.”

“Thirty.”

She smiled. “Old man.”

He smiled back. “Yeah. Some days I feel it, too.”

“Like today?”

“Yeah.
Like today.
Now try
to get some sleep.” He raised his left hand to the back of her head, and pulled
her back against him.

She twisted slightly in his arms and laid her head
down on his chest, tucking her head under his jaw, her forehead up against the
warm skin of his neck.

Cole set the bottle down, and put his arms around
her. Soon he could feel her breathing change, and knew she had drifted off. He
stared up at the stars wondering how in the hell this was all going to end. He
could get caught up in her. He felt it every time he looked into her eyes.

And that was a dangerous thing.

He couldn’t let that happen. Nothing good could come
of it.

After a while, and still with no answers, he rested
his cheek against the top of her head, and fell asleep.

Chapter Three

Angel jerked awake to the sound of a gunshot.

She sat straight up, blinking in the early morning
light, and immediately felt Cole’s left arm come around across her chest, and
pull her back against him. She grabbed at his forearm with both her hands. She
noticed his right arm was extended, and he was holding the 9mm handgun he
carried in his shoulder holster.

He pulled the trigger, and another blast made her
jump.

He was shooting at something on the ground. She
followed the direction the gun was aimed, and saw a large snake writhing on the
ground not ten feet from them. “Oh, my God.” Angel kicked her legs, trying to
back up.

Cole tightened his hold on her. “It’s okay,
sweetheart. It’s dead.”

“Are there anymore?” she asked in a panic, her eyes
darting around.

“Could be.” He holstered the gun, and nudged her.
“Come on, babe. Get up. My legs are falling asleep.”

She leaned forward, and Cole got to his feet, and
stretched. “Goddamn. I’ll ache all day from sleeping like that.”

“What time is it?” she asked, her eyes squinted at
the horizon.

Cole took out his phone, and flipped it open.
“Nine.”

Angel stretched.

He watched her, his eyes running over the long,
slender lines of her body, until she turned and caught him. Quickly looking
away, he announced, “I, uh, gotta take a piss, I mean, I have to use
the…facilities.”

She smiled. “Good save. Me, too.”

Cole smiled back, and pulled her to her feet. “Take
your pick.” He motioned with his arms, indicating all the rock formations and
scrub brush surrounding them. “Yell if you see any snakes.”

“You can count on that,” she replied.

He walked behind some rocks. When he came back, she
was nowhere in sight. He grabbed up the blanket, and rolled it up, and attached
it to the front of his bike with a bungee cord. He was stuffing the bottle of
whiskey back into the saddlebag when she came back.

“Where are you taking me?” he heard her ask from
behind him.

He glanced back at her. “My clubhouse. Get those
cuffs off you. Then we’ll see.” He handed her the helmet, and watched as she
put it on. “No more questions?”

“Wasn’t that your clubhouse we just left?” she
asked.

“Nope.” He turned, letting her look at the patch on
his back. “Different club. Different patch on my cut.”

She saw that his said Evil Dead on it. She knew that
the others had all said Dead Souls. “Cut?”

“This.” He reached up, slid a thumb in the
arm hole
pulling it slightly away from his body, indicating
the leather vest he wore. “It’s called a cut.”

“Oh. The picture on it, what is that?”

“That’s the angel of death. Our symbol.”

“Oh. But, I don’t understand. Why did that guy do
what you said, then, if you’re not in the same club?”

“Because, they’re a brother club of ours.” He could
tell she didn’t understand. “We’re the big
dog
. They
do what we say.”

“Oh,” she nodded. “And where is your clubhouse?”

“San Jose area. Couple more hours
ride
.”
He threw his leg over his bike, and turned back to her. “Come on, babe.”

She climbed on behind him.

Two hours later, as they approached the outskirts of
civilization, Cole pulled to the side of the highway and made a call.

Angel could only hear his side of it.

“Yeah. Can you meet me at the clubhouse in about
fifteen minutes?”

A truck roared by, and the wind rocked them.

“I’ll explain when you get there.” He put the cell
back in his pocket, and turned to look at her over his shoulder. “You keep your
mouth shut about what happened to you. Understand?”

She nodded.

He pulled back out onto the road.

A few minutes later, he turned down some side
streets in a not-so-nice section of town, and pulled into what looked like an
old industrial park. They drove to the end of a dead end street, and pulled
into a lot surrounded by a tall, chain-link fence. Cole pulled around behind
some type of old, two-story, red brick warehouse. Angel noticed about a dozen
bikes parked in the back lot. There was a sign over the door with the same
design as she had noticed on the back of Cole’s cut. There was also a squad car
parked, and she saw a cop standing talking to a couple of the club members.

Cole rolled the bike to a stop on the opposite side
of the lot, near the back fence. Beyond the fence there were some overgrown bushes,
and up on a bit of a rise Angel could make out the silver reflection of a
couple of sets of railroad tracks.

The cop glanced their way, and Cole motioned him
over, then he turned back to her. “Let me do the talking.”

The cop walked up. Angel took him in. He was tall
and lanky, middle-aged, probably in his forties. His hair was cut in a flat
top.
His face had thin, pointed features
,
his eyes were beady
. Angel thought he looked like a weasel.

He glanced at Cole’s passenger. “Cole. What’s up?”

Cole cut the bike off, but made no move to get off.
He looked at the officer, and raised his shirt, revealing Angel’s cuffed wrists
wrapped around his stomach.

“What the hell? Why did you put cuffs on her?”

Cole’s eyebrows shot up. “I didn’t. Can you get them
off?”

His eyes ran over her. “She runnin’ from the law?”

“Nope.”

The cop stared at him dumbfounded, and then reached
into his pocket, and pulled out some keys. He fumbled with the cuffs, and
finally got one wrist released.

Angel’s hands came apart from around Cole’s waist.

Cole reached back, and helped her off the bike, then
stepped off, himself.

The cop worked on the other cuff, and soon had them
off her. He looked at her bruised and cut wrists. “Jesus Christ, Cole. How long
has she been in these things?”

“Couple days.”

The officer looked at him, stunned. “Are you
insane?”

Cole turned to Angel, and said, “I’ll be right back,
darlin’.” Then he led the cop a few yards away, out of her earshot, and began
explaining. “I didn’t put the cuffs on her. I was visiting another club. Saw
her up there. Got her away from the guy that had her.”

“This is kidnapping, Cole. She was obviously held
against her will. I
gotta
take her in. Get her home.”

“No.”

“No?” He raised his eyebrows in disbelief.

“I’ll get her home. And I’ll handle the retaliation
for what this guy did.”

“So, I’m supposed to just walk away? Leave her
here?”

Cole nodded. “Yeah.”

“Look, I turn my head on a lot of shit, but this-”

“Will be taken care of,” Cole finished the sentence
for him.

“Not without me talking to her first.”

Cole stared at him. “You’re only gonna make the
situation worse.”