Club Property: Adults Only Motorcycle Club Romance: Roadrunners MC (11 page)

“This one is Enzo Santini,” Patch said. “These are fucking Mob guys.”

“Yeah,” Six agreed. “But what the hell are they doing trying to ambush us? And how did they find out we were doing a weapons run?”

“More to the point,” Patch said, “what the fuck do we do now? There could be more of them up ahead and the Mob is hardly going to take the loss of two of their men lying down.”

“Shit,” Six cursed in a loud voice then wiped his prints from the wallet he was holding and threw it down on the ground. “We need to get out of here now.”

He turned to walk to the truck and Patch followed. They found Crash crouched down at the rear of the vehicle looking at the damage the collision caused.

“How bad is it?” Six asked.

“Well, those crazy fuckers caught us hard enough to wreck the bodywork,” Crash replied and pulled at the twisted metal. “And this wheel is out of alignment, but I think we can keep going if we get the engine started. Pop the hood.”

“OK,” Patch replied and moved to get in the driver’s seat.

“Turn it over,” Crash shouted as he lifted the hood to look inside.

He listened to the sound of the engine cranking and waited until Patch stopped to reach in and make a couple of adjustments.

“Try again,” he shouted.

The engine turned over and sounded as if it wasn’t going to catch before finally spluttering to life. Crash slammed the hood down and he and Six quickly got in the passenger side. Patch put the truck in gear and eased his foot down on the accelerator slowly to make sure he didn’t stall. It got them moving and he gradually sped up to get them away from the chaotic scene of the fight.

“How the hell did they know we would turn off at that exit?” Crash asked in a loud voice.

“Lucky guess,” Six replied and shrugged his shoulders. “We think it was the Mob, and for all we know there are more men waiting ahead. The crew we just took out must have realized they were spotted when we stopped again at a gas station so quickly. Maybe they just chanced their luck that we would try something different and get off the highway.”

“Well, they guessed right, but it didn’t do them much good,” Patch said.

“Only because we outgunned them,” Six said. “If all we were carrying was handguns, it might have ended up a different story back there.”

“So what do we do now?” Crash asked. “Phone the boss again?”

“The deal’s off,” Six said with conviction. “I’ll speak to the boss when we get somewhere safe, but the only choice we have now is to lay low until this mess blows over. It’s likely the cops will be all over that scene before long, and the Mob isn’t going to be happy about what happened to their men. We need to keep our heads down.”

“Where do we go?” Patch asked.

“It will be better for us if we get out of California,” Six replied. “Head across the state border into Oregon and we can take shelter in one of the safe houses there.”

The steering wheel pulled at Patch’s hands, with the out-of-alignment rear wheels making the truck difficult to handle. The battered state of the vehicle meant they would have to keep out of sight as much as possible, and there was no choice but to stay on the back roads and hope that the police were slow in responding to the situation.

There was silence in the truck as the three men contemplated their situation. What seemed like a straightforward transport job at six o’clock that morning was turning into a total fuck up only a few hours later and they knew they were in deep shit.

All they could do now was run and hide.

The sound of the ringing brought Carrie awake, but it needed a few seconds for the fog of drowsiness to clear from her brain. It was only then that she realized it was a phone she was hearing and a frown creased her brow. She looked towards where her bag was lying on the floor of the bedroom and the flash of panic lit up in her mind. Throwing the covers off, she moved across the room and dropped to her knees.

It was only when she was opening the bag that she remembered her phone was switched off. The sound of the ringing continued and she finally cottoned on to the fact it must be the landline in the apartment. Getting to her feet, she walked through to the lounge and wondered what to do. Crash would return the following day and she could think of no reason why he would call.

That left her with a couple of choices. Either someone was trying to get in touch with him or, more worryingly, her whereabouts were known and someone was trying to contact her. If the latter was true, then it was more than likely her father was making the call, and that made her reluctant to answer it. In the end the decision of whether she should or not was taken out of her hands when the phone went silent. She let out a quiet sigh of relief, but remained in the lounge in the expectation that the ringing would start again.

When it didn’t after a minute or two she finally walked out of the room, but headed for the kitchen instead of the bedroom. She knew the rush of adrenaline she just experienced would make it difficult for her to settle down again, so she decided to make herself a cup of hot milk. Getting the carton from the fridge, she poured some in a pot then put it on the stove. She went to sit at the table to wait and pondered who the call might have been from. It meant she didn’t pay attention and it was only when she heard the sound of the hot milk bubbling up that she sprang to her feet. She was too late to stop it spilling over.

“Shit,” she cursed as she grabbed the pot to lift it from the heat.

The pool of milk left on the stove top make her grimace and she couldn’t just leave it. She searched in the closet below the sink for a cloth and cleaned the mess before pouring what was left in the pot into a cup. Dumping the pan in the sink, she went to sit at the table again and waited for the milk to cool a bit before starting to drink it. The warmth spread through her veins to help her relax, but her mind was now fully alert and she couldn’t stop herself thinking about what she should do.

Building a life with Crash was what she wanted, but she knew that wouldn’t come without its complications. Convincing the man himself that it was what he should do was the first hurdle, but it was one she was sure she could get over once he understood how good they could be together. After that there was her family and the college course to worry about. She suspected her mother and sister would be happy if she was happy. Her father was a different matter altogether, and she knew for a fact that he would try to dissuade her from giving up college for a man that was thirteen years her senior.

The fact that he’d been Crash’s commanding office for so long gave him some sway over the man she wanted to be with, and there was also the not insignificant matter of his fearsome reputation. It wasn’t something that particularly bothered Carrie, although she couldn’t say the same for Crash. Her new lover was no longer in the army and under the command of her father, but she knew that his mindset was probably still of the order that Staff Sergeant Samuel Nelson was someone to be obeyed.

“Why does life have to be so fucking complicated?” she let out under her breath and tried to put the situation out of her mind.

She picked up her cup then got to her feet and walked over to the window. The scene outside was dark and deserted and it made her wonder what time it actually was. A glance at the clock on the wall showed that it was just after one in the morning, and it made her wonder more about who actually called the apartment.

“It’s too late for you to find out now,” she told herself.

She continued staring out of the window as she finished drinking her milk and put the cup in the sink beside the pot when she was finished. Returning to the bedroom, she lay down on top of the covers and closed her eyes. Sleep didn’t come easily and the remainder of the night was spent in restless contemplation of her life.  She dozed off a couple of times, but for no more than thirty minutes before waking up again, and she got up when she saw the hands of the clock on the bedside cabinet showing six o’clock.

She showered and dressed quickly then went to the kitchen. There wasn’t really much in the fridge to make any breakfast, so she decided to head out of the apartment and have a look around the neighborhood. Her plan was to just buy something in a store and eat at home, but when she saw a café already open, she decided to go in. The place was empty and the woman behind the counter smiled as she spoke.

“Couldn’t sleep?” she asked in a pleasant voice.

Carrie laughed and nodded her head.

“There was too much on my mind,” she admitted.

“A pretty young thing like you shouldn’t have any worries,” the woman went on. “Are you new to the area?”

“Yeah,” Carrie replied. “I came to see someone a couple of days ago. It’s my first visit to the city.”

“Well, you’re very welcome,” the woman went on. “What can I get you?”

Carrie checked the menu on the wall.

“I’ll have a coffee and a bacon sandwich,” she replied and paid for it.

“Take a seat and I’ll bring it across when it’s ready.”

Carrie nodded her head and walked across to a window seat. She sat looking at the scene outside as she waited, but brought her gaze inside the café when her order was about to be served.

“There you go,” the woman said and put a plate and cup on the table.

“Thanks,” Carrie replied and asked the question she was thinking about. “How come you open at six in the morning?”

The woman pointed towards the chair opposite and Carrie nodded her head.

“Same as you, to be honest,” the woman said as she sat down. “I usually have too much on my mind and can’t sleep. Opening at six also means I have everything ready for the early risers. It allows me to catch some customers before the other cafes in the area open.”

“Have you been here long?” Carrie asked.

“Around four years now,” the woman answered. “It’s a good place to do business and a great area to live in. You’ll enjoy it.”

“Yeah, hopefully I’ll be around for a while.”

“He must like you then,” the woman said with a smile. “He’d be crazy not to.”

Carrie laughed as she picked up her cup to take a drink.

“Do you want to come and tell him that?” she joked after putting the cup down. “I’m not sure he’s so convinced.”

“What’s his name?” the woman asked.

“Carl McCallister,” Carrie replied. “But he goes by the nickname Crash. Do you know him?”

“The name doesn’t ring a bell,” the woman replied. “But a lot of people come in that I say hello to and I have no idea what their name is, to be honest. Why isn’t he convinced about being with you?”

“Age difference for a start,” Carrie replied. “I’m twenty and he’s thirty-three.”

“That’s nothing,” the woman said.

“My crush on him started when I was twelve,” Carrie admitted. “I guess he still views me as the cheeky, flirting teenager I used to be around him. He’s ex-army too and my dad was his commanding officer, which doesn’t exactly help matters, to be honest.”

“Your dad is a formidable man then?” the woman asked.

“Oh yeah,” Carrie said. “Crash probably doesn’t want to get on the wrong side of him, and I guess he thinks that might happen if he’s with me.”

“Your father doesn’t approve of the relationship then?” the woman asked.

“He doesn’t know about it,” Carrie said. “At least… I don’t think he does. I skipped college on a whim to come chase my teenage crush, which is why I’m here.”

“Good for you,” the woman said. “You go after what you want.”

The sound of the door opening caught their attention and they looked to see a man walking in and heading towards the serving counter.

“Duty calls,” the woman said. “I hope to see you around, and if you need anyone to knock some sense into your man, just come calling. I’d be glad to help you.”

“Thanks,” Carrie said and smiled. “I will.”

The woman stood to get on with her work and Carrie took her time with the breakfast she was eating. She wasn’t sure when Crash would return, but suspected it wouldn’t be until later in the day, so she saw no point in rushing home. When she finished eating, she walked out of the café and decided to keep exploring the neighborhood for a while longer. It was almost eight when she got to the store close to the apartment. She went in to buy a few provisions for the day then walked the short distance to get home.

Once she was inside, she packed away what she just bought and settled in to wait for the return of Crash. The next few hours passed slowly and boredom set in when there was no sign of him. She switched on the television to try and make the minutes pass quicker, but she couldn’t really concentrate on any of the channels she flicked to. The smile spread across her face when she heard the sound of the knock on the door, and she was on her feet in seconds to run to it.

“Why didn’t you use your keys?” she said as she opened it, but her face went pale when she saw who was standing there.

“Where the hell is he?” her father barked when he brushed past her to walk inside the apartment.

The shock of the completely unexpected intrusion wore off after a few seconds and Carrie slammed the door shut and went after her father.

“He’s not here,” she said when she walked in the lounge to see him looking around.

“What the hell are you playing at, Carrie?” he said as he rounded on her. “You use your family as an excuse to walk out of college and travel to San Francisco without telling anyone. Have you lost your mind?”

The slight awkwardness of having been caught out played on Carrie’s mind, and the flush of heat spread across her cheeks. She wasn’t about to be cowed by her father, though, and in seconds the irritation of his appearance grew stronger than the embarrassment.

“I’m not a kid,” she replied in an irked tone. “I…”

“Then don’t act like one,” her father cut in to stop her going on. “Do you think it’s responsible behavior to lie to your college counselor then just walk out of the place and not tell anyone where you’re going? Anything could have happened to you.”

“Don’t be ridiculous,” she replied. “I came to see someone I know… someone you know, and Crash wouldn’t let anything happen to me.”

“Who the hell is Crash?” her father demanded.

“Oh yeah,” she went on as she realized her father wouldn’t know the nickname. “It’s Carl’s nickname now.”

“His Roadrunner nickname?” Samuel asked.

It was Carrie’s turn to be confused.

“Huh?” she let out as she frowned. “What’s a Roadrunner?”

Her father eyed her suspiciously, but she genuinely seemed surprised by his words and it took away some of his annoyance.

“Look…” he said in a quieter voice. “Where is Carl?”

“He’s at work,” Carrie replied.

“Doing what?” Samuel asked.

“He’s a mechanic.”

“Is that all he told you?” Samuel went on.

“Why?” Carrie said. “What exactly should he have told me?”

Samuel let out a sigh.

“When will he get home?”

“He left yesterday morning for an out of town job and said he would return today,” Carrie told him.