Chapter 12

Trix

It's got to be at least two in the morning, but my tiny cell has no windows, and the steel bar door looks out onto the hallway, so I can only make a guess as to how much time has passed. I've been on lockdown for five days while my grandfather tries to iron out a new truce with the Grave Diggers MC, involving their oldest son. He was recently married, but I hear it didn't even last a month. Everyone's pretty hush-hush about it, so I don't know the details. I can guess though. Decker's creepy family probably scared the shit out of her, and she made a run for it.

I've had a few days to consider what I learned about my grandfather's involvement in my mom's death. Try as I might, I can't recall all the details. I really wanted to ask Jamus or even see if Tracker remembers anything, but they've both been busy, and I've barely had a moment alone with either of them. I don't know what's happening tonight, but I've not seen a living soul for hours.

Suddenly, the door at the far end of the basement creaks open and someone in black slips through. I rise from the bed in panic, but then relax. It's my younger brother, Hark, coming toward me.

"Hark," I whisper. "You know you're not supposed to be down here. If they find you, you'll be in serious trouble."

He places a duffle bag on the ground, pulls a key out of his pocket and begins unlocking the door. "Nice to see you too, sis."

When he goes to pull the door open, I grab it and hold it closed. "No. I want to get out, but not if you're going to catch the blame for it."

"Look, we've got three minutes before the security feed comes back on. Do you want to spend it arguing or escaping? Either way, I'm not leaving until you're free."

I step back and allow him to open the cell door. He shoves the duffle bag into my hands and guides me along the hallway to the door he entered through, leading from the basement to the outside.

"Look, you gotta get as far away from Las Salinas as possible. I scraped together a couple of hundred dollars. It's all I could get without arousing suspicion. You can get a bus ticket or rent a car, I don't know if using your own car would be a good idea."

I'm standing beside the back door wondering if this is the biggest mistake of my life, "Are you sure about this? I don't want you to catch flack for my escape."

"Ain't nobody gonna catch any blowback for this. Gramps called every available brother out to raid the Savage Legion clubhouse tonight. He's got his balls in a twist about something, and decided leaving you alone in lockup was an acceptable risk."

"What about you? Surely if you're the only person at the clubhouse, then he's going to suspect?" I ask.

"As far as anyone knows I'm camping out in the woods with Johnny. I have no idea what Gramps is gonna think, but that's not my problem, there's no way he can trace it to me." He points to the bag, "There's a change of clothing, a burner phone, and cash in the duffle."

I stand there undecided, the enormity of what I'm about to do weighing heavy on me.

He opens the door and says, "Go now, Trix, before the security cameras come back up."

I give him a quick hug and whisper, "Thanks, I won't forget this."

"You're welcome. Now, seriously run as fast as you can. It's the only way you're ever gonna be free."

I drape the duffle bag over my shoulder and do exactly like my little brother says. I run for my life because he's right about this being my only chance. I have no idea where I'm running to, but I'm very aware of what I'm running from and it's enough to light a fire under my feet.

I take about three seconds to get to the grass at the far end of our back parking lot and then take off like a bat out of hell. I stumble over a few twigs and weeds but keep picking myself up and running some more.

When I finally stumble out onto the highway, I panic at the sight of a single motorcycle with a rider sitting on the far side of the road. At first, I think it might be my grandfather or one of the Hellfire Hounds watching the clubhouse. But when the rider turns on his lights and heads over to me, to my relief I realize that it's Vapor.

"Come on, we don't have much time."

I jog over to him. He might be the enemy, but given what I've just done I've already got a target on my back. He takes my duffle bag and drops it over his shoulder, and I quickly climb on behind him and he speeds off. I hold on for dear life, if I fall off without a helmet, I probably wouldn't survive at the speed we're going. However, after a few miles Vapor stops and pulls a smaller helmet out of the compartment on his bike. I quickly put it on, and he takes off again. I realize at some point that he's taking me back to his tattoo shop.

***

The second the door shuts, I ask, "How did you know I was getting busted out at this very moment?"

He ushers me into the small living area. I walk over to the sofa and take a load off. He drops down in the chair across from me and begins taking his boots off. "I didn't, that was pure luck. After you vanished, I tried to hunt you down like I said I would. We're bugging King's cell phone, and I heard him say you were in the lock up. I wanted to spring you free then and there, but Siege told me to hold off until—"

"They're gonna raid the Savage Legion clubhouse tonight!" I exclaim, remembering what Hark told me.

"Don't worry, sweetheart, that's all taken care of, my club brothers were ready and waiting. That's why I was there, I was gonna get you out, but it looks like you had help on the inside."

"That was my younger brother. Wow, I know you said you were eyes on with my grandfather's club, but I never suspected you were bugging his phone."

"To be quite honest, I heard him explode on you when you screwed up the arranged marriage, he set up for you." He smothers back a smile. "I can't believe you sent flirty text messages to Decker's brother. That was ingenious. I heard though the grapevine that caused a huge rift at the Diggers MC. You know, two brothers fighting over the beautiful daughter of a potential ally. It's the story legends are made of."

"Yeah," I respond quietly. "I heard that brother of his is a nasty piece work."

"That what I heard as well. His name is Double."

I make a disbelieving face. "As in Double and Decker."

"Double is older, and Decker is younger, so that can't be a mere coincidence."

I tilt my head back and stare at the ceiling. "The whole family is unhinged. That's what I'm getting from this."

"Yeah, that's the impression I got as well." A short silence spun out between us before Vapor speaks. "I guess now you see me as the lesser of two evils."

I look up into his eyes. "I'm just trying to survive against the odds. Is that so awful?"

"Absolutely not. What's your plan?"

I shrug, feeling both mentally and physically exhausted. "I have no idea. I wasn't expecting to get sprung from lockup, it was all so spur of the moment. Hark gave me enough money to get a bus ticket, but I honestly don't know where to go. I should probably go and get my car, it's still parked outside my apartment."

He opens his mouth to say something, but I cut him off. "If the Hounds are attacking the Legion's clubhouse tonight, why aren't you there?"

"We heard King planning it and called in a couple of allied clubs for a clandestine meet up. My club brothers had it all in hand, I was listening over my earpiece when you suddenly appeared on the road. Let's just say it didn't go the way they planned and leave it at that."

"Did any of my family get hurt?"

He snorts a laugh. "Of course not. They never get close enough to the battle to risk their own neck. They watch from high ground and give directions."

"I never would have suspected that," I say.

"I guess since you're never going back, there's no harm in telling you that one Hound was shot in the head and five were taken hostage."

Any idea who's died?" I ask, suddenly worried that Jamus might have gotten shot.

"Does it matter?" He asks gruffly.

"Yeah, it most certainly does. I hate most of the Hounds but there a few I love like family."

"The one who died, was called Mal according to the patch on his cut."

"He was an asshole. Still, he didn't deserve to die."

"Then he shouldn't have come to the Savage Legion clubhouse looking to spill blood."

I sense real anger behind Vapor's words. "I agree with you on that point. What about the others?"

"My club brothers rounded up five Hounds—Bandit, Cyclone, Skid, Blade and an older brother by the name of Jamus."

My relief was short lived. "The last one is my friend. He's like family and pretty harmless."

"You like him a lot, don't you?"

"Yeah, he's a bad shot but can talk your ear off if you're not careful. Is there anything I can trade to get him released."

"I don't think that's a very good idea right now. If he gets released but the others don't it's going to look like he turned spy for us."

That made me tear up. Before I could plead my case further, Vapor came to sit beside me.

"Look, I know this whole situation must be really traumatizing for you, but I want you to know that our club officers are working on a solution that might secure your freedom and get those Hounds released together. It all depends on how reasonable King is willing to be."

"What kind of deal?" I ask. I can't imagine my grandfather accepting any kind of trade with the Savage Legion. He hates the Legion with a burning passion.

"I'm not sure. Our club officers are playing this one close to the vest. We're supposed to show up there tomorrow and talk to them. That is unless you want to skip town. I'm willing to take you any place you want to go."

"That's a nice offer," I say as I think it over. I could leave right this minute and forget about the lot of them. But Jamus' smiling face rises in my mind, and I just can't run out on him. If he lost his life because I chose to put myself first, I'd never be able to live with myself. "I guess, I'll stay and try to help him if I can."

"You look exhausted," he says as he looks me over.

"I've been locked in a cell for five days. It was cold, uncomfortable, and Jamus was my only company, so we chatted."

"He didn't try and spring you free?"

I glare at him, for a member of a motorcycle club he seems pretty damn na?ve, though I guess the Savage Legion really are different to outlaw clubs. I spell it out for him, "If he cut me loose, we'd both have targets on our backs."

"What did you talk about," Vapor asks curiously.

"Old times. I caught him looking at an old photograph album, he had some pictures of my mom." I pause, remembering those faded old photos, my mom smiling and happy, she was with my dad in some of them, but in one she was with Jamus and she looked so carefree. Jamus was a good man, looking out for his best friend's wife. Sometimes, I wondered why he had never gotten married, he was different in many ways from the other Hounds. I continue, "He was mainly trying to get me to straighten up, fly right and accept one of the men my grandfather has lined up for me. Saying that you had to make the best of what life throws at you."

Vapor gave me a small smile. "He's a loyal brother. Can't blame him for that."

"I agree. He's the kind of brother that tries to stay above all the pettiness and competition and just do his job and earn a living."

When Vapor is suspiciously silent, I suspect he thinks Jamus runs a prostitution ring or something. "He runs the tire shop attached to our clubhouse."

"Oh, that's okay then."

I open my mouth to let him know that I don't approve of all the illegal stuff the Hounds do, but he speaks first. "Want to get a shower and a good night's sleep?"

"That depends. Does the offer come with the company of a hot biker?"

He raises an eyebrow. "Are you jerking my chain, sweetheart? I only ask because sex with a hot biker may have been something you enjoyed before you knew who I was. Now you know, and with everything else that just happened I would think that sex would be the last thing on your mind—and I'd be the last person you'd want."

"If you don't want me, just say so."

He cuts me off before I even got the last word fully out of my mouth. "Fuck, yeah, I want you. But not if it's because you think you need to repay me for taking you somewhere safe just now. That's not how I operate."

"Life's short and in my case unpredictable. We might not see each other again. If my grandfather catches up with me, I'm going to be forced to spend the rest of my life married to a man who wasn't my first choice. I might grow to love him, and I might not. All I know is that if tonight is my last chance of normality before the shit hits the fan, then I'd like to spend it with you."