“They left.”
“Without you?” I balk.
“I know, Saw, I know, I’m an idiot.”
“Get yourself into a well lit area. What’s the address?”
She reels it off and I memorize it. “I-I’m scared. This isn’t my scene. The girls said they knew some guy, but they’d never met him.”
“Can you get out of the alleyway and out toward the road?”
“Yeah, I think so.”
I run a hand through my hair as I grab my keys. The bar is across town but at this time of night, nobody will be around so I can cut a few corners on my motorcycle. Now is the time I’d light up a cigarette, but I gave up a year ago.“I’m glad you called me,” I say. “Just sit tight.”
“Okay, thanks. I’ll see you soon.”
I hang up, jog down the stairs, and into the garage which houses my most prized possession.
My turquoise and black Harley Davidson Road Glide, my pride and joy.
I tie my bandana around my head—it’s not for looks but more of a comfort thing—secure my goggles, and make sure I have Nova’s helmet in the saddlebag. She rides with me now andagain, not that the brothers know that. They know we’ve grown close, but I swore I wouldn’t get involved with her inthat wayand I meant it. I like my face as it is, and I like my balls hanging freely.
They’re all protective of her, and I can see why. She’s a firecracker if I’ve ever seen one, but good at heart. A real sweetheart.
This past year and a half since she moved to New Orleans, she’s slowly gained her confidence back after a really shitty breakup. The guy had her hooked on drugs, used her for money, and treated her like complete garbage. I’ve tried to track him down when the boys asked me to, but he’s a slippery little motherfucker. I also know he has stalker tendencies, and he’s hit her before. Nova may act like a tough little nut, but I know how sensitive she is about that jerk.
How she ever got roped in with him, I’ll never know.
The door rolls up and I ride out of the drive and out the security gate. My neighborhood is close to the clubhouse in the industrial part of the city. I like it because it’s quiet at night, and nobody bothers me. My apartment was an abandoned shop that Cash, the club Prez, bought for the land sometime ago, but I offered to clean it up and keep watch on the clubhouse when I first joined.
Since then, I’ve put all my time and every penny into that place. It’s not fancy, but it’s clean, and it’s home. It feels likemine.I’ve never had anything that’s mine before.
As predicted, the streets are completely vacant, with only the odd car passing here and there. At three in the morning, I wouldn’t expect anything less, and I curse Nova’s name when I run a red light. She had better be okay by the time I get there. I know Nova wants to fit in and pretend like she’s normal, but she’s not. She’s special, and I don’t mean in a detrimental way.
For some reason, she’s always hard on herself and never gives herself any praise for turning her life around. I’m constantly reminding her she needs to reiterate all the good things about what’s going right, like a silent or even verbal mantra. That’s what got me out of trouble many times. My mind reels back and I’m lost for a second…
Smoke.
There’s so much smoke.
Escape. It’s my one chance to escape…
I need to get out.
I snap out of my daydream. No need to skip down memory lane and reminisce about those terrors, I’m wide awake. I’ll save that for bedtime when I can’t control what I dream about.
I don’t know the bar, but anything with ‘Shady’ in the title tends to be just that. The Shady Skull is just a fucking recipe for disaster.What was she thinking?
It isn’t like Nova to panic, or act like she’s scared, or cry, even. I’ve never seen her cry, but when it comes to that jackass, I have seen her panicked. He scares her, and I don’t like that there’s someone out there who scares my girl.
When I pull up outside the bar, there are cars and motorcycles parked out front, and the music is still blaring. I reach into my saddlebag for my gun, securing it in the back of my jeans, and load a couple of knives into the holsters inside my boots. Knives are my weapon of choice, and I’m a pretty accurate throw. Let’s hope nobody wants to be stabbed tonight, but not only is my favorite person unsafe and terrified, I’m tired. I need eight hours of beauty sleep or my eyes are puffy. Fuck that shit. The boys like to poke fun because they call me a ‘pretty boy’ but they’re just jealous because I’m aging like fine wine. Not my words, they’re Nova’s, and I’ll take any compliment that comes out of her mouth.
I kill the engine, kick the stand down, removing my goggles as I hang them on the handlebars.
I don’t see Nova.
I pull out my cell as I march toward the bar and call her. It rings out.