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She’d been lost in her own world, probably worrying about her mother, but she perks up. “You’re right. We had to talk to an attorney before they started treatment because she was going to be out of it for weeks. I filled out a bunch of different forms at the hospital, too, but none of those listed my father anywhere. Her room was paid for through the end of the month, so there’s no way they should have been able to move her without checking with me.”
“If anything seems even a little bit off, we’re gone,” Lightning says, unusually serious for him. “I’d feel a hell of a lot better if we were doing all of this from the compound with the club behind us, and Outlaw needs time to recover. What do you think Harper?”
“I’ll do whatever it takes to get my mother back, but I’m not playing bait again.” Harper adds.
Shadow makes the call.
18
HARPER
I've never been in a desert before, not for real. I saw it from the plane when I flew in, full of hope for Mom and excited to get to know my newly-found father, but needless to say, there hasn’t been a lot of time to explore. It's a whole different world from home. Harsh, wild and a little scary, but also beautiful. A lot like the guys, though I'm not sure they’d appreciate the comparison.
I lean my head against Lightning’s back and enjoy the rumble as I watch the sun come up on the horizon. His motorcycle is a deep, dark blue, almost black until the light hits it and you see the full depth of the color. Out here on the quiet road, with the dry desert air whipping past, I can really understand why they love this. It’s exhilarating and relaxing at the same time. Especially with my arms wrapped around his broad chest and my thighs resting against his.
So much is going wrong, I’m going to cling hard to everything that feels good and right.
Meeting an untrustworthy cop out in the desert feels like something out of a spy movie. We pass by prickly cacti, scraggly desert bushes and the occasional tumbleweed rolling by. It’s an unfamiliar combination of flat barren ground, rocky outcrops and mountains rising in the distance, nothing like home. We ride into the foothills, and they turn off onto an unmarked road. The air was cool when we started riding, but it’s already heating up. Hopefully there will be shade where we’re going.
They have to slow down and drive carefully over the bumpy, washboard road. Shadow, riding in front, motions with his arm, and they pull off the dirt path and cut through a trio of giant rocks. On the other side is enough room to park the bikes without being seen. The guys pull up in a patch of shade and kill the engines.
“Guess we're here.” Thunder checks his phone. “This is where Eagle-eye’s man suggested meeting. I’ll send Carnell the coordinates.”
“It’s got good visibility, but I still don’t trust him,” Outlaw notes while scanning the area. If I didn’t know he was hurt, I wouldn’t notice that he’s being very careful how he’s standing, but I can only imagine how much pain he’s in.
Shadow gets off his bike and stretches. “That’s why we’re out here and not in the fucking city. If we see anything suspicious, we head that way.” He points in a different direction than we came. “It meets up with access road and we can get the fuck out.”
“If you ask me, it just makes both sides sitting ducks.”
I shiver at Outlaw's words, looking around like every rock might be a gunner's nest. I slide off the back of the motorcycle, feeling very exposed.
“Well, then we're fucked anyway,” Lightning says as he swings his long leg off his bike. “No point worrying about it. So, what do we do while we wait? We shoulda brought some six-packs or something.”
I glance at his abs. Pretty sure we brought at least four. “Actually. Could you teach me how to shoot?” I ask a bit out into the air, not sure how any of them would feel about it.
Shadow arches an eyebrow at me, looking a little skeptical. “Shoot a gun? Is that something you want?”
Thunder and Lightning are so identical that if they weren’t wearing different clothes, I wouldn’t be able to tell them apart sometimes, but then they’ll do or say something and it’s so incredibly obvious.
Thunder frowns, not looking like he approves of the idea. “Some basic self-defense would be safer.”
Lighting flashes an amused grin. “Don’t see why not.”
Outlaw cocks his head, expression unreadable.
I chew my lip nervously. “I mean, in an ideal world, I’d rather never touch one, but this isn’t an ideal world, is it? I hate feeling helpless when things go wrong. You’re right, self-defense would be a good idea, but you could show me the basics of how to shoot right now, and it would take a lot longer to teach me Judo or whatever. I know you'll protect me when you can, but I can't count on you always being there.” And something I don’t want to mention—if someone else gets shot or hurt, I don’t want to have to stand there and wait to get saved.
