Burnt Rubber: Adults Only Motorcycle Club Romance: Roadrunners MC (10 page)

“Anyway,” he went on when he put the bottle down. “The last thing we need right now is to bring attention to ourselves or get in a situation where the cops are called. We need to keep our heads down and stay smart if we’re going to get through this.”

Marion nodded her head. She remembered being scared of him in the apartment earlier in the day, and her first impression was that he was a violent thug. It also brought to mind that there was a tinge of something else in the fear she experienced, but she didn’t want to think about that. There was obviously more to the man sitting opposite her than met the eye. The sound of music suddenly filled the place and she looked across to see Carrie and Crash laughing next to the jukebox.

“She likes him,” Marion said.

“You don’t say,” Six said and there was a glint of humor in his eyes.

“You’re not such a violent hoodlum after all, are you?” she said.

“Is that what you thought?” he asked.

Marion shrugged her shoulders and looked at him as she lifted the bottle she was holding to her lips. She spoke when she put it down.

“My only close up experience with criminals is what I saw last night. It isn’t something I ever want to see again.

“Then why come to the Roadrunners?” Six asked.

“My boss reckoned it was my best chance of staying alive. It was him that arranged for me to meet Carrie.”

“He’s probably right,” Six replied. “Your only other option was the cops, and they won’t stop Jake Fiori getting to you. They’re probably more likely to help than hinder him. The Mob has plenty of people inside the police force.”

Marion just nodded her head. A question occurred to her, so she went ahead and asked it.

“Why did you get involved with the Roadrunners?”

“Are you going to write a story on me?” he asked with a grin.

“I’m a photographer,” Marion replied, “not a journalist. I just take pictures.”

“Look where…”

“…that got me,” she interrupted to finish the comment. “You’re not the first to say it today. So… what’s the answer to the question?”

“It’s a job,” he said and shrugged.

“The career advisor at school recommended it then?” Marion joked.

“If they knew my skills, they probably would have,” he replied and laughed.

“Like what?”

“My father was in the army special forces, so I didn’t see that much of him when I was young,” Six told her. “But when he was around, he passed on his knowledge of self-defense. He got me into martial arts classes even before I started school, and I wanted to be like him. It made me train hard and I was one of the best in the class.”

“You learned to hit people at a young age then,” Marion said when he paused.

“No, I learned to defend myself,” he replied. “My dad took me into the wilderness a lot as well when I was a kid, and taught me to be self reliant. It pushes you to be able to deal with whatever hand you’re dealt, with the aim of coming out on top and prospering.”

“He sounds like a good man.”

“He was,” Six replied.

“And what does he think about the life you lead now?” Marion asked.

Six shrugged his shoulders.

“I’ve no idea,” he replied. “My parents divorced when I was around ten and it was always the case that I would be put with my mother. Not that I really wanted to be with her, but an army life didn’t really allow for a kid full time and my dad was never going to get custody of me. My mom decided to move as far away from him as she could, and that kind of killed the father/son relationship. He visited a couple of times after the divorce, but my mom moved around a lot and I never saw him again after I was around eleven.”

“That’s terrible,” Marion sympathized.

“That’s life,” he replied in a matter of fact voice. “I blamed my mom for it, but I guess she was just trying to live her life. The older I got, the more rebellious I became, and that got me in with the wrong crowd. I kept up the martial arts training, so was able to handle myself better than most, and that eventually brought me to the attention of the Roadrunners. At sixteen years old, I was able to take on and beat guys two and three times my age, but was smart enough to prefer talking my way out of situations that threaten to become violent.”

“Yeah, I just saw that,” Marion commented.

“I guess the Roadrunners saw me as an asset and once you join, well…”

“A Roadrunner for life,” Marion said.

“Well, until you die,” he said morbidly, but there was still a smile on his face.

“No one ever walks away?”

“One or two have, but you get drawn in to the lifestyle… and the money,” Six replied. “It’s not that easy to turn your back on it. If you do, you need to turn in your bike and 10k cash – that’s if they decide to let you go.”

Marion picked up her beer to finish it then put the bottle down as she looked around. Crash and Carrie seemed to be enjoying each other’s company as they remained at the jukebox choosing songs.

“One more?” Six asked.

Marion nodded her head. It wasn’t like there was anything else to do, and she glanced around again when he walked over to buy more beer. The place was still fairly empty, which gave her some comfort that they were safe for the moment, but she was sure that wouldn’t last. She watched as Six walked over to give Crash and Carrie a bottle each, and it got her thinking about the nicknames of the Roadrunner men. It was her first question when he came across and sat opposite her again.

“Why are you called Six?”

Her words elicited a laugh from him, but he said nothing at first as he sipped on his beer.

“It’s not always possible to talk your way out of things,” he eventually let out.

“And…?” Marion encouraged him.

“I was on a job once where it turned out to be a set up, and I was ambushed,” he replied.

“You were beaten up?’ Marion asked.

Six shook his head.

“The men that attacked me didn’t have the training I did,” he replied. “Bad luck for them, and it got me a nickname.”

Marion cottoned on to what he was getting at and let out a laugh.

“You beat up six men on your own?”

“I was the only one that didn’t end up in the hospital,” he said with a grin. “But it was a few days before my bruises disappeared.”

Marion shook her head and laughed again.

“You live some life,” she commented.

“What’s your background?” he asked.

“I was an only child,” she said. “My parents tried for years to have kids and didn’t think it was going to happen until I came along when they were in their mid-forties. They doted on me and made sure I lived the best life possible.”

“Lucky you,” he said. “Where do they live?”

“Nowhere,” Marion said with a tinge of sadness. “They both died when I was at college in my late teens.”

“Not that I mean to sound harsh, but that’s not the worst thing,” Six said after taking a drink.

Marion frowned as she stared across the table at him.

“Why do you say that?”

“The Mob will look for any way to get to you,” he replied with a tight smile. “Family is usually something they will try, so it’s not a bad thing that you’re an only child and your parents have passed away. I suspect the guilt would be hellish if someone close suffered because of you.”

“What do you think they’ll do now?”

“I think the man taking a shot at the apartment this morning was more than likely one of Fiori’s men,” Six said. “They probably knew about the planned police raid and sent someone to watch what happened. If they set me up to take a fall, it would make no sense for them to shoot at me though, or any of the other Roadrunners. I can only assume that he recognized you when you walked out the door and just took a pot shot. You’re the person they want dead.”

“How the hell would he recognize me?” Marion let out. “This only happened last night.”

“You must have given them something as a starting point for finding you.”

She screwed up her face and glanced up from the table to see the questioning look in Six’s eyes.

“Jake asked who I was working for… she said.

“And you told him?” he asked.

Marion nodded her head.

“I told him I was employed by the
Bay Republic
.”

“Well, that makes it easy for them,” he went on. “If it was me, I’d call up the paper with some bullshit story to try and get your name. A convincing enough approach will likely lead to a receptionist or telephone operator passing it on. How many young female photographers does the paper have?”

“One,” Marion answered, feeling a burst of anger at being told she was stupid yet again. “And my boss told me this morning that someone did call up, but with a man dying in front of me I wasn’t thinking too clearly!”

Six shrugged his shoulders as he drank his beer then put the bottle down.

“Your picture was likely doing the rounds before you got up this morning,” he said. “Every Mob guy in the city probably knew what you looked like, and that’s why the guy at the apartment recognized you.”

“So they know we’re together then.”

“Yeah,” Six let out. “And that makes them more dangerous. Crossing the border doesn’t stop the Feds coming after us and the Mob will know that. They’ll be desperate to get to us first to silence you.”

“Why don’t we go to the Feds then?” Marion asked. “The evidence I have gets you off the hook. The photos are date and time stamped, and I’m pretty sure I got Jake Fiori in the act of killing that man on them.”

“I don’t trust any cops,” Six replied. “For all I know, Jacob Fiori has informants inside the Feds. Going to them could end up being the wrong move for us both.”

“What are we supposed to do then?” Marion asked. “Just keep running?”

“For the moment we stick to the plan and get ourselves somewhere safe,” Six told her. “Once we do that, you need to get those photos developed to see exactly what you caught on film. From there we can decide what we’re going to do.”

The conversation ended as a key clattered on the table in front of Six and it made Marion jump.

“We’re heading up,” Crash said. “We’ll see you in the morning.”

“Where’s my key?” Marion asked.

“Umm… you’re looking at it,” Crash said. “This place has three bedrooms and one is taken already. We got the two adjoining rooms just at the top of the stairs. We’re taking Number 1 and you’ve got 2.”

“You mean I have to share?” Marion let out in a disbelieving voice.

“Well, unless you want to sleep in the truck,” Crash said. “The woman behind the bar said she can make us some breakfast at seven, so we’ll catch up with you then.”

“But…” Marion let out although Crash and Carrie were already turning away. She looked at Six to see the slight smirk on his face. “This isn’t funny,” she complained.

He shrugged his shoulders when he spoke.

“You heard the man. There are only two rooms available.”