Burnt Rubber: Adults Only Motorcycle Club Romance: Roadrunners MC (6 page)

“Just shut up and follow me now,” Carrie said.

Marion nodded her head and did as she was told as they moved across to the door to walk outside. They turned off the main street almost straight away, and she looked around at the dingy surroundings as they walked a route through narrower alleys. She was quickly lost as they made turn after turn, with her companion glancing behind whenever they came to a corner.

“I don’t think anyone’s following,” Carrie eventually said.

They remained on deserted backstreets as they finally made their way to their destination. Carrie came to a stop in front of an apartment building and glanced around again before ushering Marion inside the entrance. The dark hallway was deserted and they quickly made their way to the stairs and started to climb them. They stopped on the third floor then walked along to a door.

“Are you ready for this?” Carrie asked.

Marion reached up to take off the baseball cap with trembling hands.

“No,” she replied.

It just got a smirk from Carrie as the younger girl rapped on the door three times in quick succession. There was silence afterwards, which was eventually broken by the sound of a shout from within.

“Who’s there?”

“It’s Carrie.”

The next noise was security chains being loosened, and Marion prepared herself as the door opened.

“Who the fuck is she?” the girl inside asked straight away.

“It’s OK, Tori,” Carrie replied. “I can vouch for her.”

Marion saw the suspicious gaze that settled on her and her nerves shot up even more. Tori moved aside to let them inside and closed the door, locking it with multiple locks. As they moved along a hallway, the sound of raised voices came to them.

“What’s going on?” Carrie asked.

“The shit hit the fan five minutes ago, but I’m not sure what happened,” Tori replied.

“Is Crash in there?” Carrie went on.

Tori nodded her head when she spoke.

“With Six and Patch,” she said.

The voices got louder as they got to a door and Carrie opened it to walk inside. The three men turned to look at her, but returned to their conversation when they saw who it was. Tori and Marion followed inside just after.

“What’s going on?” Carrie asked to break in to the discussion.

“We have serous problems,” Crash said.

“What happened?”

“What fucking happened is that I’ve been set up to take a fall,” Six told her.

“Take a fall for what?” Carrie went on.

“One of the cops we pay off just got in touch with me,” Crash replied. “Supposedly an armed unit is about to head in this direction, with the intention of picking up Six.”

“For what?” Carrie asked again.

“There was a murder last night,” Six told her. “The informant told Crash that a drug dealer got his throat opened up in some alley just off Hooper Boulevard. The knife they found beside the body was covered with my prints.”

“You didn’t do it,” Marion let out instinctively, without even thinking.

Her sudden alarm was intense when all eyes came to her, and she could see the immediate suspicion on the faces of the men when they realized she was a stranger. Her first impression of them was as violent thugs, and that wasn’t changed when Six spoke.

“Who the fuck is she?” he demanded in a harsh tone. “And more to the point, what is she doing here?

“For fucks sake, Carrie,” Crash joined in. “What the hell have we told you about being careful? You can’t just bring anyone here.”

Marion moved in behind Carrie when Six stepped forward, with the apparent aggressive intent in his movement frightening her. A glance up found her staring in hazel eyes that burned and there was a flutter in her pulse that wasn’t all about being scared.

“It’s OK,” Carrie said and put her hands up to try and placate the advancing men. “She’s in trouble and needs help.”

“Then she’s shit out of luck,” Six snapped. “We have troubles of our own to sort out, and what did she mean about me not doing it?”

Carrie stepped to the side so that the stranger in the room was in full view of everyone.

“Tell him what you know,” she encouraged.

Six’s eyes narrowed as he stared, and Marion didn’t like the way his hands were clenched into fists. He wasn’t the tallest of men, but there was a muscular power and confidence about him that was an indication he knew how to handle himself. She wanted to duck in behind Carrie as he came closer, but the flicker of something that wasn’t just fear was there again.

“What do you know?” he asked.

“We don’t have time for this,” Crash butted in. “Our informant said that the cops are going to come in heavy handed, and this might be one of the places they are going to hit. We…”

“Shut up for a minute,” Six interrupted him and turned his gaze on Marion again. “What do you know?”

“That… that it wasn’t you that committed the murder,” she replied hesitantly.

Six let out a humorless laugh.

“Well, thanks very much for your support,” he let out sarcastically. “But I know that myself.”

“Just listen to her,” Carrie urged.

“I know it wasn’t you because I was there last night,” Marion said. “It was Jake Fiori that slashed the man’s throat.”

Six’s laughter was disbelieving now.

“If you were there, you’d be dead too,” he said.

“By rights I should be,” Marion admitted. “But the fight got out of hand and gave me the chance to get away, so I ran for my life.”

Six turned to glance at the other two men before returning his gaze to her.

“Are you being serious?” he asked.

Marion nodded her head before going on.

“I’m a photographer for the
Bay Republic Newspaper
. My boss wanted me to get some night pictures of the city for an article that’s being written. That’s why I was out last night. The pictures were supposed to show seedier locations, and when I got on Hooper Boulevard, I heard a commotion. I thought it might make for some good photos, but I wasn’t expecting to find Jake Fiori killing someone.”

“You have photographs of it?” Patch asked in an incredulous voice.

“Yeah,” Marion answered and brought out the cartridge to show them. “I changed the film just before one of Jake’s men caught me. They didn’t find this.”

“You’ve been set up,” Patch went on when he looked at Six. “Obviously the dirty cunts got it from that break in at our clubhouse. I bet they dropped it on the dead body of the dealer and planted it at the scene to point the finger at you rather than Jake. If this chick here is telling the truth, then this will get that ugly bastard locked up – if the police get to him first, that is.” He smirked and leaned back in his chair, almost as if he was fantasizing about it.

“Yeah, great,” Six said without much conviction. He tried to figure out where the Mob actually got the knife, but came up blank and guessed Patch’s first thought might be correct. He shook his head before going on. “What do you suggest I do? Wait around for the cops to show up and hand myself over along with her? You know how many of the local pigs are on the payroll of the Fioris. We’re lucky we still have the cops we have left. If the police get their hands on us, then the pictures will all too conveniently go missing.” He brought his gaze to Marion. “And she’ll disappear with them or get a bullet in the head.”

“Then you need to get the hell out of here,” Patch said and motioned his head towards Marion. “And you have to take her with you. Get somewhere safe; then you can figure out what to do.”

Six grimaced as he stared at Marion before turning his attention to Patch to give an order.

“You take Tori and get to the boss as soon as you can. Tell him what’s happened and that I’ll head for a safe house up north, to give me a chance to work things out.”

“He won’t be happy at you leaving the state,” Patch commented.

“I guess so, but I don’t really have much choice,” Six replied. “Staying here is too much trouble. The police will close in on me, and if she’s telling the truth, then the Mob will be coming after her. Getting out of mob turf as quickly as possible might take the heat off us for long enough to figure out how to escape this mess. The best bet for now is to run.”

“What do I tell him about the arms shipment we were due to deliver?” Patch went on.

“The job will have to wait,” Six replied. “The weapons are safe where we stashed them, and they haven’t paid for them yet anyway. They’ll still be there when this is over and we can make the shipment then. If things go bad or I can’t get back, you’ll need to sort something out. For now, just get to the boss and tell him what’s happened.”

“OK,” Patch agreed. He looked at Tori and nodded towards the door and the two of them walked out.

“We need to get going as well,” Crash said in a harassed voice. “The informant said the police were about to make their move.”

“I know,” Six replied. “You go and get the truck ready.”

“You’re not taking our bikes?” Crash asked.

“Too obvious,” Six told him. “They’ll be looking for that. The three of us will fit in the truck.”

“Don’t you mean four?” Carrie cut in.

“You’re not coming,” Six warned her.

She watched as Crash put on his leather jacket and walked across the room.

“Try and stop me,” she muttered as she followed the man she wanted to be with out of the door.

It left Marion alone in the room with Andy ‘Six’ Carter, and she was all too aware of his hazel eyes on her. She brought her glasses out of her pocket and tried to stop her hands shaking as she put them on. The silence was unsettling and she became even more unnerved when the man she was watching pulled a gun from his pocket. She wanted to ask him if it was really necessary, but knew it was a stupid question and didn’t voice it. His world was now hers and it hopefully gave her a chance of staying alive.

Her gaze remained on him as he checked the weapon. His brown hair was cropped short to give it a tidy style, although his thick stubble and the scar under his left eye made him look intimidating. There was definitely a muscular physique below the leather jacket and jeans he was wearing, and if she was to guess his age, she would have put him in his early thirties. He walked across to the side of the window and glanced out.

“Do you see anything?” Marion asked.

“Looks clear,” he said without turning.

The question popped in Marion’s head and she just asked it.

“Will we survive this?”

“Well… I don’t intend to die,” Six replied when he spun around to look at her.

“And me?” Marion went on.

“Just do what I tell you, little miss detective,” he told her.

“Marion,” she said.

“What makes you think I care what your name is?” he said harshly. “Just do what I tell you when I say it and you won’t piss me off. Understand?”

“Yes, but you need me as much as I need you by the sounds of it,” Marion replied.

“All I need is the pictures,” he threw at her. “I could drop you out the window right now and it would save me a lot of grief.”