Burnt Rubber: Adults Only Motorcycle Club Romance: Roadrunners MC (7 page)

A frightened expression crossed Marion’s face as he approached her.

“Relax,” he told her. “I was joking.”

“Could you maybe smile next time?” she replied. “Just so I know?”

“Now, where would the fun in that be for me?” he said, but a smile did flash across his face. “Let’s go.”

He reached out towards Marion’s elbow, but she moved away before he could grab it.

“I can manage,” she said.

“Then why am I having to babysit you?” he replied.

The slight dig irked Marion and her lips tightened together in a grimace of annoyance as she walked out of the room. She made her way along to the front door of the property to let herself out and waited until Six followed. He motioned with his head for her to remain in front after locking the door, and she made her way to the stairs to walk down.

“We’re going out the back way,” Six told her when they reached the ground floor.

Marion glanced along the gloomy hallway to see there was a rear exit and immediately started walking towards it. It was when she was almost at the door that she heard the shout and realized that Six wasn’t right behind her any more.

“Wait up,” he ordered.

His comment about babysitting was still nagging at her mind, so she kept going.

“I’m not a kid,” she muttered. “I can open a bloody door by myself.”

She shrieked when Six grabbed hold of her shoulder to drag her inside as the sudden sound of a gunshot rang out. The bullet ricocheted on the concrete sidewalk around three feet in front of the door, and Marion’s eyes opened wide as she froze in fear. Six shoved her against the wall to push her down then crouched beside her.

“I told you to fucking wait,” he hissed in an irritated voice. “Maybe you’ll listen to me in the future.”

Marion couldn’t stop shaking and simply nodded her head without saying a word. The close call with a bullet left her shaking with fear. A couple more steps outside the door and she might have been lying dead.

“Fuck… I can’t see anyone,” Six cursed as he sneaked a glance around the frame of the door.

“Is… is it the police?” Marion asked hesitantly as she found her voice.

“I doubt it,” Six replied. “They probably would have issued a challenge before firing and they aren’t on the hunt for a woman, so why would they shoot at you? I suspect your friends have caught up, but I’m not sure how they would have known you were here.”

“Shit,” Marion let out as her fear grew. “What the hell do we do now?”

Six looked at the truck sitting on the other side of the street. The engine was running and he could signal to Crash to come across. The sturdy streetlamp pillar directly in front of the property made it impossible to get the truck on the sidewalk and right next to the door. That would likely leave them open to a hail of gunfire as they made a dash for the vehicle. The first bullet fired was well off target, but it didn’t mean the shooter wouldn’t get lucky if they showed themselves again. It seemed too risky.

Six caught the gaze of his compatriot and shook his head, then used the signal they both knew to show that the vehicle should get going. Crash didn’t question it and put his foot to the floor to take off.

“Why’s he going?” Marion asked in a panicked voice.

“Do you want to make a run for the truck?” Six asked.

“No, but…”

“Then shut up and come on,” he went on.

She didn’t try to move away on this occasion as her arm was grabbed to haul her up and Six led the way to the front entrance of the building. He pushed the door open firmly and stuck his head out before quickly moving back. Everything remained quiet, and he turned to look at Marion as he brought a set of keys out of his pocket.

“Ever been on a motorbike?” he asked.

She shook her head as she gave her answer.

“No.”

“Well, get ready for your first chance to ride me – I mean ride with me,” he went on with a smirk.

The cheeky comment seemed ill-timed to Marion considering the danger they were in, and she instinctively resisted the pull on her arm when Six moved forward to walk out the door.

“They might be out there,” she hissed.

“Well, let’s hope not,” he replied.

There was no resisting the powerful tug that led her out to the sidewalk, and she cringed as she waited for the gunfire to erupt. It didn’t happen, but the spike of adrenaline still flooded her veins and put a spring in her step. They crossed the street to a lock-up garage, and he released his grip on her wrist as he loosened the padlock then rolled up the door. Marion didn’t really know the first thing about motorbikes but recognized the name Harley Davidson on the side of the vehicle. It looked huge and the loud sound of the engine reverberating around the small space made her put her hands over her ears.

“Put this on,” Six shouted.

She barely heard him but knew what he wanted when he held out the helmet. She grabbed it to drag it onto her head and watched as he maneuvered the vehicle out of the garage. The fear that gunshots would ring out stayed with her and she couldn’t stop shaking. Six got off the bike and ushered her outside so that he could close and lock the garage. The fact that he did it at all amazed her considering they were under gunfire only minutes before, but he completed the task in seconds. When he got on the Harley again, he held out his hand. Marion reached out to accept his help as she straddled the machine right behind him.

“Grab hold,” he shouted.

She wrapped her hands around his body and pressed her face against him to hold on as tightly as she could as the motorcycle shot forward. Her adrenaline surged again as Six throttled the engine to quickly pick up speed and race along the street. In a matter of seconds they were flying to put distance between them and the imminent threat of being shot at. Marion felt the slight sense of relief at their escape, but it disappeared quickly.

They were far from being out of harm’s way, and she suspected the danger they just faced wouldn’t be too far behind them on their flight from the city.

There was no holding in the harsh curse when Johnny ended the call and dropped his hand down from his ear. The urge to throw his phone at the wall reared up, but he resisted it as he grimaced. He’d double checked with the man that called with the news, but he’d heard right the first time and wasn’t looking forward to the job of passing on the information. Being the top enforcer for Jacob Fiori was a job he’d worked hard to get, and it gave him plenty of perks, but sometimes he wondered if it was worth it.

His boss was going to be decidedly pissed off about what just happened, and it put Johnny off the idea of telling him straight away. He decided to have a drink first to consider the implications of the information and left the property to walk to a nearby bar. The place was quiet, with only a few customers sitting at the tables and no one at the serving counter.

“It’s early for you, Johnny,” the elderly man behind the bar said.

“Yeah, but I need a drink,” he replied as he dropped on one of the empty stools at the counter.

“Just your usual?” the barman asked.

Johnny nodded his head and watched as a measure of Jack Daniels was poured in a shot glass. He downed it in one go when it was placed in front of him and the glass was quickly refilled.

“How are things anyway?” the barman asked.

A rueful smile passed across Johnny’s face.

“Could be better,” he said and lowered his voice. “Sometimes I just wish the boss’s son would disappear.”

“I suspect you’re not the only one,” the barman replied and kept his voice quiet too. “Young Jake isn’t a favorite of many. What’s he done now?”

Johnny just shook his head then picked up his glass. He sipped at the whisky as his mind ticked over and the barman moved off to serve another customer. When his glass was empty, he considered having another, although eventually decided to pass. He waited until the barman returned before taking a twenty dollar bill from his pocket to pay for the drinks. After he was handed his change he got to his feet and walked to the door to leave.

His mind was still working overtime as he returned and he knew there was no point in putting off going to see his boss any longer. He went to Jacob Fiori’s office and knocked on the door before entering. It was to the sight of Jake as well, but he kept the grimace off his face when the two men looked at him.

“What’s the news?” Jacob asked.

“It’s not good,” Johnny replied.

“What the fuck?” Jake let out. “You were…”

His words were ended by his father putting up a hand to silence him.

“Go on,” Jacob encouraged his enforcer.

Johnny moved over to the side of the desk before he continued speaking.

“What I’m hearing from our informants inside the police force is that the set up we arranged has worked. They matched the fingerprints on the knife and are intent on bringing the Roadrunner down.”

“Fucking knew it would come off,” Jacob let out and slammed his fist down on the table in a celebratory manner. “So we’ve got Jake off the hook?”

Johnny shook his head and shuddered at the narrow-eyed glare that was aimed at him by both men.

“The man we put in the frame for the murder was a Roadrunner enforcer called Andy Carter. The police got his location, so we sent one of our local boys to keep an eye on things when we got the information.”

“And…?” Jacob said.

“I guess the Roadrunners have their own informants in the police,” Johnny replied. “Our man just reported that Carter made a run for it before the police got to him, so I’m guessing he’s been tipped off.”

“Fuck,” Jake let out.

“That’s maybe not such a bad thing,” Jacob said. “If he runs it just makes him look all the more guilty.”

“I haven’t told you everything yet,” Johnny went on.

“So, spit it out then,” Jake snapped.

Johnny kept his gaze on his boss as he went on.

“Marion Thomas is with the Roadrunners.”

Jacob sat up in his chair and leaned forward to place his elbows on it. His voice was slow and measured.

“The photographer girl from last night?”

“Yes,” Johnny confirmed.

“You’re fucking kidding me!” Jake yelled. “How in the hell did a newspaper girl hook up with the very Roadrunner we just set up?”

“Fuck,” Jacob cursed loudly.

“I’ve no idea how she managed to get in with the Roadrunners,” Johnny said. “But our man was sure it was her. He suspected the police would go in the rear of the building, so he set himself up nearby to watch. A couple of people coming out to get in a truck parked on the street put him on alert and a few minutes later someone else appeared. We got pictures of Marion Thomas to everyone this morning and he got a good enough look at her face to be one hundred percent sure it was her. She was dragged inside just as he fired a shot.”

“He missed then,” Jacob said.

“Yes,” Johnny replied. “The truck left and our man was certain that someone inside the building was helping her, so she definitely wasn’t alone. He waited a few minutes to see if they reappeared before hurrying around to the front of the building, but they were gone. When he was on the move, he heard the sound of a motorbike, so he guessed that was how they fled the scene. He stuck around to watch the action when the police eventually turned up at the place, but they left empty handed. It seems that Carter and the girl have escaped for the moment.”

“Shit,” Jacob yelled and brought his fist down on the table yet again as his anger exploded. “This is a fucking disaster.”

Johnny stepped away from the desk in expectation of everything on it being sent crashing to the floor, but for once it didn’t happen. His first thought was to tell his boss to keep control of his son if he wanted to avoid disasters, but he didn’t dare voice it and knew he would be wasting his breath even if he did. Jacob’s blind spot to his son’s failings was legendary. Jake was a smiling psychopath and his regular outbursts of unwarranted violence brought nothing but trouble. The murder of the drug dealer was just another example of that, and he only got away with his insane behavior because of who he was.

“I thought you said that Andy Carter running wasn’t such a bad thing,” Jake said.

Johnny almost let out a laugh at the younger man’s lack of understanding, but he managed to keep it in as Jacob explained.

“It would have been a good thing if it was just the Roadrunners, but not if the girl is with them. We’ve set the police on Andy Carter and as things stand, if they find him they find her too. We can’t have that because she witnessed the murder of the dealer. If she tells the police what she saw, that gets Carter off the hook and puts the finger on you.”

The realization seemed to dawn on Jake and he let out an inaudible curse before speaking.

“We need to get to them first then.”

“Where will they go?” Jacob asked when he looked at Johnny.

“The Roadrunners traffic drugs and arms up the coast all the way to Canada,” the enforcer replied. “I would assume they’ll stick to what they know and that Carter will head north and try to get across the state border as quickly as he can. From there they will likely head for one of the Roadrunner’s safe houses further north. They might even look to cross the border to Canada.”

“You need to pull out the stops on this one,” Jacob told him. “Call in every favor you can and put the heat on every informant we have to find out where these fuckers are going. We need to make sure we get to them before the police and stop this girl from shooting off her mouth.”

“Sure thing, boss,” Johnny said and walked to the door.

“Keep us informed about what you find out,” Jake said. “I want to know what’s going on.”

Johnny just glanced over his shoulder and nodded his head.

“Fucking prick,” he mouthed quietly after closing the door.

As far as he was concerned, Jake could get sent down for murder and he couldn’t have cared less. There was more important business to be taking care of than cleaning up his mess, but the orders from his boss were clear and he walked away from the office with the intention of carrying them out.