Ride to Freedom (3 page)

The dirty cop’s name is Robert Wright. He lives on Oak Street on the second floor of an apartment building. It takes me ten minutes to drive there. The front door is locked and it has an intercom system. I press the button that says “Ettinger.” There’s no answer. I press the next button, labeled “Perry.”

“Hello?” a woman’s voice asks.

“Hey, I locked myself out. Could you let me in?”

The lock clicks. I fling open the door and run inside. I race up the flight of stairs and find apartment 202.

The door is slightly ajar. I hear Wright’s voice, as he says, “…thrive in prison. You can threaten and beat the shit out of people until you reach the top. It won’t be that bad for you.”

My stomach drops as Tobey’s voice responds, “If I’m going to prison, I’m going to go there for the crime I committed.”

“Killing a cop is different than killing a civilian,” Wright says. “They will bring back the death penalty just for you.”

“At least you’ll be off the streets and the people I care about will be safe,” Tobey responds.

There’s the sound of a gun cocking. I shove open the door and rush inside. Both Tobey and Wright have a handgun pointed at each other. They glance at me, but their gaze quickly returns to each other.

“Grace,” Tobey says through his teeth. “What in fuck’s name are you doing here?”

“Trying to prevent you from committing murder,” I hiss. Wright shifts his Glock 22’s aim at me. Tobey’s nostrils flare and his finger seems to tighten on the trigger of his Smith & Wesson pistol.

“Well, it’s kind of a bad time,” Tobey growls. “Can you come back after I give this guy a third eye?”

“No,” I say. “You can’t kill him, Tobey. I can’t let you do that.”

“It’s not up to you, Grace.”

“You said you wanted me to think differently of you,” I say. “If you kill him, I will think of you differently. I will think of you as a murderer.”

“He wants to kill both of us. I need to end his life to prevent that,” Tobey says.

“No, you don’t. Tobey, please. Don’t do this.”

“Fuck,” he snarls. He lowers the gun as if he’s about to drop it and a gunshot goes off. I flinch, closing my eyes, as the sound rattles through my bones. When I open my eyes, I glance over Tobey’s body, but I don’t see any bullet wounds and his face is calm. I turn to face Wright. He drops his gun and bends over. Tobey kicks the gun away from him and I see his groin area has a spot of blood that is quickly spreading out toward his thighs. He collapses onto his floor, clutching between his legs.

Tobey walks around him and grabs the surveillance tape that’s next to a TV. He finds a phone on Wright’s kitchen counter and dials three numbers.

“A man has been shot,” he says into the phone, as he glances at me. “Yes, bring an ambulance.”

After he tells the 911 operator the address, he hangs up. He sets the tape next to Wright’s writhing body. He grabs my arms and leads me out of the apartment. He keeps his hand around my arm until we’re outside. He’s silent as we walk north.

“You don’t think Wright will tell them that you shot him?” I ask.

“No,” Tobey says. “If he told them, he would have to confess that he purposely tried to frame me. He’ll be fighting against a difficult enough case without adding the fact that he tried to frame an innocent man.”

I grab his wrist and force him to stop walking. He faces me and I say, “I thought…when the gunshot went off…that he had shot you.” He cups my face in his hands and kisses my lips. His hands are trembling.

“You weren’t afraid when you were planning to kill a man and he had a gun pointed at you,” I say, taking his shaky hands into my own.

“I still wouldn’t be afraid to kill him or be afraid to die. I’m afraid of what you think of me now, though. I never wanted you to see the inhumane side of me.”

I wrap my arms around his waist and press my lips against his frantic heart. “I think you’re a good man that had his back against the wall. I think that you love me.”

“You should
know
that I love you,” he says and I smile.

“I do.”

***

“In the matter of
The State of New York
versus
Robert Wright
, on the count of murder in the first degree, how do you find?” the judge asks.

The foreman stares down at the paper he has in front of him. A century seems to pass before he answers with a single word, “Guilty.”

I bounce to my feet and embrace Tobey. He wraps his arms around me, bows his head and our lips touch. We turn to see Wright as he is dragged to a door in the back of the court.

“The law is pretty cool when this happens,” he tells me and I grin.

“But that doesn’t mean that you’re going to start obeying the law, does it?” I ask.

“No,” he says.

“Good,” I say. “I don’t know if I’d like you if you changed too much.”

The crowd in the courtroom begins to disperse and we follow them out.  Tobey takes my hand and leads me out to his Harley-Davidson, as it gleams bright red under the sunlight.

“Can I take you home?” he asks, holding out a small, black helmet.

I take the helmet and say, “You can take me back to your cabin. I never got to see your bedroom.”

He laughs, grabs me around the waist, and squeezes my body against his. At the same time, his lips crush mine. His kisses soften after a few seconds, as his fingers slide into my hair. Electricity runs through my veins every time he touches me. The lightning storm is over, but the power and light of our love still strikes through the sky. 

Other Titles by Sophia Hampton

Available now in the Kindle Store!

Tap/Click the Cover for a Sample

***

They stopped looking for Shane Perry fifteen years ago.
They did all they could do; filed reports, dragged the lake, and finally presumed him dead. The high school football field lit up with candlelight at his memorial, and mourners gathered to gaze at his glossy image: youthful and tall with a heart melting grin.
Bikes and bikers are all Maggie Rice has ever known.
She was riding before she could walk and switching out clutch plates by junior high. She was a quirky, fiery haired tomboy and it was her dream to ride with the 417s. Formerly her father’s crew, they all had a hand in raising her after his passing. Now that she ran her own garage, it seemed her chance had arrived at last.
When the ghost of Shane Perry rides into town, he threatens to spoil it all.
The day of her initiation into the 417s, Shane waltzed back into town as if he’d only been gone the weekend, and his first order of business was to crush her chance at happiness. No woman was going to ride in Shane Perry’s gang, not ever, and certainly not his closest childhood friend.
Maggie doesn’t believe for one second his arrival is coincidental.
Was it possible to hate and love a man at the same time? Where had Shane been all those years and why was he back? And when the Hell did he get so damned gorgeous?

***

Allison Russell has a special knack for getting into trouble.
An intoxicating mix of beauty and bravado, she made her living unearthing things certain people would rather remain buried: stolen goods, dirty secrets, and more than a little trouble. She lived for the thrill of the hunt, and a fat stack of cash after a job well done sure didn’t hurt.
Jake Brighton has two talents, riding and thieving.
He loved them in just that order, too. There was no better feeling than making a clean getaway with his partners in crime and fellow bikers, the Dixon Crew. He’d been riding with the Dixons since before he was shaving. They were his friends and his brothers and he’d proudly take a bullet for any one of them.
And that’s why he ain’t buying what Allison Russell is selling.
A case of mistaken identity on the job leads Allison to a startling discovery, but before she can inform her client she must escape the Dixon Crew with her life. She must persuade the handsome but distrustful Jake Brighton to come to her aid, but his loyalty to his friends may just be the only thing more powerful than the aching tension growing between them.
Jake believes in his crew, but Allison intoxicates him.
If what she says is true, he’s been living a lie. But trusting a beautiful woman is never easy, particularly one who stirs a lust in him he’s never known. Is Allison the real deal, or is she using him to satisfy her client?

***

Casey Stone has always known her family was a little different.
She doesn’t know the details, but she’s heard enough whispers through cracked doors to know they’re criminals of some variety, and she’s happy not to know which.
Brian was just playing around when he sidled up to the Stone boys’ sister and offered her a drink.
He isn’t a cruel man, but the boys were watching and their sister is objectively beautiful - long legs, modest curves, and a face that begs to be kissed. He just couldn’t resist riling them up a bit. Then she spoke and he was lost.
The Stone boys were not about to let this one slide.
They couldn’t send her running to him any faster than by forbidding her to see him. If they’d told her she’d destroy the subtle truce between two rival gangs and cause a cycle of violence and death, she might have been more willing to listen.
Now there’s a line drawn in the sand, and Brian and Casey are standing on opposite sides.
Can Brian put an end to the feuding before he loses Casey forever? Or is it too late already to repair the fragile trust between them?

***

Michael Lawrence is not the kind of man who runs from a little conflict
.
He’s a brute. Or at least that’s the reputation he’s so carefully cultivated throughout his years of running his crew, a gang of motorcycle enthusiasts comprised of thugs and professionals alike. They all have one thing in common: they all find Michael Lawrence a lot more frightening than local law enforcement.
 
Sarah knows all about Michael Lawrence.
Or so she thinks. She’s come across his handiwork writing for the paper and what she’s seen has disgusted her. Sarah detests violence, the thing Michael Lawrence seems to bring with him everywhere he goes.
 
Now Michael is getting to know Sarah.
Sarah’s latest article has Michael’s crew all worked up, as it implicates about half of them. Michael’s not too pleased, either, but when his crew decides to take matters into their own hands it’s Michael’s reluctant duty to keep her safe.
 
And Sarah doesn’t have the good sense to be terrified.
The beautiful reporter has no fear and no particular fondness for Michael. Can Michael bring her around before she runs headlong into serious trouble? And more importantly, how will find the strength to let her go when the danger’s passed?