“Don’t you fucking touch her!”
he yelled at the man. There was no panic in Luke’s voice-only malice. I knew if he touched me or even got too close that Luke would try to keep him away from me. I quickly jumped in the truck and locked the door. The man stared at me with cold eyes full of fury as he stepped away and walked back in front of Luke.
Shit. I had to do something
. I could call Regg, but he was too far away. I fumbled around in the truck to find my phone to call 9-1-1. I’m not sure why I opened the glove compartment. Maybe my instincts were telling me there was something in there that would save us. Maybe I had watched one too many actions movies. Whatever the reason, I reached over and opened it to find an 9mm hand gun resting on top of the truck manual.
I was smart with guns. I had carried one for years after my parents died, because my father had forced me to take classes on how to protect myself. There were about twelve bikers outside the truck and I
had ten bullets in the clip. Chances were, these bikers were carrying also, but as I looked through the back glass at the men surrounding Luke, I knew I had no choice. No one on the highway had bothered to stop. The few cars we did see kept right on going, paying no attention to what was happening around them. Our only chance was this gun.
I could easily put the truck in drive and leave Luke to fend for himself, but I was not that kind of woman. I loved this man and I knew if given the opportunity he would give his life for me. I didn’t know how things were going to play out when I stepped from the truck, but I sent up a quick prayer to God asking that this turned in my favor.
Holding a gun made me feel powerful. Even around all these grown men who could have had twenty guns to my one, I felt untouchable. I had tough skin for a reason and now was a damn good time to use it. No one seemed to acknowledge my presence until I flipped the safety and loaded one in the chamber of the gun. The sound was unmistakable and sounded like it came from miles away.
Perfecting my stance and with confidence I didn’t know I had, I pointed the gun to the head of the man in front of Luke. He was about ten feet away from me and I knew I could put a bullet t
hrough his skull without mistake.
“Let him go
.” I announced, my voice coming out strong and clear.
“You even know how to use that thing sweetheart?”
he asked me raising his hands and nodding his head to the guys to let Luke go.
“Would you like me to show you?” I asked him, never breaking eye contact and managing to keep my voice from wavering.
“No sugar I don’t,” he said smiling at me. Once the guys let go of Luke, he produced a gun from the small of his back and walked backwards towards me taking turns pointing it at different ones. By this time, everyone had their hands in the air.
“I’ll see you soon Frankie, but I think it is best if y
’all leave right now,” Luke said his voice low, but still managing to carry over everyone there.
“You think you the only motherfucker with a gun Luke? Your Bonnie and Clyde show don’t fucking scare me!”
Ok now I was scared
. I expected him to pull out a gun and kill us any minute. I couldn’t breathe. My heart was pounding so hard, I figured they could hear it, and that panicked feeling had settled into my stomach. Somehow, I managed to keep my composure.
“You know me well, Frankie. If you or one of your boys even think about pulling a gun, I’ll have a bullet in your fucking head and you know it. If I go down,
you go down with me.”
Frankie
seemed to think this over. “Let’s go,” he suddenly announced to the other guys and I couldn’t help jumping at the sound of his voice.
He gave me a smirk and then blew me a kiss. “I’ll be seeing you real soon sweetheart.”
“Now!” Luke barked. Within seconds the guys were back on their bikes and heading in the same direction they came from.
Luke quickly put his gun away and carefully grabbed the one from me. He led me to the truck and I got in. It was like I was in some sort of a trance.
Did that really just fucking happen?
He left the door open, but went to the back of the truck to finish changing the tire. I kept my eyes and ears open for the sound of motorcycles, but all was clear except for the passing of a handful of cars.
Luke changed the tire in what had to be record time and jumped in the driver seat next to me. We were on the highway before he pulled his phone from his pocket and dialed someone. “Tiny. I need an escort. I’m on South 45 just outside of Tupelo. I need somebody yesterday. Yeah it’s
Leaders of Hell
. They got me on the side of the highway, but I’m good. I don’t think they will be coming back, but just in case. I’ll check in with ya later.” Luke ended the call and waited anxiously, as did I.
Less that fifteen miles later, I heard the rumbling once again. Unknowingly, I grabbed onto Luke’s leg and looked behind us
, fearing for the worst.
“They’re with me. We’re good.”
I immediately relaxed. Four motorcycles pulled ahead of us while four fell in behind. Already I felt safer. I took note that the guys were not wearing the same cut Luke wore. It was completely different. He must have noticed the confusion on my face.
“They are a support club. They help out when we need them. There is a local chapter
in Monroe County, so I knew they wouldn’t be long.”
I nodded my head in agreement
, but I still couldn’t find any words to say. Luke was visibly more relaxed too. He reached over and took my hand into his. Just like him, there were times I really just didn’t want to talk.
This was one of them
.
I leaned forward and turned up the volume on the radio. I found a rock station an
d the music matched the mood. I let the shredding of an electric guitar help me relive what had just happened. I’m not sure if it was the rock music or the fact that I had handled that gun like a pro, but it made me feel like a complete and total bad-ass. I looked over at Luke and gave him a smirk. I was rewarded with his signature smirk and a new name title to this fucked up life we were living, “Bonnie and Clyde.”
Chapter 21
Six rock songs later Luke finally broke the silence. “You still reliving it?”
he asked with no emotion in his voice. I nodded my head and smiled. I turned to face him in the truck pulling my legs under me.
“I feel like I should
be crying or scared right now, but in all reality I feel fucking awesome.”
Luke laughed
, “You ain’t right. I bet you have re-enacted that scene ten times and each time you think of something a little more bad-ass you could have done.” He knew me too well
. It was actually a little freaky.
I had thought about what would have happened if shots had been fired. I envisioned myself moving like a ninja and me and Luke killing everyone then riding off on the motorcycles. I day dreamed that we were like the people in the movie The Matrix and could dodge bullets by moving our bodies or holding our hands out so the bullets fell to the ground before they reached us
.
I was such a pathetic loser, but I didn’t care
. It was better than curling up into the fetal position and crying myself to sleep. “Yeah, something like that,” I said laughing.
“You did great baby. Thank you
,” he said taking my hand and kissing my knuckles. “But, if you ever pull a stunt like that again I’m going to spank you,” he said seriously.
I smiled my big goofy grin. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep and don’t rain on my parade. Admit it-I’m awesome
,” I said slicing my hands through the air like the karate kid.
“Does it not occur to you how bad that situation could have
gone?” he said trying to hide his smile.
“Not really. I don’t want to think about it
,” I responded shrugging, and I didn’t. I knew these guys were bad and I had watched enough T.V. to know that they would retaliate, but we would cross that bridge when it got here.
My day dreams took over once again and I could see me and Luke at a standoff with these guys. This time I had some cool power that kept them from moving
; freezing their limbs while Luke hypnotized them making them think they were puppies.
“Hey!
Snap out of it princess. This isn’t the Wild West and it’s not T.V. You seriously could have gotten hurt. You don’t realize who these guys are.”
“
Yeah? Well I’m aware I could have gotten hurt, but I didn’t and I wasn’t going to just leave you out there to get jumped or whatever the hell it was they had planned to do to you,” I said getting defensive.
He should have stopped at “thank you.”
“They were not going to hurt me, Dallas. Maybe rough me up a little bit, but that would have been the worst of it
,” he said unconvincingly.
“Oh really?
Well I think you are a liar. These men are mad with you about something and if it’s enough to follow you… wait they tampered with your truck didn’t they?” The realization hit me like a ton of bricks. I remembered the look on Luke’s face when he came back to the truck. He knew what was going to happen
.
Luke stared straight ahead not looking at me. “Tell me. You knew this was going to happen didn’t you?” I asked shocked.
“Of course I didn’t know this was going to happen. Do you think I would intentionally put you in danger?”
he asked completely taken aback by what I had said.
“No, I mean you knew once you looked at the tire that someone had messed with it
,” I answered correcting the miscommunication.
“I had a feeling
,” he said, not looking at me once again.
Was he
always this bad of a liar or was it just with me?
“Dallas, I told you I would tell you everything and I will as soon as we are home and I can lock you in a room so you can’t run,” he said exasperated.
Why was this suddenly my fault and why was he afraid I would run
? Memories of my past flooded me. There was a lot Luke didn’t know about me either. If he were completely honest with me it would be only fair for me to share my past with him. I didn’t want that. I was poison and if Luke dug deep enough he would find a lot of skeletons in my closet, and it would be him running-not me.
I already assumed what was going on anyway. He was into something illegal and was afraid to drag me into it. I got it. I’m sure something had
gone wrong and these guys wanted to hurt him because of it. A lot of normal people would cut their losses and leave, but not me. Luke was the first real thing I had in my life since I was sixteen. He made me feel alive and whole. I would not let anything come between us.
I didn’t want to know his secrets
. Well, I did but I wanted him to tell me on his terms; not because he felt like he was forced to. One day I would tell him everything. I would tell him the kind of person I really was, not the person he met in a bar a month ago. Right now I wanted to keep my secrets buried inside of me and the only way to do that without feeling guilty was for him to do the same thing.
“I don’t want to know, Luke. We both have secrets and that’s fine with me.
When the time is right you will tell me, until then all I want is us. I want to spend every minute I can with you and when bullshit like this happens we will deal with it together.”
The relief on his face was so palpable that I started to take back what I had said.
Was it that big of a deal for me to know?
“You seem a little too relieved
,” I said eyeing him. He shook his head and smiled.
“Some secrets are not mine to tell, but to keep you
, I would tell you everything.”
“You have me. I am not going anywhere.” And I wasn’t.
I was his as long as he would have me.
Luke pulled me to him and on
ce again I snuggled into his side. “I sure do love you Dallas Knox.”
I smiled up at him smugly
, “I know.”
We pulled into a gas station before we hit the interstate and I smiled when I s
aw all the motorcycles lined up outside in the parking lot. These were our guys and it warmed my heart that they had come to meet us. I knew they were really meeting Luke and could probably give a shit less about me, but it was nice to think about. We got out and I stretched my tired, sore limbs and followed Luke to the pack of waiting bikers. Everyone greeted us with opened arms as always. Smiles, nods of approval and shock crossed every face as Luke told the story of what happened. They were proud of what I had done, but they were pissed that this had happened.
“It’s been a long day for me and a tough week for Dallas, so we are gonna go home tonight and we will hold church tomorrow and discuss the next steps
,” Luke said to all of them.
“
A couple of the PROSPECTS and I will crash at the club house tonight. I don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone right now.” Tiny announced.