"How many teams are out there?" I asked.
"Four that I know of, but there could be more."
"I don't understand why Elder Payne wants Ajag so badly." It didn't make sense. He was using a lot of council resources to find him. Elder Ridge had a right to be concerned.
"You need to get your mate somewhere safe so we can figure this out."
"Where?"
"We could take him back to the ranch."
My eyebrows lifted. "We?"
Val snorted. "You think I want to stick around with these idiots any longer than I have to?"
"What are they going to do if you up and disappear on them?"
Val shrugged. "Who the fuck cares? I was just with them to get information. I'm not a regular member of their teams."
I wasn't sure it was that easy, but I wasn't going to argue with Val. "Until we reach Ajag and Sy, I only have my bike. You'll have to ride bitch."
Val's eyes narrowed menacingly.
"You got a better way to get there?" I asked.
"I could steal a car."
Wouldn't be the first time he'd done that. Hell, it wouldn't be the first time any of us had done that. Being a law abiding citizen meant nothing when your life was in danger.
"Is there someplace around here you can pick up a bike?"
I seriously doubted he'd want to buy a car.
"Not here, but maybe down the road a bit."
"We're headed south," I pointed out. "Any bike shops south?"
Val shrugged his massive shoulders. "Got me. I tend to stick to Texas, not Colorado."
"We'll keep an eye out." I tossed back the remainder of my beer and then slammed the bottle down on the table. "Let's get out of here."
I wanted to be gone and on the road before Val's buddies figured out what was going on. I also wanted to get to Ajag and Sy as quickly as I could. While I felt that they would be relatively safe across the border, I couldn't be totally positive.
I tossed a few bills on the table to cover the bill and then headed for the door. I could hear Val's heavy footsteps behind me. When I reached my bike, I swung my leg over it and sat down. I turned on the engine and gave it a couple of revs before grinning as I looked at Val.
"Climb on, bitch."
"Fuck you, man," Val grumbled as he climbed onto the bike behind me.
As soon as he was settled, I weaved my way into traffic and started down the road. At this point, my aim was to get us out of town without being caught. I'm sure Val's buddies wouldbecome suspicious soon. We needed to be out of town before that happened.
It didn't take us too long to get out of town. I stayed to the back roads for the most part. They tended to have fewer cameras. I knew once I got on the highway there would be a lot more chances of us being spotted.
When we drove through our third town, Val patted my shoulder and then pointed to a red brick building just ahead of us. I was expecting a motorcycle shop, not a bar.
Once I stopped and turned off the engine, I glanced over my shoulder to Val. "Why are we stopping here?"
Val pointed to the row of bikes parked in front of the bar. "Takes too long to buy one for a dealership. Besides, they are all probably closed this time of night. Easier to buy a bike from a biker."
