The third man, bleeding from his shoulder, is staggering toward his fallen gun. I change direction, throwing my body into hislegs. We both go down, and I drive my knee into his wound, making him howl.
"Maddie!" Dice is suddenly there, pulling me up. "We need to go. Now."
He slices through my zip ties with a second knife. Where was he hiding that? And drags me toward his bike. In the distance, I hear sirens.
"Someone called the cops," he says, swinging onto the motorcycle. "Get on!"
I don't need to be told twice. I climb on behind him, wrapping my arms around his waist as he kicks the engine to life. We tear out of the gas station just as headlights appear on the road. More vehicles are approaching fast.
Dice takes us off-road immediately, cutting through the trees on what must be a trail only he can see in the darkness. The bike bounces and slides beneath us, but he handles it with the same precision I witnessed in the fight.
"Hold tight!" he shouts over the engine's roar, and then we're airborne for a heart-stopping moment as the bike jumps what feels like a small ravine.
I press my face against his back, heart hammering in my chest. This was not how tonight was supposed to go. I was set up, betrayed. Someone knew exactly where I'd be and when. Someone wants me dead or captured.
And Dice... Dice just saved me. Recklessly, violently, effectively saved me.
After what feels like an eternity of weaving through woods and back roads, the bike slows. We've reached some kind of abandoned barn, far from the main roads.
Dice cuts the engine and helps me off. My legs feel like jelly, adrenaline still coursing through my system.
"Are you hurt?" he asks, scanning me for injuries.
"No." My voice sounds strange to my own ears. "I'm fine. You?"
"Nothing serious." He rolls his shoulder, wincing slightly. "What the fuck was that, Maddie? Who were those guys?"
"I don't know." And that's the terrifying part. "It was a setup."
"No shit." He paces a few steps away, then back. "They knew your name. They knew about James. About me."
"I know." I lean against the barn wall, trying to process. "My client... someone must have..."
"Your client?" Dice's voice rises. "You mean whoever hired you for this 'simple' job that nearly got us both killed?"
"I was careful," I insist, though the evidence suggests otherwise. "I vetted everything. The information was solid."
"Obviously not." He runs a hand through his hair, agitated. "Those weren't random thugs, Maddie. They were professionals. If I hadn't been there..."
"But you were." I meet his eyes in the darkness. "Why? Why did you help me? You could have just left, called your club, saved yourself."
He stares at me for a long moment. "Because you needed me."
Four simple words. Because you needed me. Not because he wanted something from me, not because he could use me, not because I manipulated him. Because I needed him.
"Thank you." The words feel inadequate, foreign on my tongue.
He nods once, then turns away to check his phone. "No signal out here. We need to move soon. They'll be looking for us."
"The club will be looking for you too," I point out. "What are you going to tell them?"
"Everything." His voice is firm, resolute. "We're going to the clubhouse."
I straighten up. "The clubhouse? Are you insane? I just tried to steal—"
"It's not up for discussion, Maddie." He cuts me off, something shifting in his demeanor. The playful, impulsive Dice is gone, replaced by someone more commanding. "The clubhouse is the safest place in Pine Haven. Those guys knew who I was, who James is. This is bigger than some watch."
"Your President is going to kill me," I argue, panic rising. The thought of walking into a den of bikers and confessing to theft isn't exactly appealing.
