I sighed.
“I don’t know,” I said, “but I do know I have no energy left. I’m exhausted as all hell.”
“Are you staying here?”
I bit my lip.
“You know, a couple years ago, I was in your shoes,” Cole said, “tired and exhausted as all hell. I wound up leaving town, but not on a whim. Only because, after careful consideration with Lilly, we knew we needed to start over. I don’t think you need to start over.”
“You don’t know—”
“I know more than you think, Mason.”
I bit my tongue this time. I wasn’t sure I liked where this was going.
“It may seem like I just formed the club on a whim. Even to Lane, that seemed to be the case. But I promise you that I did more research about all of you than you could ever guess at.”
“And why didn’t you say anything before?”
Cole shrugged.
“No one ever asked. And to be frank, it wasn’t important. What was important was knowing that I could trust all of you in the face of adverse, difficult situations. And I was right.”
“You—”
“All I’m saying, Mason, is whatever you need to figure out, go and figure it out. But don’t leave until you’ve thought it through. And don’t leave without first trying to reach out to Rachel.”
My hands tightened on the handlebars of my chopper.
“Relax,” Cole said. “It’s not my business. But I know you care about her. I know she cares about you. So don’t let anything get in the way of exploring what may become with you two.”
You really did know more. You sneaky little bastard.
Cole did not say another word, taking his leave and going back to the party. I used that as my excuse to rev the bike to life and head out into the wind by myself.
And you know what was great? The wind, the New Mexico air, the sky above was a lot more interesting to look at when you didn’t have to worry about dying. It was picturesque, a calming sight.
No longer would I have to look over my shoulder for a biker of a different breed. No more would I have to wonder if the Bandits might come after me. Oh, sure, this town was never going to be crime-free, but there was a world of difference between a drunken asshole trying to piss and flip people off in public and a fucking Bandit raping a woman in the middle of a park.
And that…
Rachel.
The person we’d all fought for. Jesus Christ, the hell she must have gone through, having gotten kidnapped by Eduardo again. The triggering events she must have faced in there…I generally wasn’t very merciful to people who claimed they were “triggered,” but in this particular case, I had all the sorrow in the world.
And it was because though I didn’t allow myself to get triggered, I knew what it was like to have something in the past that could be triggering.
And there was literally only one person in this world that could understand the pain I would feel from it. I just didn’t want to talk to her right now. I didn’t want to talk to anyone.
I just wanted to ride free.
I went up and down Freedom Alley, blowing through a ton of gas and never once caring. I filled up twice at the station Brock had used to work at.Funny, to think back on those days, when guns weren’t used and Bandits were just bandits.
I stopped at the peak of Freedom Alley, looking down over the once-again quiet town of Santa Maria. Sheriff Davis wouldn’t be here to pull us over anymore. Sheriff Davis had finally done what was fucking right, and he’d paid the ultimate price. For a crooked-ass cop for the longest time, he had turned out to not be so bad at the end.
I sat back on my seat, pulled out a cigarette, used it as a de facto cigar, and leaned back. I’d set out what I’d wanted to do. I’d made Santa Maria peaceful again.
So now what?
