I frowned. “It’s not safe.”
He chuckled. “It’s not far to the hospital,” he reassured me. “You have your own helmet there, right?”
“Yeah,” I said, reluctant.
“Then let’s go, Beautiful,” he said, holding out his hand.
Taking it, I climbed onto the back of his bike and wrapped my arms around him. As much as I didn’t like him riding without his protection gear, I knew he wouldn’t take the helmet and leave me without one. And I really wanted to pick up my bike. He was right. It wasn’t far to the hospital.
I flipped the visor closed then secured my grip once more as he took off down the street. I couldn’t keep the wide smile from forming as we rode. As dangerous as motorcycles could be, I’d never be able to stop riding one. I loved them too much. They were a kind of freedom you wouldn’t know until you were on them. The last pieces of me that needed comfort settled as OD picked up speed. This was exactly where I belonged. For now, at least.
CHAPTER 15
Overdrive
“This Ryan?” I called out, leaning down to check out one of the photos on a table.
“Yeah.” Her voice was distant as she answered from one of the back rooms in the apartment.
I picked up the frame and studied the photo. They both looked super young, but wore matching grins and antlers as well as some of those ugly ass Christmas sweaters. “Where’s your parents?” I asked as I heard her move into the room.
“Never knew my dad. Or Ryan’s. Mom took off when we were young.”
Looking over my shoulder, I watched her rummage through her duffel bag. “How young?”
She straightened up and just shrugged. “Mom wasn’t exactly the maternal type.”
I didn’t pry further. She clearly didn’t want to talk about it, but it was my goal to get Rue to open up about herself.Eventually. I didn’t need to press her now. “You have everything you need?”
“Yeah,” she said, looking around for anything she might’ve missed. “We can go.”
She’d taken a shower and changed here, and while that made sense, there was a part of me that had wanted her to clean up at my place. Jesus, I was cooked. No way I was getting out of this without my brothers noticing my obsession with this woman. Just fucking great. Like I needed those assholes chiming in.
We went out to the parking area and she looped the strap of her duffel over her shoulder so it hung against her back before she got on the back of my bike. I’d count that as a win. That she was riding with me rather than on her own motorcycle. It was a nice looking sports bike, but Harley’s were my go to.
After a quick stop to drop her bag off, and one more to pick up a cage ride from the clubhouse, we were heading out to the address that Glitch had tracked down for us.
I glanced over asRue made a noise. “What?”
“Nicer part of town than where he recruits and does business,” she said with disgust in her tone.
I’d filled her in on everything I knew on the way over. “Yeah, guy like this isn’t going to intermingle with the hired help.”
It was a sprawling community with slightly larger plots of land that the homes sat on, desert landscaping as far as the eye could see. Not a place with mansions, but they were still bigger homes with pools and hot tubs. Parking the SUV on the side of the road a house or two down, I kept an eye out for any older women. They tended to watch their neighborhoods likehawks, looking for any kind of trouble that would alleviate their boredom. Or give them something to gossip about.
We were in the clear for now. I pointed out the house that Glitch had ear marked as Carrick’s in the email he’d sent over. “It’s that one.”
She watched the home with a steady gaze and I wondered what she was feeling. She had a damn good poker face. I handed her a pair of binoculars and she smiled at me for a brief moment before aiming them at the house.
While she watched for any signs of life, I kept my eye on the street. Last thing we needed was some of his assholes sneaking in behind us.
“You think he has a family?” she asked, her voice low and full of emotion.
“Would it matter if he did?”
She sighed and dropped the binoculars, those gorgeous green eyes swinging my way. “I don’t know. If he has kids…”
She had a huge heart. “Even if he has kids, Rue, he’s killing people. Taking other people’s kids.” She nodded at that. “And in my experience, men like that don’t exactly treat their own families much better.”
