We’re about halfway back to Las Cruces when we stop for gas.
I pull in at the pump behind Bandit, and Mauler takes the one on the other side.
“Hey, we should check out that place one of the new guys was talking about,” Mauler suggests.
“What place?” I unscrew my gas cap and slide in my credit card.
“Supposed to be a top mechanic in Chaparral, and they say he’s a great connection for cheap parts. Place called Crazy Eddie’s. The guy’s name is Notorious… somethin’.”
“Notorious B.I.G.?” I tease.
“Dave. Notorious Dave.” Mauler jams the nozzle in his gas tank. “So, we goin’?”
“Ask lover boy here,” Bandit says with a lift of his chin toward me. “He’s probably got places to be.”
“Shut it, Bandit,” I mutter.
“Lover boy?” Mauler huffs with a grin. “What’s he talkin’ about?”
“Nothing,” I bite out. “Leave it.”
“Is it a woman?” he asks, not leaving it.
“Why does it have to be a woman?” I snap.
“Ain’t it always?” Bandit lifts a brow.
“Just drop it.” I jam the nozzle in my tank and try to ignore them both.
“Women,” Mauler mutters. “They don’t do anything but cause problems.”
“He ain’t wrong,” Bandit replies, staring at me, and I want to wipe the grin off his fucking face with my fist.
“So, are we goin’ to check out this place or not?” Mauler asks, losing interest in my problems.
“Sure, if it isn’t too far out of the way. You know where it is?”
He pulls it up on his phone. “We take Highway 404 east for about ten miles. Shouldn’t take long.”
“Fine,” I finish pumping and hang the nozzle up.
About ten minutes later, we’re in the middle of nowhere, and I almost lay my bike down, swerving to avoid an armadillo.
A couple of miles farther, and Mauler slows up to make a turn into a dusty roadside place that looks more like a trailer house than a store.
Bandit and I roll in behind him.
Climbing from our bikes, I scan the place. There’s not much to indicate it's anything. “You sure this is the place?”
“Yep.” He points to a long metal shed in the back with a
We stroll inside. There’s a glass counter with biker accessories and parts hanging on the wall behind it. There are a couple of metal rows of shelving and an arched opening that leads into another section, like this guy has cut a hole in the wall and connected another shed off the end.
We hear voices and follow.
Two guys are gathered around another man who’s working on a chopper up on a lift. The gas tank is painted like the one in Easy Rider.
“Nice,” Bandit says, and the men turn, startled.
