The winning lottery ticket is the only part of that story that’s true. I pull the thing out of my pocket. That gets her head to swivel.
“Come on. I’ll buy you a meal, and you can help me decide how to spend it. How about that? You want to jump off a bridge… there’s always tomorrow, right?”
A truck rumbles past and lays on its horn. That’s when I make a lunge for her and grab her around the waist, hauling her back. I drop to my ass, taking her down with me, and lean against the rail.
The truck hits its brakes and comes to a stop. The guy is out with a tire iron in his hand, running toward us.
“Get your hands off that gal, you hear me, asshole? I’ll crack your skull open, I swear to God.”
“She was trying to jump. I stopped her.”
He lowers the tool. “That true, miss?”
She bursts into tears and nods.
Before I can stop him, he’s pulling his phone out and calling 911.
The last time I see her, they’re taking her away in the back of a paramedic wagon.
We never got to have that meal, but maybe her parents will come. She looked young—too young to throw her life away.
I’m kind of sad I never got her name.
But I’ll remember that angel face of hers.
I swear I’ve seen it before, but can’t for the life of me think where that would have been.
CHAPTER ONE
Cody—
Leaving the bridge behind, I head toward Birmingham, knowing I’ll catch up to the rest of my brothers.
We rode from California to visit Brayden, who transferred out here to be with the Birmingham chapter’s president’s daughter, Rebel. It’s been great to see him again.
His father, our president, Cole, as well as his brother, TJ came out, along with our VP, Crash, Shane, my father, Jake, and myself. The six of us had quite the road trip, and we’ve had the time of our lives along the way.
Last night, we rode up to Tennessee to see the club’s new chapter location. The club has been talking about expanding into that state for some time, ever since other clubs caused trouble in the area. Rather than let them get a foothold, we made a move and took the state.
I’m twenty minutes behind the rest of the group heading back because I had to change a plug, but I catch up to them when we all stop in Warrior, Alabama to gas up.
“What took you so long?” my father asks, walking up to me when I roll up to the pumps.
I tell him about the girl, and he lays a hand on my shoulder.
“You did good, son. You saved a damn life today. When we get back to the clubhouse, I’m buying you a drink.”
He tells the rest of the group, and they all give me a pat on the back.
“You want to know the weirdest part?” I ask TJ and Brayden when the older guys walk inside the convenience store.
“What’s that?”
“I swear to God, she looked familiar. I can’t for the life of me figure out why.”
“Ever been up this way?” Brayden asks.
“Never,” I say.
