She didn’t say anything, just nodded.She didn’t think Wrench would get out of hand, she didn’t think he’d say anything even borderline inappropriate, unless Bishop was close enough to hear it.She got the impression the older man enjoyed pushing Bishop’s buttons.It didn’t take her long to make it back to the pickup and climb in.A moment later, the driver’s door opened and Wrench hauled himself up into the cab.
“You ever been to Kingman, Winter?”he asked as he shifted around getting comfortable.
“Not more than to drive through it on my way here.Is that where we’re going?”
“We’ll go through it but that’s not our final destination.Though where we’re headed today isn’t that much past it.It will be nice to have someone new to talk to, at least for part of the drive.”
“Do you usually do this alone?”she asked.If she was going to be around the Sons, she might as well get to know them.
“Off and on,” he said, tilting his head from side to side.“When someone gets hurt, or can’t ride for one reason or another, I’ll end up with a passenger, but it’s not often.”
A few minutes later she heard shouting she couldn’t make out, then all the Sons of Sin in front of the truck mounted up and started their bikes.Wrench started the pickup and they hit the road.
“Bishop said you’re from an ally club, but not which one.Where are you originally from?”Wrench asked once they’d followed the pack of motorcycles through the streets and onto the Interstate.
“Um, Montana,” she answered absently as she kept her gaze on Bishop’s back.She hated that he was alone in the traffic like this.Well, not really alone but she wasn’t with him.And she hated that almost as bad as the thought of being there, unprotected, in the middle of all these cars racing along at breakneck speeds and not paying any attention to anyone else on the road.
But he wasn’t alone, she reminded herself.He had the rest of his club with him.He wasn’t a lone rider at risk of some idiot in a cage not seeing him and moving into his lane, sideswiping him into wrecking and killing him.He had the rest of the club around him and the noise from that many Harleys was enough to let anyone know they were there.
He wasn’t going to end up hurt and in a ditch for hours before anyone found him, like her father had.
“You look like you’ve got something else on your mind.Want me to shut up and let you think?”Wrench’s words drew her back to the here and now.
“Actually, no.”She turned to look at Wrench rather than keep her eyes glued on Bishop.“I could use the distraction.I’m from Montana, but I’ve been here in town for a couple of years now.”
“You’re part of an ally club and it took you this long to find us?”He glanced at her before turning back to the road.
Winter shrugged.“I’ve been dealing with some things.I was trying to get away from the lifestyle.”She was quiet for a moment, looking past him at the mountains out his window as she let her mind drift.“I lost my dad about six months before I came here.I was having a hard time with it and needed to get away.”
“What made you seek us out?”
“I didn’t, not on purpose.”
“What do you mean?”He frowned.
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, debating how much detail to go into about Kevin and all the shit she’d been dealing with.
“I’ve spent most of the last two and a half years pissed off.I couldn’t handle being around people who knew me.They were concerned, not that I blame them, but I couldn’t handle it.I made arrangements in secret and didn’t tell anyone I was leaving, much less where I was going, and I left Craven’s Creek.”
“Who were you pissed at?”
“I thought it was the Angels but I’ve come to realize I was angrier at the world than any person or group.”
“And let me guess.You didn’t call and let them know where you landed.You didn’t reach out when you needed help?”
She shook her head but didn’t say anything right away.
“Asking Bishop for help was the first time I’d spoken with anyone in our world in over two years.”It wasn’t a lie, at least not strictly.She’d been in touch with Raven and a couple of others, but she’d kept it only to text and refused to speak to them.It was easier to keep things short and avoid questions she didn’t want to answer.Raven in particular had asked where she was, several times in fact, but she’d distracted him with other things or just not answered him.
“And Raven let you get away with that shit?”
She shrugged.“I was in touch.I text him regularly, letting him know I’m okay and not ready to come back.”
“And he hasn’t asked why you left or where you are?”Wrench looked like he didn’t believe her.
“He’s asked.I didn’t answer.I would distract him, then after a couple of minutes, tell him I had to go, so he wouldn’t expect an answer right away when he did ask again.”
“And he let you get away with that?”
