“Always have a plan B and C,” I mutter.
“You are learning.”
I leave him to negotiate the roads as he’s driving far too fast for comfort. An hour later, we merge onto the freeway and head north. I drift in and out of consciousness with my head leaning against the window when a loud rumble that shakes my chest erupts around us. My head snaps up, and I blink at the leather-clad man on a shiny motorcycle pulling up next to my window.
He winks at me. Wait—I recognise him from the bar. I twist my head to peer over my shoulder to discover we’ve been surrounded in a V shape by similar bikers.
“Fox?” I whisper.
“Don’t panic, they are here to help us.”
“How?” The other more stoic guy from the bar pulls up on the driver’s side and gives Fox a sharp nod. Fox floors the car, and I grip the side of the seat. “What’s happening?” I grit out.
“They are creating a rolling road block behind us. We had a tail, and we’re working on losing it.”
I stare at him and my mouth flops open. “Who the fuck are you?”
Hislips twitch. “There are a million things you don’t know about me, firecracker. But during my career, I’ve helped people from all walks of life, and that has earned me some favors.”
“Please tell me you aren’t in a biker gang.”
He shakes his head. “For a time, I was employed by the prez. He had an issue with a rival club and his son. I also served with the vice-president.”
“And you called in your favor now? For this?”
“For you. Yes.”
My chest tightens. He takes the exit onto a country road. “Are they following us?”
“Three will tail us for another thirty miles or so, longer if they feel like it. The rest will continue the roadblock on the freeway, leading our tail to conclude that we are still on it.”
“So, the ones we met back at the bar?—”
“Yes, Hunter and Mark. Hunter is the vice-president. Mark is an idiot, but he’s relatively harmless.”
That figures. Hunter watched me like Fox does—assessing every movement and cataloging it to form a picture, all without asking a single question.
“Do you want to talk about the allegation?” he asks after we sit in silence for twenty minutes.
“Only if you do.”
“You believed it was true?”
I can hear the pain in his voice, and it cuts me to the bone. “No, I think it just side-swiped me after I’d been attacked, killed a man, and received a call from the man that terrorizes my nightmares.” His thumbs tap on the steering wheel. I’ve noticed it’s something he does when he’s suppressing his thoughts and feelings. “Spit it out, Fox. You keeping secrets is what caused that reaction in the first place. If you had trusted me, it wouldn’t have been the shock it was.”
“I’m sorry.”
Isigh. “Forgiven.”
His lips twitch. “If it helps, nobody but the authorities and my legal team were supposed to know.”
I snort. “You expected Helen to not have her finger on the pulse of your life?”
“Yeah, that was short-sighted of me. I was trying to shield her from the worst of it.”
“She doesn’t need shielding, Fox. She’s a grown, capable woman.”
“She’s also my grandmother, whose physical health is starting to deteriorate. Don’t think I’m not having that conversion when this is over.”
