Page 91 of Motorycle Daddies

“I think that’s a fair price,” Grizzly says, and I snap out of my haze.

My father walks closer to me, and I have to resist my visceral reaction to step back from him. I want to hold on to Dart’s arm so tightly that nothing could pry me away from him. My father takes me by the arm and tells me to come with him and that it will all be alright.

I can’t remember a time when I would have believed him saying something like that. Nothing is alright. Not at all.

I’m not paying attention to the rest of the men until I’m suddenly splattered with blood. It isn’t until I look up that I hear a shot and see that the main guy my father arrived with has been hit. He’s clutching his chest, falling backward. Terror rises in me until I can’t hear anything around me.

All I can see is gunfire erupting. Two of the men who drove in the car with my father are opening fire on everyone, I assume in defense of whoever took the opportunity for their shot on our side. They are retaliating. I can’t help but look for Grizzly, Dart, and Trap out of instinct to see if they’re alright. I’m not paying any attention to my own safety as I freeze with shock.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see at least two of our men get knocked back by bullets, and when I see Trap take a bullet, I let out a scream. I can’t even hear myself screaming but I know that I am.

As I look over at the two men in the car, one of the men turns his gun directly at me. I don’t know if I should jump to the side or duck, but my feet are still cemented in place.

I feel Dart tugging at my arm and in a blur of motion my father stands right in front of me. I see his head jolt back and I know he’s taken a bullet to the chest. Things are getting hazy, and while I make out that the two men in the car also getting hit with bullets, I feel myself starting to fall.

“She just needs some rest,” Dart says. He’s standing over me as I blink my eyes open a few times, but I’m too tired to keep them open.

It’s quiet now, and I’m comfortable. I’m in bed, nothing but the sounds of birds chirping outside.

“We’re lucky she’s not dead,” Trap says. “And any closer on that shot it would have been way worse than a flesh wound for me.”

Grizzly chimes in, and I can feel his hand brush against my arm. “The important thing is that we got him. We got the guy we intended, and I’m only sorry it resulted in the fall of our brothers.”

I’m relieved to hear all three of their voices. My men made it out okay. And we got the guy, that lowlife of a human being who trades innocent girls to line his pockets.

“Do you think we’ll be hearing from her father any time soon?” Dart asks. “He took off in that car quick, even after being shot. I couldn’t get a good view of how bad the injury was.”

“None of us should get too comfortable,” Grizzly says. “I think we should expect to be hearing from more scumbags plenty soon. We can’t let our guard down now. None of this is over.”

49

TRAP

It’s been a few weeks since the showdown at the safe house, and I’m not sure I’ve ever been more grateful to be staying in some piece-of-shit place just so that I can say Meredith is safe.

I take four mugs out of the cabinet and place them on the counter, turning the stove off as the kettle screams. If someone had told me a few months back that I’d be making hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and marshmallows for two of the toughest guys I know and a woman who makes me weak, I would have told them they were fucking crazy.

Meredith specially requested hot chocolate, and I can’t help but feel like anything I can do to make her comfortable is my number one priority and job right now. Sometimes I remind myself to take it easy on overdoing it with everything, because even though she’s on bed rest, I’m still nursing this gunshot wound too. I won’t be any use to anybody if I never take time to rest myself.

I pour the hot water into the mugs and grab the cocoa powder out of the counter. As I stir the cocoa into each one, it feels like this is something a dad would do. My first instinct is to push the feelings away, having never pictured myself half as domesticated as these last few months have made me.

But when I think about Grizzly…well, he’s a dad and it hasn’t stopped him from doing anything he wants to do. He also loved his wife, and I understand why he is the way he is more than ever. With the number of times we’ve almost lost Meredith, I can’t imagine how I’d be.

I put the hot chocolates onto a tray and head to the bedroom where Meredith is resting. I place the tray on the oversized dresser and pass the hot chocolates to Grizzly, Dart, and finally Meredith. She sits up in the bed and takes her hot chocolate with the sweetest smile.

“Thank you,” she says, and her happiness is contagious. I love seeing her satisfied and relaxed.

I take a seat in the corner of the room, eyeing the presents she has stacked next to her. I have no idea how she’s been able to pull it off, but she claims she has something for each of us. With all the drama, we didn’t really end up doing much for Christmas, so this is her way of making up for that, even though it’s late.

“Are you all ready?” she asks. She savors a few sips of her hot chocolate before placing it down on the nightstand beside her. “I hope you’re all excited.”

“You really didn’t have to do anything,” I say.

The poor thing looks like she’s been through hell, even though she’s been showered and put into fresh clothes. We’ve been taking turns brushing her hair in the mornings and evenings and helping her keep up with her normal skin and makeup routines. She’s beautiful as ever, but she doesn’t have the same vibrancy after everything that’s happened recently. I want her to slow down.

“I only came up with the ideas,” she says, calming my nerves. “Try and relax, would you?”

“To be fair, I think you’re the one who’s supposed to be getting the gifts,” Dart says. “You’ve already spent too much on brain power alone.”

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