Page 27 of Fire Meets Fire

Could I turn her in for the money to give my brothers a better life? My heart thumps in my chest, and a sour feeling roils in mygut. I couldn’t do that. For some inane reason on this occasion,because of her, I can’t put my club first.

She’s a hero for fuck’s sake. A woman in a million, a woman of the like I’ll probably never meet again. It’s me that’s not worthy to have her in my bed.

There and then I determine I’m going to help her, whatever the ramifications are for me as Prez. Quickly I tap out a message to Legend.

Prez: Keep that info to yourself.

Legend: K

But it’s one thing to decide to give her assistance, quite another to plan how I’m actually going to keep her safe. One thing you can take to the bank is I’m not going to let her out of my sight. Fuck her desire to go to the state line, with no resources, no transport. Even someone as skilled as her wouldn’t be able to protect herself. Not against assholes who only see dollar signs and not her not-classically-beautiful but-characterful face.

But how to keep her? My brain begins to whirl through various options until I decide persuasion is probably the best. If only I can come up with a proposal that she won’t be able to turn down. Telling her she’s staying will have the opposite effect, and as for suggesting she can’t look after herself, well, my jaw already aches in anticipation.

While I’ve been thinking, she’s been content to stay silent. As she rubs her strained eyes and covers her mouth to hide a yawn, I remember she’s been up all night. Not unusual for a Night Stalker, but even they have to rest sometime.

Sounds filter in through the office door, the increasing noise level in the shop telling me more brothers are arriving to start work. It’s time to make some decisions, and an idea begins to form in my mind.

“If I take you to the state border, what will you do then?” I jerk my head to indicate the lightened sky outside. “It’s daylight, surely you’d be better travelling in the dark?” Night Stalkers fly under cover of darkness. She’ll be programmed to think there’s safety in that. From the glint in her eye, I’ve caught her attention. Taking advantage, I press my point. “You were awake all fuckin’ night. Not a good start when you’re taking off, not knowing where you’re going to lay your head or where your next meal will come from.”

Her lips press together as she considers my words. After a moment, she says, “I can’t go back to Harold’s. Knowing they could be so close…” She shudders. I doubt MacPherson would be much good in a firefight, and somehow I know she wouldn’t want to put him in danger.

I rap my fist on the table as if I’ve suddenly had an idea. “I’ll take you to the clubhouse. You can get your head down for a few hours—catch up on the sleep you should have had last night. Get some food in your stomach and give some thought about where you want to go. You can wait until night falls.” I’ve no intention of letting her leave then, but it buys me a few more hours to persuade her she’d do better to stay. I sweeten the pill, and scoff. “No one will look for you on an MC compound.”

My words don’t convince her. “If your enquiries left a trail, that would be the first place they’d come for information.”

“Do you think we’d let an outsider get close?” My tone is sneering. Then I rethink. If Legend doesn’t keep his mouth shut, some of the brothers actually might. All they’d see is what they could do with a share of that reward, while to me she’s worth so much more. Hell, not many of them even know she’s a Night Stalker, although StoryTeller might have been spinning his tales by now. I’ve got to give them a chance to see her as someone worth saving and not just a thief who stole from us in the night.

Practised, I don’t let one iota of my thoughts show on my face. My sneer, accompanying my statement, remains pasted in place.

After a moment, her eyes rise and she frowns. “Why on earth would you want to help me?”

I shrug. Knowing I can’t tell her I believe meeting her was fate, that somehow whatever passes for God in my world sent her my way. To reward or torture me? Well, that I can’t yet say. So, I scramble for a reason that sounds plausible. “You helped us when you found the flaws in our security. And some of our members are ex-services. They’d have no problem giving some space to one of their own.”

“You?” she asks. “You served?”

My shoulders rise and fall. “Army, but I did my four years then got out.” The Army and I weren’t a good fit. I preferred giving orders to taking them and rules be fucking damned. The MC was a much better fit.

Queenie stifles another yawn, seems to think for a moment, then her shoulders slump. “I’m not quite sure why I should take sanctuary with the men who outed my presence in Arizona, but I suppose you’re right. It is the last place anyone would think of looking for me.”

“Accidentally and possibly outed,” I correct. “There’s a chance that no one’s watching that closely for you.” Slim chance, I would think, considering how much they want her as evidenced by the size of the bounty. “But you’ll be able to rest better if you play it safe and you couldn’t be safer than on an MC compound.”Unless my brothers got wind of the amount on her head. I cross my fingers again, hoping Legend has kept his mouth shut.

I probably trust our data expert more than most. This isn’t the first time he’s been asked to keep information close to his chest.

She’s wavering, I can see. Her contorted grimace and raised hand show she’s unsuccessfully trying to stifle yet another yawn. Taking my chance and giving her no more time to think about the wisdom of entering my den, I stand and retrieve my bike key from my pocket. “Come on. Let’s take you back.”

As though complying with a senior officer’s order, she follows me out. As I lead her through the shop, various heads turn our way, but the look on my face shuts any questioning down. It’s only when I’m outside that I realise there’s no other transport available except for the bikes. Briefly I toy with the idea of asking the prospect to take her on his, but a burning sensation in my chest makes me direct her to mine instead.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CHAZ

While it might look like I subscribe to the notion of never having a woman as a backpack in case she gets ideas, in reality, I don’t take passengers because I’m just not overly fond of anyone riding behind me. In the past when I’ve taken brothers in cases of emergency, I’ve hated the change to the bike’s handling. So as I throw my leg over the saddle, right my sled, and kick up the stand, I’m already gritting my teeth, anticipating the dip of the suspension as she gets on behind. But as she places her hand on my shoulder and expertly slides on, showing this is far from her first time on this mode of transport, instead of annoyance that I’m not riding alone, I feel an unexpected burst of jealousy.

Whose bike has she ridden on before?

Rather than unbalancing me, the bike settles with the weight of us both as if her presence has caused it to reach an equilibrium it hasn’t before.

I thought I’d direct her to steady herself with the handholds instead of me, but when she immediately goes to curl her fingers around the impersonal anchors, I reach back and pull her handstightly about my waist. The rightness of the sensation takes me completely by surprise.

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