Page 16 of Texas Hold Em'
I rolled the throttle grip toward me and the bike lurched forward before catching pavement. The back tire wiggled as the speedclimbed, but we straightened out and picked up speed, screaming through two more intersections before our tail blew through the one we’d left. Carrie never faltered in her seat and didn’t dare a glance over her shoulder for fear of ruining our balance.
I’d have to remember to thank her for that later.
I hunkered down low as we came into another corner to get us off the main streets of Reno. An SUV with the windows down blasting rap music cut the line pretty close and forced me into the middle of the lane. I had to drop our speed, and when I checked our mirrors, I saw that the two headlights I’d initially took for one vehicle were actually two motorcycles, and they were gaining on us.
“Shit,” I hissed.
Carrie released her hold on me for half a second to point up ahead. “Take the alley!”
I dropped our speed, pulled up onto the curb, and drove into the darkness of the alley. I killed my headlight and turned off the bike as we pulled into the shadows beside an overflowing dumpster. Carrie twisted in the saddle and we both looked back out onto the street.
“Do you think they saw us?” she asked.
I held my breath and watched the road through the opening at the end of the alley.
Seconds later, the two bikes tore past.
Carrie exhaled and slumped forward to rest her helmet on my back. “Shit, that was close. Do you think they were Bates’s guys?”
“There’s a good chance,” I said.
“How long do we wait?”
“Give it a few minutes. We don’t want them to circle back and…” I trailed off as we were suddenly lit up under bright lights.
Carrie shielded her eyes as we both faced forward. At the opposite end of the alley the two bikes revved their engines.
“Hold on!” I yelled.
Carrie seized hold of me as I opened the throttle and spun the back of the bike around. Our tails, whoever the fuck they were, plunged into the alley after us. Carrie kept her head down as we sped over cracks in the asphalt that made for a bumpy ride. We came flyingout the opening we’d entered just as a blacked-out SUV drove past. I had to let go of the throttle, squeeze the brakes, and turn sharply. The bike slid across eight feet of pavement before the tires caught grip again. I straightened us out and let it fly. We surged forward and the two bikes and the SUV flew after us.
“We have to get out of the city!” Carrie yelled in my ear. “Or we’ll never lose them!”
She was right.
I swerved left down a one-way road. An approaching minivan jerked up onto the sidewalk and laid on their horn. Carrie squealed as we blew past them.
“Hang on!” I roared.
We plunged down a side street, cut across two lanes of oncoming traffic, and raced away from the city lights down a winding road that led to the industrial park near Hogey’s storage facility. Dimly, I wondered who was running it in his absence.
“They’re still on us!” Carrie called.
I gritted my teeth. Who were these bastards? They were relentless!
Unwanted thoughts of how William died flashed in my mind. He’d been shot down just like this in the middle of the road. I’d seen his body in the aftermath—the road rash, the gaping, bloody hole in his chest, the blood in his hairline.
Fuck.
I couldn’t let that happen. Not with Carrie clinging to me for dear life. She deserved better than a bloody death on a back road in Reno.
Suddenly a shot rang through the night.
Carrie screamed.
“Are you hit?” I yelled.
“No!”
