Page 51 of The Biker's Second Chance
It was all very easy. Too easy.
"We've got a car coming up fast." Creek activated the speaker system that was connected to all of our helmets.
I look through my side view mirror, and sure enough, there’s a car coming up behind us going way above the speed limit.
It’s not unusual that we run into some asshole who doesn’t know the road or simply wants to go fast because he sees a bunch of bikers.
I gesture with my hand for everyone to get into one lane and give the speeding car the room it needs to get by.
A pit forms in my stomach when the car doesn’t just speed on by. In fact, the car continues to pick up speed and get right behind all of us.
"What the fuck is this asshole doing?" Rumble grumbles before he falls out of line and into the other lane.
"I don’t know, stay the hell away from him." I bark back through the headset.
Soon the group of us are weaving in and out of both lanes, looking over our shoulders, trying to figure out what the car’s next move is.
"Shit! He’s got a fucking gun." Lash snaps before he pulls on his throttle and slams forward. All the rest of us do the same.
We take the back roads so we don’t have to deal with any of the local police while we are doing these runs, but that means that there are lots of turns and dips. Definitely not the place where we should be speeding and out of control.
My hand itches for my piece, but I don’t grab it. Not yet. We’re flying down these roads too damn fast, one hand off the throttle and I’m either dead in a ditch or worse, taking one of my brothers out with me. At first, I thought maybe it was just some reckless asshole, not Xavier. Pulling a gun too early could have caused chaos. I have to keep us moving, keep the line tight. Until I know for sure and until I have a clean shot, my weapon stays put.
I turn to look over my shoulder just as we get to another turn. It’s at that moment I see the barrel of a long shotgun being fed through an open window of the car.
If I had any doubts about who this is, I don’t now.
Xavier has somehow managed to find us again.
What I don’t understand is how the fuck he found us. No one knew where we were going. This wasn’t part of our typical weekly plan. It’s almost as if Xavier had people out watching us. Waiting for us to make a move.
Did I play right into his hands?
"Spike, fucking focus!" I hear Leo’s voice yelling at me through the headset, and I do as he says. I hunch down against the body of my bike, taking all the twists and turns of the ride.
"Fuck!" I hear Rumble shout in the same moment I hear the booming sound of a shotgun over the roar of our bikes. Whipping my head around, I see that Rumble is at the back of the line. His bike is fast, but the car is keeping up with him.
Rumble is weaving hard, trying to dodge, but the car’s on his ass. My chest seizes when I see the shotgun barrel track his every move.
"Rumble, cut left!" I bark into the mic.
He jerks the handlebars, but he’s not fast enough. The gun fires again, deafening, the blast so loud it drowns out the sound of our roaring engines.
Time slows. I see Rumble flinch, the flash of panic in his eyes, and I know he’s about to take the shot full force.
But Zero, fucking Zero, slams his bike sideways, ramming himself into Rumble’s path like some kind of human shield.
The blast hits him point-blank.
The sound is sickening. His body jerks violently, and blood sprays hot into the night air. His bike skids out, metal grinding against asphalt until it crashes hard into the ditch.
"Zero!" I scream, the name ripping out of me raw.
Everything around me goes red. I don’t think. I don’t plan. My rage takes the wheel.
I yank my gun free, twisting in the saddle, and unload into the car behind us. One shot shatters the windshield, another blows through the driver’s side. I keep firing, my finger locked on the trigger until the clip runs dry.
The car swerves, jerks, then slams into the guardrail with a crunch of steel. It flips once, twice, before landing upside down in a fireball. The screams inside are cut short, nothing but burning flesh and snapping metal now.
