Page 19 of The Chase

Colt nodded. “Then we have something in common. I happen to agree.”

Millhaus chuckled then and Colt visibly relaxed.

“Look, I didn’t vote you in as the next Prez because I thought you were too young-” Millhaus gushed, as if he’d been holding it in.

“I know-”

“My loyalty was with Blue-”

“I know, it’s all ancient history, old man.” Colt waved Millhaus’ nervous babble away. Millhaus stilled, sighed, nodded once. Colt sat back on the bike, more casually this time.

“Sweet ride,” Millhaus said, opening his arms, nodding to the bike they were on. Colt released her wrist and began to shift to get up himself. She took that as her cue to do the same.

“Sure is. It’s one of theirs. I stole it. Got a price on my head, got excommunicated,” he said, bringing Millhaus up to speed.

Millhaus nodded slowly, looking curiously at Colt. “And you came here, why?”

Colt sighed and stretched. “I can’t ride that thing round the states on the run, brother. My back ain’t what it used to be, besides, I got a backpack.” He nodded now to April. She wasn’t sure what he meant, a backpack? Did he mean her? Should she be offended by this? She returned both of their stares with proud defiance.

“Your ol’ lady? Nice.” Millhaus hissed through a slightly leery smile at her. Her eyes darted back to Colt, who widened his, nodding discreetly at her. He was telling her to play along. She breathed out. Fine, she’d play the obedient biker bitch.

She smiled bashfully, fluttered her eyelashes, looked down, then back up at Millhaus as if he were Brad Pitt. He was most certainly not Brad Pitt.

But Millhaus appreciated the gesture and smiled back at her.

“Need a cage. Any old rust bucket will do. As long as it goes fast. Trade you this bike for it. Though, you’ll have to hide it well, I’m sure the MC is on our tail. They’ll come here. A cage and your discretion, that we were never here,” Colt said.

They both squared up to each other. Men doing a deal. April rolled her eyes. How long was it going to take to establish whose dick was bigger? She bet Colt’s was anyway, she thought with a slight flush.

They bartered back and forth for a moment, April switched off. She needed to pee. She needed food, a change of clothes, hell, a shower. She started trying to think ahead. She had no idea what a cage was. By the names they were tossing about, it sounded like a car. That would be a start, they could at least carry supplies in a car, maybe even sleep in it… they didn’t have any luggage. She turned to the sports bag still strapped to the back of the bike. They had that, and the saddle bags that were full of whatever the other biker had put in it. That was it. They didn’t have anything else.

“As I said, sure the bike’s sweet but I’ll have to strip it down, the parts are what I can use. That takes time, labor… I don’t have cars just sitting around fully tuned up and ready to go…” Millhaus was saying, shaking his head. Colt coaxed, she gave him that, he knew how to negotiate. He had the gift of the gab, charming, suddenly he was Millhaus’s best friend. The old man was warming to him, relenting.

“Well... now here is a bit of a wild card, might suit you Colt... I got an old Ford here…”

They were walking inside the garage, Millhaus trying to persuade them to go with the oldest, worst cars that he could spare. Colt turning his nose up at them all. Not good enough. Not fast enough. Too unreliable.

Despite Colt’s pickiness, April thought Colt had made the right call coming here. Even though it seemed that Millhaus and Colt had previously been at odds, they were now united. Now both cast out of favor of the Black Coyotes. They walked past a sectioned off area in the garage. April peered in, there was something large, van like, under a dust sheet.

“What’s in here?” she piped up.

They both turned to her, surprised. Maybe she wasn’t meant to speak, but to hell with that.

Millhaus shrugged. “My son, he had this grand plan to drive coast to coast or something like that, and he fixed up an old VW campervan, did a sweet job of it…” Millhaus beckoned Colt in, and April followed. “But then he fucked off to Asia, to find himself or some such shit that the kids are always going on about these days.” Millhaus tutted and shook his head.

“Let’s see it.” Colt asked.

Millhaus was obviously proud of what his son had done, and without much persuasion he yanked the dust sheet off.

A beautiful, vintage, cherry red VW glinted back at them. April gasped. Colt kept his cool but she could tell his interest was piqued.

“Yeah, he kitted it out with a bed, a little camper stove and the engine is top notch, too…” Millhaus began reeling off the stats and Colt looked suitably impressed. Millhaus went to reposition the dust sheet. Colt took a breath.

“Oh no, this is strictly off limits, Colt.” Millhaus preempted Colt’s question. “I promised I’d keep it for him here, he spent hours on it, and all his money on the parts-”

“But he fucked off to Asia,” Colt reminded Millhaus. “It would serve us well, we could camp in it so no need for motels, it would purr like a panther with the engine it’s got-”

Millhaus frowned. “My son will be back for it. Don’t push me on this Colt, it’s off the table.”

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