Page 83 of Biker Daddies

“I’m not going to kill you.”

“Oh, thank god.” The kid relaxes, but there’s still a quake in his knees. “What do you want?” He pushes the glasses up the brim of his nose. “I can code pretty well. Do you need security installed? Do you need a hacker? I’m a great hacker. I’ll do it for free in exchange for my life.” He pushes his glasses up again, his nose twitching.

This kid doesn’t have an ounce of muscle on him. He must be a hundred and thirty pounds soaking wet. He’s a runt.

I like to protect runts.

“You’re good with code, huh? Tech savvy?” An idea starts to form in my head. He could be a member of the MC. He seems like he would need the boost.

“I just want to know where Griffin Hall is,” Bane interrupts.

“It’s right over there. I can take you to it. I’m going there now.”

Bane lets the poor kid go. “What’s your name?”

“Todd.”

Of course it is. He looks like a Todd.

“How about we call you Gizmo?” I wrap my arm around his shoulder and start walking down the sidewalk that leads to Griffin Hall.

“Gizmo?” Todd asks, curious and confused.

“Yeah, all the guys in the MC have a nickname. Like me. I’m Colt. I always have a gun strapped to me.”

“Now?” he yelps, trying to get away from me, but I tighten my arm.

“Details aren’t important.” I wave the worry away. “Bane, for instance. He got that name because of the character from Batman. You know, Bane.”

Todd frowns. “Well, that’s not nice.” He shoves his glasses up his nose again. “That’s kind of mean. You should think about getting another name,” he says to Bane, showing compassion, and Bane is a little taken aback.

He looks away. “Nah, it’s okay. It suits me.”

“Anyway, we are recruiting if you’re interested.”

Bane whips his head around and gives me the biggest eyes I’ve ever seen. He stares at Todd, then me, then Todd again, silently asking me if we are seeing the same person.

“Me?” Todd gasps. “But I’m not…you know. I don’t have a motorcycle. I have a bike. A bicycle,” he adds for clarification.

“Ah, you don’t need to have a bike right away. We can fix that for you. You can prospect and be the tech wizard.”

“Can that be my road name? Wizard? It sounds cooler. Plus, I like fantasy.”

“Sure, why not. I like it. You should think about it. We could use someone with your skill set.” We climb the steps of Griffin Hall and Bane opens the door for us. “Come by the clubhouse when you want to talk.”

“Uh, sure. Yeah, okay,” Todd says, hitting the button to the elevator.

“See ya around, Wizard,” I wave goodbye to him and find room 121.

“Bye,” he calls out just as I stop in front of the room.

Bane waits until he hears the elevator doors shut. “Seriously? Him? I could flick him and he’d break.”

“It isn’t about size. He’s smart. Good with computers. We need that. If we want to grow, we need better security measures. You know, for someone who doesn’t want to be judged, you sure do a lot of it,” I state.

He frowns, but doesn’t say a word.

I wait for him to say something, to say anything, but he doesn’t, so I take that moment to rip open the door.

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