Never by Blue Saffire
Chapter 2
My Bike
Sal
“Have a good one,” the barista says as I take my coffee and head out.
I lift my cup in thanks and nod my head at her. She’s always so cheery in the morning. I don’t know how.
My laptop weighs me down with the reminder of work. I got distracted at Vigo’s. Rabbi and Vigo sat with me to tell old stories while I ate to my heart’s content. I need to catch up on the lost time.
Initially, I’d considered working from the coffee shop. However, something urges me to head back home, so I turn for the exit. I like my life simple.
It’s the reason I almost didn’t take the job King offered me when I came to him about wanting to get away. King is different with me than he is with my older sister.
Had it been Eva to come to him saying she needed to get away, he may have questioned her motives. Not so much with me. I ask, and King finds a solution we both could bear with.
A small breeze hits my face as the sun starts to peek through the buildings. It’s supposed to be a hot one later. I will forever be amazed at how the buildings here in New York keep the city so cool on a scorching day.
I take a sip of my drink and stroll back to my loft. Rolling my shoulders, I crack my neck to the side. I let the day break without so much as blinking. Day is night and night is day to me, most times.
I happen to be on one of my twenty-four-hour sleepless runs. Nothing out of the norm. It’s the life of a hacker like me. I’ve never lived by the hours of others.
Actually, I’m glad I was finally able to get lost in my work and not my thoughts. Once I double-check everything…. My thoughts trail off the moment I step off the lift.
An eerie feeling comes over me. Something is off. I slowly move toward my front door.
It’s slightly open. I listen for sound coming from inside, but nothing greets my ears. Deep down inside, I know I shouldn’t, but the part of me who refuses to be a victim pushes me to reach into my pocket for my Taser as I hold tightly to my can of Mace in my other hand.
Slowly, I ease the door open and slip into the apartment. A gasp leaves my lips as my tossed apartment comes into view. I’m frozen in place until I notice the vacant space where my bike once resided.
“My bike,” I cry out. “They took my fucking bike.”
Anger replaces panic. I rush through the apartment quickly. Something is wrong about this. Wrong enough for me to grab a few burner phones and some other things I might need before taking off. My instincts are screaming for me not to stick around.
“Time to get the hell out of here,” I mutter once I have all I need, not bothering to waste time.
If this is tied to the club and someone has figured out what I do for the Lost Souls, I could be in danger. I know more about the club than most, but no one knows I do.
At least, we thought no one knew. This is just bullshit. I loved this loft and my bike.
I’ll get somewhere safe and then I can call King.
***
I bounce my leg nervously as I huddle in the corner of the back seat of the bus I’m riding on. I’ve gotten as far away from the apartment as I can. I don’t believe I’m being followed, but I can’t be sure.
“Pick up, pick up, pick up,” I chant as the other line rings.
The nearly packed bus doesn’t give me too much reassurance. It feels like someone’s going to rat me out to whoever broke into my place at any moment now. I counted my blessings to at least get a seat alone.
No one wants to sit next to the smelly bathroom after all.
“Hey, darlin’. What’s up?”
The relief I have when King answers is palpable. God, I hadn’t realized I was holding my breath after that last chant. I rush through my words as I steal a quick breath.
“King, someone broke into my place. They stole my fucking bike. Cage gave me that bike.”
“Wait. What the fuck? Where are you?”
With a quick glance outside the window, I recall the random ticket I purchased. It was what I could afford with the cash in my getaway bag.
“I’m on a bus heading for DC. I took off as soon as I noticed the break-in. I didn’t know if they were still around. I grabbed what I needed and ran.”
“Get off the bus at the next available stop and get on a plane. I want you to head for lady, make a few stops, don’t go straight.”
“King, come on, I can’t take this there,” I huffed in impatience.
There’s a huge pit in my stomach as I listen to King bark orders. Not many people know Lady is King’s grandmother’s nickname or where she can be found. She’s always been good to me and Eva, treating us like her own. I know exactly where King wants me to go. Yet, I’m still hesitant.
“Have I ever steered you wrong? I’ll get to you before you get there, but if anyone is following you, they’ll get a whole lot of Lost, you feel me?” he growled into the phone.
“Yeah, I feel you.” I sigh. “I’m dumping this phone. I have three others. I’ll text you when I’m headed the right way.”
“Good, I’ll send you the name of the Soul I’m sending. Stay low. If you run into trouble, call me ASAP.”
“Okay, okay. I got it.”
“It’s going to be okay. I’m gonna get you home, kid.”
“I know.”
Gutter
I swing out but only connect with air. I’m surrounded. Jeers and taunts fill the air. The room reeks of sweat, alcohol, stale perfume and cologne.
My skin starts to crawl. I swing again and again. I’ll fight my way out if I have to.
“Fuck,” I bellow as my phone wakes me. I didn’t know I’d finally passed out.
When I pick up the phone, King’s name lights up the screen. I take in a calming breath before I answer. The nightmare still clinging to my skin and thoughts.
“Hello,” I huff as I shake off the rest of the shadows.
“Don’t head back just yet. I need you to pick up a package for me. Hang tight and I’ll send you all the information you need.”
“All right. Got it.”
“Keep your phone close. I’ll have more details for you soon.”
He ends the call and I release a heavy breath. Getting up, I stretch and try to clear my head. Deciding a shower might do the trick, I head for the bathroom to be ready when the text arrives with my next instructions.
By the time I step out and get my jeans and boots on, my phone alerts me to a text. I reach for the nightstand as I sit on the edge of the bed and pick the phone up. It’s from King.
I sit looking at my phone with a frown. When King first said he had a package for me to pick up, I thought I’d be hauling arms or something. Not a person.
Prez knows he can count on me for anything but picking up some dude on the back of my fucking bike. What the fuck? That shit ain’t happening.
Maybe I’m misreading the text and Sal has the package I need to pick up. Good thing I have a truck here. I hadn’t planned to drive it back home, but I will now. In any case, it will be best to take the truck since I don’t know how large the load will be.
And if it is a person…. Hell, honestly, I have a problem with anyone riding at my back, but if Prez needs something, I’m there for him. He had my back when I had nowhere to go.
I wouldn’t even have a dime to my name if it weren’t for King. I found the Lost Souls at the lowest point in my life and King was there to help me through a lot of my bullshit.
“Shit.” I blow out a breath and run my hand through my hair.
I won’t pretend that I’m not still a whole lot of fucked up. You don’t just bounce back from the shit I have been through. My days of riding around carefree have long ago moved on. As a matter of fact, I don’t think they ever existed.
I’m only twenty-five, but some days I feel so much older. Life just started beating on me and never stopped. I know I’m broken, but that’s what makes me, me.
“Son of a bitch,” I mutter and get moving as my thoughts continue to spin.
King once offered me the office of enforcer, but I told him no. I don’t think I’d come back from the dark places being an enforcer would take me. Sergeant in arms suits me just fine.
Not to mention, I’m a bona fide Squad member. That role comes with its own brand of crazy. You have to be damaged to a point, to even be considered to be a Squad member. That part was easy for me, as was the need to be loyal.
Yeah, it’s loyalty that has me heading to this job. The words run through my head as I look at the text again.
After shaking off the feeling that this isn’t going to be an ordinary or easy job, I get to my feet and pull on a white T-shirt and my cut. This is the way I’m most comfortable.
Putting on suits and showing up to my office has become an adjustment for me. Suits remind me too much of back then, where I come from and who I used to be. Once again, I’m grateful to the Lost Souls for helping me turn my life around.
I now own one half of one of the top security firms in the southeast and we plan to expand southwest and up north. I employ a number of the Lost Souls, something I never imagined doing. Me, having people who listen and follow me. I’d once been so lost I couldn’t trust following myself.
I’m making myself and the club a hell of a lot of money. It hasn’t changed me though. Not in the way most folks change when they start making enough to fund a small country or two. I guess that’s because I’m no stranger to money and the things people do to get it, keep it, or show it off.
Fuck, I wasn’t broke when King found me. Still, I was on my way there with the life I was living, but it would have taken at least a few more years to get there. I didn’t care about money then and even now it doesn’t drive me. There’s one thing that drives me.
I love to ride and get lost on the road. It’s how I keep my head clear of all the shit in it. I look longingly at my bike as I load it onto the back of my truck and secure it.
It’s been one of those weeks when my past is riding me hard and a good ride is in order to chase the demons away. I guess that’ll have to wait. Once I get this package to King and after checking in at the clubhouse, I’ll take off again for a few days.
Another text comes through and as I look at it, I scrunch up my face once more. King has sent me the location and now I’m sure this is a person and not an actual package. I’m not too far from the pickup. With a grunt, I head to the bus station.
This guy better not get on my fucking nerves all the way to South Carolina.