Total pages in book: 52
Estimated words: 47615 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47615 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 238(@200wpm)___ 190(@250wpm)___ 159(@300wpm)
“We should go,” I said, gathering up her tools. “You good to drive?”
Ada nodded, taking the jack from my hands. “Yeah. Thank you for stopping.” She studied my face for a moment. “You would’ve stopped even if you didn’t recognize my car, wouldn’t you?”
The question caught me off guard. Would I have? Two weeks ago, fresh out, I might’ve kept riding. Now?
“Yeah,” I answered honestly. “Woman alone on the road. Bad situation waiting to happen.”
She smiled, a genuine expression that transformed her face. “You’re a good man, Jagger Kross.”
I didn’t know how to respond to that. No one had seen good in me for a long time, least of all myself. Instead, I turned back to my bike, scanning the tree line one last time. The figure was back, but farther down, moving parallel to the road. Watching. Waiting. My gut tightened with certainty. Someone was trying to follow us. Maybe not for long unless they had transportation close by I couldn’t see. But they were definitely wanting a better look at us.
I grabbed Ada’s arm gently but firmly, steering her toward her car. “We need to leave. Now.” My voice came out low and steady, not showing the urgency I felt, but letting her know this wasn’t up for debate. I glanced back at the tree line one more time, confirming what my instincts already knew. “You drive first. I’ll follow behind. Lead the way straight to the clubhouse.”
Ada’s eyes widened slightly, but she didn’t pull away or question my grip on her arm. “What’s going on, Jag?”
“Someone’s watching us.” I nodded toward the trees, keeping my body between her and the potential threat. “Been there since before I pulled up.”
I scanned the tree line again while she climbed into the driver’s seat. “How fast is your car, Ada?” I asked, leaning down to the open window.
“Fast enough.”
I nodded. “Good. Stay ahead but within sight. I’ll watch your back. If I flash my lights, it means trouble and you haul ass back to the club. No matter how fast your car is, you can’t outrun a motorcycle with purpose. Don’t pull over. Don’t stop.”
She turned the key, the engine coming to life. “You think they’ll follow us?”
“Don’t know.” I hesitated, then added, “Drop one of those safety pin things so Knight knows where you are.”
Her eyebrows furrowed momentarily before understanding dawned. “You mean drop a pin? Share my location?”
Fuck. Technology had changed too much during my time inside. “Yeah, that. So Knight can use any camera in the vicinity and see what he finds.”
Instead of laughing at my mistake or questioning why, Ada already had her phone out, thumbs moving quickly across the screen. “Done.”
Her instant compliance caught me off guard. She hadn’t questioned why I thought we were in danger. Hadn’t demanded proof. Just trusted my assessment and acted.
I shook my head. “Just go. If a bike pulls out in front of you for any reason, you pretend you didn’t see it and hit the son of a bitch. Get me?” Her eyes widened, and she nodded her head slightly. “Go.”
She took off and I followed. Something twisted in my chest, unfamiliar and uncomfortable. Trust wasn’t something given easily, yet this girl showed more trust in me than anyone other than Knuckles, even before I went to prison.
As we rounded the first curve, I caught movement in my peripheral vision. The figure had emerged from the tree line, watching our departure. I couldn’t make out features at this distance, but something about the stance confirmed my suspicions. My past was trying to come back to haunt me.
I accelerated slightly, tightening the gap between us as the road straightened out. Ada maintained a steady speed, exactly five miles over the limit.
If the guy I saw happened to be one of the old guard who’d been scattered across the country rather than die at the hands of another club, he probably didn’t know I’d gotten out of prison. Which meant his target had been Ada. Whether it was her specifically or her association with Knight and, by extension, Kiss of Death, I had to figure out.
Once I’d been arrested, things at Kiss of Death had gotten heated. There were some who knew I’d taken the fall for Rat Man after an interrogation got out of hand and we couldn’t get the mess cleaned up before the cops arrived. Mainly because Rat Man had accidentally set the place on fire and the fire department had found him chained to the ceiling. Yeah. Dead giveaway he hadn’t stayed behind voluntarily. Had I known two out-of-state clubs would take over and bring down those idiots Slash and Butcher, I’d have let Rat Man cook. Instead, I gave up thirty-seven years of my life because I knew Rat Man had the best chance of anyone of getting rid of Slash because that was Rat Man’s single purpose since he’d joined the club. Everyone knew it but Slash. And I knew Knuckles was the only person who could get rid of Rat Man.