Burnt Rubber: Adults Only Motorcycle Club Romance: Roadrunners MC (5 page)

The distinctly unpleasant, stale aroma of spilled alcohol and cigarette smoke made Marion wrinkle her nose when she stepped through the door of the High Wire bar. She lifted a hand to push her glasses properly in place as she glanced around and wasn’t altogether sure she liked what she saw. The thought of walking straight out again flitted through her mind, but she shrugged it aside immediately. She certainly wasn’t in a high class establishment, but that wasn’t surprising considering the dirty, graffiti-stained condition of the exterior of the building.

Her gaze went to the booths on her left and she couldn’t see anyone in the first of them. It sent a slight panic through her, and she wondered if she misheard the information Harold gave her over the phone that morning. She walked closer to get a better view and there was a slight sense of relief when she saw the petite girl tucked in right against the wall. The camouflage gear and studded leather jacket gave her a slightly rough and intimidating appearance. In contrast, her lightly freckled face, braided hair and small size gave her a cute look that men would likely be interested in. Marion walked right to the side of the booth and a suspicious expression crossed the girl’s face when she looked up.

“Are you Carrie Nelson?” Marion asked quietly, and the girl simply nodded her head then motioned towards the seat across from her.

Marion sat down and slid across until she was sitting directly opposite. She was about to speak again, but didn’t get the chance.

“If what I’ve been told is right… then you fucked up really badly last night,” Carrie said and a slight smile flashed across her face.

“What were you told?” Marion asked.

“That you went out to play with Jake Fiori and lived to tell the tale,” Carrie answered.

“That’s one way of putting it,” Marion replied.

“You got lucky then,” Carrie told her. “All the stories I’ve heard about that crazy bastard say he rarely misses when he and his men set their sights on taking someone out. Most Mob guys will assassinate a rival or a witness because they see it as their job. The rumor is that Jake has the taste for it and enjoys killing. It’s supposedly why he uses a knife instead of a gun. He likes to get up close and personal when he does the job.”

“Yeah, I saw that only too well last night,” Marion said and shuddered. “I wish I hadn’t.”

“Too late for that,” Carrie pointed out. “The Mob knows you are a witness to Jake murdering someone and that you have pictures of it, so you can be sure they’ll come after you hard. He’s the apple of his father’s eye and Jacob Fiori isn’t going to sit around doing nothing if his precious son is in danger of being fingered for a crime.”

“The Mob knows I’m a witness to what happened,” Marion said. “They don’t know I have pictures.”

Carrie narrowed her eyes as she leaned forward.

“I was told they caught you with a camera,” she said.

“They did,” Marion replied. “Jake smashed it and exposed the film inside to ruin it.”

“So you don’t have pictures then?” Carrie went on.

Marion reached in her pocket to bring out the cartridge she was carrying and held it up.

“I changed the film just before they caught me,” she said. “The one in the camera that was exposed didn’t have much on it. This one has seven pictures showing the scene, and the last three are of Jake swinging the knife that slashed the victim’s throat. They pretty much catch him in the act.”

“Why didn’t they search you?” Carrie asked.

“They probably would have and then killed me,” Marion answered, “but a slashed throat didn’t stop the victim having a go when Jake tried to finish him off. The Mob guy that was holding me captive went to help his boss, so I ran for it and managed to get away.”

“And here you are,” Carrie said. She settled down in her seat and picked up the glass on the table to take a drink.

Marion stared and wondered just what the young girl sitting on the other side of the table could do. Carrie’s pretty features gave her the appearance of a fresh-faced college girl, although her outfit was pure biker chic. The combination of sweet and menacing was somehow disturbing. There was silence for a few seconds as they just looked at each other.

“So… what can you do for me?” Marion finally asked nervously to break the unsettling pause in the conversation.

“I can introduce you,” Carrie replied.

“Introduce me to whom?” Marion asked.

“To the people that might help you,” Carrie went on. “But I can’t promise anything. I’m not exactly high ranking in the Roadrunners organization, but I know enough to get you through the door in front of someone. Whether they are actually willing to give any help is another thing altogether. The positive thing for you is that you’re holding valuable information that can be used to get at an enemy they’d like to get rid of. That’s why I agreed to meet you… but they might want more.”

“Like what?” Marion asked.

“Protection doesn’t come cheap,” Carrie answered. “The Mob will likely to be making a massive effort to put a bullet in your head because of what you witnessed. If they find out about the pictures, it will make them all the more determined to catch up with you. Keeping you safe from that isn’t going to be easy.”

“How much will it cost?”

Carrie shrugged her shoulders.

“That’s not for me to say. I can make the introductions and then will be out of it.”

Marion let out a sigh and wasn’t sure what to say. She wanted to get up and walk away, but remembered her boss’s words that going to the Roadrunners would be her best bet for survival. The answer to the question that popped in her head wasn’t something she really wanted to know, but she went ahead and asked anyway.

“What do you think my chances are?”

“Of the Roadrunners helping you?” Carrie asked.

“No,” Marion said. “My chances of making it out of this alive.”

Carrie picked up her glass and emptied it. She sat quietly for a few seconds after putting it down again, as if she was mulling over the question.

“Well, you sure couldn’t have picked a worse person to see committing a murder,” she eventually said. “And you really fucked up by letting them catch you. Did they question you?”

“Yes,” Marion admitted.

“And I just bet you gave them a starting point for finding you,” Carrie let out.

Marion couldn’t stop the rueful expression crossing her face.

“I told them I worked for the
Bay Republic Newspaper
.”

“So… they probably know everything about you already,” Carrie went on. “That makes tracking you easier, and they have plenty of ways of doing that. Realistically, I would say your chances aren’t good, although if Andy agrees to help you then your chances will increase.”

“Andy?” Marion queried.

“Andy ‘Six’ Carter,” Carrie went on. “He’s the man I’ll take you to see.” She looked at her watch to see it was now fifteen minutes after eleven. “The place isn’t far, but he probably won’t be there until around twelve.”

“We just wait then?” Marion asked.

“There are a lot of eyes out there, and the Mob will more than likely have people everywhere looking for you by now,” Carrie pointed out. “It’s safer in here, don’t you think?”

Marion pursed her lips as she cast her gaze around the place.

“Not so sure,” she said when she looked across the table again.

“Yeah, it’s not the prettiest place,” Carrie said with a smirk. “But it’s out of the way and quiet.” She slid across to the end of the seat. “I’ll get you a drink to calm your nerves. What do you want?”

Marion reached in her pocket to get some money, but it was refused.

“I’ll have a beer,” she said.

She watched as Carrie walked confidently across to the long counter and signaled to the man behind it. The camouflage pants and leather jacket seemed to swamp her petite figure, but it was still obvious that there were some pretty curves under them. The question came to Marion when the bottle of beer was put down in front of her, and she couldn’t stop herself asking it.

“How did you get involved with the Roadrunners?”

“My, we’re getting personal very quickly, aren’t we?” Carrie joked. “You should have read the piece your newspaper wrote.”

“I didn’t know anything about it until my boss told me,” Marion confessed.

Carrie picked up her glass and sipped on the contents before putting it down again.

“It’s amazing what you’ll do for a man,” she commented.

“Your boyfriend is a Roadrunner?” Marion queried.

It brought out a laugh from the girl sitting opposite.

“I’m not sure Crash would see himself as my boyfriend.”

“Unusual name,” Marion commented.

“Nickname,” Carrie corrected her. “Carl ‘Crash’ McCallister got it from his job of driving the crash truck for the gang.”

“He’s not your boyfriend, but you like him?” Marion went on then picked up the beer.

“Hmm… it’s more than like,” Carrie admitted frankly. “I love him and guess I always have since I hit puberty. My father was an army major, which meant we moved around from base to base when I was a kid. Carl was one of my dad’s trusted men and it was usually arranged for him to move when we did. I developed a crush on him when I hit my teens and it just got worse over the years.”

“So you followed him in to the Roadrunners when you were old enough?”

“Not at first,” Carrie went on. “He quit the army before I finished school and I didn’t even know he turned to a criminal life. It’s not like we kept in touch or anything. All I was ever really good at when it came to studying was creative writing. I did just about enough in other subjects to land myself a place at college on an English course and tried to throw myself into it. College boys didn’t really match up to Crash though, and I never really got him out of my system. I eventually decided to track him down and knew I wanted to give myself a chance to be with him when I found out where he was, so I gave up college a few months ago…”

“And here you are,” Marion interrupted. It was the same words said to her only a few minutes before.

“Yup,” Carrie replied. “Here I am.”

“And do you think it will work out?” Marion went on.

“Oh yeah,” Carrie said and a smile spread across her face. “Crash loves me too. He just doesn’t know it… yet.”

“Falling for a member of a biker gang doesn’t seem like such a clever move,” Marion pointed out.

“Yeah, you could be right,” Carrie agreed. “But what can I do? Haven’t you ever been so crazy about a guy that you would do anything for him?”

“No,” Marion replied without even having to think about it. “I’ve been with a few boyfriends, but photography has been the love of my life for the past few years.”

“Yeah, well look where that got you,” Carrie pointed out.

It brought Marion’s situation clearly in focus again, and the thought that Jake Fiori and his men were after her was enough to kill the conversation. The two of them sat quietly, with only a few comments passing between them as the time edged towards midday. Carrie was first to finish her drink.

“Take off your glasses,” she said. “And put this on.”

Marion looked down at the baseball cap in front of her on the table. It was a disguise of sorts that would cover her hair, and taking off her glasses changed her look. Her shortsightedness made her squint her eyes and she didn’t like the fact that she couldn’t really see properly, but she wasn’t about to argue. She picked up the bottle to drain it of beer then followed Carrie’s lead by sliding to the end of the seat and getting up.