Obsessed (10 page)

I quietly dropped to my knees, then eased myself on to my belly. The door was still about fifteen feet away, but I wanted to be as stealth as possible in getting to it. Doing my best impression of a soldier crawling through the mud, I inched my way forward. If one of them decided to come in, for whatever reason, I would have no chance to hide. It was a risk worth taking.

The floor was dirty. Not quite disgusting, but it was in need of some care. It was evident that Jackie and all their other “girls” weren’t the best housekeepers. It’s funny, the little things you still notice when you’re trying to make your escape from a bunch of homicidal, kidnapping, terrorist, bikers.

That same heavy smoke tickled my nose when I reached the door. It was the kind of smoke that comes off a hand-rolled, straight-tobacco cigarette. Thick and lingering. Still flat on my stomach, I squinted my eyes and looked through the gap.

Their worn boots bounced and shifted not more than an arm’s length away from my face. Three of them, at first glance, seated around a small table, drinking, and smoking, and talking. Two more standing at the bottom of the porch steps. These were the two I met earlier. Duane and Nash. They were the bosses by the looks of things. They were involved in a seemingly more serious conversation, but they were just out of earshot.

That was it, at least as far as I could see. If there were more of them, then that would just have to be my bad luck. But, logically, it seemed, they would all be together. Okay, now that I know where they are, I know where not to be. Now, I just had to find a way out.

After backing away from the door, I nimbly got back to my feet. I needed something to wear. My old clothes had to be somewhere around here, but there’s no telling where. I didn’t have the time to look, either. Jackie was probably starting to stir already.

Draped across their bar was a leather jacket. I saw it out of the corner of my eye and it made me do a double-take.
Don’t bikers guard those things with their lives?
Or maybe that’s their vests, I couldn’t remember. And who cares, it will be enough to cover me. I snatched it off the bar and swung it across my shoulders. It was big enough to make me look like a small child. I shoved my arms into the sleeves, but the ends of my fingers came up a few inches short of the opening. Whatever. It would work. I pulled it closed in front of me, and bunched the sleeves up over my wrists.

Down the hallway, Jackie started to move. There was a low groan and some mumbled words. I had to get something to protect my feet and get out, fast. I took a quick look around, but there were no shoes. Not by the front door, or anywhere else. I didn’t dare go back down the hallway to check. Instead, I ran behind the bar and found a box of garbage bags. They were the stretchy kind with the built in draw-string. I pulled a few out and wrapped one around each foot. They weren’t perfect, but they’d give me a fighting chance.

Geared up in my leather jacket/dress and my trash bag shoes, I was ready to make my move. In what was probably my first stroke of good luck, I noticed a door on the other side of the room, across from the front. It looked like it led toward the front of the property. If it did, I could probably get outside and slip into the woods, then follow that dirt road, while staying under the cover of the trees.

The door opened without so much as the slightest protest. It swung on oiled hinges and didn’t make a sound. This was going to work. On the other side, was a small set of stairs that led to a penned in area. Probably where they kept dogs or something. There were none there now to give away my position. From where I stood, I could see the front corner of the building. Beyond that was a short distance to the trees. The bikers were all the way around the front. I could get there without them having any clue, and then follow the road back humanity. Things kept getting better.

Then they got worse. Angry footsteps hammered rapidly inside the building behind me. The sound should have been my cue to take off. But for some reason I waited. It was like there was a morbid fascination that held me where I was. To see, I guess, what would happen next.

The shrill, horrible tone of Jackie’s voice shattered all calm.

“Duane!” she was running, now. “Duane, the bitch got out!”

My feet felt like they were in quicksand. I lurched forward, but I wasn’t moving like I wanted to move. It was like a bad dream. My brain told my feet to go, but it was like they never worked together before. Everything was wobbly. The terror that came along with being discovered was almost debilitating.

“Nash, she’s out!”

“How long ago, did she get out J?”

“I don’t the bitch hit me. Knocked me out.”

The words trailed off behind me because now I was running. Dirt kicked up from my makeshift shoes as my toes found grip on the dry ground. My legs muscles screamed. My lungs burned. I was so close to the trees. Every step hurt, but I didn’t care.

With every last bit of fortitude I had, I hurled myself forward the few remaining feet and disappeared under the cover of the trees. I backed up against a pine that was big enough to conceal two of me standing side by side. Wiggling back and forth, I gradually lowered myself into a seated position. Tears were pouring down my cheeks. I don’t know when they started.

After taking a few seconds to gather myself, I got back on the move. As much as I wanted to believe I was out of danger, there was no way it was true. They knew I was out now, and the first place they were going to look was the woods.

I wanted to put as much distance between me and them as I could, but at the same time, I didn’t dare to stray too far the road. Death by a violent motorcycle gang was terrifying, but death by getting lost in the woods didn’t sound like my cup of tea, either.

I thought about finding a place to hide, and then moving at night, but my body wanted to keep moving. Hiding may have been the safest move, but I wanted to be home.

Voices echoed in the distance. They were looking for me...hunting me. The loud rumble of a motorcycle engine followed the voices through the valley. One of them was on the road, searching.

Thorny brush scratched at my legs. My feet began to bruise and ache. I was slowly beginning to realize that not only was I still in danger, but they were likely to find me. They had to know I would be somewhere near the road. They knew I didn’t have a phone...or shoes. Time was on their side. If they wanted to, they could wait me out. For all I knew, there was only one road in and out of this place. They could post someone at the end of it and wait for me to come staggering out, battered and tired from the elements.

The voices behind me were getting closer. I wanted to fall down and give up. I wanted to go back to sleep. It wasn’t fair. Why were they doing this to me?

I decided, instead, to get closer to the road. It would increase my chances of being seen, but at least I could keep tabs on whoever was out there. And, on the off-chance someone else was driving down that road, I could go to them. I was running out of moves, and that one seemed the boldest I could make.

Beneath an overgrowth of brush, I saw it. The perfect hiding place. It sat in sight of the road and would easily keep me hidden. The brush covered some sort of natural trench in the ground. I could kneel in their and they would never see me.

They were now closer than ever, but it didn’t matter. I bolted for the trench and dove in head first. My knees and elbows hadn’t been this scraped up since I was a kid. The ground was muddy and gross. It was obvious that water ran through it during wetter months. I didn’t care, I was hidden.

Two motorcycles pulled to a stop on the road in front of me. At first, I thought they stopped because they saw me. They parked so perfectly parallel to me, that I thought it couldn’t have been for any other reason. But they didn’t seem me. They had no clue. I didn’t recognize the riders, but I hadn’t looked at all their faces when I spied them from the door, earlier. They were close enough for me to hear their conversation.

“What the hell are we doing?” said one to the other. “Who gives a shit if the little bitch got out. Let her die out here for all I care.”

“Nah, the boss likes her, Brant,” said the other. “He picked her up when we hit the EG the other night. He wants to fuck her up good, as a message, ya know?”

“Shit. I guess,” said the first rider. “But there’s a few other things I’d like to be doing right now than playin’ cat and mouse with some bitch.”

“Yeah, me too. But what do you want me to say? Orders are orders. C’mon, lets go poke around over here. She can’t be far. Anyway, the sooner we find her, the sooner we can get back on schedule.”

They both dismounted their bikes and started walking toward the trees on the opposite side of the road. In an instant, they disappeared into the thick growth. Seeing those two motorcycles alone in the middle of the road gave me an idea. Could I steal one of them? I was definitely closer to them than they were. And the group behind me wouldn’t see me until it was too late. When I was a kid, my uncle showed me how to start it. He even let me do it a few times. I’d never ridden by myself, but I’d been on his back before and he told me what to do. It didn’t look
that
complicated.

There was really nothing else to think about. It was quickly becoming my only option. What else could I do? Stay out here and freeze to death? I stole one last look over my shoulder. They were still a fair ways behind me. The others still hadn’t emerged from the other side. Now was the time to go, if I was ever going to do it.

The garbage bag tore from my left foot as I made the scramble toward the motorcycles. By the time I got there, I expected my cover to be blown and to have the whole gang coming after me. But they weren’t. No one came.

I straddled the bike closest to me. The leather seat was still warm. I must have looked like something out of cartoon, perched on top of such a powerful machine. I seemed to get lost in all the chrome, and leather, and pipes.

Okay, flip the switch.
My uncles voice rang in my ears. The red rocker switch was near my right thumb. I hit it.

“Hey! There she is. She’s stealin’ the bike!”

Oh no, oh no, oh no! They were coming! I was so close.

Turn the key in the ignition.

I looked back to see where they were. A group of about four of them were trudging through the brush. Nash and Duane led the way. They were only seconds from reaching the road. When I turned back, the other two were emerging from the trees. I was equally distant from each side and they were closing in on me fast.

Now push the start button. Hold it. Make sure to disengage the clutch.
The engine started to turn.
Twist the throttle. Give it some gas.
The engine roared to life. My breath caught in my throat.

“Jesus! Get her! If she gets away on that bike, you’re all dead men.”

They were all on the road. All six of them. Another second, maybe two, and they’d be on top of me.

Go! Go! Go!
The voice inside my head screamed. My heart raced at near lethal speed. I could hear the bikers all puffing harsh breath from their lungs. I could smell them.

I worked the clutch and hit the shifter like I had done it a million times before. The throttle cranked forward under my hand. I was terrified it would stall. It didn’t. Hands groped at my shoulders but none found purchase. The motorcycle swayed to the left and then accelerated. I bent forward to accept the freedom.

A pair of rough hands latched on to my hips. They held tight with crushing pressure. The bike shot forward from beneath me. It wobbled forward for a few feet, then tittered over harmlessly on its side. The engine quieted, then died.

The hands dragged me backward, then threw me in the dirt. Someone planted a knee firmly between my shoulder blades and pushed my teeth into the ground.

“Got her.”

***

“Are you ready?” James asked.

“Ready as I’ll ever be,” said Vaughn. “How many of them you figure are up there?”

“I talked to my guy downtown. At least five...maybe more.”