Outlaw (38 page)

“Yes. I’d be proud to be seen with you.”

His eyebrows shot up. “Proud? I think you’ve been
out in the sun too long. Maybe you need to put the top up on that pretty
convertible you’re driving.” He finished filling the tank, and replaced the
nozzle.

“I know a place a few blocks from here.”

“Sweetheart, any place you frequent, wouldn’t let me
in the front door.” He stared at her, and could tell she wasn’t the type to
give up. Hell, rich girl like her was probably used to getting her way. He blew
out a breath. “If you want to buy me a drink, it’s gonna have to be my kind of
place. Can you handle that?”

She nodded. “Okay.”

“Okay. Follow me.”

She turned, and walked back to her car.

He got on his bike, and fired it up, and pulled out,
wondering why he’d agreed to this. She’d probably get back in her car, and come
to her senses.

He looked in his mirror. Nope. She was pulling out
behind him. Well, I’ll be damned, he thought.

He pulled into a dive bar a few blocks down the street.
He parked, and she pulled in next to him.

She got out, and followed him to the door.

He held it open for her.

The place was dimly lit, but there was a large
picture window that let in daylight. They sat at the bar.

The bartender walked over to them. “What can I get
you?”

Shannon opened her clutch, and pulled out a credit
card, and laid it on the bar. “Would you start us a tab, please? She instructed
the bartender.

Cole turned, and looked at her questioningly. “A
tab? How long you plan to be here?”

She smiled at him. “Well, just in case we decide to
have a second drink.” She turned to the bartender. “Chardonnay, please.”

The bartender looked at her, and raised his
eyebrows.

Cole smiled. “Darlin’, this ain’t exactly a white
wine kind of place. If you’re gonna drink with me, you’re gonna have to have a
real drink.”

“Real drink?” she questioned with a raised eyebrow.

A smile tugged at the corner of his mouth as he
turned to the bartender. “Bourbon, neat, Marty. And since the lady with the
designer handbag is paying, make it top shelf.”

“You got it, Cole,” Marty replied, and moved off to
get their drinks.

Shannon fiddled with her handbag, drawing Cole’s
attention. His eyes darted to her hands, noting the perfectly manicured nails,
and the expensive gold bangle at her wrist. His gaze slid over the rest of her.
Her long, blonde hair was now cut in a pageboy style, just below her chin, and
looked like it had been styled in a salon. She wore a tight fitting, black
skirt, a white short-sleeve silk blouse and black high heels. Her cute, girlish
figure was all ‘woman’ now. She didn’t look much like the frightened young girl
he remembered.

Marty returned, and set a short tumbler with about
an inch of the amber liquor in front of each of them.

Shannon reached for hers, and took a small sip.

Cole watched her, and took a sip of his drink.

She turned, and smiled at him. “I want to thank you
for what you did for me that day.”

Cole looked away, and shrugged. “Don’t worry about
it.”

Shannon could see that having someone thank him made
Cole uncomfortable. “Can I ask you something?”

He looked at her, and grinned. “Depends on what it
is. You can ask. I might not answer.”

“That day you found us? Were you really there to…buy
us?”

Cole shook his head, and gave a short laugh. “No! Hell,
no.”

She watched him raise his glass to his lips, and
realized he wasn’t going to say anymore than that. She continued, “I’d just
always wondered, you know, how you ended up being there that day.”

He lit a cigarette, and tossed his lighter on top of
the bar. He turned his head, and studied her, wondering just how much he should
tell her. “You remember Angel?”

“That girl that was with you?”

“Yeah.”

Shannon nodded.

“The same thing had happened to her.”

“That’s right. I remember her telling us that.”

Cole nodded. “I was there to get Ling. For what he’d
done to her.”

“Oh.”

He sipped his drink, and then looked over at her. He
tapped his cigarette in the ashtray nervously. “To tell the truth, I had no
idea there would be anyone in that van but him. Shocked the hell out of me when
he opened those doors, and there you all were. Hadn’t counted on that.”

She nodded, and took another sip of her drink.

Cole downed his, and raised his finger at Marty.

The bartender walked over, and refilled his glass.

Cole took a hit off his cigarette, and watched
Shannon. She had gotten quiet. Maybe it’d be best if he finished this drink,
and left. It was sweet of her to buy him a drink. Hell, it amazed him she’d
even acknowledged him. Her kind didn’t usually want anything to do with someone
like him. He picked up his silver lighter, and toyed with it, opening it, and
closing it.

She spoke, and he turned to look at her. She was
staring at the bar top, and he could tell that in her mind she was far away.
Reliving it all, probably.

“I was so scared,” she whispered.

Cole stared at her.

She turned to look at him. “And we didn’t even have
to go through what your girl went through. It must have been horrible for her.
She’s okay, right?”

He nodded. “Yeah. She’s okay.”

“I remember her being really sweet to us.”

Cole smiled. “Yeah. I’m glad she was there to help
calm you all down. I guess we kind of did a good cop/bad cop deal with all of
you. Me? I was the asshole, right?”

She grinned, and raised her eyebrows. “You were
sweet at first. But then you did scare the hell out of me at the end.”

His gaze roamed over her face. “Sorry about that,
but it was necessary. “Did you, uh, ever tell anybody about it?”

Shannon shook her head. “No. I wanted to. I almost
told my sister a couple of years later. But then…”

Cole looked over at her when she hesitated. “What
stopped you?”

She looked at him, and smiled. “You mean other than
you threatening to find me, and kill me?”

He grinned. “Yeah.”

She shrugged. “I guess I didn’t want her to be
afraid.”

Cole nodded, and watched her for a moment, and then
asked softly, “How’d he get you?” She looked at him, startled, he supposed, by
the question he’d asked.

She swallowed, and looked away. “It was late at
night. I was walking on campus, through a parking lot to my car.”

“You were in college?”

She nodded. “Thought I knew it all, too.” She
turned, and looked at Cole. “Stupid, huh?”

He shrugged. “Who would expect something like that
to happen? You were just a kid.”

She fiddled with the cocktail napkin under her
glass. “The van was parked next to my car. I didn’t see him. He jumped out, and
hit me with a stun gun.”

“My God.”

“I dropped to the ground. I couldn’t move. Couldn’t
talk. He pulled me into the van. When the effects of the stun gun wore off, I
was already handcuffed and gagged. There were three other girls already there.”
She raised the glass, and tossed back the remainder. “It took him a couple of
hours to get the other two.”

Cole watched the tormented look on her face. “Hey,
you don’t have to talk about it.”

She turned, and looked at him. “This is the first
time I
have
talked about it. Ever.
With anyone.”

Cole reached over, and put his hand on top of hers.
“I’m sorry.”

She looked down.

He squeezed her hand lightly. “Leave it in the past.
It’s over, Shannon. Let it go.”

She nodded, and gave him a shaky smile. “You’re
right.”

Cole watched her stare at her empty glass. He wasn’t
sure what to say to her. They were strangers, yet they had a connection. And it
was a big one, he supposed. Something like that, like she’d been through? It
had to be traumatic for her. He signaled Marty to refill her glass.

“Does it bother you?” he asked, wondering if what
Shannon had gone through had affected her. And if it had, then how in the hell
had Angel ever managed to get past what had happened to her, which had been so
much worse?

Shannon looked at him. “I’m okay.”

“Do you think about it?” He wondered why he could
ask her these questions he’d never been able to bring himself to ask Angel.

“Every time I walk through a parking lot.”

Cole didn’t know what to say.

She looked down at her glass, and whispered, “I
still worry that I’ll turn around, and he’ll be there again.”

“Shannon, look at me.”

Her eyes met his.

“You don’t ever have to worry about that. He’s
dead.” Her mouth parted, and he could see there were a million questions racing
through her brain. He shook his head. “Don’t ask me anything more, okay?”

She nodded. “Thank you.”

He squeezed her hand.

“Today, when I saw you at the gas station…it was
strange. I couldn’t believe it. There you were. I mean, what are the odds we’d
ever run into each other again, huh?”

Cole nodded. “Yeah. Kind of freaky.”

“When I recognized you…it all sort of came back in a
flash, as if it had just happened yesterday.”

“Sorry to be the reminder of something so horrible.”

She shook her head. “No. Don’t feel like that. You
saved me. Don’t you get that?”

He looked away. “Yeah. I guess.”

She watched him for a moment, wondering if he knew
how grateful she was for that. She wished she could repay him somehow for what
he’d done. “Could you…could you meet me here tomorrow?”

Cole looked at her oddly. “What?”

“Please. There’s something I need to…show you.”

“Show me what?”

She shook her head. “Just meet me tomorrow, please?
It would mean a great deal to me.”

Cole shrugged, and looked away. Women. He would
never understand them. “Yeah, okay.”

“Thank you.”

He downed his drink, and stood up to leave. “You
okay to drive, Shannon?”

She nodded. “I’m fine.”

“Okay. Well, I’m gonna take off. Thanks for the
drink, darlin’.”

“Tomorrow. Four o’clock, okay?”

Cole nodded. “Yeah. Okay. See ya at four.” He
turned, and walked out, wondering why in the hell he’d agreed to come back.

Cole pulled into Lucky’s. The parking lot was full
of bikes. On top of it being Wet T Shirt Night, it was also Bike Night. Cole
hated those. Amateur night, the club called it. It was nothing but a bunch of
guys with more money than sense that thought riding a bike once a week, and
wearing a black tee shirt somehow made them a biker.

Shit.

Cole bet half of ‘em couldn’t change a plug.

He backed his bike into a spot at the front, next to
Crash and Cajun’s bikes. He got off, and pulled his helmet off, hanging it on
the handlebar. He glanced around. There was a small outdoor patio where a lot
of ‘bikers’ sat, and watched their bikes, afraid someone might mess with them.

Cole smiled. He never had that problem. No one ever
dared mess with his bike. He walked inside, and noticed several women smile at
him, and a lot of the men step out of his way. He wandered around, not seeing his
brothers.

A pretty waitress noticed his cut as she walked by.
“Your friends are out back.”

Cole smiled at her. “Thanks, darlin’.”

“Want me to bring you a drink, honey?”

Cole gave her his order, and shoved a five in the
tip glass on the tray she carried.

He wandered out to the back patio, which was
actually more like a beer garden. He found Crash and Cajun sitting at a table.
He noticed Green and Wolfman had also shown up.

Crash stood up when he saw him. “Hey, Cole. You made
it.”

They slapped each other on the back. “Told you I
would, brother.”

He nodded to the other guys, as he sat down. Wolfman
was busy hitting on one of the waitresses, and Green, who was always successful
with the women had a cute blonde sitting on his knee.

Cole smiled at him, and shook his head, shouting
across the table, above the crowd noise. “Some things never change.”

“Luck ‘o the Irish, my man,” Green shouted back.

Cole lit a cigarette, and the waitress appeared with
his drink. She leaned over him as she set it on the table, her cleavage coming
level with his face. He smiled up at her. “Thanks, darlin’.”

Crash’s head turned, and watched her as she walked
away. “Doable. Totally doable.”