Twisted Rose: Motorcycle Dark Romance 3 (The Darkness Trilogy) (14 page)

“So what does that leave us with?” Rose said.

“If we stay in Canada we’ll always be hiding. We’ll be right in the heart of DRMC territory and we’ll pretty much have to hide out in a camp like Jac’s place in Chazel.”

“So we’ll go to the States then?”

“Yes. We’ll leave Canada and cross the border.”

“And you’re sure we’ll be safe down there?”

“We’ll be a hell of a lot safer there than we are here,” he said. “No one knows us down there. The DRMC don’t control things down there like they do up here. We’ll have a good chance of finding someplace where we can make a life for ourselves.”

Rose nodded. “Alright,” she said. “Let’s get going.”

“Before we go,” Josh said, “I just wanted to say thank you for last night.”

“Oh,” Rose said shyly.

“You are an amazing lover,” he said. “I think we did the right thing taking out those men that hurt you.”

Rose nodded. She didn’t know what to say.

A few minutes later and they were out in the pre-dawn coldness of the northern air. Their tanks were full and ready to go. Rose kicked the starter on her bike and revved the engine. Josh winked at her and pulled out onto the road. She followed him. She would follow him to the ends of the earth if he asked her to.

XXXI

J
OSH LED THE WAY THROUGH
Chapais and out onto the open road. He was impressed with the way Rose rode. He’d been certain she would slow him down and that he’d have to adjust his pace for her but that hadn’t been the case at all. She’d kept up every bit of the way and even pushed him to ride harder at some points. They were easily clocking over seventy miles every hour and at that pace it would be hard for anyone to catch them. Even still, now that the sun was rising he knew they had to keep up the pace. For the first time in his life he was actually looking forward to the future and he didn’t want to risk it with more fighting.

They rode hard and fast along the flat open road till they reached the 167. Josh stopped at the turnoff.

“You sure about going south?” he said to her.

“We’ve got bigger things to worry about than that,” she said. “I think we’re being followed.”

“What?”

“I’m not sure,” she said, “but there seemed to be something on the horizon behind me on the long straights.”

Josh didn’t take any more time to talk about it. He pulled out onto the 167 heading south and Rose followed him. The straights were long, maybe five to ten miles at places, but that would still put their pursuers at just a few minutes back. How had they caught up? They must have been riding through the night. But where had they been getting gas? The little station in Chapais wouldn’t have been open at that hour of the morning. Maybe they were still riding on the tanks they’d taken out of Val-d’Or, maybe they’d filled up somewhere else during the night, it didn’t matter. What mattered was that they’d been spotted.

He led the way over the low rises and around the gentle curves of the 167 and set a pace as fast as the bikes could handle. Even still, the pursuers were definitely on their tail and closing. On the flat straights he fell back behind Rose and was able to glimpse the riders behind them. At the speed they were going at it couldn’t be anyone but the DRMC. It still wasn’t possible to determine how many bikes were back there but it was definitely more than one. The DRMC wouldn’t have sent a single rider after them, not after the havoc they’d wreaked at the clubhouse. His guess was that it was a posse of four or five men.

*

T
HEY RODE ON FOR THE
next two hours at breakneck speed. They passed Lac Malo and entered the Ashuapmushuan Reserve. The road was officially a provincial highway and it was paved but beyond that there wasn’t much good to say about it. The surface was old and cracked, at some places the tar had rippled badly, and it wasn’t any wider than the two narrow lanes that comprised it. They could have reached out and touched some of the low-hanging tree branches. They rode down the middle of the road along the yellow divider line. The sky had brightened but there still wasn’t any traffic in either direction. They hadn’t passed a single vehicle since leaving Chapais.

Periodically, Josh would fall back a little and try to get a read on whether the pursuers were gaining on them. It seemed they were. He and Rose were pushing forward at full speed but with the pursuers riding in a pack like they were, they were able to reduce air resistance on the group and keep gaining.

Josh knew he would have to think of something soon or the riders would ride them down on the highway. He had no doubt they’d be packing enough firepower to gun them down once they got in range.

He rode up next to Rose.

“Keep going ahead,” he shouted, the wind rushing by. “I’m going to lay a trap.”

Rose nodded and put her head down. She was an excellent rider and that fact alone was the reason the pursuers hadn’t caught them yet.

Once Rose got a little bit ahead of him, Josh started looking for an opportunity to stop. He knew the area pretty well, he’d ridden through it a number of times and even spent time with some local natives on the reserve. If he came across a logging camp he might be able to create some kind of a roadblock. He’d have to act quickly and it was a long shot that it would even work but with the pursuers gaining on them by the second he didn’t have much choice.

When he saw a pile of logs by the side of the highway he jammed on the brakes. The bike skidded dangerously before coming to a halt. Josh let the bike fall to the ground and pulled his gun from his jeans. The pursuers were just minutes back at most. He had to act fast.

He ran over to the stack of logs and shot the chain that held them together. It clanked open and the logs spilled down from the pile. He rolled one into the middle of the road and left it there. He ran back to his bike and revved it up. He looked over his shoulder and saw five riders on the horizon, closing in rapidly.

As he sped up he looked back to see if they’d noticed the log. It seemed they hadn’t. They weren’t slowing down. They were still closing in at full speed. If anything, the sight of him had made them go faster. He was still out of range of their guns and by the time he reached full speed he heard the crashing behind him.

The first rider hit the log at full speed and his wheel buckled. The front of the bike dipped forward, the fork scratching the road surface in a shower of sparks. Josh watched as the rider went over the front of the bike and hit the ground hard and fast. He wouldn’t be getting up. It seemed two others hit the log too but it was already moving forward at that point and they were able to avoid fatal damage to their front wheels.

The entire group had to come to a stop though and that would at least buy him and Rose a few valuable minutes. He knew the men would have to ride a little slower now too because they couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t do the same thing to them again.

XXXII

R
OSE WAS SCARED.
When she had to ride on without Josh she was terrified. What was he planning to do? What if that was the last she saw of him? What if they killed him and the next thing she saw was the group of DRMC riders ready to capture her, rape her, and bring her back to Val-d’Or to face punishment.

She rode on as fast as she could, even faster because she was alone, and when she heard Josh’s bike behind her she couldn’t help slowing down a little till he caught up to her.

“What happened?” she shouted when he was next to her.

“One of them crashed. There are four more.”

Four more! How the hell were they going to get out of this? These men were ready for a chase and most likely armed to the teeth. There would be no taking them by surprise. She and Josh had to do something.

Josh took the lead and Rose got into the stream he cut through the air. He indicated to the left and began to slow down a little. Rose wondered what he meant but understood when she saw the logging road that cut into the forest.

“What are we doing?” she said to Josh when they pulled off the road.

“We’ve got to get off the highway. It’s our only chance to take the four of them.”

Rose nodded. She reached behind her and touched the handle of her gun. She’d never expected her life to bring her to a place like this but now that she was here she was determined to overcome it. She could do this. If Josh could walk into the clubhouse in Val-d’Or and take out six men, then she could do the same. Everything in life came down to attitude. If you told yourself that you could do something, then you could do it. That was what Rose told herself as they drove along the rutted logging track that led deeper into the forest.

If she’d been scared back on the highway, she was even more scared now. At least back there the road had a semblance of order and civilization. As they continued up into the hills that enclosed them, as the forest got denser and less sunlight reached them, she began to feel the true danger of the situation she was in. Four DRMC men were hunting her down, intent on killing her, and in all likelihood they would succeed in their task. This was their job. This was what they did every day.

*

A
FTER A FEW MILES THE
road opened out into a clearing. Some old abandoned logging equipment was strewn around the area. Rusted out machinery and tractors littered the place. At least it would provide cover.

“This is it,” Josh said. “This is where we ambush them.”

“Will they know to follow us up here?”

“They’ll know. When they don’t see us ahead of them they’ll double back.”

“And there are four of them?”

Josh nodded.

“Alright,” Rose said. “Two apiece.”

Josh smiled at her. “That’s my girl,” he said.

They pulled their bikes into the forest just at the entrance to the clearing. Josh said that if things went bad it might be possible for one of them to still make a run for it.

Rose prayed that wouldn’t happen.

*

W
HEN SHE HEARD THE ENGINES
of the bikes coming up the track she thought her chest would explode. She was so scared she could hardly breathe but she was determined not to show it. She wanted Josh to be as calm and clear as he possibly could be and there was no way that could happen if she was distracting him. They were behind an old forestry tractor that was close to the edge of the clearing. Their plan was simple.

They would try to take out two guys as soon as they rode into the clearing. That would even the odds, two on two. After that it would basically be a shootout and there was no telling who would come out ahead.

“I think I should get a bit closer to the track,” Josh said as the DRMC riders approached. “I’ll have a better chance of hitting them if I’m closer.”

“But they’ll have a better chance of hitting you too,” Rose said.

Josh looked at her. “So you know what to do, Rose. If things go badly, I’m going to lure them out into the forest. When I do, I want you to run for the bikes. Get back on the highway and go back the way we came. Don’t continue south. That’s what they’ll expect. Go back the way we came and stay on 167. Take the Route du Nord. Go to Chazel and hide out with Jac. He’ll hide you. I know he will.”

Rose didn’t know what to say. She didn’t even want to think about having to escape without Josh. As she watched him rushing forward to hide behind a group of barrels close to the center of the clearing she prayed it wouldn’t come to that.

She eyed the opening where the bikes would come into view and cocked her gun. By the sound of their engines they were getting closer and closer. They’d obviously been searching along the highway and must have realized somehow that she and Josh had taken this turnoff. She was ready to get a shot off before they could get into the clearing. She was well within range. She knew why Josh had gone closer. He was trying to protect her. He didn’t want them firing in her direction so he’d start shooting and attract all the attention. Rose was determined not to let him take all the heat. She would do her share in this shootout. She was ready. She was even ready to die if it came to that.

*

W
HEN THE FIRST BIKE CAME
into the clearing Rose didn’t let fear hold her back for an instant. She stood up from behind the tractor and aimed at his head. She held her arm as steady as she could and before any of the men had even seen her, a bullet flew from her gun.

A second later the visor on the front rider’s helmet smashed and his face seemed to explode inside the helmet. She’d just killed him! She didn’t know what to make of it, the rush of emotion and tension that coursed through her veins was overpowering. She ducked back behind the tractor as a hail of bullets smashed into it from the automatic weapons the three remaining DRMC men were carrying.

With the clanking of metal on metal all around her there was only one thing that went through Rose’s mind. I just killed a man!

XXXIII

W
HEN THE BULLET FLEW BY
him and hit that first rider, Josh was amazed. Rose hadn’t been kidding when she said she was ready to face these guys. She’d meant it.

He followed her lead and fired at the next man, taking him down with two bullets to the chest. The hail of gunshot that had been directed at Rose suddenly came toward him and he ducked out of the way just in time to avoid it.

He only had three bullets left in his gun and he made a mental note to make each one count. There were only two riders left now, which was pretty even odds except for the fact that they had machine guns and had ducked down for cover behind their bikes. Josh would have fired a few shots into their bikes if he’d had enough ammo to spare but he didn’t. He prayed that Rose hadn’t been hit when they’d directed their fire at her.

As the bullets continued to rain on the barrels he was hiding behind, he realized just how difficult it was going to be for him and Rose to get any more clear shots in. He was barely twenty yards from their position. Rose was more like thirty. He peered through a gap between the barrels and saw that the two men were going around the clearing in Rose’s direction. He couldn’t allow them to get to Rose. He had to do something.