That’s where the action will be if any occurs here tonight, and that’s where I gotta make my way to. I find a good hiding spot between two container-like structures, with the tall wall that surrounds this compound at my back. I have a good view of the bikes and vans in front of me, while the side exit of the bar is to my left. So I wait.
And wait.
And wait some more.
The particularly loud conversations, arguments, and laughter reaching me from the bar started coming in longer and longer intervals. Eventually, people start trickling out through the side door, all heading straight for the long rectangular building which must be the sleeping and fucking quarters since more than a few are couples. The sound of choppers rumbling to life out front grows in number, then starts fading into the distance. Soon the music from the bar dies down too, and nighttime silence envelops me.
I’ve seen nothing, have nothing to show for the hours I’ve spent here. For all I know, Ace is already safe. But they’d text me, and I received no such text. Blaze did send a text that he and Ice are waiting as backup out front. I texted back that it probably won’t be needed. As it is, I’m here for the night, or at least until I can be one-hundred percent sure I won’t be seen slinking away.
The sight of Brenda exiting the bar drives all other problems from my mind. Moonlight makes her hair shimmer like a lake at night and attaches to her like a garment of silk as she sways her way across the courtyard to the clubhouse. I could just follow her, spend the night in her bed with my cock inside her. No one would question why I’m here then.
And I’m seriously considering following her when the back door of the bar opens and five guys stride out. They’re not talking, just marching along like men on a mission all the way to the building the white van is parked in front of.
Brenda’s guy gets behind the wheel of the van, another guy opens the back and the rest enter the wooden-walled building, bright white light spilling out the open door.
Angry, arguing voices reach me, but I can’t make out what they’re saying.
There’s no need to eavesdrop since a couple of moments later Ace and a woman are led out, their hands tied behind their backs. They load them in the back of the van. Not good.
I only wait long enough for the bikes and van to roll past me before texting Blaze that they should follow the van, that Ace is inside, and it doesn’t look good.
I don’t think too hard about what to do next once the bikes and the van leave the lot. I sprint back to the courtyard, not caring who sees me, jump up on the trashcans, and over the wall.
My brothers are ready to follow the van, and I just nod at them, before mounting my bike and joining them in the chase.
Brenda
Stormi never showed to help me with the cleaning. That’s so typical of her lately. It wasn’t like that before, back in Vegas when we were still BFFs. She was always there for me then. We’ve known each other most of our lives, but we’d started to drift apart long before the Sinners took us.
Still, I can’t just blame that for her not wanting to spend time with me anymore. Nor can I just blame Ace, the guy she found and who’s been showing her a lot of the good kind of attention. The kind I’ve never really gotten from a guy, but I can recognize it well enough. No. It was my sharp tongue and mean comments that drove her away. They seeped from how I speak to the Sinners to how I speak to her too. They shouldn’t have. But she should’ve helped me more at the bar.
Right now, as I make my way across the dark, quiet courtyard to my bedroom, after having just loaded the last set of glasses in the dishwasher and turned it on, I’m not sure if I want to seek Stormi out to yell at her for not making an appearance tonight or to apologize for being such a bitch to her these last couple of weeks.
I just know I want to see her. My best friend in the world. Ever. And my only friend here.
It didn’t dawn on me that she might be getting in on with Ace in her bedroom until I’d already opened the door to her bedroom without knocking.
Turns out I shouldn’t have worried. The room is dark, smells fresh, yet close in the way rooms that hadn’t been occupied for a while do. I can still smell traces of the lavender scent she likes so much that she gets everything in lavender—soap, shampoo, even perfume. One time, she found these tiny satchels filled with dried lavender and she’d carry them around in her purse. It drove me crazy.
Her room’s not neat by any stretch of the imagination. The bed’s unmade, the comforter half on the bed and half on the floor. Jeans, skirts, t-shirts, panties, and shorts are strewn all over the place. Where’d she even get this many outfits? Shoplifting, most likely. She’s always been a master at that, while I’ve never been any good at it.
She’s not here. She hasn’t been here for hours. She’s also probably coming back here with Ace when she returns. I want to lie down on her bed and wait for her, still unsure what I’ll actually say to her when she does, only knowing I’m not ready to face the reality and inescapability of my own empty bedroom here—a room just as small and just as messy as this one.
But I leave anyway. Because it’s inescapable that I do.
I wish that guy had stayed at the bar talking to me. Even after he left, I kept waiting for him to return. Kept searching for him among the rows and rows of Sinners partying it up like tonight was their last chance to have some fun. But he never came back. Do I really blame him? I’d take one look at that place and turn right around and leave if I could. Tomorrow he’ll just be a memory. A day later, less than that. Eventually, I’ll get out of here too.
My room is cold because I keep the window open all the time. Something smells god-awful in here, and I still haven’t found the source of it. Probably the mattress. Or maybe the floorboards. It’s not piss, not shit, not blood, but maybe a mixture of all three? I don’t want to think about it tonight. The fresh air coming from outside isn’t that fresh either. It’s always full of dust. But what the fuck difference does any of it make?
I don’t even bother turning on the light as I kick off my shoes, take off my skirt, and pull off my bra without taking off my tank top. Then I get under the covers, which thankfully smell of me and no one else.
My hand hits something as I burrow my arm under the pillow to get comfortable. It rustles. A piece of paper? What the fuck?
I grab it and go back to the door to turn on the light since the ceiling one is the only light in this room. It’s a small piece of paper covered by Stormi’s large letters.
I’m levaing tonight. Going acbk to Vegas. I will wiat for you tehre. We can hide togehter.
Back in school, her dyslexia got better with time and practice, but it seems to be back full-force now. The message is clear despite her jumbled up words. She left me here alone! Left me to face the Sinners all on my own!
I don’t know whether to cry or scream or rage and break things.
Couldn’t she have just told me?
Couldn’t she have just asked me to come along?
Did we really grow so far apart that she couldn’t?
I did talk a lot about the two of us needing to find a place for ourselves among the Sinners. I did often suggest she get friendly with Horse. Did say I’m doing the same with Piston because it’s our only way to survive.
I’m shivering, my teeth chattering from standing in the cold room in nothing but my underwear. I should pack up and run. I should leave tonight, right now. I should.