Chapter Six
Irene woke up with a start, groggy and exhausted from the long day.
It had taken more than a few hours to hike up the mountain to the cabin, and with her refreshing dip in the water, her muscles ached like never before. This was turning into the camping trip from hell.
It didn’t help that, as she suspected, neither of the women had packed anything but candy and soda to eat. So for lunch, they all scarfed down peanut butter sandwiches like they were going out of style.
When they finally reached the cabin, she nearly cried.
The running water had been amazing. A hot shower helped a little with her muscles, and she was able to wash the fish smell out of her hair. They checked the cabinets and found several cans of tuna and an unopened package of crackers. Next time she saw Ryder, she was going to kiss him square on the mouth.
A rustling outside brought her completely awake. All day she had been hearing things but seemed to be the only one. She looked over to her cousin and Victoria beside her in the bed. Both had their eyes wide open. She placed a finger to her lips and slid quietly out of bed to the window.
Careful not to rustle the curtains, she peeked out the side. She could hear soft mumbling from around the corner and could just make out the shadows of three men. Quietly, she unlatched the window and lifted it just a crack. Their words came in much clearer now.
“Jesus, Wolf,” one man whispered. “You never said we’d be chasing after a bunch of women. I don’t like this.”
One of the larger men moved forward. “Paco, that bitch has my share of the money Ando stole, and I’m getting it one way or another.”
Irene looked back to Victoria, who was shaking in the bed. Taylor put an arm around her to help comfort her. Whatever was going to happen, they needed to get out of there. She motioned for the women to quietly get dressed.
After grabbing her bag, she moved just under the window, so she could listen to their conversation.
“The men are at the base, setting things up now,” another man said. “Here soon, the whole bottom half will be a raging inferno with no way out but into our arms. Fucking cops and rangers will just think they were fried.” She swallowed. Over and over she’d tried to get a signal to call Ryder earlier, but none of them could get any bars. Now, she wondered if these men had anything to do with it.
“Still think we should just bust down the door,” Paco said.
“Probably get some buckshot in your face if you did that,” Wolf said. “Don’t be stupid. The burn will work.”
“I don’t like waiting,”
“Let’s give it a little time before we smoke them out,” Wolf said.
Irene crawled over to the younger women.
“We need to get out of here,” Taylor whispered.
She couldn’t agree more, but they needed to be smart about this. If the men were going to block their only way out, then that meant they were going to have to take their chances in the woods.
“Take out all the clothes in your bag,” she said quietly. “Layer up. Double socks. Everything. Pack blankets, food, matches, anything you can find.”
Victoria shook as she pulled the things out of her bag. Irene took a deep breath.
“Look at me,” she said to the two women. “We can do this. These are just stupid thugs. We’re smarter than they are and faster.”
“They have guns,” Victoria whispered.
Irene nodded. She was right. They likely did have guns.
“So, we’ll just have to make sure to stay ahead of them,” she said and gripped both of their hands. “I promise, we’ll get through this.”
Taylor gave a firm nod. She was solid, and Irene knew that she could count on her. Victoria looked at her hand. This wasn’t her thing. Jess was the tough one, and Irene knew it. After a bit, she gave a nod. In the end, there was no choice. Her thoughts on eat or be eaten had taken a whole new turn.
* * *
Faster than he’d ever ridden and faster than the law allowed, Ryder made it to the mountain. He sneered at the bikes all in a row at the trail head and rolled his own across the way, hiding it in some brush. Wasting no time, he slung his pack on his back and started to run.
He pushed himself like he’d never done before. He needed to make a two-hour hike an hour hike.
It was dark, but he knew the way. He’d gone this path so many times he could almost make the trip in his sleep.
The click of a gun being cocked cut through the night. He stopped dead in his tracks.
“Don’t fucking move,” someone barked from the darkness.
A man moved out of the dark and into the light of the moon. He couldn’t totally make out the man still, but the leather jacket with patches, tattoos and sheer size, almost as large as Ryder, suggested he was a biker. Ryder only hoped he wasn’t a Los Malos.
“You Wolf?” the man asked.
Ryder shook his head. “No, but if you’re looking to point that at him, then I think we’re on the same side.”
The man stared at him skeptically. “I doubt that.”
“I’m just trying to save my woman and her friends,” Ryder said.
The man leveled his gun at him for a moment longer and then lowered it.
“I’m looking for my brother Blitz,” he growled. “Stupid mother fucker stole my money and ran off. Then, I find out he’s here pulling this bullshit.”
Ryder stared up the trail. They didn’t have time for this.
“He’s going to be with Wolf, and Wolf will be where the women are,” Ryder said.
“You take me to them, and I’ll do my part,” the man ground out.
“Name’s Ryder,” he said and started his run up the hill. He was surprised when the large biker could keep up.
“Havoc,” the biker said.
They ran in silence, dodging the Los Malos gang as they made their way down the mountain. After a bit, he noticed that the ground seemed a little clearer. When he turned back, he came to a crashing stop.
“Fuck me,” Havoc said beside him.
They had made a great deal of distance. It was a good thing since the Los Malos had lit the base of the mountain on fire. The distant rumble of their bikes grew fainter. The bikers were leaving.
Ryder pulled out a walkie-talkie from his bag.
“Cage,” he said into it.
“Go ahead,” Cage answered.
“We’ve got fire.”
He waited for his brother to respond.
“And the women?”
“Still not there,” he said.
“I’ve got Reed working on getting some people over there, but it’s going to be a bit,” he said. “He’s trying to use some of Kace’s old police connections. They don’t know Kace this far out of his old precinct, and he’s still out of town, so the locals aren’t too keen to believe Reed’s story.”
“Well, maybe the fire is enough,” he said.
“Wait,” Havoc held up a hand. Thanks to the fire, Ryder could actually get a look at the biker. Surprisingly, the pony-tailed Havoc wasn’t as old as he would have expected and not like the grizzled bikers he’d met out west. “Are you fucking cops?” the biker asked.
Ryder started back up the mountain. With the fire raging behind them, there was even less time to spare. “Kace used to be, but no, we’re in the security business.”
Havoc seemed to relax a little but still wasn’t happy. “But you called the cops?”
Ryder stopped. “My woman and her friends are being hunted by fucking psychos who are likely going to rape and kill them,” he shouted. “You’re goddamn right I called the cops. I’ll call the fucking military if I think it will save them. What would you do?”
Ryder turned and started running again.
“I’d do the same,” Havoc said, keeping pace beside him. “We get up there, you deal with your women. I’ll take care of the rest.”
Ryder wasn’t going to argue. Keeping them safe was the number one thing on his mind.
* * *
The women sat on the bathroom floor. This was the spot. They had all talked about it, and the men out front seemed to only focus on the front and back door. This was on the side of the cabin and closest to the woods. One at a time, they could make their way out, starting with Irene.
As quietly as she could, Irene climbed onto the toilet and started to lift the window. It squeaked once, and she ducked down quickly. She just hoped it was louder in the bathroom than outside. When no one came, she continued with her work. She sniffed the air and turned around.
“Smoke,” she whispered.
Faint wisps of smoke floated through the top of the door. They were out of time. She pushed the window up in one shove and just prayed that it went quietly. When it slid up without a noise, she sighed and leaned out the window with her bag. It landed silently on the ground. She was next. Irene slipped her legs through and turned, using the side of the cabin to guide her body to the ground.
Irene held her hands up for Victoria’s bag. Once it was on the ground next to her own, she helped guide her down to the ground. Before she could even help with Taylor, she was there beside her. Irene let out a sigh and grabbed her bag. They had made it out. Now, they just had to make it to the woods.
She could hear some shouting from the front of the building.
“Come out,” the man named Wolf shouted. “You can’t stay in there, and we’ve got you surrounded.”
Irene looked between the two women and nodded to the woods. The last thing they wanted to do was hang around where they might get caught.
They ran into the safety of the woods. When they were safe within the trees, Irene looked back to the cabin. Flames leapt high into the sky, and thick black smoke billowed out.
“Blitz!” A tall well-built man moved out from the other side of the woods. She’d never seen him before, and his voice didn’t match any she’d heard from the men before.
He was a force to be reckoned with. Everything about him just seemed to scream biker, from his leather jacket to the tattoos she saw peeking out here and there. He had pulled his brown hair back in a ponytail, and though it didn’t work on most men, it only seemed to make him look more dangerous.
“Wondered when you’d find me.” A man, similar in build, stepped out from behind the cabin. She was surprised to find that he was nearly identical in his looks.
“You stole my money, you piece of shit. Did you think I was just going to let that shit slide?” The man pulled out his gun and pointed it at Wolf. “Don’t even fucking think about it.”
Wolf slipped his gun back into his holster.
“Oh now, Havoc, is that any way to talk to your brother?” He took a step forward but stopped when Havoc pulled out another gun.
“Where’s the other guy?” Victoria whispered in her ear. Irene scanned the scene and found the man edging away, likely trying to figure out who was going to be the victor before deciding what to do. She pointed to the man.
Havoc spit on the ground by his brother. “Give me my money back.”
His voice was filled with menace and Irene shivered.
“Sorry, bro.” Blitz gave an evil grin. “All spent. Maybe I can square it another way.”
Irene frowned. It sounded like a threat, but there was nothing to threaten with.
“Look out!” Taylor jumped up from their hiding spot and shouted, her blond hair flying around her like some sort of goddess.
Irene watched as Havoc jumped back as a stream of fire shot across his path.
The third man, the one she assumed was Paco, had leapt out and ambushed Havoc with what appeared to be some sort of flamethrower that seemed to come from nowhere. Then again, they were setting the forest on fire, so she supposed she shouldn’t have been so surprised, but she had assumed they were using gasoline and a few cigarettes or something like that.
“Tamm!” Wolf yelled, pointing toward Victoria. “Fucking get her!”
Bullets pinged off the side of the cabin as Havoc tried to get a shot at one of the three men.
“Let’s go.”
Irene raced through the woods trying to make as little noise as possible, but she could hear Victoria struggling behind her.
“Wait,” Taylor whispered.
She turned to look at her cousin. This was no time to talk. What they needed to do was put as much distance between them and those men.
“We’re smarter,” she said and pushed forward a little. The path diverged in two. One way was clear and easier to climb. The other looked like it would take a great deal of effort, especially since it ended, in the distance with a cliff face.
Taylor tore off the bottom of her shirt and left the blue fabric clinging to a bush on the clear path.
“What are you doing?” Irene whispered as she kept watch all around them.
“I’m leading them away from us,” Taylor said.
Irene looked back at her cousin and smiled for the first time in what seemed like days.
“You are brilliant,” she said. “Let’s get moving.”
She heard a rustle near them and froze. They were sitting ducks in the middle of the path.
“Quick,” she whispered. “Under that bush.”
The dove through the rocks and thorns to the deepest parts of the bush. The three lay as still as they could, hardly even breathing for fear it might shake the bush.
“I didn’t see which way they went,” she heard Havoc say. A second set of feet appeared, and she wondered who his accomplice was and why he didn’t engage in the fight. “When that dumbass tried to light me on fire, I just started shooting. Think I hit Blitz, but that Wolf isn’t going to give it up. I saw the look in his eye. He’s fucking crazy.”
“His name isn’t Wolf. It’s Kert,” rumbled a familiar voice.
Irene pulled herself from out of the bush and launched herself at the one person she never expected to see.
“Ryder,” she whispered into his chest.
“I got you,” he whispered back.