Ryder

 

“Ryder, man! Get the fuck in here!”

 

The booming voice of Crunch, one of Ryder’s closest friends in the Midnight Hunters, echoed through the warehouse. Crunch clamped his hand down hard on Ryder’s shoulder as the dozen or so members of the crew circled around, all of them eager to see their president in the flesh and mostly unharmed.

 

“Where the fuck you been?” asked Switch, a Viking-like man with long, wild red hair and a bushy beard to match. “We’d been thinking you’d hightailed it down to someplace warm to ride this shit out or somethin’.”

 

“Or maybe he didn’t need to leave the fuckin’ city to find someplace warm to hang out,” said Marlow, a reedy, big-eyed man, a sly smile on his face.

 

“Oh, shit,” said Crunch. “That’s gotta be it. So, who’s the girl? Details, now. Bet it was that fine-ass chick who dropped you off.”

 

“Man, give me a sec to take a load off,” said Ryder.

 

He was happy to see his boys, but recounting his night with Kara—the parts that his men likely wanted to hear about, that is—wasn’t what he was in the mood for.

 

“Anything happen to you guys last night?” asked Ryder, looking his men over for any signs that they’d been in a fight. “Any of you run into Franco?”

 

“No, man,” said Crunch. “Just hunkered down with a few cases of beer and rode that shit out. Say, where’s your bike at?”

 

Ryder was gripped by the strange, sudden urge for a cigarette. He patted his jacket down and felt for the familiar square shape of his smokes.

 

“Shit, boss,” said Marlow. “What happened to your face? You look like you got in some kinda scrap or something.”

 

“Just, ah, lemme smoke first. Need some fresh air. Gotta think for a minute.”

 

“Yeah, boss,” said Switch. “But get your ass back in here—we want fuckin’ details.”

 

Ryder nodded and slipped back out the door that he’d come in. Once it was shut behind him and he was alone with the silence and his thoughts, he felt a strange sense of dread come over him. Sparking his cigarette, he glanced around the snow-covered industrial part around him. Off a little ways, in the parking lot a couple of warehouses over, Ryder spotted Kara’s sedan.

 

What the fuck is she still doing here? he thought, taking a long drag and letting the smoke billow out of his lungs into the cool air. Not the best place to pull over and check your phone.

 

His eyes lingered on the car for a long while. Finally, the lights turned on and the car pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road leading out of the area.

 

Glad she’s gone, Ryder thought, taking another drag. Girl was good for the night—she took care of me and was a pretty damn decent lay. And fuck, that body was incredible, if I’m gonna be perfectly honest. But I’m done with her now; good she’s getting herself gone.

 

He took another long drag, his eyes still locked onto the tail lights of the car. As he did, he found himself feeling a strange longing, as though he wanted Kara to whip that car of hers around, pull in front of him, and wave for him to hop in.

 

Ryder scrunched up his face at that thought.

 

What the hell? he thought, finishing his cigarette and lighting another one right away. She’s just some girl. Why the hell would I be thinking about her coming back at the last second like this is some damn romantic comedy or something? Just a one-night piece of ass—that’s all she was. No fucking way a goody-goody girl like her would ever be anything more to me.

 

Despite this, however, his eyes stayed locked onto the car as it pulled off and into the distance.

 

Ryder shook his head. He was in disbelief that he would catch himself acting like that around some girl that he’d known for less than a day and would likely never see again.

 

Before he could consider the matter for too long, however, a single headlight cut through the distance. Ryder’s eyes latched onto it, and that sense of dread that he’d been feeling came back with a vengeance. Without thinking, he rushed to a nearby dumpster and took cover, peeking out just enough to keep his eyes on the headlight.

 

After a moment, the low rumble of a motorcycle sounded. Ryder let his cigarette drop and ground it with his boot. Soon after, the bike pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road. For a moment, he wondered if it was one of his boys, but he quickly dismissed that idea. His eyes stayed fixed onto the bike and he watched it drive out of the area, following the same route that Kara had taken only moments before.

 

Ryder didn’t need a second guess to know what was happening: Kara was being followed. It was either Franco or one of the other Gremlins. He realized they must’ve been posted out here for a long while, waiting for him to come back just so they could have an opportunity like this, and that they’d figured whoever drove the car must be someone important to Ryder, worth tracking down and using as leverage.

 

But Ryder wasn’t about to let that happen. Sure, he considered, Kara oughta be out of his life for good, but that didn’t mean he was going to let her get involved in anything dangerous on his behalf.

 

Pulling open the door to the warehouse, Ryder immediately commanded the attention of the Hunters.

 

“Yo!” he shouted, the conversations around him coming to a halt as the eyes of the Hunters fastened onto him. “I need a bike, right fucking now!”

 

“What’s up, boss?” asked Crunch. “Something wrong?”

 

“No time to explain,” said Ryder. “It’s fuckin’ Franco, and my bike’s wrecked.”

 

Switch reached into his pockets and pulled out his keys, tossing them over to Ryder.

 

“You know which one’s mine, Ryder,” said Switch.

 

Ryder nodded at Switch, then turned his attention to the rest of the men.

 

“We might have some serious shit going down with the Gremlins.”

 

“The Gremlins?” asked Marlow. “I thought that we damn near had those assholes wiped out!”

 

“Might not be so,” said Ryder. “But I’m gonna find out what I can. You boys stay frosty, and I’ll let you all know what I find out when I find it out.”

 

With that, he turned on his boots and burst out of the warehouse. Moments later Ryder was on the back of Switch’s enormous touring bike, gunning the engine as he peeled out of the parking lot. Weaving down the same path that Kara and the biker had taken, he hoped that he still had time to catch up with them.

 

After some driving, his hands gripped hard onto the handlebars, he eventually spotted the glow of the biker’s lights. And a little ahead beyond that was Kara’s sedan. Relief washed over him as he realized he’d been in time. Looking around, the cold winds whipping over his body, he saw that the three of them were some of the only vehicles on the road. Plow trucks were out and clanging down the streets, but Ryder knew it’d be a little while before the city was back to life. He knew that meant he’d have to play it cool, to keep his distance and not let the biker know that he was following behind.

 

His engine growled as he pursued Kara and the biker. His heart pounded, and he kept in mind that he had a long drive ahead of him; there’d be no room for error, and if the biker spotted him following, it’d be bad news for both him and Kara. His body still ached and he didn’t know if he’d recovered enough to be able to handle a fight if it came to that.

 

Narrowing his eyes in focus, he drove on.