Dix’s head jerked up and he shook his head, trying to shake off the encroaching tendrils of sleep. When he’d arrived home from Dunes last night, and found out what had happened, he’d left immediately for Eugene. He’d spent a few hours hitting bars, spreading cash around, until he’d finally found a woman who knew the location of the Firechrome clubhouse. He owed her a tumble in addition to the drinks he’d lubricated her with as the price for the information. It was a debt he’d repay someday. Maybe.

 

Right now he was focused on finding Leo. He’d staked out the Firechome club last night, parking his bike out of sight behind the pawnshop that gave him the best view of the clubhouse entrance. The Firechrome clubhouse was a big ugly thing that appeared to have been converted from a failed grocery store or something similar. The windows at the front were painted black with the Firechrome symbol emblazoned in the center and a Harley Dyna to either side.

 

He'd been sitting on a concrete block he’d found, with his back against the wall, for the last three hours. The clubhouse appeared to be open around the clock, with members coming and going, but about three things slowed down and the battle against sleep had begun.

 

He debated allowing himself to sleep during the lull, depending on the rumble of a Harley to wake him up, but he decided against it, afraid he wouldn’t hear Leo if or when he arrived, but now, he was regretting that decision.

 

He took a deep breath and stood, walking off the sleep, and stiffness that was seeping into his bones. It was nearly ten and, though the temperature was nice, it looked like rain. He was walking back and forth behind the building when he heard the approaching rumble of a motorcycle. He hurried back to the front corner of the business, keeping close to the wall to disguise his presence, when Leo flashed by and turned into the clubhouse parking lot.

 

The nagging sleep disappeared in an instant as he watched Leo dismount. The urge to run across the street and beat Leo until he gave up the location of Daisy was almost more than he could withstand, but he knew taking on Leo in his own front yard with five other bikes already there would be suicidal. He’d do Daisy no good if he were dead.

 

As he watched, several other bikes arrived, and he continued to watch as Alex and Ted, and some other men he didn’t recognize, entered the clubhouse. He held his position, watching silently, though he desperately wanted to know what the obvious meeting was about.

 

He’d watched a while, then pushed his bike from behind the building so it would be close when he needed it, then settled back on his block to wait. Finally, after a seeming eternity, Leo appeared, his head hanging low as he slowly walked to his bike, mounted up, and donned his helmet. Whatever the meeting had been about, Leo wasn’t happy with the outcome.

 

Dix was sitting on his bike, but didn’t start it until he heard Leo’s bike rumble to life. He stayed well back until Leo rode past, waited a ten count, then pulled out behind him. He followed Leo, trying to keep several cars between them when possible. Tailing someone on a Harley isn’t the least conspicuous way to do it, but his only other option was the yard truck, and having the McGhee Recycling logo on the doors was even worse.

 

It was obvious when Leo spotted him. At the last possible moment, Leo made a hard left and opened the taps on the bike, his Harley bellowing away. Dix banged his bike down two gears and whacked open the throttle, before braking hard, pausing a moment for a car to pass, then squirted across traffic in front of other cars in a cacophony of blowing horns.

 

Leo was well ahead, but Dix almost immediately began to reel him in. If he were on his GP bike, he’d have caught him almost immediately, but the Harleys were more evenly matched. What they were doing was incredibly dangerous, weaving in and out of cars while traveling at more than twice the speed of the traffic.

 

Leo tried desperately to shake his pursuer, but every time he made a turn, Dix closed the gap. Less than ten minutes after Leo made his first attempt to escape, Dix was on him. There was no way to force Leo to stop, so Dix hung on his rear wheel like a bulldog, pushing him, trying to force him into making a mistake.

 

He recognized Leo was trying to circle, probably trying to work his way back to the clubhouse where he could call on reinforcements. That was something he wasn’t going to allow to happen. Every time Leo began to slow, Dix would ride up on one side or the other, blocking his turn, herding him where he wanted him to go and daring Leo to try to force the turn. Leo tried a couple of times, but Dix kicked out hard against Leo’s bike, upsetting the bike’s balance and preventing the turn.

 

As Dix slowly forced him more and more to the edge of town, Leo knew he was going to have to take a stand somewhere. Seeing an abandoned parking lot, he decided he’d pull in there and pull his gun on Dix and kill the bastard on the spot. He was going to have to be quick, but it was his only chance.

 

Leo surged away, trying to make another run for it. Dix was tired of the chase, but had no option other than play it out. It surprised him when Leo turned into a weed-choked parking lot, and he knew immediately they were in the final moves of the game.

 

Leo roared ahead then braked as hard as possible, reaching behind him the moment the bike stopped. He was too slow, far too slow as Dix skidded to a stop, the front tire of his bike slamming into the side of Leo’s bike with enough force to knock Leo’s bike over.

 

Dix was off his bike in a flash, standing over Leo with his pistol pointed at Leo’s head as the man kicked out from under his bike. He hadn’t hit him hard enough to do any serious damage to him or the machine, mainly because he didn’t want to crash himself.

 

“Where is she, you fuck?” he growled, the weapon never wavering.

 

“If I tell you, you’ll kill me!” Leo cried, still lying on the ground.

 

“If you don’t tell me, I’ll kill you anyway. When you stop showing up, she’ll figure it out.”

 

“She doesn’t want to be with you anymore!”

 

“Maybe, but she sure as fuck doesn’t want to be with you.”

 

“You won’t do it. You’ll go to jail for—”

 

Leo screamed as the bullet entered the ground less than two inches from his face. That was a little closer than Dix meant for it to be, but it worked.

 

“Okay! I’ll tell you! Don’t shoot! She’s at the Greenwood Apartment Complex, on Asher. Apartment 1223! Just don’t kill me!”

 

“Get up,” Dix growled.

 

“I told you what you wanted!”

 

“If you’re lying to me, I’ll hunt you down and kill you without warning,” Dix sneered at he pressed his weapon to Leo’s forehead. “You’re nothing to me except dog shit for me to scrape off my shoe. Do you want to change your story? This is your last chance to live.”

 

“No! I swear! Greenwood Apartments! 1223! I swear!”

 

Dix pulled the weapon down. “Gun. Slowly.” Leo slowly pulled his gun out. “Safe it.” Leo ejected the magazine then worked the slide. “Now throw it.” Leo complied, giving the gun an easy underhand toss.

 

Dix thought about pumping a few rounds into the bike, just because he could, but was afraid the extra gunshots would attract too much attention. He slowly bent and picked up the magazine and ejected the bullets one by one with his thumb, then threw the magazine away, as well. He then tucked his own gun away.

 

Leo was beginning to relax when Dix’s fist flashed out, a hard right straight to the jaw. “That’s for taking Riley,” Dix growled as Leo stumbled back. Dix took a step forward to close the distance and drove his right into Leo’s kidneys. “That’s for beating up Daisy,” he added as the man doubled over. Dix grabbed Leo by the jacket and hauled him up straight before delivering a left to the face. “That’s because I don’t fucking like you,” he said as he grabbed Leo by the back of the head and drove Leo’s head down to meet his rapidly rising knee. Leo went to the ground in a heap. “And that’s for Kevin.”

 

He stood breathing hard as Leo lay in a heap on the ground. He should kill the bastard now, but he needed to find Daisy first. If Leo lied, he may need to lean on him a little more. But after that...he’s a dead man.

 

***

 

Dix had to stop and ask for directions twice before he found the Greenwood Apartments. When he found unit twelve but didn’t see Daisy’s bug anywhere, he felt a sinking in his stomach. He stopped before apartment 1223 and rapped on the door, hoping beyond hope Leo had just ditched her car somewhere.

 

“Who is it?” a woman’s voice asked. It didn’t sound like Daisy, but he kept his fingers crossed anyway. “I’m looking for Daisy Watson. Does she live here?”

 

“Who?” the voice asked.

 

“Daisy Watson. This is the address I was given.”

 

“I’m sorry, you’re mistaken. No Daisy Watson lives here.”

 

He fumed. He thought about kicking the door open so he could see for himself, but if the woman was telling the truth, he didn’t want to scare the poor woman to death and he certainly didn’t want to go to jail.

 

“Ma’am,” he said softly. “Will you open the door so we can talk face to face? I’m looking for my girlfriend and her little boy. Her ex-husband blackmailed her into leaving yesterday. I was told they were here. Can you please open the door? I won’t hurt you, I promise.”

 

There was a long pause, then the sound of the door unlocking. The door opened to the length of the safety chain. “I told you, Daisy Watson doesn’t live here.”

 

He met the eyes of the woman, perhaps sixty, peering through the opening in the door. It was unlikely in the extreme this was Daisy’s captor. “Yes, ma’am, I know. Can you tell me how long you’ve live here?”

 

“About two years.”

 

“Thank you. I’m sorry I bothered you.”

 

“I hope you find her.”

 

He gave her a small crooked smile as he turned away. “Thank you. So do I.”

 

***

 

“Get out!” Leo growled at Kitten as he slammed the door to his apartment.

 

“Fuck, Leo! What happened to you?” Kitten asked.

 

“Nothing. Just get the fuck out!”

 

“Okay! I try to do you a favor and you bite my head off. Next time you ask me to babysit your ex, you can go fuck yourself!”

 

Leo waited until the door closed behind Kitten then stomped to Riley’s room. Daisy was there, lying in the bed with Riley as he slept. “Get up!”

 

“Shhhh…” she hissed as she slowly disentangled herself from Riley. “You’ll wake him up.”

 

“That’s all that kid does is sleep.”

 

She noticed Leo looked like someone had used him as punching bag, but she didn’t care enough to inquire about what had happened. Whatever it was, he probably deserved it and she hoped it hurt like hell. “What do you expect with a hundred and two degree fever! I think he has the flu and maybe bronchitis. You said we could take him to the doctor today.”

 

“We’re not going anywhere right now.”

 

Daisy could feel her wrath coming like a storm. “You son of a bitch. You promised! What kind of man are you that would—” Daisy never saw the slap coming, Leo’s hand flashing out and slapping her so hard she stumbled into the wall.

 

“You want to know what kind of man I am?” he snarled as he held her face close to his. “I’m the kind of man who doesn’t take shit off some whiny ass bitch!” He pulled her off the wall, his fingers still locked on her face and shoved her into the living room. “I’m the type of man who takes what he wants and fucks anyone who gets in his way,” he said as he began opening his pants, pulling his cock out through the fly.

 

Daisy began to back away, but the apartment was small and she couldn’t go far before she backed into the wall. He took two quick steps forward and grabbed her blouse, ripping it open, buttons flying like shrapnel. She tried to push him away but that only encouraged him.

 

“That’s what you want isn’t it? A real man, a man who takes what he wants.”

 

“Don’t touch me!” she cried, trying to force his hands away from her as he squeezed her breast painfully hard.

 

He shoved her to her knees then forced his cock into her mouth. “If you bite me, I’ll kill you,” he warned as he pulled her head forward and forced himself as deep into her mouth as he could. She pushed frantically against his legs, trying to pull back as he gagged her with his cock, growling and hissing. “That’s what you like, isn’t?” he snarled as he finally allowed her to catch her breath.

 

“Please, Leo,” she began but he forced his cock into her mouth again, pumping his hips as he held her. She was becoming frantic, pushing and hitting, trying to get away, so she could breathe before he eventually released his hold on her head. “Please, Leo, please,” she sobbed as he pulled her roughly to her feet and threw her onto the couch.

 

He removed his shirt, then pants as she cowered. “Get your pants off, you fucking whore.”

 

“Leo, no,” she begged.

 

“Do it!” he ordered as he tossed his pants aside.

 

She shook her head as she tried to sink lower into the couch. His hand flashed out and delivered another ringing slap before he ripped her bra from her and began tugging at her pant, jerking them down and off before throwing them away. He dropped to the floor, taking a breast into his mouth, his tongue battering her nipple before he bit. She whimpered, the bite painful, then moaned as his finger plunged into her recesses.

 

“You like that?” he growled as his fingers plunged into her again before he roughly massaged her womanhood.

 

“Please,” she begged, moaning again. She was painfully dry and it felt as if Leo was tearing her. “Please, you’re hurting me,” she whimpered then moaned again, working her hips, trying desperately to pull herself away from his touch.

 

“I think you like it,” he snarled, kissing her harshly.

 

She’d healed considerably since he’d beaten her last, but her lips and ribs were still tender. She pulled him her lips and buried his face in her neck, holding him there as he continued to finger fuck her. She grabbed his wrist with her free hand, trying to force his hand away, but he was too strong.

 

Having her fight him was turning him on in a big way, her squirms and moans of pleasure as he dominated her making his cock throb. He pulled away from her then tugged her down to lie on the couch.

 

She cried out as Leo rammed his cock into her. He felt like broken glass inside of her and she pushed at him with all her strength, trying to roll him off the couch, anything to get him from inside of her. He drove into her again and again as she slapped and pushed, crying as she arched her back, trying anything, everything, to get away.

 

They tumbled into the floor as she arched her back, and he held her tight as they rolled until he came to stop on top, jamming his cock into her again. He grabbed her hands and pinned them to the floor as he fucked her, her punches and slaps starting to hurt. “You like that? You like my fat cock inside of you?” he panted, then grunted as he spilled himself into her. He pulled out then rolled to his back, pulling her with him before he once again forcing himself into her mouth.

 

Realizing it was almost over, she stopped fighting him, wanting to get it over with as soon as possible, knowing from experience after he came, he’d soon be asleep. She licked and sucked until he began to soften, then pulled back and gathered her clothes.

 

They dressed, neither speaking. As she stood, he pulled her to him to kiss her, more gently this time. She allowed it, even returned it, just wanting it to be over. It was the same ritual as the last couple of years of their marriage. Ten minutes of rough, sometimes painful, always unsatisfying sex, a kiss, then nothing. She knew what he wanted and she gave it to him to avoid experiencing his wrath again.

 

“Was it good for you, baby?” he asked.

 

“Yes,” she lied. “Was it for you?”

 

“Always.”

 

“I need to check on Riley.”

 

“Okay. I’m going to sit down for a few minutes and rest. You wore my ass out. But after that, maybe we can take him to the doctor.”

 

She nodded. She was treating him with regular doses of the Children’s Tylenol, and that was knocking the fever down which made him feel better, but the wheeze and cough still worried her. “Okay. When you’re ready, just let us know. We can be ready in ten minutes. Please, Leo, if you care about your son at all, you’ll do this for him.”

 

“Yeah, okay,” he said with a dismissive wave. “In a little while.”