Dix, flanked by a pair or armed guards, sauntered up to the cluster of Firechrome. “You probably want to start getting ready,” he said, staring at Leo. “They’re about to send the last riders out on the track.”

 

“Where’s Daisy?” Leo demanded.

 

“She’s over by the timing station. Riley is sleeping in my truck. Why?”

 

“Because she’s my fucking wife, and my fucking son, and I want her here!”

 

“She doesn’t want to be here. Are you here to race or argue about Daisy?”

 

“She’s leaving with us,” Alex rumbled. “She’s one of us, and she fucked us. She has to answer for that.”

 

He didn’t like the way that sounded. “No. She stays with us.”

 

“Then the deals off!” Alex snapped, looking for any excuse to get out of the agreement.

 

Dix thought a moment. “How about a side bet, then. For Daisy and Riley.”

 

“Dix?” Clint muttered, not liking where this was going.

 

“Same as before,” Dix continued. “Leo wins, you get the club. I win, you go away and never bother us again. But now, I’ll give Leo a one minute head start, and win or lose, you let Daisy and Riley go free and never bother them again.”

 

“Dix! What are you doing?” Jacob asked. “That wasn’t the deal and Cale isn’t going to like it.”

 

“Cale doesn’t have to know. This is between me and Alex.”

 

“Clint! Go get Cale and get him over here!”

 

“What do you say?” Dix encouraged. “You can still get what you want. All it will cost you is the girl.”

 

“Five minutes.” Alex said.

 

“No. Impossible unless you let me ride my Moto.”

 

“No. That’s the deal.”

 

Dix shrugged. “Then the race goes as originally agreed. I’m not giving you the club, so forget it.”

 

“Three, but you ride your Harley.”

 

“No. That’s too much time to make up.”

 

“That’s my best offer,” Alex said, digging in.

 

“Then I guess we’re done here,” Dix said as he turned away.

 

Alex fumed. He didn’t like being backed into a corner. “Two, but that’s it! No less!”

 

Dix thought about it. Two minutes was a hell of a lead to make up. He saw Cale coming and even with only the moonlight, he could tell he wasn’t happy. “Deal.”

 

“I don’t know what kind of deal you made with Dix,” Cale said as he hurried up, “but he doesn’t speak for the club.”

 

“It’s done,” Alex said.

 

“Dix doesn’t speak for the club!” Cale repeated. “What did he agree to?”

 

“A two minute head start in exchange for the girl and her son.”

 

“What?” Cale shouted. “No fucking way! The race goes as planned!”

 

Dix grabbed Cale by the shoulder and led him away. “We have to do this.”

 

“We have to do no such thing! I can’t believe you put someone you just met before the club!”

 

“We promised to get her son back!”

 

“If we could!” Cale raged. “This isn’t our fucking problem!”

 

“It is now.”

 

Cale took a couple deep breaths. “Look, I know you like her. We all do. And I know we said we would help get her son back. And we would have. But this is between her and the Firechrome. We don’t want to get mixed up in that. Can’t you see that?”

 

“What I see is a woman who helped us. Without her, we probably wouldn’t be having this conversation because the Firechrome would have already crushed us. We owe her, Cale. We owe her big.”

 

“Dix, I know you’re fast, but two minutes? Are you fucking crazy?”

 

“He wanted five.”

 

Cale rolled his eyes. “Be thankful for small favors. You can’t do this. The club is bigger than you, or me, or any one of us.”

 

“It’s done. If we can’t stand by our agreements, if we can’t help and protect those who help us, I’m not sure we deserve to be a club. Doesn’t our word mean anything anymore?”

 

“We never agreed to this!”

 

“We agreed to help her if she helped us. Right now she needs our help more than ever. They’ll probably kill her if she goes back with them. Even if they don’t, you know they’re going to beat the living shit out of her. Do you want that on your conscious? I sure as hell don’t want it on mine. What about Steph? What if it were her? Would you just let her be taken away and beaten or killed, to take one for the club?”

 

Cale stared at Dix. “Of course not. She’s my old lady.”

 

“Fine. Daisy’s mine.”

 

“You just met her!”

 

“I know, but I know enough about her to know I want to know more.”

 

“If you lose, you know it’s the end of the club?”

 

“I’m not going to lose.”

 

“It’s a two minute head start, Dix!”

 

“Trust me. I can do this.”

 

“You better,” Cale grumbled.

 

Alex watched Cale and Dix argue. He could tell Cale was pissed and Dix was trying to convince him. He turned to Ted. “Maybe they’ve finally fucked up,” he said softly.

 

***

 

“Racers to the starting line!” Cale called over the PA.

 

“I heard. Jacob told me. I can never thank you enough,” Daisy said softly as she touched his cheek. She liked the way he looked down at her and smiled. She rose to her tiptoes and kissed him, pulling his lips to hers as she melted into his body, thrilling in his embrace and the warmth of his kiss. She pulled slowly back and opened her eyes, smiling at her gallant knight.

 

“I couldn’t let anything else happen to you.”

 

She smiled and handed him his race helmet. “Do one more thing for me?”

 

“What?”

 

“Fuck him. Fuck him as hard as you can.”

 

Dix grinned. “Count on it.” He took his race helmet so he’d have more protection and the communication gear so Thad could talk to him. He kissed her one more time, then smiled. “I have to go. I have some fucking to do.”

 

Daisy smiled. “And when you’re done, you’ll have some more fucking to do back at your trailer.”

 

Dix chuckled. “What about Riley?”

 

“He can sleep on the couch.”

 

***

 

Leo sat, staring at the green light. Fat drops of rain were beginning to fall in a splash here, a splatter there, and he hoped the rain would hold off until the race was over. He never liked riding in the rain, and he damn sure didn’t like riding at his limit, on unfamiliar roads, in the rain.

 

This was his last chance, and he knew it. If he failed again, he knew he’d be stripped of his colors at the least, killed at the worst. He knew Dix was a much faster rider and would, eventually, catch him. He’d proven that when he ran him down on the street. His only hope was to make the most of the head start and hope Dix couldn’t catch him in time.

 

“When you’re ready,” Cale said, the start light turning green. “We’ll hold Dix for two minutes after you cross the timing signal.”

 

Leo revved the bike, spinning the rear tire as he held the bike on the front brake, before releasing the brake and rocking away into the night. It was showy, and loud, but ultimately a waste of time. Dix crept to the starting line, watching as the clock counted down.

 

“You’ve got this,” Thad said in his ear. “He’s slow as shit.”

 

“On this pig, I’m not exactly going to be a rocket,” Dix replied. Waiting, watching the clock count down, the two minutes felt like an eternity.

 

“Just run your race. I’ll feed you updates. You should have plenty of time to think.”

 

“Ha, ha, you asshole,” Dix growled, but Thad was right. Compared to his MotoGP bike, the Harley would feel like it was dragging a weight.

 

“He just passed Porter,” Thad said.

 

Dix didn’t answer, bringing the revs up on his bike. The minute the light went green he whacked open the throttle, released the clutch, and was away, the Harley bellowing its war cry as he began running down Leo.

 

The first real corner he encountered, the low-slung Harley scraped, hard, unloading the tires briefly and upsetting his line. He gritted his teeth as he gathered up the machine and charged out of the corner at full throttle. Come on, you slow piece of shit! he growled to himself as he urged the bike to go faster, twisting the throttle so hard his hand ached as he tried to wring every drop of speed possible from the bike.

 

He danced the bike through the bends, staying on the racing line, millimeters from running off the edge of the road on each side as he straightened the curves as much as possible. The Harley had good torque down low, but quickly ran out of steam on the top end. Great for street riding but not so good on the track.

 

“One thirty-two,” Thad said as he rocketed over Porter, and Dix smiled. He’d gained twenty-eight seconds on Leo at the first timing marker.

 

He battled his way along the undulating pavement, grimacing every time his bike touched down, pushing the bike as hard as he could. As he approached Knife he could feel the brakes starting to fade, the road biased pads not up for the punishment he was dealing them on the track.

 

He arrived at Knife, the ugly bump in the center of the corner making the bike shudder briefly before steading down as he rolled back on the power.

 

“Thirty-Eight.” Thad said.

 

“Roger that,” Dix replied. He was reeling Leo in, but his bike was paying the price. His brakes were beginning to fade badly, and he had to bleed off so much speed for every corner because the big Harley simply didn’t have the lean angles of the sport bikes. His only consolation was Leo was working under the same limitations.

 

He reached Kink, the nasty right-hander, but the lack of brakes tripped him up and he went into the corner hotter than he intended. He leaned the bike hard over, unloading the tires badly as the bike touched down and sent him skidding toward the edge of the road. He held on, allowing the bike to grind of speed before snapping it upright at the last moment then going hard back to the throttle.

 

“Nineteen,” Thad said.

 

“Okay, but I nearly fucked myself there. My brakes are going,” Dix panted as the big bike clawed for speed.

 

“Save your brakes! You’ve got him!”

 

With half the race behind him, he’d erased seventy-five percent of Leo’s lead. But he still had to pass him and, on these roads, that wouldn’t be easy without the high-end charge of the race bikes.

 

He caught a glimpse of Leo just as Leo entered Boot. The long run with no braking should have given the binders time to cool, so with the rain still holding off and the road dry, he ran deep into the corner before applying maximum braking, praying he didn’t end up in the weeds.

 

The brakes held and he leaned the bike through the series of turns, the bike touching and scraping lightly as the suspension worked. He was riding right on the ragged edge of the hog’s lean angles, but it paid off as he could see Leo ahead of him as he began his run to Finger.

 

“Five seconds, Dix!”

 

“I see him,” Dix muttered, willing a bit more speed out of his overworked bike.

 

The run from Boot to Finger had a series of turns, a nice straight stretch, then another series of turns before the kink that was Finger. Their bikes were too evenly matched for Dix to close much on the straight, but when Leo reached Finger, Dix went in deep, praying he had enough brake left. He did, and though he wasn’t close enough to pass Leo under braking, he was right on his ass as they began the run to Wiggles.

 

Thad watched the timers flash the two rider’s times. Dix’s time was much lower because, but the numbers appeared on the board at the same time. Thad said nothing as Dix must be crawling up Leo’s ass and he didn’t need the distraction.

 

Daisy gripped Thad’s arm when he didn’t right anything down with the timers paused. “Everything okay?” she whimpered.

 

Thad covered the mic with his hand. “He’s caught him. He has about three minutes to pass him before the finish line.”

 

“Can he do it?”

 

Thad grimaced. “He doesn’t have a lot of time to set him up, but if anyone can, it’s Dix.”

 

She hurried to the truck to check on Riley, and after peeking through the window to see him still sleeping peacefully, she scurried back to Thad, her heart in her throat.

 

Dix made several attempts to pass on the straight between Finger and Wiggles, but his bike simply wasn’t enough faster on the straight to get past Leo’s blocks. When they reached the first of the left, right, left corners that formed Wiggles, he tried to take Leo under braking, but his brakes were mush and though he passed him, he ran wide, allowing the slower Leo to get the jump on him out of the first corner. It took the next three turns to close the gap back.

 

Thad shook his head as Leo’s time popped up a fraction of a second before Dix’s. He was sure Dix would take him at Wiggles, but he hadn’t managed to do it.

 

“What?” Daisy asked when Thad slumped.

 

“I thought he’d take him at Wiggles, but he didn’t.”

 

“What does that mean?”

 

Thad looked at her. “It means he’s out of time.”

 

Dix knew he had one more last chance to pass, but it was going to be a hell of a risk. He began to feint left, then right, setting Leo up for his final desperate attempt to pass. Leo began blocking, a fact he was depending on. He feinted right again, then left, but this time he kept going left, forcing Leo farther and farther left to maintain the block. At the last possible moment, he dove right, their bikes leaving the road as it fell way.

 

Leo never had a chance as the road dropped away in a slight right hand bend. Already at the far left side of the road, when his bike touched down he was in the grass and not a man on the track could save it then. He went down with a crash, man and machine sliding until they hit the tree line.

 

Harleys were never designed to jump, and when Dix’s hog landed, it bottomed both the front and rear suspension. The shock traveled through the bike, the heavy machine shuddering as it struggled to shake off the impact. Dix kept the power on, trying to fight his way out of the wobbles, knowing if he cut power now and changed the balance of the bike he’d never save it.

 

It was the longest two seconds of his life, trying to muscle the motorcycle around the corner while the bike fought just as hard to throw him off for his ill treatment. Finally, he prevailed, leaning harder right to bring the hog back to the race line. He released the breath he didn’t even know he was holding, then checked his mirrors. All he could see was the ground, the mirrors knocked out of place by the impact of his landing. He risked a glance over his shoulder, but there was no headlight behind him.

 

“Rider down! Rider down!” he called, knowing Thad would start the medical team rolling. He may hate Leo’s guts, but he wouldn’t leave him to die on the track if he didn’t have to.

 

“You okay?” Thad asked just as he flashed across the finish line.

 

“Yeah. Leo lost it on the yump,” Dix said, using the club’s nickname for that nasty little surprise near the end of the course.

 

“I thought you had lost when you didn’t take him at Wiggles.”

 

“I had no brakes left. I went in too hot and couldn’t hold the pass.”

 

He rolled to a stop beside Thad and Daisy and removed his helmet. Daisy leaned in and kissed him long and slow, then hugged him before she kissed him again.

 

Cale appeared and held out his hand and Dix took it. “Don’t do that shit ever again, ever. But I’m glad it worked out.”

 

Alex watched, but Leo’s time never appeared on the race board and he turned to Ted. “Kill him,” he snarled before he turned away.

 

Everyone looked up as nine Harleys rumbled to life, the Firechrome leaving in a phalanx of sound and fury as the sprinkles started again. “They didn’t even say goodbye,” Thad said as they roared way.

 

***