Harlow

I swear I had to hold back the urge to kiss Kade as a thank you. I had no reason to feel safe with him but I did. I was unsettled as hell from the day I’d had but knowing he was going to be back there on his bike made me feel like no one was going to mess with me. I could take care of myself, but it sure was something having a personal pitbull come in and handle the handsy strangers I’d run across today. Maybe that was an idea? I should recruit one of Ruff Life’s pits for future runs.

Kade had me thinking all kinds of thoughts, with his tight jeans and leather. There was something about the hair, the tats, the wrist cuffs he wore, and the pure size of him. It just all worked. I would never have said he was the kind of man I was interested in, but I was so interested.

But, bottom line, I’d some bad luck on this run. I believed in karma and the stars. It was what drove me, fixing my karma. And something about this run had attracted bad shit in my direction. I reasoned that Kade was the cosmic balance I needed to get these dogs where they needed to go. Thank you, cosmic balance!

I texted my latest plan to Rudy, with rest stops for the cargo built in, as was procedure, and set out again.

We rode on, the day turning to night. As the sun set, traffic picked up with people leaving work and rushing home. Then the traffic ebbed again as night fell. People were home with their families. I made an effort to brush that out of my mind. The dogs and their future families were my mission.

I checked now and again for that single headlight of Kade’s bike. I wondered about him. Who was he really? Was he a part of a gang too, like those Hawks? He had patches and symbols on his leather jacket. I could only guess at what they meant. The initials ‘DS’? I couldn’t even guess.

Two hours went by fast and my schedule was mostly on track. I figured after the little detour it was okay to stop at a state rest stop. I may have had a couple of weird moments today – okay, a lot of weird moments – but I was determined to shake it off. I’d survived way worse than a few shitty come-ons. I could handle this and whatever else came my way.

I also probably ought to tell Kade that he didn’t need to be my guard dog anymore. I’d be fine; I had actual guard dogs. Tookie could be fierce. I wasn’t used to leaning on anyone and here I was letting this guy tag along behind me. I should lose him, or politely get rid of him. Or flirt with him. That would be the fastest way to get him to run. Ha! Flirting with Rudy had already gotten me into enough trouble. Nope. The only nuzzling I should do was with the animals.

Something in me resisted that logic though. I wanted to get closer to Kade. I wanted to ask about his history. He knew what I was doing here on the road but what was he doing? Where was he headed? He didn’t look like a typical San Nonnus resident, so why was he headed my way?

I didn’t want to leave Kade behind just yet. Whether it was smart or not, I liked knowing he was on the road with me. Sometimes I’d lose sight of him, but a few minutes later he’d be back. It was odd how right it felt.

I pulled into the truck lanes for the highway rest stop. It was deserted but I wasn’t worried. Kade wasn’t too far behind me. I had used up my bad luck for a day, hadn’t I? If the universe was always struggling to balance, then the scales had tipped over on stranger danger for me that day.

I cut the truck engine and walked back towards the cargo bay.

The now familiar single light of the bike eased off the highway and onto the off-ramp toward the rest stop. But as it got closer I realized, with a sick feeling, that the rest area wasn’t deserted at all. There were two more single lights that turned on, already there, waiting. And they were pointed at me. It was as if they were trying to blind me.

Something was off. Where was Kade?

“Open the truck,” I heard from behind one of the lights. I couldn’t see any faces but I heard a click of a gun being cocked. I knew that sound.

“Who are you? I have dogs in here, that’s it. They’re not worth anything to you,” I said and tried to get a better look.

Another bike approached. I hoped it was Kade’s and that whatever this was would stop.

“Kade?” I asked.

“I knocked him off back there, darlin’. It’ll hold him up just enough.”

It wasn’t Kade’s voice. It wasn’t Kade. Shit, shit, shit.

These men had been waiting for me and they’d done something to Kade. I had no idea how I’d stumbled into this mess, or even what it was. There were three bike lights now, three men, and a million problems all of a sudden.

“Look. I’m hauling stray dogs. There isn’t a reason in hell to rob me. I have nothing of value.”

A familiar smelling man stepped in front of his bike. It was the man who had attacked me earlier. He was one-hundred percent bad news. My mind raced, trying to work out how to get the dogs and me out of this. I didn’t know what they wanted or why I was on their radar. There was no point in pretending he wasn’t dangerous as hell.

“Shut the fuck up and open the truck.” He grabbed me by my shoulder and dragged me to the back of the cab.

“Fine, fine. You’re hurting me.”

“You don’t know the meaning of the word,” the man growled and I moved as fast as I could to open the back of my truck. The doors swung open and my animals started barking up a storm.

They knew I was scared, worried, and they responded to the hostility toward me from these men. They were my dogs until I handed them off and my dogs knew I was in trouble. But they were all securely crated. I thanked God for that. If this asshole was willing to treat humans like he did, I shuddered to think how he would treat animals. I knew his type and I wasn’t going to let it happen.

“Look, see?” I said as the biker walked up and down. He kicked one of the crates and I got in his face. He was not going to hurt my animals.

“Hey!” And then I felt a powerful backhand against my jaw. I was sinking into a space I didn’t want to be in. One I’d been in before. Fear, bullying, rage – it was all combining and churning up a familiar dread in my chest.

“See anything?” The other two bikers stayed outside of my truck and yelled in.

“No.” I had no idea what he was looking for or why they’d give a shit about me and my dog rescue mission.

“I know you know exactly what’s in here and you’re going to show me,” he spat the words out at me.

“What? I have six mutts and a bucket full of kibble.”

I had inched as far away as I could be in this small space. He stepped forward and yanked me off the floor of the truck by my arm.

“First, we’re going to get what we came for and then, well, I might just teach you a fucking lesson.”

The asshole put a hand around me and squeezed my ass. That was it. I’d had it. I wasn’t going to be attacked or handled this way. I wasn’t going to be waiting for Kade or anyone else to save me.

It was a reflex. I didn’t think about whether it was a good idea or not, but I spat in his face.

This time it wasn’t the back of the hand that got me. It was a fist.

I got hit so hard that I collapsed to the ground again. The dogs howled and whined in protest and I struggled to understand what was happening.

“Jesus, Farkus. Could you hurry the fuck up?” They were the lookouts, that was what I realized. Farkus, as they called him, kicked around the cab. What in the hell was he looking for?

“Yeah yeah, I’m looking.” I watched as he opened Tookie’s crate and took her out. I began to focus. She squirmed in his arms. God, no!

“See, this little puppy is about to get its head bashed in because you’re too stubborn to tell me what I want to know.”

This scene was one I knew. Some people treated animals like nothing, or worse, deserving of pain and abuse. I knew all too well. I squeezed my eyes shut and then opened them again. I wasn’t a helpless little kid, I was a grown woman, and I was not going to let one hair on Tookie’s little body be harmed.

I felt for a shovel that I had secured next to the bucket of kibble. I gripped it hard, out of the sight of this evil shithead, Farkus, but I didn’t dare move.

“Poor puppy.” He said as he dug his fingers into Tookie. I watched in horror as he squeezed tighter and tighter.

I had been down this exact road before. I had done nothing. I had spent my life trying to make up for it.

I couldn’t let it happen, not to the animals I had been trusted to protect. In a blur, I swung the shovel and connected with something.

Tookie leaped towards me and the shovel fell to the floor. I held tight to Tookie and my mind raced. I had two more Devil’s Hawks to contend with.

Just outside the truck, I heard the sound of tires squealing and metal crashing.

I held Tookie closely and scrambled to get out of the cab. There were bikes on the ground and bikers squirming next to them.

My knight in shining leather and chrome had come in like a wrecking ball, apparently.

Kade! He’d somehow gotten rid of the other two bikers and was by my side.

“Are you okay?” he asked me. While Farkus had beady eyes with only meanness behind them, Kade’s eyes were awash in concern. Concern for me.

I wasn’t entirely sure of the answer though. Tookie was okay. I knew my animals were okay. That was all. Was I okay? I’d just hit a man in the head with a shovel.

“Harlow!” Kade said my name again. It was louder this time, and insistent.

“I, uh, yeah. But…” I glanced into the cab. I’d done some good damage to Farkus. He was laid out on the truck bed and the dogs were going nuts.

“Shit.” Kade climbed in and crouched down next to him.

“He’s not waking up anytime soon,” Kade said to me.

“What?”

“He’s out cold. You got him good.”

“It was either him or Tookie.” That was my defense. That was my mission.

“We need to get out of here. Fast.”

I stood there in a fog of disbelief. I had hurt this man, badly. Maybe I killed him? I held tighter to little Tookie. He was going to hurt my dogs and I couldn’t stand for that. I wouldn’t, ever again.

“Look, put the dog back in the crate. I’ll deal with this.” Kade was moving fast and I was in slow motion. But I did what he said.

I kissed Tookie on the head and secured her in her crate. Then I checked on each of my dogs. I reassured them. I didn’t feel calm, but I made sure my voice conveyed calm. They settled a bit. Inside my head I struggled to make sense of the past and the present.

I walked out of the back of the truck. Kade was moving like he knew exactly what to do in this unreal situation.

I realized that the other two bikers were zip-tied to their bikes. They looked as unconscious as the one I’d hit with a shovel. Kade had done it. Fast, I guessed.

“Can you drive?” Kade had put his hands lightly on my shoulders and was talking softly to me. His eyes, which impressed me as intensely focused one minute, sexy the next, were registering concern. I was scaring him. I had scared myself.

“I don’t. I can’t.” I knew what my own PTSD looked like now and I was in it, one-hundred percent.

Kade left me there, standing next to the truck. I watched as he walked his bike up the ramp and into the back. He laid it on its side.

“Not the most secure but it will do. Give me your keys.”

I did what he said. He was in control. And he was trying to help my dogs and me. I didn’t think, I just tried to move through the fog.

“I’m going to drive. For a bit. We need to get out of here.”

I didn’t protest or even really respond. I was on some sort of auto-pilot. I looked back and saw the man who’d tried to kill Tookie. He was bloody. I’d done that. Shit, I’d done that.

I felt Kade’s warm hand on my back as he guided me to the passenger seat of my own truck.

“There, you’re good.” He sat in the driver’s seat and leaned over to click my seatbelt in.

“I. Thank you.” I felt tears welling in the corners of my eyes.

“Shh.”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m usually able to handle things.”

“You’ve been attacked. You fought back. And I’d say, from the looks of it, you’re in shock.” Kade put the truck in gear and we started rolling.

I didn’t tell him what I was feeling. Or why I had lost my shit the moment Tookie was in danger. Or that part of me wasn’t here, now, but back in my past. It mixed up in my brain and I struggled to sort it out. I’d been given coping strategies; I knew what I was supposed to do.

But I saw more than Tookie in that Farkus’ grip. I was there in the truck but I was also a little kid, in front of my dad. I squeezed my eyes shut. I opened them again.

“You’re right.” I suddenly felt cold. My body started shaking. This was Texas. How the hell was I cold?

“It’s okay.” Kade glanced at me and then back at the road as we merged back onto the highway.

I didn’t say anything. I had no words. I tried to orient myself. Then I felt an arm around my shoulders.

“Here, it’s shock. It’s why you’re shaking.” I slid close. Kade was warm. And he was stable. And I needed something firm at that moment. I needed someone to take the wheel.

Kade was there. I didn’t really know why. I just knew I was grateful.

I’d figure out what next in a few miles, or a few hours.

“San Nonnus right? Don’t worry. I know the way,” Kade said.

I had no doubt. I trusted Kade. I let my head rest on his strong shoulder. I needed to get warm. I needed to get clear.

I needed Kade.

Somehow, he knew the way.