Blue
When the cab pulled up in front of her house, Blue wasn’t sure she would be able to get out and go inside. She was emotionally wrung out, completely exhausted both physically and mentally. The pregnancy, talking to Torque, and the news of the war were all too much. Her body wanted to sink into the upholstery. She wanted to close her eyes and not open them again for a century. But she knew that sitting in the back of a cab wasn’t going to change anything. It wouldn’t stop what lay ahead. Feeling as though all of her energy had been drained, she hauled herself out of the back of the car and let herself in the door. She immediately locked it behind her.
The house was deathly silent, but Blue allowed herself to stand in the living room and enjoy it. She was used to the hum of tattoo machines all day at work with a steady background of various music. The streets outside were usually full of traffic. At this early hour, the entire world seemed to be quiet for a moment. Soon enough, it would be punctuated with the howls of an infant.
Heading down the hallway to her room, Blue glanced longingly at her bed. She wanted more than anything to crawl under the covers, go to sleep, and forget about everything that was happening. It was so easy to think about the cool feeling of the sheets around her body, the softness of her pillow, and the bliss that would come from a deep sleep. But Torque was waiting for her, and Acer expected her to fulfill her promise. The constant threat of Rat showing up spurred her forward more than anything, and she grabbed a duffel bag from the bottom of her closet and filled it with clothes.
A glance in the mirror made her realize just how bedraggled she looked from her visit to the park, but there was no time to shower. She spritzed some dry shampoo in her hair and ran a brush through it, and then quickly changed into a clean tank top and a pair of jeans. Torque’s knife went into the pocket.
Blue hesitated before she went out the front door again. It was early, and the shop wouldn’t be open yet. In some ways, that was the perfect time to go. She wouldn’t have to explain any of this to Spencer. But it would hurt him to come to work and see that she had taken the bulk of her equipment sometime in the night. He would think she had left him for good, and after all he had done for her.
“It can’t be helped,” she muttered. “I’ll take my stuff, and I’ll just leave him a note so he knows I haven’t quit. That is, if he hasn’t fired me yet.”
Having left her car at home when she had gone for her walk the previous night, Blue didn’t need to take a cab back to the shop. She chucked her duffel in the backseat and got behind the wheel, zooming out onto the main road before most of the town was off to work. She pulled into the parking lot and was surprised to find all the lights on in the building. “Good morning,” she called out tentatively as she walked in the front door. “Did you have an early appointment, or did you just forget to go home last night?”
“Blue!” Spencer came jogging out of his booth and around the counter. He put his arm around her and pulled her close. He still had a black nitrile glove on his other hand, and he held it away so he wouldn’t touch her with it. “Are you feeling better? I’ve been worried about you. I swung by your house when I left last night just to make sure you were okay, but it looked like you weren’t there. You didn’t answer your phone, either.”
“I … wasn’t home,” she replied uncertainly. There was no need to explain that she had been pressed up against a tree in the park or working out a deal at the Satan Seed clubhouse. And now that Spencer had mentioned her phone, she realized she didn’t even know where it was. In the chaos at the park and the clubhouse, she must have left it somewhere. “Sorry if I made you worry.”
“It’s okay. I just can’t lose my best artist,” he replied with a grin.
“Don’t let him fool you,” said a voice from behind Spencer. The curtain over his booth parted to reveal Bri, his wife. With her sleek dark hair, heavy eyeliner, and quality tattoos, she had been one of the classiest tattoo artists in the area. Before Spencer had put a ring on her finger, she’d had numerous offers from her clients and from other shop owners. Of course, she had turned them all down. “He’s been worried sick about you all night. I thought I’d have to slip him a mickey just to get him to go to bed.” She poked her husband on the arm and smiled.
Spencer made a pouty face at his wife, but he didn’t argue. “It’s just that I’ve never known you to miss work. I don’t know what’s going on, Blue, but I’m happy to talk about it if you want to.” His brown eyes were sympathetic and somewhat sad.
Blue’s shoulders slumped under the weight of it all. She’d been going through so much, and there had been nobody for her to share it with. Maybe it was time to talk about it, after all. Spencer was the only person who knew even a fraction of what she had been doing through. First, she peered around the shop. “What are you doing here so early? It’s barely past eight.”
“Working on Bri’s sleeve. She hardly gets a chance to come in anymore, but her mom wanted to take the baby to some special kids’ breakfast at the diner. It seemed like the perfect opportunity.” He pointed to his wife’s arm, where a partially-formed scene of birds in a tree was slowly coming to life. The outline had been done quite some time ago, but he was shading in the leaves and adding every tiny feather to the birds.
“So, there’s nobody else here?”
“Nope.”
“Good. Then I’ll lock the door, and you make a pot of coffee.”
Blue unloaded her burdens. She explained that she and Torque had a fling, but that she didn’t know where it was going. Although she spared Spencer the knowledge that she’d had sex in the shop, she did tell them how Rat had turned up once again and taken Torque down. “I know I should have told you all about that a long time ago, but I didn’t think it mattered. I figured Rat was done with us, and that Torque was gone for good, and that it was time to just move on with my life. But Torque showed back up last night, and he told me his club is going to war with the Dirty Bastards. I don’t really know what that means or what to do. To make matters even worse, I’m pregnant.” Saying the words aloud brought every emotion to a head. Tears welled up in her eyes and threatened to spill over her lashes, and she suddenly felt more sorry for herself than she had when her mother had gone off and left her.
“Oh, honey.” Bri came forward and put her arms around Blue. The two women had never been very close, but it was a heartfelt gesture that only made Blue sob more.
She leaned into Bri and let the tears come. But there was more to explain. “I came here to get my equipment and take it to the Satan Seed clubhouse. I’m tattooing the president in exchange for his protection and for letting me stay there with Torque for a little while.”
Spencer had sat quietly and listened up until this point, but he was suddenly animated at this news. He rose quickly from the chair he had parked himself in and slammed his mug of coffee on the desk, letting the dark liquid slosh over the side. “You can’t do that! You’ve got appointments here, and you’re already behind. Besides that, you can’t legally tattoo outside of a shop. It’s a violation of health department regulations.”
“Spencer!” Bri chided. “I don’t think a motorcycle gang gives two shits about health department regulations. And there are more important things going on here than keeping appointments.” She kept one arm around Blue, almost protectively.
“I know,” he responded quietly. He remained on his feet, but he was visibly calming down already at his spouse’s lecture.
“He’s right,” Blue said. “I mean, I’m not worried about where I tattoo right now, but this is a business. I can’t let my drama interfere with everything we have going on here. I should just pretend like none of this is happening and move on with my life.” In a way, it was a very comforting thought. She had gotten through plenty of other terrible times in her life by doing something very similar. It was easier to bury her head in the sand and act like everything was fine than to actually face reality. She could put her head down and just keep on tattooing until she had no memory of anything else. Some facets of reality, though—like the baby—could only be ignored for so long.
Bri shook her head and squeezed her arm around Blue’s shoulders. “Don’t be ridiculous. This isn’t drama. This is major stuff, and it needs to be dealt with. First and foremost, we’ve got to get you away from these bikers. A pregnant woman has no place in a gang war.”
“I have to agree with that,” Spencer said. “I know Torque seems like a good guy. He really helped us out here when Rat was being such an asshole, but that doesn’t mean he’s doing the right thing by letting you stay at the clubhouse. I mean, what are the other bikers even like? Are you really going to be safe there? Hell, you probably wouldn’t be in this boat if it hadn’t been for him.”
Blue gaped at them, feelings of uncertainty squirming around in her stomach like snakes. She touched the knife in her pocket that Torque had given her. It felt heavy and cold. “But what do I do, then? I can’t just pick up and disappear. I’ve got no place to go.”
“Come to our house,” Bri volunteered immediately. “We’re on the other side of the town, and in a nicer neighborhood. I doubt anyone will come looking for you there, and I’m home almost all the time. It’ll be safer for you and for the baby until this whole thing calms down.”
It sounded nice, but it was the exact opposite of what she had set out to do that morning. The way Torque had talked, it had sounded like he wanted to be a part of her life. But had that just been a ploy to have his way with her and get Acer to allow her in the clubhouse? Had he really meant any of it, or would he just kick her out and run off once the baby came and he no longer had a use for her? She wasn’t really losing anything by staying at Spencer and Bri’s house, and there was no need to tattoo Acer if she wouldn’t be staying with Torque. Maybe staying with the Hagens’ would be a nice middle ground.
Blue turned her head toward her booth. She had done a good job cleaning everything up, but in her mind’s eye she could still see the bloodstains on the walls. Spencer was right. The Dirty Bastards had been causing a ruckus, but it was Torque’s interference that had started all the trouble. Life had been as steady as she had ever known it to be before Rat and Torque had gotten into it and dragged her into the middle. “Okay. That sounds good.”
Spencer smiled and nodded, his shoulders visibly relaxing. He picked his coffee mug back up and drained what was left in it. “I’m just about finished with our session today, so you can get a ride home with Bri. I was planning on staying here anyway, so I can work on rearranging the books and having things prepped for the day’s appointments.”
“I can stay here with you,” Blue volunteered, even though her eyelids were constantly threatening to close. She felt so guilty about everything that had happened and how much work she had missed. “I just need a short nap.”
“No,” Bri intercepted. “You’re growing a baby. You can’t go walking around like a zombie. You’re coming home with me, and then you can go to sleep for as long as you need to. Spencer can bring your car back this evening.”
The two women made it out to Bri’s car a few minutes later, once Blue’s things had been transferred from her own ride. “You’re going to love being a mother,” Bri said with a soft smile as she put the vehicle in gear. “I always knew I wanted a baby, but once I was actually pregnant I was really worried. I didn’t know how I would balance my life with having a child. But it’s funny. It’s like it all just works itself out. Sometimes it even shifts from day to day, but when I go to bed at night I’m so happy to know I have a little one in the next room.” Her face glowed in the morning light as she reflected on her motherhood.
“I’m jealous of those thoughts,” Blue admitted. “All I can seem to think about is how I don’t know what I’m doing. I’ve never really been around babies much. Hell, I’ve never even changed a diaper.” She gave a laugh as she realized just how ironic it all was.
“You didn’t do any babysitting when you were a teenager?”
Blue frowned as she looked out the window. That was yet another typical experience she had missed out on. She didn’t recall being very interested in that sort of job, but nobody would have wanted the weird foster kid to watch their precious offspring. “Can’t say that I did.”
Bri tried to be reassuring. “It comes more naturally than you think. There are a ton of books you can read, and I still have a bunch of them I can lend you, but all the books in the world don’t prepare you for the reality of it. The nurse puts that baby in your arms, and then your whole perspective just completely changes. You just know what to do.”
“I hope you’re right,” Blue muttered. She couldn’t imagine how any of this could go well. Bri would be around, and she could always ask her for advice, but she didn’t like the idea of having to rely on someone else. And there was no way she would just automatically know what to do. Her own mother hadn’t, or at least she hadn’t been willing to act on it.
“I’ve got to make a quick stop on the way home to get Ava. It won’t take long, I promise.” They pulled up in front of a ranch home with a pretty yard and a shade tree. Flowers lined the sidewalk that led up to the bright yellow front door. It was the dictionary definition of suburbia. Bri jumped out of the driver’s seat and trotted up to the front door.
She emerged a few minutes later with baby Ava in her arms and her mother behind her in the doorway. Blue couldn’t hear anything, but she could tell that Bri’s mom was talking nonstop. The older woman kept trying to stuff things into the diaper bag as Bri carried it out the door. The baby, who was about eighteen months old, fussed at being held. Bri set her down and let her slowly toddle to the car, holding her hand.
“Sorry about that,” Bri said as she opened the back door and deposited Ava in her car seat. She used deft and experienced fingers to buckle all the numerous straps in place and make sure everything was secure. “My mom gets a little attached. If I don’t just grab the baby and run, I’ll be there all day hearing advice about child-rearing and how I used to do the most adorable things when I was little. Then she starts putting food and money in the diaper bag, like I can’t take care of things myself. It’s so annoying.”
“You’re lucky,” Blue said before she even thought about the words.
Bri shut her door, buckled her seatbelt, and put the car in reverse. “I guess you’re right. But it’s just gotten so old already. I mean, I’ve heard all her stories, and I did my best to listen to her advice back when I was pregnant. I’m not going to do absolutely everything my mom says, you know?”
Blue sucked in her lower lip to keep from talking. She wanted to tell Bri that not everyone had someone who was willing to jump in and act as a grandparent. If Bri had someone to talk to about being a mother, someone who would watch her daughter for her, and someone who cared enough to give advice, then she had a lot more than Blue had ever had. There would be no grandparents at all for Blue’s baby; her own parents had disappeared so long ago that she no longer cared to find them, and Torque’s parents were dead. That didn’t exactly make for a big, happy family.
“Yeah.”
They went over the highway, which was the quick route to the other side of town, and finally pulled in at the Hagens’ house. A two-story home with an attached garage and a big picture window in the front, it rested at the end of a quiet cul-de-sac. The homes that surrounded it were equally nice, and children played in the front yard a few houses down. It wasn’t anything fancy. Still, it was much nicer than any place Blue had ever lived, and she knew she should feel grateful instead of resentful. Maybe Bri had always known a decent life and that made it harder for her to appreciate, but Blue couldn’t hold that against her. She volunteered to carry in the diaper bag.
“Do you want anything to eat?” Bri asked as they shut the front door behind them in the living room. It was a large space with wooden floors, recessed lighting, and a flat-screen television on the wall. A large photo of Spencer, Bri, and Ava presided from a large picture frame on the wall across from the window. “I went grocery shopping yesterday, so there’s plenty in the fridge and the pantry. Help yourself to whatever you might need.”
“That’s okay.” Why could she be so demanding and argumentative in front of Torque but feel so shy and intimidated when she talked to Bri? It was no wonder the two of them had been so distant with each other, even though Bri seemed like a genuinely nice person. Blue was just too weird, and it made her want to cry.
“No, I’m serious.” Bri lifted Ava into a playpen and headed into the kitchen. “I meant it when I said you could stay with us, and I didn’t just mean a couch to sleep on. There’s a guest bedroom upstairs, so you’ll have your own place and some privacy. I have to keep a pretty steady meal schedule because of Ava, so there’s no reason you can’t sit down and join us. Did you have breakfast yet?”
“No,” Blue admitted, feeling guilty. She had known she was pregnant for less than a day, and already she wasn’t doing a good job taking care of herself.
“You’ll need plenty of protein, calcium, and iron,” Bri explained as she yanked open the fridge door and began pointing out its contents. “I’ve got some sliced turkey and cheese for sandwiches. I’m a big fan of yogurt, so I have about ten different flavors in here. And this bottom drawer is always stuffed with fresh vegetables.” She pulled several items from the fridge and laid them on the counter.
Blue blinked at the fare on the counter and what was still left in the fridge. “I had no idea you were into all this health food.” She had a sudden memory of opening the fridge at home when she was a child. Mother had rarely gone to the grocery store, opting instead to run to the corner market when she needed her cigarettes and grabbing whatever small thing she thought might get them through the day. They had subsisted on gas station pizzas and occasional handouts from the soup kitchen. Even at her own home, she didn’t have much more than a few frozen meals and some peanut butter.
Blue felt guilty at the idea of eating such quality food when she hadn’t bought it. “It must be so expensive.”
Bri grabbed a frying pan from a nearby rack and set it on the stove. She lit the burner underneath it and began cracking eggs. “It’s really a lot cheaper than going out and buying fast food or eating at a restaurant, plus you know exactly what you’re getting. I might pay a few extra dollars here and there, but it’s not enough to notice. Don’t think I don’t still like to grab a frozen pizza now and then, but I really started thinking about what I eat once I found out I was pregnant. Some of that was because I wanted to be healthy, and some of that was because the hormones can completely change your habits.” Bri sprinkled salt, pepper, garlic, and some red powder over the eggs.
“What’s that?”
“Paprika,” Bri explained. “It adds that little extra something, and I just love it on my fried eggs.”
The eggs began to sizzle in the pan, and the scent was making Blue’s mouth water. It also made her stomach turn. When was the last time she had eaten anything? She was pretty sure she had skipped more than just breakfast. “I don’t know how to thank you,” she whispered. “You have no reason to be so nice to me.”
Her host thought about that for a moment as she flipped the eggs, then turned toward the fruit bowl and began preparing a side dish to go with the protein. She quickly sliced a banana into a bowl and followed it up with few mandarin oranges before pulling a carton of strawberries from the fridge. A fruit salad was appearing in only a few minutes. “I know you and I haven’t really talked much. If I’m completely honest, I was a little jealous when Spencer took you under his wing. You’re young and beautiful, and you’re so freaking talented. He was so excited about having you there, and he talked about you all the time. I was worried that he might decide he wanted someone like you instead of someone like me.”
Blue was taken aback by that idea. “I never thought of Spencer that way, and I wouldn’t have done that to you. And I’ve always thought your artwork was amazing.” She felt horrible that her presence had made Bri so uncomfortable. It was no wonder it had taken them such a long time to finally start to get to know each other.
Bri reached out and patted Blue’s hand. “I know you didn’t. It was my own insecurities doing that to me, and unfortunately it kept me from really getting to know you. But I know now that Spencer and I are solid, and if he cares about you then I do, too.” She turned away to flip the eggs out onto the plate and put it in front of Blue. “Now have a seat.”
Blue did as she was told and kept her eyes tipped down toward her breakfast so that Bri wouldn’t see her tears.
Torque
Torque had cleaned his gun and sharpened all of his knives. He had ensured that his motorcycle had a full tank of gas. He had checked with the other members of Satan Seed to see how they were doing and if they had their weapons at the ready and their bikes tuned. There wasn’t anything left for him to do, and he hated it.
When he had sent Blue out into the morning to gather everything she needed, he had hoped she would return within the hour. But half the day had slipped by without any word from her, and it sat like a stone in his chest. Something was wrong.
“Torque, come in here for a minute.” Acer had been in and out of the clubhouse all day, and he now beckoned Torque into his office.
Just off the bar, where he could still be in the center of things, the president’s office was a shrine to the days of the biker gang’s past. There were black-and-white photos of his parents and shots of rows upon rows of bikes at meetings. A framed leather vest hung on the wall that had belonged to the founder of Satan Seed back in the fifties. Someone had constructed a coat rack out of numerous wrenches welded together, and there was even a clock made from an old wheel. Acer dropped down into the chair behind his desk and picked up a miniature motorcycle made of nuts and bolts soldered together. “I talked to the cops today.” His voice was quiet, solemn.
“You what?” Torque had expected discussion of the war, but not news like this. No biker gangs worked closely with the police and preferred to avoid them entirely. This couldn’t be good news. “Why?”
Acer sighed. “This town isn’t big enough to support both Satan Seed and the Dirty Bastards. As much as I’d like to carry on as usual, this war has been coming for a long time. I went down and talked to one of the officers that was at the scene the other night, because I needed to know for sure who shot that cop. If it was one of us, then we’d have to deal with it. I might not exactly be a law-abiding citizen all the time, but I sure as hell don’t condone that.”
“What did he say?” Torque leaned forward, his elbows on his knees to keep himself in his seat.
“They don’t know the exact identity of the man who did it, but by the description it was a Bastard. I’m sure you know how relieved I was to hear it, but the incident has made the citizens far more aware of the fact that they have a town full of bikers. They’re not pleased about it, and neither are the cops.”
Torque shifted, uncertain where this was going. “I guess this means we’ll have to be looking over our shoulders for both the police and the Bastards.” It was a heavy burden to bear. How could they win at all if everyone was against them?
“That might have been the case,” Acer agreed, “except I explained to the officer what I wanted for this town. Satan Seed has agreed to work closely with law enforcement to eradicate the Bastards. They’ve been the cause for too many incidents around here. I told him we were on the side of the town, and that we didn’t want a fight on our hands.” Acer laughed softly. “I think he was about ready to shit his pants. It surprised them enough to see me walking into their headquarters, but I’m sure they never expected that.”
“So, what do we do from here?” Torque was eager for a plan. Waiting around at the clubhouse didn’t suit him well.
“I’ll be sending our members out in teams on patrol duty. Apparently, the Bastards have been causing problems all over town. The cop showed me reports of burglaries, fires, and small riots like they’ve never seen before. We have to agree not to engage with the DBs if at all possible and to report what we see to the police. Now, I know.” He held up his hands to stop Torque from interrupting. “We’re the kind of guys who don’t wait around for someone else to help us, but this is the only right thing to do. The citizens, if they know we aren’t the bad guys, are going to feel safer if they know there are that many more sets of eyes watching out for them. The cops will be happy because they know we’re on their side. This alliance unifies everyone in town against the Bastards, and we couldn’t ask for anything more than that.”
Torque leaned back and studied the vintage Indian Motorcycles sign on the wall behind Acer’s desk. It had been there as long as he could remember, with its splotches of rust around the edges. Never in his life would he have imagined that Satan Seed would unite with the cops. It was a sign of just how bad things were, and the stone in his chest dropped down into his gut with a thud. “Blue isn’t back yet. I’ve got to go find her.”
Acer nodded, not arguing this time about the safety of Blue now that Satan Seed was protecting the whole town. “I’ll arrange a patrol to go with you.”
“No,” Torque argued. “I’m going alone. I’ll be too conspicuous otherwise, and I still don’t want the Bastards to follow me to her. I’ll get her and bring her back. Once I know she’s safe, then I’ll join in the patrols.”
The president opened his mouth to argue, but he just sighed instead. “Go, then. I sure hope this girl is as important as you make it sound.”
“Trust me, she is.”
Torque roared out of the garage a few minutes later, still kicking himself for letting Blue go alone. The Bastards hadn’t settled down as they had expected, and there was no telling what might have happened to her in the few hours since she had been gone. President or not, he never should have let Acer talk him into something so foolish. Once he found Blue, he would keep her in his sights at all times. She might not be very happy about being confined to his quarters at the clubhouse, but at least Torque would know she was safe.
Blue’s house was closest, so it made sense to check there first. Her driveway was empty, the lights were off, and there were no signs of a struggle. With no more time to waste, he headed for the shop.
He wasn’t anywhere close to it when he saw the black plume of smoke rising into the air, and his gut clenched. The Bastards had lit another fire. He would have to report it to Acer later, once he had found Blue. He wasn’t officially on patrol duty yet.
But as he turned into the parking lot, he quickly realized that it was Spencer’s Shop that had been set ablaze. Brilliant flames licked at the glass across the front of the building, tinting it black. One of the windows had been broken, and smoke poured out through the hole. The roof of the place had caught flame, sending up the charcoal-colored cloud he had seen before.
With his heart pounding, Torque leapt off his bike and grabbed the door handle. It was too hot, and he ripped off his vest to wrap around his hand. Once inside, he wrapped it around his face to keep too much smoke from getting inside his lungs. The shop, once a clean place filled with beautiful artwork, was now nothing more than a box full of flames and toxic gases. He shoved aside the curtain that led to Blue’s booth, but nobody was inside. Torque moved to the next booth and immediately spotted the body lying on the floor.
With a growl of anger, Torque grabbed Spencer by the armpits and threw him over his shoulder. He deposited him in the parking lot before running back inside to finish checking through the place. A firebomb had been thrown through the window and had caught the upholstery of the waiting room furniture on fire, evidenced by the melted plastic arms of the chair and the intense heat at the front of the building. He searched through the other rooms, but he couldn’t find Blue.
When he returned to the parking lot, Spencer was waking up. The thin man rolled over on his side as coughs racked his body and his eyes watered. Burn marks seared his clothing, and the bottoms of his shoes looked as though they had melted slightly. He blinked up at Torque for a second, a look of fear in his eyes, before trying to crawl off across the parking lot.
“Hey!” Torque put a heavy hand on his shoulder to stop him. “Where are you going?”
Spencer swiped at his eyes and squinted up at the biker once again. “Oh, it’s you. I thought it was one of them.”
“Did the Bastards do this?” Torque already knew what the answer was. Nobody else would feel the need for that sort of action. “Was it Rat?”
The tattoo artist shook his head as he coughed again and gasped for air. “I think it was one of them, but it wasn’t Rat. I only got a glimpse of the guy, but he was wearing the vest of a Dirty Bastard. Is this the war?”
“Just the beginning of it. Where’s Blue?” Torque demanded as he retrieved a bottle of water from his saddle bag, opened it, and handed it over.
Spencer took the drink with a shaking hand and tipped it into his mouth. He swished the liquid on his tongue for a moment before spitting it out onto the asphalt and doing it over again. “I don’t think I’ll ever eat barbecue again.”
“Where’s Blue?” Torque repeated. Spencer had surely suffered from smoke inhalation, but there was no time to waste. Whoever had done this was no doubt taking out Rat’s revenge.
The water had helped, and Spencer pushed himself up to a sitting position. “How do I know I can trust you?” he wheezed. “For all I know, this is what you’ve been planning since the beginning.”
Torque grabbed him by the front of his shirt and only managed not to strangle him with the utmost self-control. Spencer had the information he needed, and he was important to Blue. “Are you fucking kidding me? I could snap your neck in a second.”
“Then go ahead,” the shop owner replied sleepily. “If that’s what it takes to protect Blue from someone like you, then I’ll do it. But we never had any trouble until you came around and confronted Rat. Now Blue’s knocked up, my shop is burning down, and I doubt there’s any safe place around this city.”
As much as Spencer was pissing him off, Torque had to give the man credit. He wasn’t big enough to fight a biker, but that didn’t mean he was just going to give up. He was protecting Blue, and that meant a lot to Torque. “You and I are on the same side,” Torque growled. “Satan Seed are on the side of the town. We’re doing our best to go out there and stop these guys. I don’t need you to get in my way.”
“You don’t see me stopping you,” Spencer muttered. His eyes rolled back in his head and he went limp.
Torque picked up the bottle of water and poured it over his head. “I’m trying to find her so I can keep her safe. Now just tell me where she is!”
Spencer sputtered and swiped at his face, but he managed to crease his eyebrows at the big biker. “She already is safe, and she doesn’t need any more help from you.”
His patience was wearing so thin it was practically transparent. “Just because you think she’s safe doesn’t mean she actually is. The Bastards are hunting her down. I’ve got a place for her where she can be protected by my men around the clock. There’s no telling what might happen if you don’t help me.”
His dark brown eyes cleared a little as Spencer studied Torque’s face. “All right, but I’m only telling you this because I think you’re the best choice out of a lot of bad options. She’s at my house, with my family, over on Greer Street.”
“Why did she go there instead of coming back to the clubhouse like she was supposed to?” As relieved as Torque was to know that Spencer had not only seen Blue but knew where she was, he didn’t understand why she would have gone back on her word.
“Why do you think?” Spencer spat. “You’ve been nothing but trouble for her. You think you can protect her, but all you do is get her into trouble. You aren’t what she wants, Torque, and you don’t belong in her life.”
Torque let go of Spencer’s shirt. “We’ll let her be the judge of that.” Just as he turned toward his bike, he heard the roar of another motorcycle. He looked up just in time to see one of the Bastards zooming out of the parking lot. He knew in his gut that it was probably the same biker who had set fire to the shop. He also knew that the Bastard had overheard every word. “Shit.”