When the trunk door flew open, it wasn’t Grizz’s face that I saw, but the face of a confused but relieved police officer.

“Ma’am? You’re safe now,” he reassured me. “The name’s Officer Macready. Give me a moment, we’ll get you right out of here.”

I glanced out into the night. The bright, flashing cruiser lights showed that there was another officer here, along with a dog.

After he helped me out from the car, I stepped into ditch water and suddenly gasped. Grizz, barefoot and shirtless besides his jacket, was on his knees in the muck. Mark, on the other hand…

“Wait – no!” I shouted, staring at Grizz. He glanced up with a small smile. “He’s innocent! What’s going on?”

“This one’s wounded,” Macready replied. His partner continued to administer aid to what looked like a bad gunshot through the arm. “He was shot by this bigger fellow.”

Mark couldn’t bring himself to even look at me, let alone tell his side of things.

The officer scoffed. “You know, we don’t usually see this kind of activity out here… so, if you’re feelin’ up to it, mind shedding some light on what the hell is going on?”

I told Macready everything.

Well… not quite everything.

I told the cops about my abusive ex-boyfriend, his asshole motorcycle club, and that I’d been kidnapped… I told them how Mark had chased us, taken me from our motel, and bolted into the night with me locked up in the back.

“Wait, this happened in Metairie?”

I paused. “Yeah, why?”

The officers looked among themselves with a knowing glance.

“Officers responded to some shots fired. Found a building full of tear gas and a meth lab, along with a biker club and a whole pile of illegal weapons… You telling me that this guy’s one of ‘em?”

I glanced over at Mark.

He looked completely defeated, even before finding out that his entire operation had been thrown behind bars. He looked at me for the first time since I’d been freed from the trunk. Desperation stained his eyes.

It wasn’t a good look for him.

“Check his vest. He’s one of the Bayou Boys.”

Macready turned to his partner, lightly scratching his chin. “Ted, what did you say that biker gang was called?”

“Bayou Boys, I reckon.”

“Well, slap my ass and call me Debbie. We got us here a renegade Bayou Boy, split from the pack!”

The ambulance finally arrived right then and there, wailing all the while. Mark looked crushed as he was pulled to his feet and led to the back of the vehicle, clutching at his wound.

“What do we need to do about this one?” Officer Macready asked me, glancing suspiciously at Grizz.

“He’s not one of them,” I crossed my arms. “He saved me from that asshole… Pin a medal on him.”

“Not really my jurisdiction,” the officer chuckled. “But he’s gonna have to answer some questions.”

“Of course, officer.” Grizz responded.

A paramedic arrived and was checking me over when Grizz finally strolled back over to see how I was doing. I was surpised… I’d half expected them to arrest Grizz and work things out at the station. I waved the paramedic away and gave us a minute of privacy.

“What’s going on, are they letting us go?” I whispered, glancing over Grizz’s shoulder and seeing Mark still sitting quietly in the back of a patrol car.

“I have a friend in high places when it comes to the police out here,” Grizz replied, smiling. “They’re letting me walk, which is more than I can say for the Bayou Boys.”

“But what about the guns, and the motel Mark shot up?”

“Like I said, it’s taken care of…”

“You’re just full of surprises, Grizz.”

It wasn’t long before one of the cops was escorting the two of us to an after-hours walk-in clinic, where Grizz sat patiently – still barefoot and shirtless, minus the leather jacket – while I was examined.

When I was given the all clear and gave my final statements to Macready, I thanked him for his time and took Grizz’s arm.

“Long night,” he told me.

“Yeah,” I agreed, just happy to be done with the whole thing. “I think that’s a more than enough excitement for this chick.”

Grizz’s expression stayed quiet.

I thought aloud. “Your club back in El Paso, the Devil’s Dragons… Is it like this all the time?”

When he merely cocked an eyebrow, I continued: “Does danger just always follow you guys, wherever you go?”

“Feels like it sometimes,” he answered.

“So, you’re saying that I should get used to this sort of thing?”

“You don’t have to come with me, now that the Bayou Boys are taken care of,” he paused us near the bike. “They’re all gone. None of them to bother you anymore.”

I snapped defensively. “You’re gonna tell me something like that after everything we’ve been through? Grizz, what are you trying to say?”

He was grappling with something inside that hard, burly body of his. “You’re safe now, Kate. It’s all over. Nothing to say that you have to follow me into this life if you don’t want it.”

“What else should I do, then?” I pulled my arm free, putting my hands on my hips. “Live out here in Louisiana while you run back to the desert? Be a waitress at some lame overnight pit-stop?”

“I got the club a seat at the table, Kate. I’m bringing the Devil’s Dragons to New Orleans,” Grizz replied.

“You’re sending me mixed signals here.”

Grizz was obviously uncomfortable. He placed a hand on the seat of the biker and turned my way. Uneasiness was plainly written all over his face.

“I love you, Kate. I want you in my life more than anything. But coming with me… it could get rough. A whole lot rougher than what you’ve already experienced in these last few days. The Devil’s Dragons have made enemies. I want you, but I need you to understand what you would be agreeing to if you joined me…”

I stepped forward and planted my lips on his, silencing his worries. I felt his large, powerful body relax against mine.

“I love you too.”

He smiled the biggest I’ve ever seen him smile, even when we’d shared those words so many years ago. After everything we’d been through these last few days, there was a lot more weight to them.

“None of that scares me, Grizz. I’m a big girl, and I know what I’m getting myself into… I’m in this for the long haul, and you’re not gonna get rid of me.”

Relief visibly crossed his face.

“Very glad to hear this,” he whispered.

“Good,” I smiled. “So, first thing’s first, we need to sleep this goddamn night off.”

“Agreed.”

“But after we get back, after I’ve met these Devil’s Dragons of yours… how long are we gonna be there?”

“Soon as they’re ready, we ride back with them,” Grizz replied, before quickly adding: “probably take a month, maybe two.”

“Good,” I nodded, crossing my arms. “I think that New Orleans could certainly use the excitement.”

“Excitement’s one word for it.”

“Yeah?” I chuckled. “Alright, funny guy, what word would you choose for it, then?”

Grizz thought on that for a moment.

“Trouble,” he replied with a wink.