“What are we going to do?” Tina asked as they stood by the truck and took stock of their situation.
“Can you ride?” Jack rasped. It had only been five minutes since Seth tried to break his neck, and already his voice was almost gone.
“Yeah, I think so, why?”
“Ride their bike to the next bridge. I’ll follow in the truck. We’re going to dump their bike into the water. Then we are finding the nearest place to turn his fucker around and we are going to the nearest big town where we can rent a motel room so we can clean up... and heal up. You may be okay, but my throat is killing me.”
“What about Seth and Michelle?”
“Fuck ‘em. I hope the gators eat ‘em.”
***
“Room for two, one bed, three nights to start with, but we may stay longer.”
“One eighty-seven fifty,” the desk clerk said.
Tina slid her credit card across the desk. The man ran the card and handed it back. “Enjoy your stay,” he said, then looked her over again. “If you need more towels, just call the front desk.”
They banged into their room and threw the kit on the bed. Tina was stripping out of her torn shirt, tied at her waist, and mud-caked pants before the door had even latched. Moments later, Jack joined her in the shower. They carefully washed each other as they took inventory of their marks. Tina was going to be bruised up around the neck and on the forehead, and she had assorted cuts and scratches both from her repeated runs through the woods and her fight with Michelle. But her injuries were minor compared to Jack’s. He had several deep cuts on his back, chest, and along one leg, not to mention the bruises already forming on his neck. His voice had failed until all he could do was whisper, and he had more small scrapes and scratches than Tina could easily count.
They stood in the shower for a long time, allowing the warm water to pour over them, as they held each other and reflected on what they had just survived.
Out of the shower they dressed and Tina called Marshall with her phone since Jack’s hadn’t survived the smashed screen and repeated dunks in the river. As she spoke to Marshall, Jack emptied his wallet, spreading the money out to dry, and wiping his cards clean.
“Tina! Thank God. I’ve been trying to reach you or Jack. What the hell is going on out there?”
“Seth,” she spat. “He sold us out, the fucker. He’s the one that turned us in. He tried to steal the cars in LA, and he tried again today.”
“He what?!” Marshall shouted.
“He pulled a gun on Jack and tried to steal the cars. You need to have someone look over the books at your work. I think you are going to find some… issues.”
Marshall went quiet. “I didn’t know.”
“I know. We didn’t know for sure until he made his play. He worked us onto some piece of shit back road and stopped us. Then he pulled the gun and tried to take the truck.”
“How did you get away?”
“We kicked their ass! Jack is beat all to shit and can’t talk right now. Seth nearly broke his neck and he has no voice.”
“What about you?”
“I’m going to be sore… but not as sore as that fucking Michelle.”
“Jesus,” Marshall breathed. “All four of you were in a fight?”
“Yeah. In some muddy ass river.”
“Where are Seth and Michelle now?”
“Don’t know. Don’t care. Jack and I pushed their hog off a bridge and into the swamp. They can walk out. If we’re lucky, maybe some alligator will get them.”
“Fuck! There were gators, too?”
Tina giggled. “No. We didn’t see any, but I’m sure there are some around. This is Louisiana after all.”
“Where are you now?”
“We’re in Baton Rouge. We’re going to spend a couple of nights here. Jack is a mess. He’s limping, all cut up, and his neck is swelling. He may have to go to the hospital.”
“Do you want me to fly down?”
“No. I think we’ve got it, Marshall, but thanks.”
“Can Jack hear me?”
“He’s right here,” Tina said.
“Jack… I’m really sorry. I let you down. I had no idea that Seth was the one.”
“It’s okay,” Jack croaked. “He fooled us all.”
“If he shows up around here, the Sons and I will… express our displeasure with him for fucking us over. Why did he do it?”
“Jack said he was playing games at the dealership. That’s why I said you need to look over the books,” Tina said, taking over the story again.
“I will let the owner know as soon as we hang up.”
“I’ve got to go, Marshall. There is a drug store around the corner. I need to go get some bandages and pain meds for Jack. I’ll call you tomorrow and let you know how he’s doing.”
“Please do that.”
***
Over the next three days, they spent most of their time in their room as Tina helped nurse Jack back to health. They didn’t make love, though they spent a lot of time lying in the bed, wrapped in each other’s arms.
By the fourth day Jack’s voice was almost back to normal and, except for his sore knee, he was feeling much better. Tina had called Marshall faithfully each evening and given him a status report.
The owner of the Harley dealership where Seth and Marshall worked had called in an outside auditing firm and found that Seth had been either over-reporting sales or under-reporting income for years. He had embezzled over ten million dollars, though it was unclear where the money had gone. He hadn’t returned, but if he did, there was an arrest warrant with his name on it waiting for him.
They decided to stay one more night in Baton Rouge and leave early the next morning for Jacksonville, Florida. They spent the afternoon replacing Jack’s ruined phone and cleaning the inside of the truck to get the Louisiana mud off the seats. For the first time since their slugfest in the swap, they made love that night.
***
They pulled out of Baton Rouge early the next morning and drove straight through to Jacksonville, where they stopped for the night. That left them a short two-hour drive the next day to reach Savannah.
“What happens after we drop the truck tomorrow?” Tina asked as they cuddled in the sleeper. She was relaxed and at peace. She and Jack had made love beautifully and she was still basking in the afterglow.
“We’ll find someplace to live,” he said as he slowly caressed her back.
“Any idea where?”
“Any place you like. Where do you want to live?”
“I don’t know. I don’t care as long as you are there.”
Jack smiled. “Same here. Do you want to live in a city or more out in the country?”
“I think a big town or small city. Maybe the size of Roswell.”
“Lots of places like that.”
“Yes. But not too far north. I don’t want to be cold all the time.”
Jack grinned. “You’ll get no argument from me on that.”
“I love you, Colt,” she said. They had made an effort all day to use only their new names so they could get used to them.
“And I love you Jac,” Jack replied.
Tina sighed in perfect contentment and wiggled in a little tighter. She smiled as she closed her eyes, feeling warm, content and comfortable, and waited for the darkness of sleep to take her.
***
“This looks like the place,” Jack said as the truck grumbled to a stop outside of a building with TransAtlantic Intermodal emblazoned over the door.
Tina flicked the card Rodchenko had given them with her finger. “I guess we just go in and ask for this Leslie Almaredy?”
“I guess,” Jack said as he set the brakes with a hiss. “You go in and see what you can find out, and I will start getting our car and the bikes unloaded.”
Jack didn’t even have the Audi unhooked, much less unloaded, before Tina returned. “She said to take the truck here so they can they can containerize the cars.”
Jack looked at the address on the card Tina handed him. “Shit. Okay. I guess we’ll leave the bikes in the parking lot and you can follow in the car. Then we’ll come back for the bikes. Did Leslie say how far away this was?”
“Just down at the docks. A couple of miles, she said.”
“That’s not so bad,” Jack said as he pulled the lever to lower the ramp.
***
“Now what?” Tina asked as they sat down in the Audi. The truck had been delivered and their obligation to Goremykin was now complete.
“Now we find a place to store the hogs until we find someplace to settle.”
“I was thinking the mountains. Someplace green,” Tina said.
“Where are you thinking?” Jack asked as he tiptoed the car through the busy dock area.
“Tennessee or North Carolina, maybe?”
Jack grinned. “Sure. Why not? It’s a place to start anyway.”
They found a place for lunch, and while they ate, Jack called around until he found a storage facility to store the bikes. It took them the better part of the rest of the afternoon to get the bikes safely secured, so they decided to wait until the next morning to leave for their grand adventure.
They checked into an upscale motel before they ventured out on a walking tour of Savannah. Together they strolled through the old part of town before they stopped for a nice dinner at a restaurant that caught their fancy. After dinner they continued their walk in the cooling night air before they returned to their motel. There they made love, first slowly and then again much harder and faster, until they both were panting and exhausted.
***
Jack and Tina spent the next four weeks prowling through Northern South Carolina and Georgia, Western North Carolina, and Eastern Tennessee. They went where they wanted, when they wanted, and stopped in any town that caught their fancy. They laughed and loved as they traveled, and as the miles and days passed, their bond continued to grow and strengthen.
Two months after she had tried to steal Jack’s motorcycle, Tina was hopelessly in love and could no longer conceive of living without Jack in her life.
Jack, for his part, was consumed with his feelings for Tina. She had completely taken his heart and the pain and guilt he once carried was nothing but a fading memory.
“What do you think?” Jack asked as they sat in a coffee shop in Boone, North Carolina. It was a bright, crisp, winter day, with just enough nip in the air to make walking snuggled in close together a delightful treat.
“I like it. It is so beautiful here.”
“Yes it is,” Jack said, holding her gaze until she blushed and looked away.
“I mean the scenery.”
“So do I,” he said, his stare unwavering.
“Oh, would you stop it!” she scolded as her smile grew even wider.
“Shall we pop into a reality office and see what they have to offer?”
“Yes, let’s. But first, I want to finish this latte.”
Jack grinned into his own cup. Tina was developing a taste for the finer things in life. Good food, good wine, good beer, and good coffee… and that was just fine by him.
***
When they tumbled into bed that night they were in high spirits. They had seen a house they both loved. It was small and tucked out of the way on the side of a mountain, but its views were stunning. The next day they would look to see what business opportunities may be in the area. If things worked out, they may have found their new home.