I stood by watching as the blue lights in the distance got closer and closer before eventually pulling up directly behind the original police cruiser. Four officer, all armed, were dealing with Steel. I didn’t understand why it took four officers because he was being as cooperative as he could be. I had a feeling it was just a show so they could flex their muscle and let him know they were in charge.

Busy dealing with him, the new officers didn’t pay any attention to me either. I was absolutely no concern to any of them.

While I was trying to figure out what was going on and what the hell I was going to do, I heard the distant roar of motorcycles coming right towards us. I had a feeling things were about to get interesting.

In the distance, a large group of bikers appeared and they were approaching us quickly. I had no idea how many of them there were, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it wasn’t every single rider from the diner we’d just left.

The police officers had a look of concern on their faces. One of them ran to their call to radio for more backup. They knew this was trouble and knew things were about to get ugly. Still, the officers were more disciplined than the two goofs at the motel. They had their hands on their weapons, but held off from pulling them. I was sure they didn’t want the tense situation to get out of control any more than the bikers did.

All of the cops had their backs to me as the bikers rolled to a stop in front of them. In Steel’s absence, it appeared the biker who had been in the bathroom with Katie had taken the lead and was the only one to speak to the officers.

“What seems to be the problem here?” he asked.

“The problem here is none of your concern. You guys need to move along.”

“Oh, I’m sorry, but that’s not how this works officer.”

“What the hell is wrong with you? Are you stuck on stupid or something? Do we need to arrest all of you as well?”

“That’s cute. If you look around, you’ll see that you’re outnumbered by quite a large margin.”

“That’ll be changing in the next few minutes, so keep running your mouth and you’ll be in the back seat with him.”

“A few minutes? Hell, we’d take care of you guys and be off with him well before anyone else arrives. I don’t mean this as a threat, just a suggestion that I highly suggest you follow. Let my friend out of custody and drive off. We’ll pretend like none of this ever happened and nobody has to get hurt.”

The situation was turning bad quickly and I knew the calvary was probably on their way. I knew I had to do something, but I had no idea what I could do. I didn’t want my adventure so soon after it began, so I did something absolutely fucking crazy.

I knew that Steel kept a Glock 9mm pistol tucked into the side of his Harley. I was already invisible to the cops when they got there and now that the bikers were causing a disturbance, all of their focus was on them. Moving slowly, I walked over to the bike, being careful to ensure I wasn’t being watched. I might as well have been the invisible woman.

After grabbing the gun, I bent down and made my way towards the cruiser that Steel was in. When all the bikers arrived, they’d closed the door so he couldn’t get out, but the window was cracked just enough so I could get his attention.

“Psst, hey Steel,” I whispered, just loud enough so he could hear but the cops couldn’t.

When he turned to look at me, I flashed the gun so he could see it.

“Fuck yeah,” he shouted a little too loud. “That’s my girl.”

His voice carried a little further than he realized it would and one of the officers turned his head and saw me kneeling down next to the cruiser.

“Ma’am, I’m gonna need you to step away from the vehicle,” the officer commanded.

At that point, it was as if I had an out of body experience. My actions were definitely uncharacteristic of anything I’d ever done in the past.

“Back the fuck off,” I said to the officer as I raised the gun and aimed it directly at him.

“Whoa, just calm down,” he said as he raised his arms into the air. “There’s no need for any unnecessary violence. Why don’t you just go ahead and put the gun down.”

The cop was looking over towards the other officers for help, but I could tell they didn’t know what to do. If they turned their attention away from the group of bikers, who were getting angrier by the second, things could get ugly very quickly. Still, they knew they had a responsibility to their colleague.

The situation went from tense to deadly in a matter of seconds. The officers pulled their weapons. As soon as the weapons left the holsters, the bikers pulled their guns as well. Fortunately nobody pulled the trigger, but I felt that it was only a matter of time if something didn’t happen quickly.

“Now we’re in a situation that didn’t have to happen,” I scolded the officer that I had my gun trained on. “The way I see it, this can only end one of two ways. You can either let Steel out of the car and take the cuffs off him or I’ll shoot you dead where you stand. What’s it gonna be?”

I was surprised that those words came out of my mouth. It sounded good, but I highly doubted I’d actually be able to pull the trigger if it came to it. It was a case where my bark was very likely much bigger than my bite.

Fortunately for me, I didn’t have to find out. Whether it was the gun pointed at his head or the pressure from the bikers who had their weapons drawn and were far more likely to pull their triggers than I was, the officer complied with my demands.

The officer pulled Steel out of the car and removed the cuffs from his wrists. As soon as his hands were free, he threw a single right hook that knocked the officer straight to the ground.

I wasn’t sure if it was one of the officers or one of the bikers, but a gunshot rang out somewhere behind us. The officers ducked down behind their cruisers while the bikers hustled towards the ditch on the side of the road.

“Come on, let’s get the fuck out of here,” Steel said, grabbing my arm as he ran towards his Harley. “Thanks for the help boys!” he yelled out to the bikers as we sped off, the sound of gunfire erupting behind us.