Ryder

 

Ryder grunted as he shoved the snow shovel into the hard-packed snow. He’d been doing his best to ignore the pain, but the dull aching in his ribs was beginning to get the better of him. Glancing up at the work he’d done and what he had left, relief washed over him when he realized that after a couple of hours of shoveling, he was nearly done with the job. He smacked his lips, thinking about how good another whiskey and coffee would be after all of this was taken care of.

 

“Nice work,” said Kara, looking over the cleared path leading to the road. “Though I’m still not crazy about you exerting yourself like this.”

 

“Either that or wait for the owner to show up at some point and wonder just who the fuck these two squatters in his house are,” said Ryder, leaning the shovel against Kara’s sedan and stretching himself out. “And who the hell knows when that’ll even be.”

 

“What about on the road?” asked Kara. “Isn’t that all snowy too?”

 

“I checked it out,” said Ryder. “It’s snowy, but we should be fine once we get some momentum going. And I’d bet they got the plows going on the highways and interstates by now.”

 

“Um, need anything?”‘ asked Kara. “Maybe a break while I finish?”

 

“Mothering,” said Ryder, a sharp tone to his voice.

 

Kara got the hint right away and clammed up.

 

“You want to do something, make sure there’s some fresh coffee ready in about ten minutes.”

 

“That I can do,” said Kara.

 

With that, she turned and headed back into the house, Ryder’s eyes lingering on her ass all the while. Grabbing the shovel, he thought about their little encounter last night and just how hot it had been. Ryder pictured her kneeling down in front of him, her mouth full of his prick. He had to fight off the urge to follow her into the cabin and give her another working over.

 

Focus, he thought. You had your fun last night, but you’ve got more important shit to worry about today. Like tracking down Franco’s sorry ass and putting him down for good.

 

A small tinge of anxiety formed in his stomach as he thought about whether or not his boys had made it through the night. He’d sent off a few texts when he saw that his reception was back, but he hadn’t heard anything yet. It was still early, though, and if he knew his boys, they’d spent the evening hunkered down at one bar or another, getting obliterated and sleeping well into the day.

 

Ryder finished clearing the snow around the car’s tires, setting the shovel aside and letting his sore body relax.

 

“Coffee’s ready,” said Kara.

 

“Best news you could’ve brought me,” said Ryder.

 

A proud little smile formed on Kara’s lips, one Ryder couldn’t help but find cute as hell.

 

Once back inside, he stood by the fire and let his body thaw as he sipped his spiked coffee.

 

“So, where am I taking you?” Kara asked.

 

“Back to where I crashed,” Ryder said, his eyes on the roaring flames. “My bike should be fine. I can take it from there.”

 

“Sure you don’t want me to take you to a hospital or something?” asked Kara. “Just to be on the safe side?”

 

“No,” said Ryder, his tone sharp. “Bike first. Everything else after.”

 

“Oh, okay,” Kara said. “Then, um, let me get this place looking how it did before we got here, then we can go.”

 

Ryder nodded to himself as Kara went to work. After a little time, the cabin looked as good as new.

 

“Ready when you are,” said Kara, now bundled up in her coat and scarf.

 

Ryder killed the rest of his coffee and whiskey and they were off.

 

The drive through the small, winding road was careful and slow. Ryder kept his eyes on the snow-covered woods outside of the car, wanting nothing more than to be on the back of his bike and back on the road, on his way to meet up with the rest of his boys. Soon, Kara pulled the car back onto the highway, then onto the interstate. Ryder felt his stomach tense with excitement as they made their way closer and closer to the crash site. The roads were clear, but there were only a few cars on the interstate.

 

“That it?” asked Kara, pointing towards a gleaming heap of chrome on the other side of the road.

 

“That’s it,” said Ryder. “Pull over.”

 

Kara parked the car in the median and killed the engine. Ryder burst out of the car, hopped over the barrier in the middle of the interstate, and ran over to the shoulder of the other lanes. Once there, he stopped short, his blood running cold as he laid eyes on what awaited him.

 

It was his bike, all right, but it was a goddamn mess. The tires were slashed, the body was twisted and bent, and there didn’t look to be an inch of chrome that hadn’t been beaten hard with something thick and heavy.

 

“Oh my God,” said Kara, taking her place next to Ryder and looking over the worked-over heap of chrome that lay half-buried in the snow. “What happened?”

 

Rage pulsed through Ryder as he realized just what had taken place. He remembered his bike getting scuffed up during the spill, but nothing like this. His blood began to boil as it dawned on him that Franco and his boys must’ve returned to finish the job, and when they found that Ryder had left the scene, decided to send a very, very clear message by wrecking his bike.

 

Ryder clenched his hands into tight fists. Then, a single word exploded from his lungs.

 

“Fuck!”

 

His voice carried over the interstate, and Kara jumped in place, a bit in shock.

 

“That motherfucking prick!” shouted Ryder, now stomping back and forth in the snow. “I’ll kill him! I swear to God, I’ll rip his fucking throat out of his neck and stomp his fucking face into hamburger!”

 

His rage had reached a boiling point. Red seeped into his vision from the corner of his eyes, and he wanted to strangle someone, anyone. But before he’d totally given himself over to his anger, his eyes flicked to Kara and he stopped in his tracks.

 

Kara’s hands were raised up in front of her face and her body shivered. Through her fingers, Ryder could see that her expression was one of total fear. He realized that she hadn’t yet seen him this enraged before and was more than a little afraid. He forced himself to stop, to take in several deep, slow breaths. Over the course of a half a minute or so, Ryder calmed. He was fine with the rage, but he knew that he needed to direct it into a small, intense point, rather than letting it slosh over like liquid pouring over the rim of an overfilled cup.

 

Once Kara saw that he’d calmed, she lowered her hands and looked him over.

 

“Don’t do anything stupid, please,” she said.

 

“It’s … it’s fine,” said Ryder, now feeling in control of his anger. “I’m fucking pissed, but I’m saving it for the man who deserves it.”

 

He glanced at his bike once again, the low howl of the wind echoing in his ears.

 

“What do you want to do?” asked Kara. “You want to call a tow truck? I can wait with you if you want.”

 

“No,” said Ryder. “I need a ride back into town.”

 

“Okay,” said Kara, her voice still tinged with fear. “I can do that.”

 

Moments later they were back in the car and on the road. They drove in silence for a time, and it was clear to Ryder that Kara didn’t know just what to make of the outburst of rage that she’d just witnessed.

 

Ryder took in a deep breath and spoke.

 

“It was my mom,” he said.

 

“What?” asked Kara. “Your mom smashed your motorcycle?”

 

“No,” said Ryder. “That motorcycle was a gift from my mother.”

 

“Really?”

 

Ryder nodded, his eyes fixed forward.

 

“Gift for my sixteenth birthday. I was a fucking terror of a kid, and there wasn’t a damn thing I cared more about than having a bike of my own. We didn’t have much money, but my mom bought that bike for me. It was beaten to shit and couldn’t even start, but she figured I’d like the process of fixing it up, making it cherry again. And I did. I spent a year putting that thing together, learning about bikes, how they worked, how to fix them. And once it was done, that thing ran better than just about anything else on the road.”

 

Ryder took a deep breath.

 

“And now it’s in a pile of slag back there in the snow.”

 

“I’m sorry,” said Kara.

 

It was clear she didn’t know what else to say. They drove on in silence.