Ryder
Sitting back in the thin, plastic chair on the balcony of his cheap motel, Ryder cracked open a beer. Being out in the cold while drinking something cold wasn’t something that Ryder thought would normally appeal to him, but he’d been running hot all day. He figured it was the tension of being on the lookout for Franco and the rest of his crew. Ryder couldn’t say for sure—all he knew was that he needed a beer or two to calm down.
It’d been a couple of days since he’d arrived in Milwaukee, and he hadn’t seen a trace of Franco since he’d arrived. He was starting to wonder if all Franco had wanted to do was send a message, to let Ryder know that Franco knew just how to get to him, that anyone Ryder might care about was within striking distance.
Ryder sipped his beer. He knew damn well that he just might be acting overly cautious, but he didn’t want to take any chances. He figured a girl like Kara, someone who was innocent enough to not have ever even ridden on a motorcycle before, well, that was the kind of girl you kept innocent. Ryder didn’t want the slightest trace of violence to visit her and her family, and he wasn’t going to leave until he knew she was safe.
About halfway through his beer, Ryder’s phone buzzed in his pocket. Slipping it out, he saw that it was Crunch.
“What’s up?” asked Ryder, taking another sip.
“Yo, boss,” said Crunch. “How’re things up in the great fuckin’ frozen north?”
“Frozen,” said Ryder, looking out over the snow-covered city around him. “But not much fuckin’.”
“Too damn bad about that. You catch any sign of that fucker Franco?”
“Nope,” said Ryder. “Not a trace since that first day. I don’t like it.”
“Same story here,” said Crunch. “I’ve had a couple of the boys take some passes around some old Gremlin haunts, where they used to hang out before we, you know, reduced their population.”
“And?”
“Nothing. Ghost towns.”
Ryder narrowed his eyes. That struck him as strange.
“And what d’you make of all that?” asked Ryder, wanting to see if he was the only one being paranoid.
“I don’t like it. It’s weird. We did a number on those assholes, but we’d still spot ’em around here and there. It seems to me like—”
“They’re hiding.”
“Yeah!” exclaimed Crunch, seemingly happy that he wasn’t alone in that line of thinking. “Me and the boys are all thinking they’ve might’ve fled the city, you know? Maybe now that they’re, you know, downsized, they might be thinking about leaving behind Chicago and tryin’ their hand at a smaller city. You know, like Milwaukee.”
Ryder thought it over. It didn’t sit right with him—seemed too easy, too pat.
“Maybe,” said Ryder. “That makes sense, what with Franco being up here and all.”
“Yeah, that’s what Marlow said.”
“Or they’re planning something.”
The words hung in the air.
“Like what, boss?” asked Crunch.
“Who knows? But I know the kind of man Franco is. He’d go to the grave before he didn’t at least make an attempt at some kind of revenge for what we did to him and his crew.”
“You might be right,” said Crunch.
Ryder felt much more certain about it than “might.”
“Then maybe you oughta get back here so we can plan for him to pull some shit,” said Crunch.
“No,” said Ryder. “I got a better idea.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m thinkin’ if Franco’s up here by himself, then he’s gunning for me all on his own. Haven’t caught sight of any of the other Gremlins, so I’m thinking he’s making this whole operation a personal one. And if I can stick around and wait, I might be able to draw him out.”
“Draw him out?” asked Crunch. “Like, take him one-on-one?”
“That’s right,” said Ryder. “If I can get him all by his lonesome and cut the head off the snake, then our little fuckin’ rivalry with the Gremlins is done, just like that.”
“You, uh, sure about that, boss?” asked Crunch. “Seems really fuckin’ risky. At least let a couple of us come up there and help you out.”
“No way,” said Ryder. “This is my fight. And if the Gremlins do pull an attack down there, I want you guys up to full strength.”
“And … what about the girl? She gonna know about this?”
“She knows what she needs to know. If I can use her to draw out Franco, then that’s what I’m gonna do.”
A moment of silence hung in the air. Ryder’s eyes drifted off towards some point in the distance, a small church covered in snow, the clean white a sharp contrast to the ominous gray sky above.
“I trust you, boss,” said Crunch. “But if you change your mind and want some backup, then you call us A-fuckin’-SAP. I don’t want that asshole Franco to get a goddamn taste of revenge.”
“Call me if anything new comes up,” said Ryder.
“You got it, boss.”
Then the line went dead.
Ryder slipped his phone back into his pocket and killed his beer. His head was buzzing just a little by this point, and he knew that he’d need a few more cold ones tonight. His plan was to take another pass by Kara’s in a little bit, make sure things were all right. The place he’d picked to stay was only five minutes or so from her, so getting over there was no problem—even if he’d end up getting a little drunk beforehand.
Cracking open his next beer and propping his boots up on the railing, Ryder thought about just how disingenuous he’d been with Crunch. Ryder knew damn well by now that there was more going on than just using Kara for bait. He’d gotten to the point where he felt like she was his responsibility, like he wouldn’t be able to rest until he knew that she and her family were out of harm’s way. It was a strange feeling, to be protective over a woman like this, and he didn’t know quite how to deal with it.
He wanted to pound a few more beers, until the confusion drifted away on a float of alcohol. After taking a quick check of his phone, however, he saw that he was about due for another ride past Kara’s place. Ryder finished his beer and heaved himself out of his chair, eager to be back on his ride.
Twenty minutes later he was on Kara’s road, keeping his engine running low and as quiet as he could. Ryder’s eyes were narrowed in focus as he passed her house; he didn’t expect to see Franco around, but he’d been in enough situations like this to know that trouble would find him the moment he let his guard down.
A rustling of curtains caught his eye, and, glancing at Kara’s parents’ house, he spotted her face looking through the window. Ryder felt a strange tugging at his heart as he laid eyes on Kara. Part of him wanted to stop and talk with her, if even only for a little while. But he knew better—Ryder could only imagine the scene that would unfold if her parents came out to see just who their daughter was talking to.
The coast seemed clear, and after one more pass, Ryder made his way back to the hotel. Once there he cracked open another beer and plopped onto the bed, ready to kill the rest of the night and get up early to do it all over again.
His phone buzzed in his pocket just as he fell back onto the bed. Ryder pulled it out and saw that it was a text from Kara.
Anything?
Ryder typed his response.
Still nothing. Thinking you might be in the clear.
The response was a few seconds later.
Good. I’m thinking of going back to Chicago tomorrow. Ready to get back to my normal life.
Ryder responded.
Sure you don’t want to stay a few more days? Might be the safer call.
Then the response.
No, I think a few days of my parents is all that I can handle. And I haven’t spotted any bikes aside from you.
Ryder grumbled. He was pleased that Franco hadn’t tried anything with Kara and her family, but he was hoping he’d be able to draw him out for a fight.
Fine. But I’m going to watch you on the way back.
The phone buzzed with her response.
So protective. Fine. I’ll text you when I’m getting ready to leave.
Ryder confirmed and tossed his phone onto the chair at the far end of the room. He held a cold beer up to his forehead, still feeling like he was running hot. Something about all of this was putting him on edge, and part of him was looking forward to getting back to Chicago.
But that didn’t mean he thought they were out of the woods. Not even by a long shot.