Just outside the city limits, Bruce’s attention was drawn by a loud, banging noise, audible over the sound of his Harley. Curious about its origin, he looked behind him, over his left shoulder. A dark, pickup truck had crushed into a light pole. With the memory of the accident that he and Matt had witnessed on Sunday night still fresh in his mind, Bruce did not even consider stopping. After all, the truck’s four passengers soon got out of it and seemed to be fine.

Bruce and Matt had to ride for more than five hours in order to get to their seaside hotel in Malibu. They arrived there exhausted and in no mood to talk. After checking in, Matt went straight to bed while Bruce stepped out on the balcony, hoping that the sound of the waves, gently splashing on the sand would help him relax. Nevertheless, it was hopeless. The events of that night continued to swirl in his mind. Bruce kept asking himself whether he could do anything differently, but he always got the same, negative answer.

He did not regret sharing everything with Melissa. Yes, they had not known each other for that long, but she had earned his trust by telling him everything about her. Bruce had forgiven her little lies, believing that he had every reason to hide her identity from strangers like him. In his mind, Melissa’s only mistake was that she was Frank Howard’s daughter.

Hours later, feeling a little less stressed, Bruce discovered that he had forgotten to ask her a vital question: Would she follow him? At first, he thought that he had made a very bad mistake. However, when he thought twice, he understood that something like that would complicate things and possibly put her in harm’s way. There was no way that he could predict what her father would do, if she left her birthplace. Furthermore, Melissa had a life there, a well-paying job and friends that cared about her. He would not ask her to leave all that for him.

In the morning, Matt was stunned to find Bruce on the balcony, sat in the same chair like the night before, sleepless and looking more tired than ever. It was hot outside; Bruce was starting to sweat, but, even so, he would not leave the balcony.

“Jesus Christ, man!” Matt cried, joining him. “You’re still here?”

“I couldn’t sleep.” Bruce murmured, gazing at the sea.

“Alright, look…” Matt lowered his tone, as he sat next to him. “I get it. You’re pissed that you had to leave Vegas like that, but…”

“Pissed?” Bruce interrupted him, turning his head to the left to face him. “Really? You think I’m just…” He faltered. “Pissed?”

“Aren’t you?” Matt squinted at him.

“I’m more than pissed, brother.” Bruce confessed. “I want to go back there, kick Sanders and that psycho’s ass. I can’t believe they’re doing business together. Who would have thought that the “Blazing Sons” would work with that prick? Wait until I get my hands on Joe.”

“Joe is three hundred miles away, man.” Matt said. “You should focus on other things.”

“Like what?”

“Like having fun for a change.” Matt explained. “What can I do to help?”

“Thanks for your concern, Matt.” Bruce said with a sigh. “Unless you got Sanders and Howard locked up in your bedroom, not much.”

“Out of curiosity, what would you do to them if they were here?” Matt asked.

“First, I’d beat the living crap out of Sanders.” Bruce stated. “I wasn’t expecting that from him. Then, I’d beat Howard up so bad he’d wish he’d never been born.”

“I think they deserve more than just a beating.” Matt spoke his mind.

“What are you talking about?” Bruce got curious.

“Look, the way I see it…” Matt sucked in a deep breath. “They got to go.”

“Tell me you’re kidding!” Bruce’s voice rumbled like thunder.

“No man, I’m not.” Matt spoke in a calm tone.

“That’s got to be the stupidest idea you’ve ever had!” Bruce yelled, jumping from his seat. “Take out Sanders? And have his charter chasing us for the rest of our lives? What about Howard? What am I supposed to tell Melissa? That I did this for us?”

“Let me finish. We don’t have to shoot them, ok? They could have an accident or something.” Matt implied.

“Matt…” Bruce croaked, running his hand through his hair. “Shut up or I swear to God: I’m going to slap you.”

“I’m just saying that…”

“Don’t!” Bruce cried, glaring down at him, interrupting him once more. “Killing them is not an option.” He added, lowering his tone.

“Fine.” Matt groaned.

“I’m sorry, brother. But this is not the way to resolve this, you know?” Bruce made his voice sound sweeter.

“We’re dealing with animals here, Bruce.” Matt put a little force in his voice. “It’s us or them. You heard Howard; you know what he’ll do if we don’t show up tomorrow. And what Melissa said about him not going after people outside Nevada? I’m not buying it.”

“I don’t know about that. I guess we’ll have to wait and see. But, she was right. We had to leave Vegas.” Bruce sighed.

“If anyone said to me that you’d be in love with someone so fast, I’d think he was crazy. But I saw it with my own two eyes. We shouldn’t have left.” Matt voiced his opinion.

“Do you have a death wish or something?” Bruce couldn’t hide his frustration.

“You got softer, brother. You don’t remember who you are, do you? I mean, what happened to the big, bad Bruce who just…” Matt faltered. “Didn’t give a shit about death?”

“He died two years ago.” Bruce mumbled.

“We need that guy back.” Matt would not let up.

“Damn it!” Bruce cried, kicking the small table in front of him. The noise did turn a few heads on the beach, as their room was on the second floor of the hotel. “For the last time, I’m not going to kill anyone. You got that?”

Averting his gaze from his friend, Matt rose from his seat as well. He turned his body to the left and looked down at the crowded beach. Among the dozens of young women in skimpy bikinis, he noticed a rather tall, well-built man, staring at their balcony. As soon as their eyes met, the man in question looked away from Matt.

“We got company.” He said, looking up at his friend over his right shoulder.

“What?” Bruce squinted at him.

“Nevermind. Let’s just go to the beach. I think we both could use a swim.” Matt suggested, unwilling to discuss it any further. In his mind, the man on the beach was just a little more curious than others.

“Alright.” Bruce said with a nod. “Just don’t talk about killing people again.”