After Dax and his men left the clubhouse, Cheney had filled Levi in on the job. A club in Texas, near San Antonio, called the Headhunters, had stolen something from the Skulls. Cheney didn’t know what it was and hadn’t asked. When Dax Marshall called and asked about Levi and his ability to hotwire anything, Cheney didn’t ask any questions, he’d jumped on the opportunity to make a buck, the way Cheney always did. Levi had to assume Zack was the one that told Dax Marshall about him. Levi and Zack had gotten close after the Spider fiasco and he’d shown Zack and Hashtag, one of Zack’s brothers that Levi had already been friends with, what he could do. Zack had some kind of relationship with Dax, so that had to be the connection. Levi didn’t really care why Dax wanted the bikes or what the Headhunters stole from him. He was already looking forward to the opportunity to get out of town for at least a few days. Cheney had given him the rest of the night off to throw his things together and get some sleep. He was meeting the Skulls early the next morning at their hotel and they were taking off for Texas from there. He’d been on his way home when he came up to the stop sign and saw how the guy was holding onto that skinny little girl. It looked like she was trying to get away and for some reason, even before the guy called him a cunt, Levi had a feeling that the girl needed his help. He’d been getting a lot of weird feelings the past couple of months, but he was growing used to them.

Looking down at the girl on the ground now, he realized that he had the feeling he’d seen her before. He put his hand out and helped her to her feet. She wasn’t as little as he’d thought she was. She probably stood five seven, which was pretty tall for a woman, but she couldn’t have weighed more than a hundred pounds. Her cheekbones were prominent, like the skin had been stretched across them, and her collarbones reached out over the neckline of her blouse. Levi wasn’t attracted to skinny girls, usually, but this one did something to him…he just wasn’t sure what. It wasn’t really a lustful feeling, it was more protective, like she needed to be taken care of and he was the guy to do it. She was staring up at him with a pair of big, dark eyes that were surrounded by long, dark lashes and her thick, pink lips were set in an O. She looked like she knew him, but Levi couldn’t place where he’d seen her before.

“What’s your name?” he asked her.

“Zandra.” Her voice had a little shake to it but Levi assumed it was from what she’d been through. He saw her look at his kutte, focusing on his name.

“I’m Levi,” he said…and suddenly, he realized where he recognized her from. She’d been the girl in his dream…the one that he fucked in the shower. He suddenly saw her face. Her body was thicker then, but strangely, even though he hadn’t seen her face that night…he knew it was her. But that isn’t possible, is it? His mind had to be playing tricks on him. “Zandra? Have we met before?” His question seemed to make her even more nervous. Maybe he’d seen her in a bar sometime, or with one of the other guys, and for some reason her face had stuck in his head. She had a really pretty face. That had to be it.

She shook her head and her dark hair bounced across her shoulders. “No. I don’t think so. Thank you again, I have to go.” Before Levi could respond, she turned and hurriedly started walking down the sidewalk. It was dark and although they were in a fairly decent neighborhood, the direction she was walking would lead her right into a shitty one.

“Hey! Let me give you a ride. I’ll drop you wherever you want to go.” The woman didn’t stop. She just waved a hand over her head and said:

“No, thanks. I’m good.”

Levi cursed under his breath and jogged to catch up with her. She had long legs and was taking long strides; he almost had to jog alongside her as he talked. “You’re headed into a bad neighborhood. Just tell me where you live and I’ll drop you there.”

“Really, I’m okay.”

“Hey, stop for a second, please.” She stopped walking, thankfully. Levi was almost out of breath. “Look, I’m not going to hurt you. We’ll be on a bike and not in a car so there’s no way I can attack you. It’s not safe out here for a woman alone, especially one that’s so…”

She put her hands on her hips and he saw a slight attitude there as she said, “So…what?”

“Small. You’re small. That asshole back at that house could have really hurt you.” She looked like she wanted to argue the point, but decided he was right. With a heavy sigh, she said:

“I live on Hampton Way. Do you know where that is?”

“No, but you can tell me,” he said. He knew Memphis pretty well. He was surprised he’d never heard of Hampton Way. He started back toward his bike and she followed him, quietly. When they got there, she looked at the time on her phone and wrinkled her nose.

“You know what…can you just drop me at the motor lodge off Road 72?”

Levi knew that neighborhood. It was close to where the meth lab was, and that motel was a den for prostitutes and drug addicts. He wondered why she changed her mind about going home. An old man…maybe? “No.”

“Excuse me?”

“No. I’m not leaving you there.”

“Fine,” she said. “I’ll walk.” She began to walk away from him and Levi almost let her go. But that feeling came over him again, the one that told him she needed him. He rolled his eyes at himself mentally but said:

“Okay, I’ll take you.” She stopped walking and turned around.

“Thank you. I can pay you.”

He chuckled. “I’m good, thanks. Let’s go.”

Levi slid on the bike and felt her slide on behind him. Krissy was the only woman that had ever been on his bike, and he was surprised that it didn’t feel strange to have this skinny girl’s chest pressed into his back. “I don’t have a helmet, so hang on tight,” he told her. He started the bike and felt her take the sides of his vest into her hands. He reached down and took her hands in his and brought them around to circle his waist. “Tight,” he said. As he started the bike and pulled away from the curb he got an image of Krissy in his head. She was smiling at him and blowing him a kiss. Everything lately is so fucking strange.

* * *

Levi drove up in front of the motel and turned off the bike. Zoe got off and said, “Thanks, I really appreciate this. Are you sure you don’t want any money for gas or anything?”

Levi got off the bike too. “No thanks, I’m good.”

“Okay then,” she said, nervously. “Good night.”

“Night.” She started toward the office and Levi followed her. She was almost to the door when she turned around and said:

“What are you doing?”

“Not leaving you here alone.”

“Excuse me?”

“I’m getting a room.”

“No. You are not.”

“You own the motel?”

“No.”

“All due respect then, I don’t think it’s up to you.”

“This is crazy. I’m fine.”

“Okay. I believe you.”

“Then go home. This place is a sty. Trust me, you don’t want to stay here.”

“I’d rather go home. My bed’s clean and so’s my couch. You’d be welcome to sleep on either.”

“No, that’s not what I meant. You go home. I’m staying here.”

“Okay, we’ll stay here then.”

She sighed. “Levi…is it?” He nodded and she said, “I think you’re trying to be a gentleman, so I’ll tell you something I don’t tell just anyone. I’m no lady. I’ve lived on my own for a while and I lived on the streets and I even lived in this pigsty for a while. I know how to keep to myself and stay safe. I’m really okay.”

“I believe you,” he said again. “But I can’t leave you here despite all that.”

“Fine, I’ll pay for your room.”

“Nope. I’ll get it myself.”

“Jesus, you’re awfully damned bullheaded.”

“I’ve been told,” he said. She stared at him for a minute and the shower dream flashed through his head again. It seemed so real. He actually began to wonder if maybe they’d hooked up before Krissy…back before Zandra was on the streets and had lost so much weight…?

“How far is your apartment?”

He bit the inside of his cheek to keep from smiling. “A few miles. It’s not in a great neighborhood either…but nobody is going to mess with you there.”

The sound of voices at the end of the first row of rooms seemed to distract her for a second. Her eyes went wide and Levi looked in that direction in time to see a man with long, red hair stepping out the motel room door. “I mean it, Junie. I’ll be back tomorrow and you better have something for me other than that nasty old used-up pussy.” Levi curled his lip and looked back at Zandra. Her eyes were still riveted on the red-haired man. Finally, she looked at Levi and with a shaky voice she said, “Fine, but I sleep on the couch.”

“Okay.”

She looked back down where the man had been standing, so Levi did too. The motel room door was closed and the man was gone. Zandra had an expressive face and to Levi, she looked relieved. He had to wonder if she was so thin because she was one of those drug addicts that hung out at the no-tell motel. He decided that he didn’t care, at least for tonight. He wasn’t going to sleep restfully with her down the hall and that erotic dream in his head, but he’d sleep a hell of a lot better than he would if he left her there.

“I’m ready,” she said.