Authors: Unknown
“
I have to see who did this,” he explains, and then runs low.
Fuck, if he'd turned on the light, they would have made easier targets, and Sadie or him could be dead.
The shooting stops. One of them shouts orders and he hears them approach. Jackson fires a few shots through the shattered window. They curse and fire back. His night vision sucks, so he flicks on the porch lights.
Peeking outside, he sees one of them on the ground, but he can't see the others. He moves into his living room and checks through the window and sees another two guys are running towards their bikes.
They roar away on their bikes, leaving behind their wounded friend. Those assholes have no loyalty to their own brothers.
He steps out of the house and finds the wounded guy is wearing a Rampage MC cut. He's clutching at his chest with both hands, trying to stop the bleeding. Jackson approaches him and kicks the gun away, pointing his own at the same time.
“
Who sent you?” he demands.
“
Fuck you asshole,” he laughs, “more will come, you're just as dead as me,” he starts
wheezing and coughing.
Within seconds, his eyes become lifeless.
Sighing, he strides back in, and runs right into Sadie. She lets out a tiny squeal, and bounces back from him. He catches her by the waist before she can fall onto the broken glass scattered on the floor.
“
We have to go, is your bag still salvageable?” he asks.
She's about to pick it up from the broken glass, and he stops her, “I'll check,” he doesn't want her cutting herself on the glass. Shaking it out, he hands it to her.
“
I'll get some stuff together, then we have to leave.” He then stalks towards his room to collect cash, a few guns, and some new IDs.
“
That was your club trying to kill you?” She startles him, sounding shaken, and he can't blame her.
He brought her into his life to keep her safe, not to almost get her killed.
“
Yeah, and they'll keep trying,” he says as he collects his stuff and shoves it into a duffle bag, “the Club has always been dysfunctional, I thought as president I could change that. Instead the money I brought in made them greedy.”
He takes out a floorboard and extracts the money he set away for emergencies. “Fuck that's a lot of money,” she looks on as he stuffs it into his bag.
“
Will I have to worry that you'll only stay with me for my money?” he asks mockingly.
She narrows her eyes and responds in kind, “It won't be for your great personality.”
He zips his bag, and then slings it over his shoulder. As he passes by Sadie, he slaps her on her delectable rear, “Don't play with my heart, woman.”
She lets out an adorable little growl, then she follows him out of the house and towards his garage.
“
You have a car?” she asks.
“
Just because I'm a big bad biker dude, doesn't mean I can't have a car,” he shakes his head as if disappointed, “What did I say about stereotypes?”
Sadie laughs, “You quoted me wrong, I never said big.”
“
No, well you left out the big, but you were thinking it,” he says.
“
Are you going to cry over your motorcycle? Isn't it special to you?” she asks.
“
I'm not that sentimental over inanimate objects,” he responds.
He loads their bags into the back of his SUV and then opens her door, “Congrats, you can be my copilot,” he says before shutting her door after she's settled.
Getting inside himself, he quickly fires up the truck and pulls away from the garage.
When they turn onto the highway, she asks, “What does a copilot do?”
Fiddling with the radio, he answers, “The copilot is in charge of the music, climate control, snacks, and keeping the driver awake.”
She smiles widely, “Sounds phony, I'll take it. I've always wanted to go on a road trip. Do you think I can take a turn driving?”
Jackson remembers the most horrifying experience in his life. It wasn't in combat, it was teaching Sadie to drive.
“
We'll see,” he says breaking into a sweat.
From now on, she is his priority; he'll do anything to keep her safe. Even if it means not allowing her behind the wheel of a two thousand pound death machine.
Jackson thinks back to how fragile she was when he met her and is surprised she didn't freak out with all that went down. Smiling back, he takes her small hand in his and kisses it. With Sadie by his side, he has a deep feeling of contentment. And that is saying a lot, considering his MC dead set on killing him.
Sadie
Sadie wakes as the first pink rays of sunlight shine in the distance. They must have driven through the night.
“
Did you know about your snoring problem?” Jackson asks with a smile in his voice. “I do not snore, I'd know if I snore,” she says defensively.
“
I loved it, your snoring reminds me of the noise my bike makes when it's about to break down. With your snoring, I won't have to cry over leaving it behind,” he says.
She doesn't believe him, though sometimes she did wake up to a suspicious Sydney trying to clap her nose with something. Weird.
“
Do you want me to take over for a while?” she offers.
He shifts in his seat, “Actually, I think we should stop and rest for a few hours.”
“
Is that really a good idea? Maybe someone followed us. They could be waiting for us to let our guard down,” Sadie says.
“
They'll think we drove on. Your boyfriend probably knows by now that you came with me,” Jackson says.
Frowning, she ignores that and asks, “Do you know where we're headed?”
She hadn't thought to ask before. In ten days, she will ditch him, but she needs to know how far away she'll be from her future home.
“
I think we should both look at a map and decide together,” he says, surprising her.
She'd expected him to decide on his own. During their time together, he'd made all the decisions, always taking charge of any situation.
“
Where are we now?” she asks, looking at the different landscape.
“
Kansas, we'll stop at the next exit. We can probably find decent hotel,” he says.
The next exit is a medium sized town. They choose a chain hotel and check in. At the reception desk, Sadie observes Jackson. He looks tired, pale, more lines stand out around his eyes, and his mouth is set into a tight line.
“
You look like shit,” Sadie says tactlessly, causing the receptionist to choke. “Unlike you, I got no sleep. You look freakin' breezy,” he says mockingly.
He turns to the receptionist and sighs, “She uses me shamelessly for sex, but she doesn't appreciate me,” he shakes his head dramatically.
The grandmotherly receptionist smiles at Jackson before glaring at Sadie. Then she hands over the key card to him.
Before they leave, she turns to Jackson and says, “Honey, a nice young man like you deserve a girl that treats you right. Now, I've got five lovely granddaughters, two of them single. They all cook, clean, and know how to cater to their man,” the evil woman says.
She even winks at Jackson.
“
Do not flirt with my man! You hussy! We've got five kids at home, and one on the way,” Sadie dramatically touches her flat stomach, “Do you want them to lose their daddy?”
The woman looks properly ashamed, but Jackson ruins it.
“
Five kids I'm not sure are even mine!” he says indignantly to the confused receptionist.
Oh boy
. Sadie almost giggles.
The receptionist offers condolences to a receptive Jackson.
She gives Sadie a condemning glance and loudly whispers to Jackson, “There's a show where you can get a paternity test. When you do, remember my granddaughters. They are the best couponers around here.”
She just went too far; Sadie is the best couponer!
She advances towards the woman, “Do any of your granddaughters know Kung-Fu?” she asks threateningly.
Jackson looks momentarily worried and before she gets near the outrageous receptionist, he swoops her over his shoulder and carries her away.
He releases her once they are outside their room, which is on the ground floor.
“
Can you believe the nerve of that woman? She was flirting with you and trying to pimp you out to her granddaughters!” she says.
Jackson pushes the door open and motions for her forward, “Did that mean you want six kids?” he laughs.
She blushes; she was just trying to teach the woman to leave attached guys alone. What better than scaring her off with five kids? Sadie can't stand when a woman comes on to guy in front of his girlfriend or wife, even a seventy-year-old woman.
Besides, the woman insulted her couponing skills.
Sadie glances through the window and sees that they have a good view of Jackson's truck. A king sized bed dominates most of the space in the room, accompanied by an upholstered chair and a dresser with a TV on it. Although clean, the room and bathroom are done in all neutrals, and they give them a generic feel. Sadie's dream of owning a bed & breakfast has her thinking of how she wants each room to be special and inviting.
“
Let's get some sleep,” Jackson says, putting his bag on the floor, “who knows when we might stop again.”
Then he starts stripping, stopping when he stands only in a pair of gray boxer briefs.
Sadie stands on the other side of the bed staring. God, she hopes she's not drooling. His body is magnificently formed. All hard edges, sinewy muscles, and tattoos. Yum. He catches her staring and grins, causing her to scowl at him.
“
I'll go out and get some things while you sleep,” she says.
Sadie grabs her bag and a key card.
Now Jackson scowls back at her, and takes her bag. “No, we stick together,” he says.
“
For all we know they can be following us,” his expression softens, and reaches for Sadie, drawing her into his arms. “I can't lose you again, stay. We'll go together later.”
The true concern on his face stops her from arguing. Sadie nods and sighing settles on the
bed.
The bed shifts and Jackson draws her into his arms. He smells amazing. Disconcertingly, Jackson's embrace feels like home. Together they sleep.
***
“I have a cabin in Montana,” Jackson points at Montana, he looks up at Sadie, “What do you think?”
“How did you get a cabin in Montana?” she asks.
Smiling Jackson explains with one word, “Ebay.”
Sadie smiles back. She remembers all the things Sydney bought on Ebay. They mostly ended up in the garbage.
“Montana it is. And no one else knows about it?” she asks.
Sadie starts putting away her things and Jackson does the same.
“I have a call to make,” Sadie announces.
Jackson grunts out a response.
She walks into the bathroom and closes the door behind her.
After trying Sydney's number twice, she tries Mathew's.
He answers right away, “Sadie, is Sydney with you?” His voice sounds a bit frantic.
“Not since last week. We talked yesterday. I thought she was with you or your parents,” Sadie answers.
“She has been staying with me, she asked to move in for a while. Sydney went out last night, she was supposed check on you, and pack, then come straight back. She isn't answering her phone and I can't find her,” Mathew sounds genuinely worried and that scares Sadie. Mathew is the most put together person she knows.
Then a horrible thought comes up.
“This guy from work threatened her,” she says.
What can she do?
“I'm out of town, but I'll go back,” this is all her fault.
“Dammit Sadie! Why didn't she say anything?” Now he sounds angry.
“She didn't want to worry you,” Sadie explains.
“So you think that person took her?” he asks.
Sadie doesn't want him involved in this mess. Mathew is a good guy, and he wouldn't know how to deal with Zack.
“You have to let me take care of this,” Sadie tries to calm him down, “I'll call you as soon as I have something,” she says and ends the call.
Looking at her cell phone, she sees forty-seven missed calls from Zack.
She calls him, “Zack! Where is Sydney?” she keeps her voice calm, mostly.
Sydney has been there for her since they met and now she has to make sure her friend isn't in serious trouble.
“Where are you? I'll come get you,” his voice sounds cold and threatening as he ignores her question.
“Did you take Sydney?”
He doesn't answer, “You left with him. Do you want to end up dead? That fucker has a big fat target on his back. But you can still come home. Just tell me where you are.”
“I'll come home, but tell me that Sydney is okay,” she says and means it.
“I don't know what you are talking about, babe. Come home and you can see your friend.” Sadie hangs up on him; he as good as admitted he took Sydney.
Now, Sadie can either ditch Jackson and go back, or ask him for help. Can she trust Zack?