Ryder's Last Run (Dueling Dragons MC Series) (2 page)

Faith

“Where do you think he could be?” I ask Layla. She always seems to know the answer to all my issues. She’s become a important part of my life; I don’t know where I’d be without her. She taught me what it means to be loved and cherished? By someone other than Ryder.

“I don’t know
, but this has the MC written all over it. I’ll make some calls and see what I can come up with.”

She reaches for her phone and
dials.

“Hey, Chaz. Have you talked to my brother by any chance?”

She nods. “Well, does Zig or Flem know anything? They just showed up and said Ryder told them to come back but they don’t know what happened? All right. We’ll wait and see if you guys come up with anything.”

She hangs up, walks out the back door, and lights up a smoke. “Come here
, sugar. I’ll fill you in.”

Smoke
seeps out of her nose as she exhales. I figure I’ll also most likely need a smoke after what she tells me, so I grab mine from my coat and walk out back to join her.

“Don’t tell me Ryder
’s dead and never coming back.”

“Whoa! Wait a damn minute
. What are you talking about? I was just going to tell you that Ziggy and Flem have showed up at the clubhouse.” Taking a drag of her smoke, she starts talking again. “They don’t know what happened to Ryder or, if they do, the MC isn’t saying anything to me. They said that they’d get in touch if they hear something. You need to calm down and have a drink or something. You’re stressing too much for such a young girl.” She rubs my arms and pulls me into a huge hug.

We stand outside for a few more minutes and are just about to finish our cigarettes when my cell phone rings
. I reach into my pocket. It’s my oldest brother, Will.

“Hello?” I say into the phone. “Faith, how are you doing?” Will asks and I tell him that I have been stressed because Ryder is gone on a run but I leave out all the gory details.

“I called to tell you… How do I put this?” He exhales loudly. “You need to get home now. No if, ands, or buts about it. Daddies going to die within the next few days. If you want a chance to say goodbye, you need to get your ass down here.”

I start to shake and hyperventilate.
I’m on the verge of crying hysterically. Layla takes notice and steps forward to take the phone out of my hand.

“Who is this?” She looks at me out of the corner of her eyes
, trying to gauge my response to what I’ve been told. I feel the tears sting the back of my eyes.

“Uh huh, well
, she can take off as much time as she needs. She will always have a job and a home to return to. I’ll have my son stay in her apartment to keep an eye on things.”

She
hangs up and pulls me into her body, rubbing my shoulder.

****

Ryder

All I can think about is the fact that I am in this fucked up
federal jail, looking around at the blank white walls and the cot that’s in the corner looks like it needs to be shit canned. The place smells like piss, but what more could you ask for. I could be in county jail; there I’d be shoved into an 8 by 10 room with another dude. Let me tell ya, when you have to drop a deuce it is all out in the open and you just have to suck it up.

Fuck, I need
to get the hell out of here. I called everyone that I could think of, but no one can cover my five million dollar bail. Even the MC can’t come up with that.

I just want to get home to my girl; I wish I could call her
and explain what’s going on. She’s probably worried as hell, especially since I just hung up on her after begging her to promise to wait.

I knew getting pulled over
while transporting two thousand pounds of drugs and all those guns would get me in trouble. I just don’t know how they knew what I was hauling. It was probably the full biker escort through the sleepy little town I passed through in Northeastern Missouri. Fuck, who knows what the hell is going on.

I
’ve been in this shithole for about a week. They keep questioning me, thinking I’ll give up the MC or the mafia. They told me that, if I gave up whom I was working for, they’d give me some kind of deal. Yeah, right, cocksuckers! I ain’t that stupid!

The cell door creaks
and opens with a thud.

“Porter, grab your bedding and roll up your mat. You made bail.”

I slowly stand and grab my things. I know that I didn’t just all of a sudden make bail. Someone high up somewhere bailed me out. I’m fucked! How am I going to get out of this shit? I can’t just ask the cop to leave me in here. If I do that, they’ll know something’s wrong. That’s the last thing I need.

I roll up my mat and wad up my blanket and pillow
, walking toward the cop.

“Drop your stuff to the left of the door
, then turn and face the wall with your hands behind your back.” His voice is husky and gruff from years of smoking and yelling at all the misfits in jail.

He takes me to a little room and gives me my street clothes and I
’m allowed to change. Through the small opening in the door I can see who bailed me out.

The leader
of the Mamedov Family and three Caucasian goons, all about six foot four, if not taller, stand there waiting for the feds to release me. They’re built like brick shit houses.

Shit! I hope the MC figures something out or I
’m done for. I walk out into the little room that these four big Russians are waiting, I am a bigger guy but these guys make me feel small!

“So
, Ryder, you’re not as stupid as I thought you would be,” says a gray-haired man with a thick Russian accent. He’s got to be in his seventies, at least. “Your father wasn’t very smart, but I see that you must take after your mother. She is such a beautiful woman.” He grins, almost as if he knows my mom is a soft spot for me.

I follow him
out of the facility, noticing the three goons are close behind me, making sure I don’t try anything.

O
utside, my eyes are hit with the natural light. I shut them, hoping to help my eyes adjust. “Where are you taking me? Or am I not allowed to know?” I try not to sound annoyed or pissed off, but, honestly, I’m a little of both. If I’d listened to Bambi or even my sister all those years ago, I wouldn’t be in this mess.

The gray
-haired man reaches the car and turns to look at me. He laughs. “Well, dumb fuck, you didn’t think we’d just let you get away with getting our product confiscated, did you? Just know that what was taken is worth about four times what your father owed me. So I figure you’re mine until I decide what to do with you.”

Quickly
, he surveys the parking lot and signals for his goons to blindfold me and knock me out. It’s the last thing I remember.

****

Faith

After crying for what seems like hours, I realize that I am sitting on my couch in my apartment. It still has a hint of Ryder’s smell on it. Just thinking about him breaks my heart. I’m getting ready to face my father’s death and the one person I want by my side is missing. I have no idea how I’m going to live through this, but I guess it makes me think of my favorite Kelly Clarkson song, “
What doesn’t kill you.”

Pushing myself off my couch, I decide that I need to shower and get dressed
. Layla’s in my kitchen, looking at the phone book.

"You know what you need
, girl?" I shake my head. "You need some ink; it’s the best therapy I know!" She picks up the phone and I hear a guy’s voice pick up on the other end. "Yeah, Hank. It's Layla. Yeah, Memphis's ol' lady. They are fine... Look can you squeeze me and Ghost's ol' lady in?" She is nodding her head as if he is standing in front of her. "An hour? Alright we will be there!" Wait, don't I get a say in this I scream to myself! A tattoo, I have never thought about such a thing.

True to Layla’s word on getting a tattoo, about an hour later
, we pull up in front of a tattoo parlor in the next city over.

“Layla, I don’t know if I like this. I don’t know if Ryder will approve. What if he
’ is pissed about me getting a tattoo?” Reaching for the door handle, I look over at her and she has the biggest grin on her face.

She grins.
“Come on, you sour puss! What the fuck? You have been through so much shit that you need to let yourself go. Be carefree once in a while.”

I shake my head, but
follow her into the shop. The buzzing noise that greets us sends goose bumps all over my body. I walk around and look at all the tattoos drawn on the walls. If I’m going to do this, it is going to symbolize my becoming a different person, becoming a
better
person.

As I walk around the parlor I
notice a frame with butterflies and ladybugs and it catches my attention.

“You see something you like?” I jump a little bit when I hear a deep male voice next to me.
A tall bald guy stands behind the counter. He has tattoos on every single open spot of skin; the only thing not covered is his face. He blinks and I notice tattoos on his eyelids.

“Did that hurt?” I ask without thinking.

“Pain is pretty much mind over matter. If your pain threshold is high, then a tat will only feel like a scratch, but if you’re a pussy, then you might cry like a bitch. No offense or anything.”

He
’s cute in a creepy way with all tats, but he’d look even better if he only had some of his bigger tats and not all the little ones.

“So what are you thinking
, sweet bottom?” What the hell did he just call me? I laugh a little bit and look back over at him.

“What did you just call me?” He looks shocked that I am questioning him or something.

“That is the Dueling Dragons VP’s ol’ lady there, Rusty. Be careful,” an older man talking to Layla says. I assume that is Hank because they seem to be catching up like old friends.

“Shit, I didn’t realize
. who you are. I’m so sorry.” Please, forgive me.” The tall guy standing in front of me says.

It still amazes me how much pull the MC has
, even though they are not from this area. However, I guess it makes sense; Ryder’s in the area a lot. I shrug and wave it off.

“So what were you thinking?” He leaves the end of the sentence open
, as if he wants me to fill it in with my name.

“Faith
. My name is Faith. I’ve gone through a lot of shit in the last several months and I feel like I’m finally coming out the other side of it. Maybe a butterfly? I feel like I am shedding an ugly past and I lived through it. So I am looking to a bright future.” I think a butterfly would be amazing. “Can you freehand very well? I have the picture in my head but I can’t draw worth two shits.” He smiles, turns and walks over to what I can only think is his station. I take the next few minutes and describe to him exactly what I see in my head.

“So you want it to look like it
’s fluttering on your back, right? Kind of like it just landed there for a minute?” He draws up the most amazing 3-D butterfly.

“Yeah,
exactly. Could we do it right here?” I push down the shoulder of my shirt and point at the top part of my shoulder. “Can you land it right here?”

“I think we could squeeze that. Gimme a few to get this all stenciled up and then we
’ll get to it.”

He grabs the rough drawing, waits for me to nod to him, and then walks over to a lighted table to fine-tune the drawing. I turn and walk over to the 50’s diner
-looking seats and wait for Layla to come over and sit with me.

I decide to try to call Ryder again, I have no idea why because I know that he
won’t answer, but it makes me feel better to hear his voice, I guess.

“You reached Ryder
. Can’t come to the phone for one reason or another. So do it to it.”

I sigh into the phone
, knowing the voicemail will record it. I hang up as Layla walks over and sits next to me.

“So, are you excited?” I snap back to reality and smile at her.

“Oh, honey. You need to stop focusing on what’s going on with Ryder. He’s a big boy; he can take care of himself, honey. If he can survive three years in prison, I think he can handle whatever he is dealing with now. So, what did you decide to get? I saw you looking at all that girly shit over there.” She snickers at me.

“A butterfly, a 3-D one. One that will look like it just landed on my shoulder. It signifies me spreading my wings and becoming a new person, a new woman.” I smile down at my phone and can see out of the corner of my eye that Layla is also smiling.

“That is amazing, baby. I’m so proud of you!” I turn and look at her and see that twinkle that she always gets when she is speaking from her heart.

****

After spending four hours with twenty-five needles jamming ink into our skin we both walk out with the most amazing tattoos. I feel like a cat scratched me in the same area over a hundred times, but it’s something that I would love to experience again.

“Oh, let me see it again!” Layla gushes as she finishes checking out the new tattoo that she got on her leg. It
’s a few names and dates. I’m not sure who they all are, but I’ll ask her later. Right now, I want to show off my newest addition. Turning around to pull down my shirt, I show her the beautiful butterfly that sits perched on my shoulder.

“Oh Faith, it looks amazing. It is so fitting.” She hugs me then walks into my kitchen. “I’m gonna call down to the diner and have them make us something for dinner. How does that sound?” I nod
.

My cell phone starts to ring
; it’s Beau.
Why is he calling me?

Rolling my eyes, I turn my back to Layla and answer my phone. “Beau, really? What the hell do you want? You have some nerve calling me, you know that?”
I try to sound as rude as I possibly can. I can feel the bile hit the back of my throat. Oh, what I would not give to have this piece of shit in front of me right now. Slapping him doesn’t feel like it was enough, given what he did to me, what he did to our child. None of it was fair.

“Hey Faithie, how’s it going?” He slyly says with his normal sexy tone, the memories of thinking that it would be the voice to whisper my name to me for the rest of my life. However, he broke me; he caused me more hurt in my life than I have ever thought possible. “I heard from a little bird that you were going to be in town and well, I thought that we might be able to talk.”

Is he fucking kidding me? Really? He wants to talk?

“You know something Beau, where were you a year ago when
I
wanted to talk?” I growl into the phone. “Hmmm? Where the fuck were you when our child needed you?” I start to shake because I am so pissed. I hear him try to say something but I cut him off. “Oh, that’s right. You got scared like the little bitch you are and ran to my best fucking friend. Her baby is
yours
. So tell me, Beau,” I say his name all sappy and girly like, “What the fuck was so special about her that you chose to stand behind her rather than your own fucking girlfriend of six years?” I start to pace back and forth to help tame my anger.

“I can explain everything if you just give me a chance. I promise that things will be different, I’ve changed.” He sounds like he is begging me to forgive him but I am not going to fall for his stupid games as I used to.

“Where’s Peggy Sue?” I ask him because I am actually worried about her and the baby. “Let me guess, you’re scared and you’re going to run like a little bitch? Well, you’re not running to me. We’re not going to play that game.”

“She’s at home. When we heard that your dad
wasn’t doing too well, I decided that one of us should call to say that we’re here, if you need me.” He stumbles over his words. “I mean, if you need us for anything.”

He has to be the lowest form of a human
that there is in this world. “I appreciate your concern but my family and I are no longer your worry. Given how you treated me while we were together, it seems that you were never worried about me. You and your concern can go fuck yourselves. Goodbye, Beau. I mean it this time. Goodbye for good.” I am actually starting to shake worse now, I do not know if it’s from the adrenaline or if it’s from my anger.

I hear him sniffle. “So, this is it? Okay, have it that way
, Faith.” He clears his throat. “Goodbye.”

The line goes dead. I look at the black screen
and realize that I finally have to say my final goodbyes to Beau. He and I will never be Faith and Beau, the power couple of Mobile, again. Now, it’s Beau the lying, cheating deadbeat, and Faith, the luckiest girl in the world. I’ve found my knight in shining armor. Ryder also happens to be the sexiest biker who has ever graced this world.
Calm yourself! Focus on your family!

Layla stands in the
archway with a cup of coffee in her hand. “Want one? You look like someone killed your puppy. Wanna talk about it?”

Shrugging back into the couch
, I get comfy for the talk that I am sure Layla is going to have with me about how amazing it is that I got to finally say goodbye to Beau, but all I really want to talk about is how we are going to get Ryder back and I need to get back home. So devising a plan with Layla would really help.