Page 47 of Ride Long
Her gaze lowered to the floor, but she didn’t shut me out. Not yet, anyway. Then she closed the door in my face. For a moment, I was stunned, then the chain rattled, and the door openedagain.
I slipped through the gap and turned as Sam locked us inside, putting the chain back inplace.
The room was decorated to Harley’s taste with framed photos of motorcycles and sports teams on the walls. It also reeked of cigarettes and stale beer. Sam had done her best to tidy. The bed was made with the sheets all tucked in with five-star hotel crispness, the table was free of rubbish, and the floor was spotless. I would bet my life the bathroom sparkled like a teenage vampire in directsunlight.
“Nice place,” I said, narrowing my eyes at a poster of a naked woman draped over a Harley Davidsonmotorcycle.
“Sloane… Yourneck…”
I raised my hand and pressed my skin. It must be bruised again. Like an out of control merry-go-round, it was always something with me. Bruised and beaten but stillstanding.
“Don’t worry about me,” I said. “I’m worried about you. Harley’s locked updownstairs.”
Sam shook her head and bit her nails. The poor woman looked like she was a hair’s breadth away from curling up in the corner and rocking back andforth.
“Has anyone hurtyou?”
She stopped her nervous chewing and shook herhead.
“But someone came?” Iprodded.
“Yeah.Rocket.”
I curled my lip in distaste. Rocket was a class A asshole. It wasn’t a secret he loathed me, and knowing what kind of guy he was didn’t make it any easier to swallow. I could only imagine what he’d said toSam.
“I didn’t know,” she wailed. “I didn’t know he would try to hurt you like that. Ipromise!”
“Iknow.”
“I… I…” She sobbed and turned her back to me, hiding her tears behind a curtain of tangled blonde hair. “You must think I’mpathetic.”
“No, I don’t,” I said firmly, stepping aroundher.
“It’s not meant to be like this. I know it isn’t. But… I always thought he’d change. If he got what he wanted, he’d be happier, and things would be like they’re supposed to. Harley wasn’t always like this.” She glanced up at me, completely lost. “Fortitude did this tohim.”
I didn’t know what to say to make it better. Words were nothing but a temporary Band-Aid. Hell, I didn’t know if there was asolution.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to start all this. I saw him hit you, and… I couldn’t let him hurt you,Sam.”
“It was ourbusiness.”
I bit my bottom lip and glanced at the ceiling. What was I supposed to say to a woman suffering at the hands of a maniac? What was the right thing to do in this kind of situation? I wasn’t a therapist or an expert. All I’d ever done was run away, read a couple of books on Political Science, and write a few papers that came back with miserablegrades.
There was one thing Ididknow. Sam was in big trouble if things went south for Harley. Rocket had already been here harassing her, and before long, she would be thrown down, and… I shook myhead.
“You have to think about yourself now, Sam,” I said. “You know what Marini will do to him. You have to do what’s right foryou. For yourlife.”
“If they…” She sobbed and wiped at her puffy eyes. “What’ll happen tome?”
Nothing good, but I wasn’t about to tell herthat.
“I’ll look out for you,” I reassuredher.
“I don’t need yourpity.”
“It’s notpity.”
Sam sniffed and sat on the sofa, rubbing her eyes as she crumbled against thepillows.
