Page 74 of Ride Forever
“It’s better than being dead.”
“Try telling him that.” He scratched his beard and sighed. “Listen, the guys… They want to know how you are.”
“I’m okay. Physically, at least.” I slumped back in the uncomfortable plastic seat.
“Chaser?”
“He’s… There was internal bleeding. They’re operating on him right now. I…” I slapped my hands over my eyes to cover my tears.
Gasket’s hand grasped my shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “He’s going to be okay, kid. I know it.”
“I did it, Gasket,” I said, my voice wavering. “We were caught… Then he separated us. King…” I sniffed and gathered my composure. “They were beating Chaser in the next room while King hung me for the ceiling. Gasket, if I hadn’t escaped… We were so close to losing everything.” I glanced at the double doors. “I still might lose him.”
Gasket followed my gaze and nodded. “You don’t have to tell me the details, Sloane. I get it. You’re here now. That piece of shit is dead, and now we just have to have faith in those doctors, okay?”
We sat in silence, listening to the workings of the hospital around us. I watched a team of men and women in blue scrubs wheel a bed through the doors at full tilt, monitors blaring. My heart twisted, wondering if that was how they took Chaser into surgery.I wasn’t there.
“God…” I said, thinking back to the moment I’d held Chaser in my arms at the Halcyon. “The moment those FBI agents kicked their way into that penthouse… They saw the blood and the bodies… The looks on their faces when they found us.” I shook my head.
“Don’t focus on that shit,” Gasket said. “Tell me what you’re going to do now you’re free. Did you make plans with Chaser?”
I nodded, thankful for the distraction. “We talked about it a lot.”
“Yeah?”
“We’re going to see my friend Yvette. She lives in New York. She’s the one who’s helping out Sam.”
“Really? You don’t say.” He smiled. “You did good there, kid.”
“Thanks.” I wanted to shrug it off, but somewhere along this screwed-up journey, I’d learned how to take a compliment. “What about Fortitude?”
“We’ll go back, clean the place up, and get the garage up and running again. In time, we’ll be able to bring everyone back together again. Then we’ll decide what direction to take the club in.”
“Betty Marini?”
I glanced at Gasket. “They still don’t get my name right…”
He smiled and elbowed me as a man in blue scrubs stood before the double doors. This was it. This was the moment. I wondered if the guy knew how powerful he was at this moment. He literally had my future lying on his operating table.
I rose to my feet. “That’s me.”
The doctor nodded, pulled off his scrub cap, and walked toward us.
* * *
I took my helmet off and let the wind stream through my hair as I rode down the expressway into New York.
Life was like that these days. Grasping it whenever I could, relishing the reminders I was alive. Speed, adrenaline, experience. It was the kind of living on the edge of danger that didn’t include imminent death. I liked it.A whole lot.
Behind me, I heard the roar of a sexy black motorcycle over the road noise and smiled. Hitting the gas, I took the next exit and descended into the urban sprawl. Far in the distance, I could see the faint outline of the Manhattan skyline, and overhead, a few airplanes streaked across the sky.
Finally, after our epic cross-country road trip—which had been a much happier part two—I came to a stop outside a familiar apartment complex. The engines turned off, and the silence was almost deafening after the constant roar. Seriously, what was up with that? It was completely weird.
Chaser threw his leg over his bike and stood beside it, rubbing his side.
“You okay?” I asked. “You’re hurting a little there.”
“Yeah. A bit.”
