Page 109 of Wrench

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explosion, the framing, Hollywood¡¯s murder, and lastly, the club forbidding me to see her.

¡°Wow¡­¡± she said as she absorbed the information. ¡°So, these Highways Guys¡­¡±

¡°Freeways,¡± I corrected, laughing.

¡°Freeways.¡± She nodded. ¡°The Freeways¡­ What's their motive for doing all this?¡±

I shrugged and offered, ¡°Money. Power. Drugs.¡±

¡°Hmm,¡± she said. ¡°I guess that¡¯s not a surprise. Uh, so¡­ do all ¡­ bikers tend to do

drugs?¡±

¡°No, no. Actually, none of us Blazing Rebels do drugs.¡±

This seemed to please her, I noticed, as she smiled and tilted her head. ¡°Oh. That¡¯s

good.¡± She took a sip of her beer, pursed her lips, then asked, ¡°Have you ever¡­ you know,

been into that stuff? Drugs?¡±

I dropped my eyes, unable to look at her when I said, ¡°No. Not really. You?¡±

¡°Oh yeah,¡± she said. ¡°Tons.¡±

I laughed, pulling my neck from her. ¡°Seriously?¡±

¡°No,¡± she laughed. ¡°I smoked weed once in college and threw up.¡±

¡°You sure like your beer, at least.¡±

¡°This is kind of a new thing.¡±

¡°Naughty, naughty,¡± I wiggled my brows at her and she laughed, playfully nudging my

shoulder.

¡°Yeah, like drinking beer is the naughtiest thing I¡¯ve done lately.¡±

¡°Yeah, I think having sex on top of a bar or playing with yourself on the phone has it

beat.¡±

¡°Oh my god!¡± she gasped, swatting my shoulder before throwing her face in her hands.

¡°I still can¡¯t believe I did that.¡±

¡°Still the best phone call I¡¯ve received.¡±

She giggled and took another sip of beer before her face went straight, staring at the

rain dripping down the windows. ¡°I¡¯m sorry about your friend,¡± she said.

¡°Thanks, Samantha.¡± I took a deep breath. ¡°Everything¡¯s so fucked up right now,¡± I

said. ¡°And then¡­ I made everything worse tonight.¡±

She placed her delicate hand over the top of mine, stroking my knuckles with her

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