Page 51 of Ripper
“It’s nothing. I slipped. I’m fine,” she said, but I shook my head.
“I’ll take her inside to get patched up. Everything good here, Wrench?” I asked.
He unzipped the duffel bag, rummaging through it for a moment before nodding his head.
“Yeah, you did good. Not bad for your first run, Ronnie. Looks like you’ve got real potential for sticking around for the long haul.”
Ronnie smiled at him, and I led her inside, feeling her sway slightly before I helped her to the kitchen. I got a good look at that beautiful face of hers, and I didn’t realize it before, but she looked pretty exhausted. She rested her chin in the palm of her hands while I rushed off to get the first-aid kit.
I set everything out on the island, getting ready to clean her wound, and she pressed her lips together anticipating the pain.
“This might sting a little,” I said.
She braced for it, wincing slightly, but I still managed to get her wound cleaned and dressed.
“I’m gonna have Sam come look at it in the morning if it gets worse, okay?”
“That’s Wrench’s girl right?”
“You’re right. I’m sorry the girls aren’t around much and you gotta deal with us guys,” I teased.
“I like spending time with you, Ripper. Even if we’re out in the middle of nowhere trying to snag some shiny new weapons off some lone riders.”
She smiled brightly at me, and I tilted her chin up, pressing my lips to hers, taking her into my arms.
Her eyes averted to the back hallway and she seemed to fixate on the staircase for some reason.
“Ronnie? Is everything okay?”
“Yeah. Yes, it is. I think I’m still a little woozy. I think I should be getting back home. Tomorrow’s another day, and I have to make sure everything’s okay down at the shop before I come back to meet the other prospects.”
“I’m taking you home. I’m not letting you ride back by yourself after that fall.”
“Thank you, Ripper. Thank you for everything.”
She caressed my cheek, kissing me hard, but there was something different about it this time. There was something strange about it, like she was saying goodbye, but I knew I had to be crazy for thinking that.What’s going on, Ronnie?
***
I arrived at the clubhouse at the crack of dawn to see that there wasn’t a single Rebel out front. There were no bike engines running, no cooing, and no sound of tools coming from the garage. I parked my bike, making my way inside to see Wrench, Archer, Claymore, and Tank gathered around the kitchen island.
“Pass me a mug, Claymore.”
My voice was still groggy, and I felt the exhaustion settle between my bones as he tossed me a mug so I could pour myself a cup of coffee.
“Why the wake-up call, Tank?”
“You know that hit you went on with Ronnie last night?”
“Yeah, what about it? We delivered the shit to Wrench and everything went fine,” I said, sipping on my piping hot coffee, burning my tongue.
“Arch was in the area last night too looking for some of those Freeway Fucks. Apparently, a fight broke out when they realized the score was gone,” said Tank.
“How the fuck would they even know it was there?”
“The same way we did. I’m starting to think those fuckers have more up their sleeves than we initially thought. I need you and Claymore to head back to the scene and scope it out. Wrench and Arch are gonna go out looking for those fuckers. They took our shit, they fucked with us for long enough, now it’s time we smoke ’em out,” said Tank.
I raised my coffee mug to that because it was about damn time we took some fucking action. There was nothing that I hated more than waiting in the wind while those fuckers got to roam free, destroying everything in their goddamn path. It was our turn to ruin them.
