WRECKED: CHOSEN FEW MC - BOOK TWO: OUTLAW BIKER/ALPHA ROMANCE Page 15

  Carly squatted next to her. “I’m glad you’re okay, Ms. Wilford, because I hear Tiny’s bike and I think the shit is about to hit the fan.”

  Melanie didn’t like to hear that sort of language coming from a twelve-year old, but she had to admit the girl was probably dead right and she did like the message.

  * * *

  Melanie stood transfixed, frozen in place, as Malcolm pointed his rifle out through a missing pane of glass in the door and fired at the bikers.

  Greg!

  Her heart fluttered. She couldn’t see what was happening, but Innes’s stern expression told her that at least they weren’t dead yet. He was sighting, getting ready for a second shot when suddenly he went flying to one side. Carly was all over him. She’d plunged into him from behind and fallen on him, swinging wildly with a wrench she’s found somewhere.

  As he recovered, he roared with rage and swung an arm toward the side, knocking her away and scrambling to his feet. As Carly got up, he raised the rifle, holding it like a baseball bat. Melanie moved toward him, but Brian jumped in front of his father shaking his fists. “Don’t you dare hurt her,” he screamed. Seeing his son in the path of his swing, he checked the blow, hesitating. While he thought, Carly got up. Innes turned toward her menacingly and she stepped forward, bringing her foot up. Her foot caught him squarely in the crotch and he cried out and crumpled to the ground. Melanie grabbed the rifle and jumped back out of his reach.

  She’d never shoot anyone, but if he didn’t have it…

  She saw Innes trying to get up and shouted at the kids: “Everybody run for it. Through the office.”

  As if they’d read her mind, all of the kids and the two adults were already heading that way. Melanie followed behind, casting glances back over her shoulder. As Innes struggled to his feet, he pulled out his pistol. She’d forgotten about the damn pistol and now he was waving it and shouting for them all to get back in the garage, but it was too late. They burst out into the hot desert sun, scattering.

  Innes moved fast and was right on Melanie’s tail as she went out the door. A roar of a beefy engine told her that Greg and the other man were on their way again. Innes stopped and turned to face the oncoming motorcycles. “He’s got a gun,” she screamed, but Innes had already raised his pistol and was taking aim. The men closed fast and they moved apart, forcing him to aim at just one. Startled by the move, Innes pointed first at one, then the other, then snapping off a shot.

  Melanie screamed as she saw both bikes go down. Greg was in the air, flying at Innes as his motorcycle spun on its side. He smashed into the man, knocking him down on the dusty asphalt and then rolling past him. Greg was up first and as Innes got to his knees, Greg lashed out with a foot, catching him in the ribs, and sending him spinning again. Before he could move, Greg was on him, pounding the man with his fists.

  And suddenly he stopped. Melanie saw the man was senseless. Greg pointed at the gun. “Would you mind picking that up. It wouldn’t do for the prints of a convicted felon to be found on a gun.”

  “Damn.” They turned to see Tiny staggering toward them, his white tee shirt turning red with blood. “After all that I missed out on the real damn fun and I got an owie.”

  “Are you okay?” Melanie went to him and pulled up the shirt. “We have a first aid kit in the bus,” she said.

  “Here it is,” Carly said, coming up with it.

  A new roar filled the air as Cutter rode in with two other men. They parked and walked over to Innes’s inert form. “I think he’s alive,” Cutter said, poking him with the toe of his boot. “Want me to fix that?”

  Greg laughed. “No. His kid is standing over by the building and he doesn’t need anymore pain. Besides, the guy is a whack job.”

  “Okay. But do you know how dull it is to be the Enforcer when nobody needs serious hurting?”

  “I think you have plenty to keep you busy. And Audra doesn’t like blood stains.”

  “True. She often has better things to do than laundry and other ideas on how to keep me busy.”

  Carly took Greg’s hand. “I knew you’d come.”

  “Of course. You called me. Club members stick together, kid.”

  “Luc said he’d locate my phone and I guess he did. He’s okay.”

  “He’s better than okay. Your timing was great. Melanie did the same thing, but her phone died.”

  She gave him a self-satisfied grin. “I waited until we got here, because I saw her make a call.”

  Greg looked at them. “How did you all get free?”

  Carly tilted her head. “When he was trying to shoot you, I clobbered him with a wrench. That didn’t stop him. Brian helped me, and then I did what you told me to do in an emergency. I kicked him in the balls.”

  “Did you now?”

  “Yup. It worked pretty good.”

  “Just remember to reserve that for emergencies.”

  Melanie managed to stop the bleeding in Tiny’s arm. “It looks like the bullet went right through, but you better get a doctor to check it out.”

  “I’d rather have a pretty girl working on me any day. Thanks.”

  Carly laughed. “That and Tiny doesn’t want to have to explain a bullet wound that a doctor would be legally required to report.”

  “I’m on parole,” he said. “I’m supposed to avoid conflicts and hanging out with dangerous people.”

  “And bikers,” Carly said, grinning. “I better go talk to Brian, let him know his dad is sort of okay.” She nodded her head toward the motorcycles. “You know, I can fix those for you if you need a hand.”

  “I’ll let you know. It’s mostly cosmetic, I think.”

  “Well, if it’s anything you can’t handle…”

  “Go check on your friends, brat princess.”

  As she wandered off, Cutter came over and handed Melanie a phone. “This is a pay as you go phone. I think it might be better for all concerned if you were the one to call the police.” He handed her a piece of paper. “This is the address of this place. I’m sure your guide neglected to tell you where you were.”

  “What about you guys?”

  “We’ll tie him up nice for you and put him in the office. Then, if you wouldn’t mind, it would be best if you were to say that some bikers came by and lent a hand without naming any names.”

  She grinned. “That’s doable.”

  He handed her some keys. “I saw some handcuffed men. The key is probably on here.”

  She looked around. “But the men seem to be gone.”

  Cutter grinned. “So they seem to be.” The kids took a head count and seem to all be there. I guess they all stood their ground.”

  “I expect Carly told them she’d beat the crap out of them if they wandered off,” Melanie said.

  “That’ll do it.”

  She held up the phone. “We have water in the garage still, so put him in the chair. While you boys get some distance I’ll call Donna, and then the police.”

  “Tell Donna I said hello,” Greg said.

  “Half an hour would be lovely,” Cutter said. “By then we can be having a beer somewhere with lots of witnesses.”

  “I can do that.”

  “I like you. You think like a fine biker chick,” Cutter said.

  “I’ll take that as a compliment.”

  “Damn right it is. Greg, if you don’t pick up your option on this one, let her know you want to keep her around, one of the other guys is going to for sure.”

  “They come near her, I’ll forget what a pacifist I intend to be, starting tomorrow.

  Suddenly Melanie felt bright. “You get your asses out of here.”

  She watched the cloud of dust they kicked up as they left and wondered why these guys seemed so much more alive than anyone else she knew. Malcolm moaned and she turned to see him sagging in the chair that Cutter had tied him into after carrying him into the office like he weighed nothing at all. Spittle and blood ran down from the corner of his mouth. The kids were actually playin
g in the garage, making it sound like recess. The tension was broken and they were bursting with the energy of relief.

  In the distance one of the bikes stopped. A figure straggled from the bushes alongside the road, and whoever was on the bike pointed back to the garage. The figure turned and staggered toward her. It was the bus driver. She smiled. He could help with the kids. Maybe after she undid his cuffs she’d put the keys in the drawer and forget where they were. If Mr. Affir came back, he might have to wait until the police undid his. He hadn’t been much help at all.

  When she went inside, she talked to the kids and they all agreed that the story the police would understand might not exactly match everything they’d seen, but it was basically the truth.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  When the police arrived, the story they were told puzzled and amused them. They had been kidnapped and brought here. Melanie had posted the demands on Innes’s Facebook page, and then some bikers had come by. Innes panicked and fired at them. At that point, Carly insisted on explaining her role. Not about her phone, but the clever way she distracted the man with the rifle. Melanie could tell they believed her by the way they winced. They all ran away, and the bikers had taken down their kidnapper.

  That the kidnapper’s son told the same story sealed it.

  They found a dazed and frightened Mr. Affir hiding in a ditch further down the road. Melanie was disappointed to learn that the police had a key that would undo his handcuffs. She’d been looking forward to seeing a locksmith cut them off.

  Overall the police were kind and efficient. They hauled Innes off for questioning. “The way he’s carrying on, he’ll go straight to psych evaluation,” the lead detective told her.

  “That’s where he belongs,” she told him. “You might want to check his Facebook page.”

  The officer smiled. “These nutters seem to think we care what they put up there. As long as it isn’t child porn…”

  “Nothing like that. But he’s a sick man.”

  “You think he shouldn’t be prosecuted?”

  “That’s not for me to say. He strikes me as someone who has demons he can’t control. I don’t think he intended to harm anyone in the beginning.”

  The detective shook his head. “You are a lot more forgiving than I’d be in your shoes. He smacked you a good one with that pistol and was going to kill you.”

  “The paramedics want me to get my head checked, so maybe I am soft in the head.”

  Naturally child protective services had to come to evaluate the situation, and they took the children and Melanie to the hospital so a doctor could check them out. “Once we know they’re okay, we’ll notify the parents to come and get their children,” the woman in charge told her.

  “I better call the school and let them know things are all right,” she said. She used Cutter’s phone and called Donna Turnbull on her direct line and gave her an update.

  “Thank God you are all alive,” she said. “Now that you have a moment, tell me what happened. I’ll need to make a report.”

  With the woman from CPS eavesdropping Melanie gave her a short version, sticking mostly to the story she’d told the police.

  “Those bikers rescued you all?”

  “They did?”

  “It’s that gang Carly’s uncle belongs to, isn’t it?” Donna wasn’t stupid.

  “It might have been. The police don’t know for sure what club it was.”

  “You have someone listening in, don’t you?”

  “Yes. Anyway, the bikers came to our assistance, with help from a couple of us on the inside.”

  “I’m not sure I can see Mr. Affir in the role of a hero.”

  “And you shouldn’t. Carly and Brian took action. Mr. Affir is very stressed out, and I expect he’ll want some time off and hope the children have time to forget how he behaved.”

  Donna surprised him by giggling. “Serves him right, the pompous fool. Will you be taking time off? I mean everyone will be off for a couple of days. The rule is that everyone, all the students and teachers, have to have some counseling. That will be so chaotic that the school board decided to just forget about trying to do anything else.”

  “And to let the publicity ease up a bit.”

  “I’m supposed to give an interview on television.”

  “Wonderful.”

  Better you than me.

  “I’m nervous.”

  “You’ll be wonderful. It will reassure the public to see the confident and in-control principal that you are. They’ll understand that this was a crazy, unpredictable one-off event, and that you’ve taken every precaution to ensure the children’s safety.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Let them know how heroic the children were.”

  “What about the bikers?”

  “Since they didn’t choose to remain, I think they’d appreciate our playing down their role.”

  “Certainly.” That seemed to please her.

  “I’m worried about Brian. His father is under arrest and will probably be committed. He hasn’t anyone else.”

  “Sure he does. His mother originally filled out his emergency forms and we have a part where they tell us who to contact if something happens to both parents and she had her sister’s name listed.”

  “Can you contact her?”

  “I did. She’s on her way to talk to the CPS people now. She wants to adopt him. She lives right nearby, but Mr. Innes thought she was a government spy and wouldn’t let her be around the boy. If they approve, Brian will stay in your class.”

  Melanie let out a sigh of relief. “Thank you. You are fantastic.”

  “Sometimes it’s handy to have a bureaucrat on your side, Melanie.”

  Things were still chaotic when she hung up, but knowing that Brian had someone made the world seem a happier place. Liking Donna a lot better was an unexpected bonus.

  * * *

  She opened the door to find Greg on her doorstep. “I hear tell there’s no school today, so I asked myself, ‘Self, don’t you think a nice teacher might like some company on an unexpected day off?’ I didn’t get much of an answer and thought of calling, asking the question. But then I remembered a lot of phones shuffling around. I know I had forgotten to give Tawnya hers back.”

  “Tawnya?”

  “The bartender at the clubhouse. While Luc had mine to track your call, I used hers. I took it with me to communicate with him and Cutter. And then I didn’t know what happened to yours. For all I know the cops still have it.”

  She smiled and opened the door wide. “They didn’t have any use for my phone, or Carly’s. They were nice enough to return it after the forensics people were done with the bus. See, they didn’t know phones had anything at all to do with the crime or the rescue. They understood completely that some bikers were just riding around, probably looking for trouble, and that Innes panicked and took some shots at them. Of course, those brutal bullies beat the crap out of him and then took off, looking for more trouble and not bothering with any bunch of kids.”

  “Probably perverts anyway.”

  “No doubt.” She looked up at him and kissed him. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  “Me too.”

  “Can things get back to normal now?”

  He threw his head back and laughed. “I don’t even know what that means. When have things been normal?”

  “I mean the normal we were working out before Innes went nuts. The normal where you take me on insane trips, but it’s just us, and then you nail me on the beach.”

  “Does it have to be on a beach? I bet you’ve got a lovely bed right here.”

  She felt her breathing grow shallow and her pulse race. “Yes. As a matter of fact, I do.”

  He wrapped those powerful arms around her. “The bed is a lot closer than the beach.”

  * * *

  In her bedroom Greg undressed her slowly. He undid her blouse and slid it off her shoulders and down her arms, then let his hands linger on her bare flesh. At his
touch goosebumps rose up and her entire being began to tingle. He turned her to face her full-length mirror and put his arms around her to fondle her breasts, then let his hands slide down over her belly. She sank back against him as his fingers undid her jeans. She watched their reflection, seeing him nuzzle her neck as he opened her jeans. His touch, his hand slipping inside her pants to touch her pussy made her suck in her breath. She wanted to melt into his arms and her legs quivered. She was weak with desire, with the delicious tingle of anticipation. The way he moved with such deliberation made her head spin. His studied slowness was driving her up the wall and she loved it.

  His fingers worked between the lips of her pussy and she opened her legs for him, wanting to feel them inside her. When he obliged, forcing two fingers into her heat, she moaned with pleasure and her head rocked back. “You are so beautiful,” he said, and she’d never heard those words said with such sincerity. They might be fueled by lust, but that made it even better.

  His free hand went around her waist and he picked her up, still fucking her with his fingers, and he carried her to the bed. Finally he slipped his hand out of her pants and put her on the bed on her hands and knees and began tugging her pants down over her ass. He kissed her spine and then trailed kisses down over her ass as he worked her jeans and panties down to her knees. He pressed his mouth to her bare pussy, sending a shiver of intense pleasure through her, then his tongue was inside her, tasting her in long, wet licks that drove conscious thought from her head. She dropped her head to the mattress, offering herself to his rapacious tongue and felt her juices flowing copiously.

  Then he stood up at the foot of the bed. Glancing toward the mirror, she saw him staring at her exposed ass and pussy, then slowly unzipping his jeans, undoing them, and pushing them down until he could step out of them. His cock was swollen stiff and huge. The sight of it jutting out from his loins, the perfect emblem of his lust for her, made her heart pound, her pulse throbbing in her ears. He took that cock in his hand and held it as he came up behind her, bringing the bulbous head to her flesh and rubbing it in the wet, warm pink lips. She watched him, transfixed, as he thrust his hips forward. She watched him in the mirror as he took her, and she felt the pressure of his throbbing flesh as it slowly invaded her body, penetrated her. It was glorious the way it filled her. His hand burned on the small of her back as he worked his cock into her, moving back and forth, deeper and deeper inside her. They melded together, his hard cock fusing in her molten core.