“How’s school going?” Winter asked Lily whose eyes were glued to the pole dancing.
“Good,” Lily answered.
“How was spring break?” That pulled her attention away from the pole dancing. They talked about going to the racetrack, moaning about how much money they lost before going on to tell her about Beth’s wedding dress. Beth had her second fitting, enabling her to pick it up while in Lexington.
“Did you try on your bridesmaid dress?” Beth questioned Winter.
“Yes.” The women had purchased their dresses from a local shop in town. “They’re gorgeous, you made a great choice.”
Beth smiled happily. “I can’t wait to see everyone in their dress.”
“You’re not getting nervous?” Winter questioned the calm bride to be. Beth certainly couldn’t be called a bridezilla.
“Not at all,” Beth answered. “I want everything to go according to plan, but if it doesn’t, we’ll adjust. I’m counting on you to keep everyone on schedule.”
“That I can do,” Winter promised. Evie and Natasha came up behind Beth tugging her away from the table to the dance floor. It didn’t take long for her to relax, dancing from woman to woman. It was easy to see Beth had developed a close relationship with them. Lily watched the interaction of her sister with her friends with a face filled with happiness. It was obvious Lily wasn’t jealous of the other women; she was happy her sister was fitting into her new life.
“Want to join them?” Winter asked.
“Yes.” This was the Lily that Winter loved-the mischievous spunky woman that, when she let her guard down, was stunning to witness. Winter couldn’t believe that while they were dancing, Stori and Dawn starting taunting Lily to pole dance. At first Lily ignored them, making comical remarks about their own dancing.
“Bet you can’t get that skinny leg to hold you up on the pole,” Jewell taunted her, staggering forward after she had twirled around the pole several times in succession. A look came into Lily’s eyes that Winter had seen a couple of times during her high school days. Lily didn’t like anyone to bet her she wouldn’t do something.
She danced toward the pole, grasping it with one hand, winding one long shapely leg around the shiny metal before gracefully lifting herself up, performing a series of maneuvers that showed the women how to really pole dance. Every single one of them stopped dancing to watch. Beth cheered her on as she finished in a maneuver that had her sliding down the pole in a circling ball, stopping herself from hitting the floor hard with just an inch to spare.
Silence filled the room as she rose to her feet, her face red from her exertions. Then the clapping began.
Winter had to ask Beth, “Did you know she could do that?”
Beth shook her head, going to her sister.
“Where did you learn that?” Beth asked.
“The gym that I go to has classes. That was the only exercise class that fit into my schedule,” Lily told Beth who was begging her to teach her some of her moves. Winter went to the bar for bottled water.
She had gone for her second bottled water later when she noticed the time. Finding Bliss, they went to Beth who was sitting at the table with Lily and Evie.
“I’m going to take Bliss back to the clubhouse. Can I borrow your keys?” Winter asked holding out her hand.
Beth dug inside her purse to find the keys before handing them to Winter.
“I’m ready to go to, do you mind giving me a ride?” Lily stood up from the table giving her sister a smile. Winter was well aware of why Lily was ready to leave. Several of the women were becoming intoxicated. Beth didn’t try to talk Lily out of going, having given her the option earlier in the evening.
“I wish you didn’t have to leave Bliss, I’m sure Crazy Bitch and Sex Piston will behave.” Beth tried to excuse her friends’ anger at Bliss. Winter herself didn’t know why the biker women wanted Bliss so bad. Everyone refused to tell her. When she had brought the subject up to Beth, the hurt look in her eyes had her quickly dropping the subject.
“I don’t mind, I get to go back to the clubhouse with no other women around but me.” Giving a hug to Beth, they turned to leave the bar. Everyone missed the worried look Lily gave her sister before she turned to follow them out the door.
Winter decided to drop Bliss off first, as her incessant talk about the men was making both Winter and Lily uncomfortable. By the time they were at the clubhouse, she wanted to shove a rag in her mouth to shut her up.
After they watched Bliss enter the house, Winter reversed the car pulling back out onto the road. The silence was deafening.
“The club members are pretty tight, aren’t they?” Lily questioned.
“Yes,” Winter said cautiously.
“Bliss has had several relationships with the men, hasn’t she?” This time her question was more probing.
“I try not to involve myself in that aspect of the club,” Winter evaded a direct answer.
“I think she had one with Razer. Beth won’t tell me, but they broke up for a while and the way her biker friends react, I think it was Bliss,” Lily said, trying to draw an answer out of her. Winter was surprised Lily was asking her about the break up between Beth and Razer.
“I don’t know truthfully Lily, that was before I had moved into the clubhouse.”
Lily went silent, staring out the window. They had passed the club and were beginning to go down the mountain road when blue lights flashed in her rearview mirror.
“Damn,” Winter said, pulling over to the barely existent shoulder of the road. Coming to a stop, she pushed a button, sliding her window down as the Deputy approached.
“Driver’s license and registration,” the deputy requested.
Winter pulled out her driver’s license from her wallet, giving Lily a reassuring smile. She held out the license to the deputy standing on the dark road.
“I have to look for the registration, this is my friend’s vehicle.” Winter moved to reach inside the glove box.
“Keep your hands where I can see them.” The deputy moved his flashlight until it shown onto her license in his hand. Winter stared up into the deputy’s face, his unpleasant voice ringing a bell in her memory.
“I’ve met you before when I lived in town. You were the deputy who came to my house with the Sheriff.” Winter didn’t miss the ugly expression that passed over the deputy’s face.
“I remember you too. You’re the slut who likes to get her kick’s playing hard-to-get,” he said snidely.
Winter couldn’t believe the deputy was talking to her in such a hateful manner. Lily’s indrawn breath showed her own surprise.
“Get out of the car, both of you.” The deputy took a step back from Winter’s door motioning for them to get out of the SUV with the flashlight in his hand. Winter tried not to become frightened. He was an officer of the law, but the threatening vibes emaciating from him were sending chills across her neck in warning.
Lily climbed out, walking around the front of the SUV. Coming to stand next to Winter, she took Lily’s hand in hers trying, without words, to reassure the young girl. The fear was obvious in her eyes as the deputy moved closer to Winter.
“You been drinking tonight?” He questioned obnoxiously.
“I haven’t been drinking,” Winter answered him truthfully. He stared arrogantly down at her before his eyes slid towards Lily. His change in expression was sickening; he made no attempt to keep his lustful expression from showing.
“You had any drinks tonight?”
Lily just shook her head no.
“If that’s all, we’d like to go deputy.” Winter desperately tried to end the encounter.
“You’ll go when I tell you to go.” The deputy turned back to face her. As he did, the hand holding her license brushed up against her, knocking it out of his hand. It landed at her feet; automatically bending down into a squat, she picked it up. As she did, her eyes glanced at his boots. They were very distinctive with a buckle and star on the side. Winter had s
een them before.
Trembling now in terror, Winter stood up trying to keep her terror from showing. She was unsuccessful.
His eyes bore into hers and she knew he had figured out that Winter knew who he was. Before she could react, he backhanded her, throwing her into the side of Beth’s vehicle. Lily screamed, moving toward Winter. The deputy grabbed a handful of Lily’s hair, stopping her.
“Now, there isn’t any need for you to be scared. I’ll take care of you right after I finish with this cunt.” Winter’s hand grabbed the door to right herself, slowly moving away from the deputy.
“You remembered me, didn’t you? I was hoping you would,” he shrugged. “A man likes to know he’s made an impression,” he said, dragging Lily by her hair as he stepped in front of Winter, preventing her retreat.
“Why?” Winter asked. If he was going to kill her at least she would know why he tried to kill her at the high school.
“You almost got me fired. If my dad hadn’t used his connections, I would have been. Of course, the old bastard warned me he would disown me if I got in trouble again.” He said slamming the butt of his flashlight into Winter’s stomach as the air rushed out of her. She fell to her knees gasping for a breath as he slung Lily hard into the SUV door.
“Get in there and turn off the lights and motor,” he yelled. “Now!”
Winter watched as Lily’s fingers tried to open the door, but they were shaking so badly, they couldn’t grasp the handle. Winter managed to get to her feet. Seeing her move, Deputy Moore released Lily’s hair long enough to grab Winter’s arm. Winter tried to break free, struggling against his hold.
“Lily, run…” Winter screamed. Lily hesitated. Winter could tell she did not want to leave her behind.
“Go get help. Run…!”
“I’ll kill her if you move.” Deputy Moore tried to drag Winter closer to Lily so that he could grab her, but Winter struggled desperately against his hold, trying to give Lily time to get away. Frustrated, the deputy quit trying to reach Lily, pulling out his gun. Lily ran. She started running on the road, but the sound of a gunshot had her veering off into the wooded hillside. Deputy Moore fired another shot at her. He tried to adjust to a better position to shoot at Lily, but Winter kept striking him, using her nails to dig into the flesh of his arm.
“You stupid bitch, I’m going to put a bullet through your head if you don’t stop,” he screamed at her.
Lights suddenly hit them from an oncoming car, highlighting their struggling figures in the darkness of the night. The car slowed before pulling to the side of the road. The car doors opened and women began climbing out of the car.
“If you say one word to them, I will kill you and then kill them.” Deputy Moore warned her. Winter stopped struggling. The pain in her back was excruciating and her legs were trying to give way, making her hang limp in his brutal grip.
“What the fuck is going on here?” Winter looked at the women recognizing them from the night at the Pink Slipper. Winter realized the woman demanding an explanation from the deputy was Crazy Bitch and that Sex Piston was the one crossing the road coming towards Winter and the deputy.
“Get back in your car. This is none of your business, I pulled her over for driving under the influence and she is resisting arrest.” His harsh voice didn’t stop the women moving forward.
“Why do you have Beth’s ride?” Sex Piston asked Winter.
Winter knew she had a choice. She could tell Deputy Moore wasn’t going to let any of them go. They would be able to identify him when she turned up missing, he only had one option, but Winter didn’t.
“Get help, help from Beth. Tell her to get Razer. Run!” Winter screamed at the biker women as she resumed her struggles to get away from the deranged deputy.
“Stop it!” He lifted his gun towards Winter, but before he could fire it he found himself under attack from Sex Piston and Crazy Bitch. Trying to protect himself from the two women, he was forced to release Winter. Losing her balance, she was knocked to the ground from the struggling trio. Winter watched as Crazy Bitch tore the gun from his grasp while Sex Piston was trying to rip out his hair. Out of the corner of her eyes, she saw the remaining biker women running towards them, except one who was reaching back inside the bright green car and brought out a baseball bat. Running towards them, Killyama came up behind the struggling deputy.
“Get out of the fucking way.” The bitches moved aside, leaving him to Killyama. Winter had no sympathy for the man as she watched her bring the bat across his back, knocking him into the SUV. Giving him another hard whack between his shoulder blades had him falling to the ground beside Winter.
One of the women knelt down beside Winter. “Are you okay?”
“Yes.” Get my phone out of the car and call Viper.” T.A. got to her feet going to the SUV and she placed the call.
Killyama was finally satisfied that the deputy wasn’t going to move with her standing over him with a bat and Crazy Bitch pointing the gun at his head.
“What in the fuck was going down?” Sex Piston asked.
“He was trying to kill me. He attacked me once before, but he wasn’t identified. He knew I recognized him and he was going to kill Lily and me.” Winter’s almost incoherent explanation had Lily’s predicament flooding into her mind.
“Oh God, Lily,” Winter moaned. “She took off running into the woods,” Winter screamed, trying to get T.A to help her to her feet.
“We need to find her!” Winter screamed again. “She may be hurt, he shot at her twice.”
“Calm the fuck down,” Killyama said. “We’re not going to run around these woods in the dark. Wait for the men.” Deputy Moore started moving. “What did he do to you?” She asked with a mean glint in her eye.
Winter stared at the woman holding the bat. “He almost beat me to death, left me outside all night on the ground. He didn’t finish the job so he was going to kill Lily and me.” Winter was shaking so badly, she had to hold on to T.A. to prevent herself from falling.
“You a friend of Beth’s?” Crazy Bitch asked.
Winter nodded, “I’m one of her bridesmaids.”
“We are too,” she said absently, staring down at the deputy who had managed to get to his knees. Shoving the gun into the waistband of her jeans, she held out her hand.
“I’m going to see that you all are arrested, assaulting a police officer…” Deputy Moore tried to put the fear of the law into the biker woman.
Killyama handed the bat to Crazy Bitch. “I’m going to show you assault mother fucker….” Crazy Bitch brought down the bat this time over his shoulder.
“I… am… going… to…. beat… the… shit…” each word was timed with a hit by the bat. The sounds of the bat striking flesh was drowned out by motorcycles. The loud sounds could be heard before they saw the lights turn the corner. Crazy Bitch stopped hitting the unconscious man to watch The Last Riders park their bikes close to Beth’s vehicle.
Viper got off his bike, running directly to Winter.
“What happened?” Trying not to let her hysteria get the better of her, she tried to remain calm enough to explain what had happened, then losing it completely when she told him about Lily.
Viper took command. “Sex Piston, take Winter and Beth’s vehicle back to Rosie’s. Don’t open your mouths about what happened. You never stopped. You came directly to Rosie’s after you left your home. Understand me?”
“You going to finish this mother fucker or do you need me to stay and help?” Killyama asked sincerely.
“I think we can handle this piece of shit from here. Go on to the bar, get drunk and have some fun, forget this happened.” Viper’s eyes bore into the biker bitches faces. Getting the message, they climbed back in their car, the tires screeched as Crazy Bitch floored the gas pedal.
“Razer call Beth, tell her what happened and not to tell anyone. You tell her we’ll find Lily. Winter, get in the SUV and go with Sex Piston, you need to keep Beth calm.” Sex Piston was behind the whe
el before Viper finished talking. Winter shakily walked to the passenger door getting inside with Viper’s help.
“Find her, Viper,” Winter begged.
“Bet on it, pretty girl,” he said grimly. “You sure he’s the one who almost killed you?”
Winter didn’t hesitate, “Yes, I’m sure,” she said, closing the door without a glance at the man surrounded by The Last Riders.
Sex Piston did a U-turn before driving off in the direction of the bar.
“Cash, Shade, Rider, find Lily”. The men moved, each going to their bikes, pulling out what they needed before disappearing into the dark woods.
“Razer, Knox, Train, you’re with me.”
Viper walked over to the deputy who had wet himself when Killyama had started beating him. Viper squatted down next him.
“Call the Sheriff, tell him those women attacked me,” Deputy Moore cried, lying on the ground, staring up into a face staring stonily back at him.
“That was my woman you almost beat to death. She laid in a back brace for weeks having to have pads under her to take a piss. You left her on the fucking ground in fucking agony for hours, she had weeks of rehab just to move from the bed to her wheelchair.”
The deputy was now sobbing for mercy, Viper showed him none.
“You’ve just lived your last day…”
***
Cash, Shade, and Rider moved silently across the hillside, looking for a sign of which direction Lily went to give them a clue where she had run. Expertly, Cash shone his flashlight back and forth across the ground. They were lucky it took them less than fifteen minutes to find her first track. Moving apart a few feet, they began a search grid steadily working their way closer to her. Cash was familiar with the mountain, searching for areas it would be easier for her to run. It was Shade who found a ripped portion of her dress with blood on it. As he gripped it tightly in his hand, they moved forward, changing direction just slightly.
“We’re fucked,” Cash said, recognizing a marker.
“What?” Shade snarled.