Monroe, Marla - The Edge of Night [The Protectors 3](Siren Publishing Classic) (15 page)

The waitress returned to take their orders. She took Amanda’s first.

“Okay, what about you?” She turned to Morgan.

He ordered the Rancher’s Breakfast off the menu and laughed when Amanda rolled her eyes at him.

“Hey, I’m a growing boy.”

“Growing hair on your ass, you mean.” Tyler walked up and slid in across the booth from them. He grinned at the waitress, who just shook her head.

“What about you? Want coffee?” she asked.

“Yeah, coffee and whatever he’s having sounds good.”

She turned and hollered out the order as she walked back to the counter.

“I checked out of the room so we can hit the road after this,” Tyler told them.

“Good. We need to stop at a store before we have to meet up with the gang,” Morgan said.

“What do you need?”

“Amanda needs a larger bra and some tops,” Morgan told him.

“Morgan!” Amanda couldn’t believe he’d said that out loud to Tyler.

“Sorry, babe. I’m used to sharing everything with Tyler.”

“Yeah, I know,” she groused.

They discussed routes and other things that Amanda tuned out as she thought about how to get Guy off her back. Would he keep coming after her even after she was too far along to abort the baby? Would he try to kill her? Would he go that far? She was almost certain he would since he had tried to force the abortion on her. What was another life in the equation? The more she turned it around in her head, the worse she felt. Maybe there was no way out except to go to Canada or Mexico.

They finished their meal. Amanda needed the bathroom again.

“I’m going to the bathroom before we leave.” She waited for Morgan to get up so she could slide out.

“Don’t be gone too long. We need to get on the road,” Morgan warned her.

“I’m not going to be putting on makeup,” she said sarcastically.

She knew they would start talking about her and the mess she’d landed them in the minute she left, but it couldn’t be helped. Her bladder was slowly getting smaller, she decided. After finishing, she hurried back to find them deep in conversation.

“I’m ready,” she said.

“Good, we’re going to stop at a store to pick up some clothes for you,” Morgan said. “I want to call Dodge first, though, see what he’s been able to find out.”

They stood outside by the bikes while Morgan put the call in to Dodge. Amanda couldn’t hear what Morgan was saying since he walked off a ways from the bikes. Whatever he learned wasn’t good. He came back with a frown.

“Okay, let’s go.” He looked pointedly at Tyler before he climbed onto the bike.

Amanda climbed on behind him and looked over where Tyler was shaking his head as he mounted his bike. Something wasn’t going as planned. She felt her belly began to roll.

* * * *

Morgan led them to the edge of town where everyone was gathering. He noticed that there were several more gangs joining up with theirs. He didn’t like it. Someone might recognize Amanda and make a grab for her. He weighed the pros and the cons of sticking with the gang and decided they would risk it, but keep a close watch on her. He could easily keep her away from the other gang members. He hoped.

“Looks like we have company,” Tyler said when he pulled off the road next to Morgan.

“Yep. Looks that way. I don’t want Amanda near anyone we don’t know,” he said.

“Not a problem. How big a chance is there that one of those gangs knows about the reward for Amanda?” Tyler asked.

“Greater than I like. That’s for damn sure.” Morgan huffed out a breath.

“Amanda, slide off, baby, and get on with Tyler. I want to feel out the others and see what they might know.” Morgan waited as she climbed off the bike and climbed on back of Tyler’s.

“Stick close to our guys and keep someone between you and any outside gang member,” Morgan said.

“Got you.” Tyler pulled off with Amanda on back to slide in between several of the other bikers in their group.

Amanda leaned forward and kept her head down. Morgan smiled. She knew what to do. He concentrated on listening in to the gossip around him. Most of what he learned was that some of the gangs were doing some drug running here and there. There were some petty turf disagreements in the larger gangs, but nothing that would cause any trouble for them, he didn’t think.

It wasn’t until he drove close to The Skulls that he heard anything about a woman someone was looking for. They were determined to grab her and turn her in for the money.

“Word has it that the dude don’t care if we rough her up a bit either. She looks pretty good to me. I think I’d like a piece of her,” one of the gang members said.

“Man, you want a piece of anything that moves,” another one said.

“So, what do we do? Split up and start checking truck stops? It’s where they spotted her last time,” another one spoke up.

“You’ve all seen the picture of her. She should be easy to spot with all that red hair and those blue eyes. I say after this run to the border, we turn around and head toward Memphis and check every truck stop and diner on the way. She has to have eaten somewhere, and someone had to have seen her at some point.” The first guy appeared to be the leader.

Morgan moved on before they got suspicious of him. He would have to make sure they kept her away from The Skulls at all times. She’d need to wear her sunglasses all the time. Hell, things were getting even more complicated by the minute. Not only did they have Guy’s goons on their tails, they had every lowlife in the States looking to make a buck coming after her. Shit.

It looked like everyone was beginning to mount up to ride out. Evidently everyone who’d indicated they were coming had arrived. He maneuvered his bike through the throng until he could ride up next to Tyler and Amanda.

“Baby, stick with Tyler until the next stop. Then you can hop on over here with me,” he told her.

She nodded, but didn’t look happy about it. He smiled at her, hoping to gain one in return, but she only nodded and dropped her head back down.

“Baby, don’t take your sunglasses off around anyone but me and Tyler, okay?”

She nodded, but didn’t look back over at him. She wasn’t happy about riding with Tyler. That’s okay. He wasn’t too happy about it either. He didn’t like her touching Tyler, much less hugging him. He knew only too well how she felt pressed up against his back. Now she was pressed against Tyler’s back.

The bikes ahead of them took off two at a time, entering the road in a cloud of dust. Morgan was glad that Amanda didn’t have to breathe in the dust as long as she kept her face pressed against Tyler’s back. It should be his back, but they had to keep her safe. Tyler would do that. He’d have her back at the next stop. He needed to keep that in mind so he didn’t light into Tyler for no reason. His friend was doing what he asked him to do, nothing more.

They rode for a good three hours before the lead bikes decided to stop at a truck stop for some reason. Someone probably had to take a leak. A lot of the guys in the lead group were older dudes and probably had bladder problems. He laughed. That would be him in a few years, he expected.

As soon as they pulled into the parking lot, Morgan edged Tyler a little deeper into the middle of the guys they were with.

He slipped off the bike and walked around to help Amanda down. Once Tyler had climbed off, he leaned in to talk to Tyler. Amanda wrapped her arms around Morgan and kept her head down.

“Don’t call her by her name anymore. She’s ‘baby’ to us. I don’t think it’s a good idea to even use ‘Mandy’ around any of these guys. Most of all, we need to avoid being anywhere around The Skulls. They’re actively looking,” Morgan told them.

“Fuck. That’s all we need,” Tyler fussed.

“Uh, guys, I really need to use the bathroom while we’re here.” Amanda spoke up.

“We’ll take you in, baby. Remember, don’t take your shades off for any reason. Even in the bathroom.”

She nodded and shifted from one leg to the other. Morgan smiled. She really had to go. He felt for her.

“Tyler, keep close to her.” Morgan put his arm around her waist.

They walked into the truck stop and headed for the bathrooms. They both stood guard outside the women’s restroom while she went inside. After about ten minutes, Morgan started to get worried, but she finally came out.

“Sorry,” she whispered. “There was a line. I had to wait for a while.”

“No problem, baby. How about something to drink?” Morgan steered them toward the back of the store to where the coolers were.

Amanda chose a juice and a bottled water. After they paid, they stood outside by their bikes drinking. When she finished her juice, Amanda sipped on the water until the other bikers started climbing back onto their bikes.

“I’ll store the rest of your water in my saddlebag,” Tyler said and took the water from her.

About the time he opened the side, a bike rode close to them, looking Amanda over good. To her credit, she managed to casually pick up her helmet and put it on, taking her time to fasten the chinstrap. Tyler jumped onto his bike. Morgan climbed on and waited for Amanda to do the same. He watched the man ride away. The back of his jacket sported a skull.

“Do you think he suspects me?” Amanda asked as soon as he’d driven off.

“I don’t think so, baby. He’s trolling, but you don’t look like your picture anymore, with your clothes and brown hair. As long as he doesn’t see your eyes, we’re okay.”

“Maybe we can get a pair of those contacts that will change the color of my eyes,” she said as they drove off.

“If we had time to look for a place, I’d say that’s a good idea, but we need to keep moving for now,” he told her.

They rode for another four hours and stopped in a little town about six hours from the border of California and Nevada. He would need to call the twins and let them know when they would get to the meeting point. For now, they would lay low. Most of the gangs would hit a bar either there or in a bordering town close by.

“Want me to grab the room?” Tyler asked.

“Yeah, we’ll stick with the bikes until you get back,” Morgan said.

Tyler strode into the office to wait in line behind several other bikers wanting rooms. Some of the gangs would set up camp in the vacant field beside the hotel. More than likely they would be doing that if they were going to follow the rally back around to Florida. Instead, they would grab hotel rooms all the way to Stillwater. Amanda wasn’t used to sleeping outdoors. She’d never rest, and the hard ground would be hell on her soft body.

He groaned as her soft body pressed against his. He was more than ready for some relief after having ridden with a hard-on for the majority of the day. He suspected that she felt the same way by how she kept scratching his thighs until they drew closer to other members of their entourage. She was shy, but she was wild in bed.

* * * *

Tyler returned with a key card and a pained expression on his face. Amanda wondered what had happened to put it there. She waited for him to get to them.

“What’s wrong, Tyler?” she asked.

“They guys in there are animals. They’re fighting over who gets the room with the Jacuzzis.”

“I take it we didn’t,” Morgan said.

“Hell no. I wasn’t about to get in the middle of that dogfight,” Tyler said.

“What room do we have?” Morgan asked.