TANNER Read online

  Jo…

  He let her name flitter around his brain.

  She was sexy and cool, and he wanted to know more. Much, much more.

  As they unloaded the girl’s car, he and Steel waved goodbye to the mechanics and pulled back out on Main Street. The midday sun was blisteringly hot and he pulled his aviators from his shirt pocket and slid them over his eyes.

  “What to do?” Steel asked.

  “Well,” Tanner said with mischief. “We worked damned hard last night and I still kind of feel like celebrating.”

  “Bullet or Red X?” Steel grinned.

  Tanner tapped the wheel and made a sharp left. He would always be in the mood for looking at beautiful naked women, but now that he had met Jo and had the possibility of seeing her later that day, all he could think about was a cold drink. And nothing else.

  “Bullet it is,” Steel said as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack of cigarettes. “King said he and Lynx were heading over anyhow. I’m sure we’ll have plenty of company.”

  As they drove out of Main Street, Tanner looked at all the buildings and how they began to change. This side of town was right in the thick of it. The bikers owned it all, and for that reason, some of the warehouses were derelict and empty. There was too much for them to maintain, and even though it was losing them money, it still meant they had many places to hide many things.

  And The Forsaken Riders always had something to hide.

  After they had left Ironhill the previous evening with their illicit haul, Ax and Decker had driven the stolen truck straight back to this part of town and pulled it into one of the empty warehouses. From what had been discussed at the clubhouse before they left, they were to unload it and dispose of the truck, immediately, deep in the barren wasteland of the desert. So, somewhere along this very road was a huge haul of illegal tobacco. Tanner found himself scanning the buildings, wanting his eyes to find it, but also knowing they never would. The Forsaken were pros at deception, and whichever warehouse the tobacco was in would be being guarded and cloaked heavily.

  The roads gave way to even more derelict looking buildings, and Tanner couldn’t help but smile as they turned the corner and The Bleeding Bullet rose out of the ashes in front of them. Literally. All along the street were burned out cars and overflowing trash cans that had been set on fire. It was the kind of scene that would shock you if you weren’t used to it, but luckily for Tanner and Steel, they had spent the majority of their life coming to The Bullet, and they loved it like a second home.

  The biker whores were already lurking, even though it was still early in the day. They weaved their way around the streets looking for golden opportunities to pounce. They loved the thrill of the chase, but Tanner was never going to be anyone’s prize but his own. He knew his own self-worth and he knew what he deserved.

  Only the very best.

  A woman with a future. A woman with something to offer.

  As he pulled the truck up at the foot of the steps to The Bleeding Bullet, he avoided eye contact with a skinny, haggard-looking girl who was smoking out the front. She had backcombed purple hair, ripped fishnets, deep black circles under her eyes, a pancake flat chest and he was sure those were track marks on her arms.

  No thanks…

  “Hey boys,” she grinned as they approached and he was sure he could make out the tiredness behind her eyes. Surely, she knew there must be more to life than this?

  They walked past her, leaving her hungry for attention, and pushed open the doors to the bar. Even for the middle of the day the place was on its way to good and busy, and the darkened main room was thick with smoke and the stench of booze.

  Just how they liked it.

  Rock music was playing just loud enough for it not to ruin a conversation and at the bar, some of the boys were already there, drinking beers and whiskey, and talking about the week’s events.

  King turned slightly and looked over his shoulder and raised his hand.

  “Here they are,” he said with a beaming smile.

  Tanner slapped him on the shoulders affectionately as they approached, pulled out a chair and sat down on it backward. His legs stretched wide around it and his arms rested on the back.

  The waitress hurried over with a tray full of beers and Tanner and Steel both took one and chugged big, manly gulps.

  “Ironhill knows it was us,” King said with amusement. And a low rumble of laughter erupted around the circle.

  “How?” Tanner asked as he lit another cigarette and took a drag.

  “The most obvious explanation is usually the correct one,” King said. “But hey, who gives a fuck.”

  Tanner laughed and nodded in agreement.

  “I know I certainly don’t,” Lynx said. “They had it coming.”

  “They needed put in their place,” Hawk continued.

  “It was only a matter of time before they pulled the same shit on us,” Bull leaned forward. “We’re lucky we stumbled across that information when we did, otherwise it only would have been us out of pocket.”

  All the men agreed and nodded their heads.

  “We set a precedent last night,” Tanner said. “And we did Reid and all the other old boys proud. The Forsaken Riders are expanding and this is just the beginning. From now on, the other clubs out in this goddam desert are going to know who’s in charge.”

  He gulped down his beer and King got to his feet and pulled him up into a big bro hug.

  “You’re right,” King said. “You’re so fucking right.”

  All of the circle cheered and every single man got to his feet. They were in this together. They were a unit. A brotherhood. A family. They would fight for each other until the bitter end.

  “And now we celebrate,” King said as he raised his bottle high. “To the start of great things, and for all there is to come!”

  “For what’s to come!” They all shouted together.

  They all cheered and slammed their glasses and bottles together, downing the rest of their drinks in one and smashing them on the floor. Tanner looked around and smiled.

  This was going to be a day to remember, he could feel it.

  5.

  “It’s called The Bleeding Bullet...? Are you absolutely insane?” Kirsten said with exasperation as she stood with her hands on her hips in the middle of the motel room and watched Jo rooting through her bags for an outfit.

  “What’s wrong with that?” Jo asked cockily. “It’s just a bar.”

  “And they just so happen to be bikers,” Kirsten squealed. “Who knows what could happen to us if we go over there. We could be beaten up, raped… murdered! I can’t even believe you’re considering it!”

  “You are officially the ultimate drama queen,” Jo laughed with disbelief. “Have you even heard yourself? You’re the one who sounds crazy.”

  She found what she was looking for at the bottom of her backpack. A skin tight pair of butt enhancing jeans that always made her feel like a million dollars. She slipped them over her legs and did up the buttons at the waist, making her stomach look flat and toned and her shape curvy and beautiful.

  “What do you think, black halter or red t-shirt?” she asked Kirsten.

  “Black halter,” she replied automatically and then looked annoyed with herself. “Although, I don’t know why I’m even helping you. This whole thing is ridiculous.”

  “Why?” Jo turned to look at her. “Why does it seem so stupid to you?”

  Kirsten pouted and shrugged.

  “I don’t know; I just suppose they’re nothing like the type of guys you’ve ever gone for before…” she offered.

  “Isn’t that a damned good reason for you to be encouraging me to go for it?” Jo said sternly. “I mean, look at my recent track record… Not exactly anything to shout about, is it? Tom was horrible to me and he broke my heart! Maybe someone who is the exact opposite of him is just what I need. He certainly seems genuine… and exciting.”

  Kirsten looked thoughtful as she
considered what Jo was telling her, and then she exhaled heavily and sat down on the edge of the bed.

  “I guess you’re right,” she sighed. “Tom was a total shit… I’m sorry, I’m not exactly in the right place to be lecturing you either. It’s not as if I have any men on the cards.”

  “Well, maybe you’ll find yourself falling for a biker?” Jo wiggled her eyebrows.

  “Don’t push it,” Kirsten smirked. “I’ll come with you, but I’m not staying long. I’ll be there until you find Tanner and then I’m going to head back here.”

  “Buzz kill,” Jo said. But secretly, she was relieved. She had already decided she would go even if Kirsten hadn’t wanted to go along with her. And she didn’t want to have the added pressure of her friend potentially trying to drag her away.

  “I’m quite capable of going there alone, you know…” Jo offered as an olive branch. She could tell that Kirsten was keen just to lay low and get out of town as soon as possible. “Why don’t you just head on over to the diner and grab some food? Did you see it earlier? It wasn’t far down the road from here.”

  Kirsten nodded slowly and seemed to be mulling things over. Jo found herself holding her breath as she waited for an answer. Now she had decided she wanted to go it alone, she just hoped she would be able to.

  “I just wanted to make sure that you’d be all right,” Kirsten said.

  “I’ll be fine. I have my cell phone. I mean, it’s not like anything is going to happen, but if it did, I could call you, or 911, for crying out loud. It’s not as if I’m going to head over there and be swallowed into some seedy underworld and never seen again.”

  Although I kind of hope that I am, she thought and smirked to herself.

  “You sure?” Kirsten looked at her sternly.

  “Positive,” Jo grinned. “Anyway, we may have the car back tomorrow and one of us is going to have to be well rested if we are leaving.”

  As she said the words, she turned and looked away so that Kirsten couldn’t see the sadness in her eyes. Leaving was the last thing she wanted. She had her heart set on staying in Slate Springs for a little longer. For as long as it took. For as long as she was having a good time.

  “Well, okay, you just head on over for a drink there alone,” Kirsten said. “I’ll chill here, grab a bite, and await the knock on the door from the cops to tell me that your broken body has been pulled out of a dumpster downtown.”

  “Ha ha,” Jo frowned.

  Kirsten winked at her and lay back down on the bed.

  “Seriously, though, I hope you have a good time,” she softened. “And I can’t wait to hear all about it when you get back.”

  Jo looked at her reflection in the mirror. She looked tall and slender in her outfit and the way she had done her make-up meant that her eyes popped out from the dark smoke she had blended.

  “Do I look like I’ll fit in?” she asked with excitement as she adjusted her boobs and pouted at herself in the mirror.

  “Oh, yes,” Kirsten laughed. “You’ll be right at home.”

  “Fantastic,” Jo grinned.

  She slid her feet into her super sharp black stiletto heels and grabbed her purse. The nerves were working their way around her chest and stomach, but she was determined to stand tall and forget them. She was a strong woman. She knew what she wanted and she was determined to get it.

  “Well,” she exhaled. “I’m out of here… My destiny awaits.”

  Kirsten jumped up from the bed, took a step forward and pulled her into a sisterly hug.

  “Text me the second you get there, take photos, let me know what it’s like. Are you sure you don’t want me to come?” she babbled.

  “Woah, it’s okay, just chill.” Jo laughed. “I’ll keep you fully in the loop, don’t worry.”

  Kirsten breathed out and smiled and then walked with Jo to the door. The sun had already been down for a couple of hours, but the night air was still warm and balmy.

  “How far away is it?” Kirsten asked.

  “I don’t know,” Jo shrugged. “But I’m going to call in to the motel office and ask the owner to sort me out a cab.”

  She had already thought of everything, even down to the last minute detail. She even had a backup plan if she arrived there and Tanner was nowhere in sight and she had to bail before anyone noticed that a girl who was most definitely from out of town was lurking around a biker bar. She would walk in, order a drink, wait until she found Tanner by sight and if she didn’t after twenty minutes, she would slip into the ladies room and climb out of the window.

  She admitted to herself it was maybe a little over dramatic. But Kirsten had made her nervous.

  Pull yourself together, she coached herself as she tottered off down the wooden walkway that led down to the motel office. You’ve got this…

  The cab wasn’t the usual kind she had been used to back at home. It was a well-kept car, and the driver was nervous and kept looking at her in the rearview mirror. Eyeballing her suspiciously and making as if he was about to ask her a question but then thought better of it. Jo shifted uneasily in her seat and tried to smile. He had been older than she had expected, and he looked like a quiet type of guy. A family man. She could imagine him living in a small, average house on the edge of town with his wife, grown up kids and dogs. She bet if there were lakes nearby, he would fish in his spare time. She had no idea why he was driving a cab, but the more he looked up at her nervously, the more she wanted to ask him to pull over.

  “So you’re heading over to The Bleeding Bullet?” he asked finally, breaking the silence.

  “Yes, I am,” Jo said.

  “You been there before?” his eyes were fixed right on her through the mirror.

  “No, I’m from out of town,” she said sweetly.

  “That’s what I thought,” the driver nodded. “Now, I’m not one to usually interfere, but are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

  “Oh jeez, not you as well,” Jo laughed as she rubbed her forehead.

  “I’ve lived in this town my whole life,” he said. “And I know what goes on over there. Those bikers, they get up to no good. They commit crimes. What’s a nice girl like you going and getting mixed up in that for?” he asked.

  Jo had asked herself the same question earlier in the day when Tanner was all she could think about. But the truth was, she didn’t have an answer. All she knew was she was drawn to it and she couldn’t walk away without finding out for herself if there was anything there for her. She wanted to know if they had a chemistry. If he was the person she was missing.

  She shrugged and looked out of the window. She didn’t owe an explanation to some nosy cab driver. But as they drove through Main Street and headed out the other side to a much darker part of town, she felt her anxiety rise.

  She didn’t know what she had been expecting, but the atmosphere was different almost immediately. What had been a quaint town street had turned into something dirty, broken and chaotic. The asphalt was cracked and potholes were all over. The car bounced over them and Jo found herself digging her nails into the leather of the seats to cling on. The buildings on either side of the roads were tall and dark, their windows boarded and graffiti scrawled all over their black brick walls. The skeletons of burned out cars and trucks were scattered along the street like confetti, and in each trash can they passed, a fire seemed to burn from deep inside it.

  “What happened over here?” she asked the driver.

  “Nothing for a long, long time,” he replied. “No one in charge in town comes over here no more. The bikers are in a world of their own. Their own rules, their own laws. And they like it just like this.”

  Jo felt a shiver run up her spine.

  “But it, it’s so…” she began.

  “Ruined?” he asked with a snort. “Yeah kid, tell me about it.”

  Jo sat back in her seat and brought her fist up to her chin. She could tell by the roars of bike engines swimming around the side streets that they couldn’t be far away, th
is would be her last chance to turn back.

  But she knew she wasn’t going to. She wanted to continue. She wanted to see it all for herself.

  The driver swung the car around and made down another street. Either side of her were tall, blacked out warehouses and suddenly, she saw the glow of the red spotlights that were being shone up on the building dead ahead.

  The Bleeding Bullet.

  It loomed up out of the ground with a frightening authority. It was tall and dark, no windows were visible, as if they had been boarded up and painted black to help disguise it as a place where people went to disappear and never be found. The red spotlights illuminated the front and the silver sign above the door, and she could also see the women laying there like cats basking in the hot sun. They draped their legs over the veranda and sat at the top of the steps sucking on bottles of beer and smoking cigarettes. They all looked confident and at home there, and suddenly, Jo felt a huge wave of nerves.

  Was she really up to this?

  Only one way to find out.

  She paid the driver and thanked him for his trouble.

  “Be careful,” he called after her as he slammed the car into reverse and sped out of there as fast as he could. Jo was standing on the side of the street clutching her purse and just hoping she made it in alive. The women who were lounging on the steps had noticed the new arrival and they all looked at her with a certain type of menace. She knew what they were thinking. They were becoming territorial. When she had been lying in her motel room earlier that day, she had Googled bike gangs on her cell phone, and she had read all about the women that hung around their headquarters and bars. These women were ruthless in their quest, and would stop at nothing.

  But unlucky for them, neither would she. Jo was a girl on a mission. Tanner had invited her there and she was there for him. She threw her shoulders back and stood tall and proud, and as she made her way toward the steps that led up to the main door of the club, she didn’t let one of the women catch her eye. She felt their gazes boring into her, and one even thrust out her leg to try and trip her with her ankle, but Jo was on her guard, and she stepped over it expertly and carried on as if she hadn’t even noticed.