Tripping Nitro (Charon MC, #6) Read online

  The engine below us came to life, and I jumped before relaxing again. Suddenly everything seemed so hazy and I couldn’t quite hold onto a thought.

  “Johnny? Why am I so sleepy?”

  What was wrong with me? Had I hit my head earlier? Or was whatever drug Winston had given me still in my system? His arms tightened around me as he pressed another kiss to the top of my head. “You’ve had a big day and are worn out, baby. Go on and close your eyes, I’ve got you. When we get back to Bridgewater, we’ll have a doctor look you over, make sure nothing’s wrong. I’m guessing you’re just crashing after the adrenaline rush, but I want to make sure.”

  “Uh huh.”

  Pressing my nose against his shirt, I inhaled and caught his scent. He’d taken off his leather vest, but the smell lingered in the fabric of his t-shirt. It was my new favorite scent, and I let myself drift off to sleep. Knowing with one-hundred percent certainty that Nitro would keep me safe while I rested.

  Chapter 14

  Nitro

  Joaquin took things slower on our return trip, which meant Cin stayed fast asleep in my lap, even when Arrow, Taz and Mac came to sit around us.

  “She threw up after you left her. I think she might be in shock.”

  I nodded to Arrow. “Yeah, that and adrenaline crash. I’m sure she’ll be fine after she gets some rest. Thanks for taking care of her. Things got rough down there. She fought hard.”

  “You’re not kidding. That girl would give my Flick a run for her money. Stabbed a screwdriver into the fucker’s thigh, and smashed his shoulder with a wrench before she cuffed him to a pipe. Girl’s got grit.”

  “Sounds like the perfect kind of woman for an old lady.”

  I gave Arrow a feral grin. “Damn straight she is. She’s fucking perfect. Always has been.” I looked over to Taz. “Find much on the boat?”

  “A few things. Looked like he was planning on settling down in Mexico. We’ve got his address in Houston and some other stuff. I’ll give it all to Keys to sort through when we get back. Was he really your coach back in school? That’s fucked up.”

  “Yeah, I only had him for a coach in my senior year. I was always good in the water so I was on the swim team. I’ll see what Keys finds, but I’m pretty sure he got jealous when a Navy recruiter came sniffing around me. Then he noticed my girl and got fixated.”

  I took a deep breath and looked down at her face, lax in sleep. I couldn’t believe all the shit that happened to her all stemmed from the fact I’d fucking loved her in high school. Taz nailed it. It was totally fucked up.

  “What do you want to do about the story behind today? We can’t wait to figure it out, she was supposed to work tonight wasn’t she?”

  I squeezed my eyes shut. “Fuck. I didn’t message Natalie to let her know she wouldn’t be in.”

  What time was it? It was getting dark out so it meant it was late, late enough she should be at work by now.

  “Get Cindy to call her once we dock, but we’ll need our story straight by then. What do you want to do?”

  We were definitely going to have to figure out a story to tell everyone about what happened out here. The crew in at Titanium would definitely be worried with her not turning up without warning. And the fact she’d now told all her teammates about her stalker. Fuck. Her bruises to her arms would need an explanation. Not to mention Winston’s disappearance. This wouldn’t be the first time the Charons had recreated reality, and I doubted it would be the last.

  “We need to keep it close to the truth. This shit is going to get messy no matter how we play it. How about we say what happened, except instead of what went down on the boat, we have Cin getting out the cuffs then jumping off the boat and swimming for it. We were close by and picked her up. While we attended to her, he took off and we didn’t bother giving chase.”

  Arrow laughed. “Donald will know that’s a load of shit. The Charons not give chase?”

  I gave him a small shrug. “Don’t give a shit if they believe it or not, the facts back us up. We have the video footage of him snatching her, plus the syringe. Half of Bridgewater would have seen the pack of us riding south when we came to get her. And now we’ll head back with her intact and no Winston and no boat. By the time they do a search for it, it’ll be at the bottom of the Gulf somewhere. If they even bother looking for it. The facts back us up, and they’ll never find that body to prove otherwise.”

  Arrow held his palms up. “You don’t need to get defensive with me, brother. Just letting you know what Donald will say.”

  “Well, considering the fact the police ignored all her reports for the past two decades, trust me when I say if Donald tries to take this up with me further, it ain’t gonna end well. I’m sure there’s something Cin could sue them for out of all this. So, I think they’ll accept our story and move along.”

  “You think she’ll move back to town now?”

  Fuck, Arrow was all fifty questions today.

  “I’m hoping so. With the shop gone, she doesn’t have that tie anymore. And her aunt who ran the store is a stone cold bitch. She’s certainly not gonna want to hang around Houston for her sake.”

  “She has other work right? And she’s got a house and her derby shit too.”

  Arrow was named for the way he shot straight from the hip. Not a bad trait in a man, until he turned it on you.

  “Yeah, she does. But she has to move back. I need her. The drive up isn’t too long, if I can find her somewhere to skate locally she’ll only need to head up to Houston a couple times a week for team practice. And her other work is bartending at this club. Fuck, she loves that place. She’s not gonna want to leave anytime soon.”

  “And you don’t want to leave Bridgewater or Styxx. Sounds like you both have some thinking to do if you want this thing you got going to work long term, brother.”

  “Yeah. I know. I was toying with the idea of getting her a shop in Bridgewater she could set it up like her grandma’s place had been. Run it her way, without her aunt breathing down her neck all the damn time.”

  Maybe we could salvage a few signs or something from Retro Funk, something to put in the new store as a piece of her grandma.

  “It’s got potential, especially if you get her online as well as a physical store front. She could well end up so busy she won’t mind not working at that club of hers. And if you need extra start-up funds, bring it to church. I’m sure the club would be happy to have another business under our belt. She’s, what, a little younger than us? She’s not gonna want to have to be out all night, every night, forever.”

  “You know, Zara mentioned the other day that the shop next to Marie’s is empty now. That would keep her close to home, and encourage her to befriend the other old ladies. They all seemed to get along well earlier today.”

  I gave Mac a nod. “Yeah, scary how well they got along so fast. Thanks, brother. I’ll check it out.”

  Taz chuckled darkly. “Brother, just knock her up. Trust me, if you do that, she’ll be too tired to care what you do. You can have her moved in with your patch on her back and a ring on her finger before she realizes what you’re up to.”

  Even as I thought about the fact I’d taken her bare again this morning and could have already done just that, I shook my head at the crazy Aussie. “Yeah, because that’s how you got Flick to move in. I remember it was her that knocked you on your ass, brother. Not you knocking her up. And I already got my patch on her back. She just took it off to work in the store room at Styxx before all this shit went down.”

  That got everyone chuckling, except Taz who groaned. Taz needed to accept the fact that he was never going to live that one down. It’d been a beautiful moment. Scout set him up by kissing his girl on the cheek when he was standing behind her. Taz grabbed her to pull her away, but Flick hadn’t realized who it was and had pulled some fucking martial arts move that had Taz—a trained Marine—flat on his back in seconds. I was grateful the girl chose to do it at Styxx and not the clubhouse. Meant I got to
watch.

  “Seriously, I know it’s going to take some doing, and a little time, but I fully intend to win Cin over and have her in my bed every damn night of the week.”

  I spent the rest of the trip watching her sleep. She really was beautiful, even covered in dirt, blood and coolant. That had me smirking. She’d done a hell of a job on that engine, pulling off wires then that coolant hose. Bet she got a shock when it burst liquid all over her.

  When we finally pulled into the dock, I stroked my knuckles down her cheek.

  “Hey, babe, time to wake up.”

  With a moan, she snuggled in against me but didn’t look like she was going to wake up. I didn’t bother trying to stir her again, just stood with her in my arms and strode out onto the rear deck. Taking extra care that my footing was stable, I stepped up onto the dock and headed toward where we left our bikes earlier.

  “We’ve got our contact on the Coast Guard looking the other way. We’ll let them know what happened, or rather, what we decided happened, later. Get Scout to call me with the deets when you have them all confirmed.”

  “Shall do. Thanks for your help, man. Appreciate it.”

  A haunted look flashed through Joaquin’s eyes. The man didn’t look like he could be much over thirty, if he was that old. But his eyes, they were not those of a young man. There was definitely something strange going on with the biker, but today wasn’t the day I was going to work it out. Shifting Cindy’s weight so I could get a hand free, I held out my palm to the other man. He took it in his for a moment before nodding behind me.

  “Anytime, brother. Looks like your boys brought down a bus for your woman. I’ll leave you to it.”

  Turning around I was relieved to see that Keys and Donna were both here with our bus. We used that thing way too much lately, but it was a Godsend. A few years ago, we’d tricked out this tank of an SUV as a sort of ambulance. Keys’ old lady, Donna, was a nurse and was always happy to step up to get things done. I was beyond grateful I knew who was going to be checking over my girl, that’s for sure. Without a moment’s hesitation I strode over toward them.

  “She been out the whole time?”

  “Nah, she was well and truly awake when we found her. She’s taken a few hits but seemed physically fine. She crashed on the way back and just now I couldn’t wake her. Mind you, I didn’t try real hard. I’m hoping she’s just sleeping off her shock and adrenaline crash, but I’ll feel much better after Donna checks her over.”

  Donna had opened up the back of the bus while Keys had spoken with me, so I moved over to climb in and put Cin down on the stretcher inside. The moment I released her, she came awake and clung to me.

  “It’s okay, Cin. We’re back on land, you’re in the Charon’s ambulance. My brother’s old lady, Donna, is a nurse. She’s going to check you over, okay?”

  “You’re gonna stay with me, right?”

  I leaned down and took her mouth with mine, kissing her deeply because I fucking needed the connection, before pulling away from her to speak. “I need to ride my bike back.”

  “Nah, you don’t. I came down in the cage so I could ride your bike back. You stay in here with your girl.”

  I turned to look at Scout, who was now standing at the rear of the bus, as my eyes started to sting. Having good brothers was a thing of beauty. It truly was.

  “Thanks, brother.”

  “Charons stick together. We always have each other’s back. And don’t think I’ve forgotten what you did for me not so long ago. Now, sit down and let Donna do her thing. We’ll see you back at the clubhouse.”

  I tossed him my keys and with that, he and Keys shut the door and left the three of us in the rear of the vehicle.

  “You found something really special with that club, didn’t you?”

  “Yeah, babe, I sure did.”

  Sometimes I took it for granted, but not today. Today I thanked God that I’d found the Charon MC and was lucky enough to be able to call myself one of them.

  Cindy

  No matter how hard I tried to stay awake, I kept dozing off on the drive back to Bridgewater. It was like now I’d allowed my body to sleep once, it was all it wanted to do. With Nitro by my side, at least I didn’t have to worry about anything Donna was doing. I knew if she stepped over any line, he’d be on her. But if she was anything like the other women I’d met earlier, which I was pretty sure she would be, I didn’t have anything to worry about.

  When the van came to a stop and the engine was cut, I forced my eyes open once more just in time to see the rear doors swing open to reveal the man who’d shut us in. Keys, was it? Yeah, definitely Keys. Nitro lifted me up against his chest again before he climbed out. I probably could walk myself but honestly, it felt too good being so close to him I didn’t complain like I ordinarily would. Blinking against the bright floodlights illuminating the yard, I watched as several Harleys roared into the parking lot around us. This many had gone down to Galveston to rescue me? Most of them didn’t even know who I was!

  “They know you’re mine, Cindy. That’s all they needed to know to drop everything and come help me save you.”

  Guess I’d said that out loud, I hadn’t meant to. Heat rushed to my face.

  Nitro’s golden Harley came up close to the building before the rider dismounted and pulled his helmet free. Scout, the club president had personally ridden Nitro’s bike home. I was completely blown away and speechless.

  “She need the hospital, Donna?”

  “I don’t believe so. Ideally, she would be in overnight to make sure whatever he gave her is out of her system fully, but if she stays here, I can come check on her a couple of times during the night, and she’ll be close to the hospital if we do need to take her in.”

  “Good deal. This will be easier to cover up if we don’t have to involve a hospital. Nitro, get her upstairs and cleaned up. I’ll get one of the old ladies up there to sit with her when you’re ready and we’ll sort out what the fuck we’re gonna do to explain this shit. Oh, and get her to call whoever she needs to that’s gonna be worried about her vanishing act this afternoon.” The second he finished speaking, Scout turned to face the others. “Keys, Arrow, Bulldog, I need you three in my office so we can start making plans. Mac, call in Keg and Jazz. They don’t need to stay in Houston anymore.”

  When Scout had turned his focus off us, Nitro had started heading toward the building. He was at the top of the steps when Scout finished. Instead of heading straight inside, he turned back toward everyone. I was wide awake now and the sight of all those bikers in their leathers staring up at us was a sight I don’t think I’d ever forget. So many of them, all here because they wanted me safe. It was surreal and mind blowing.

  “Thank you, brothers. I won’t forget what you all did for me today.”

  Nitro’s voice was rough with emotion and had me turning my gaze up to see his eyes were shining with moisture. Lifting my palm, I cupped his face and he spun on his heel and stepped through the door that was being held open by another of the Charons. He turned his mouth to kiss my palm but stayed silent as he took me inside and upstairs to the same room he’d taken me to earlier today.

  After setting me on the edge of the bed, he dropped to his knees in front of me and buried his head in my lap. I shrugged off the blanket and ran my fingers through his hair.

  “I’m okay, Johnny. We’re gonna be all right.”

  His body shuddered before he lifted his head and looked straight into my eyes. No tears were tracking down his face, but his eyes were rimmed in red. My heart softened and my whole being melted a little. My big, tough biker was tearing up over me.

  “You took at least ten years off my life today, Cin. Fuck. I’m never letting you out of my sight again. I love you, Cin, so fucking much. I need you with me, here in Bridgewater. I know it won’t happen overnight and we have a ton of shit to work through. I know it seems daunting, but we’ll get there. We’ll do it. Now, who do you need to contact to let them know you’re okay? Try
to limit the details you give until I confirm with the others the story we’re sticking with. I’m guessing we’ll go with pretty much what happened—but instead of you cuffing him down in the engine room, you just got out of the cuffs and dove overboard when you saw our boat coming for you. Can you do that?”

  I nodded. “Yeah, I might just send off a couple texts. I don’t really feel like talking to anyone just yet, anyhow.” I pulled the phone out of my pocket.

  He snorted out a laugh. “Still can’t believe he didn’t toss your phone.”

  That had me chuckling. “He didn’t even turn it off. I found it in the kitchen on the counter, still on. He wasn’t the brightest kidnapper. I’m kind of surprised he didn’t slip up before now really, considering how poorly today went for him.”

  “From what I learned from him, and you, I think in the past he’s claimed shit he didn’t do and the things he did do were meticulously planned. Me coming back into your life and keeping you guarded 24/7 threw him for a loop and he panicked, taking a risk to grab you when he saw a chance. Nothing was planned out from what we can tell. Keys will go through everything now and we’ll work out exactly what he was up to, but at a guess, he didn’t even have anything lined up in Mexico. He’d just watched one too many movies and figured that was far enough away from me to get you to himself.”

  A tremor ran through me and my gut roiled again. “I figured he was taking us to Mexico. It’s why I risked getting caught by damaging the engine like I did. No way did I want to end up down there. Especially if he was unprepared. Fuck, can you imagine what would have happened? We would have gotten caught, he would have been killed and I would have been—” I slapped a hand over my mouth to catch my sob. I didn’t even want to finish that sentence.

  “No way, Cin. He never would have made it all the way to Mexico. We were on his tail. Blade had already caught up but was hanging back so Winston wouldn’t think he was following you, and we weren’t far behind him. Thanks to him stopping the boat, we got to you faster, but we were always going to catch him before he reached land.”