Dark Knights Ch. 03

We didn't have our helmets, but he dragged me to the bikes anyway. He lifted my bike, as it was on top of his, but as it settled, I could see the rear tire has been sliced open. My eyes flicked to his bike, and I instantly saw the long rip in the side of its rear tire.

He pulled out his cell. "We have to get out of here. This has to be a setup to get us out in the open. Get in the crowd and no matter what happens, stay there until I come get you. Go!"

"But..."

"Don't argue! Go!" he snarled.

I turned and ran into the milling crowd as the cold hand of impending doom squeezed my heart. I divided my attention between watching him and his building being consumed by the growing flame. I no longer knew what was going on. This had gotten too big to be about Hayden wanting me back. The Rollers hadn't bothered us for almost a month. What do they want? Why are they doing this now? How had they known we'd passed the audit?

I heard the faint screams of sirens in the distance, and I looked around, trying to find Bryn among the throng of spectators. I couldn't see him, and I began to panic, afraid the Rollers had taken him. I began to squirm my way out of the mass of people as the wail of sirens and the raspy blare of horns drew closer. I heard the heavy engine roar of the first firetruck, but I hadn't yet seen it, when a hand grabbed my arm. I nearly shrieked but then relaxed when I realized it was Bryn.

"Come on. We've got to move," he said, taking the laptop from me and leading me through the crowd, pushing and shoving as necessary to create a hole.

"What's going on?"

"I don't know."

"But... how did they know?"

"Know what?"

"That the audit was a big nothing."

He shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe they didn't know. Maybe they don't care. Hell, maybe they didn't have anything to do with the audit."

"But...?"

"Reagan, I don't know shit! I just know we have to get out of here!"

"Where are we going?" I ask as I trailed along in his wake.

"An Uber is going to pick us up at the Kroger," Bryn said as he hustled me along. "We'll get to someplace safe, then we can figure out what the fuck is—" He stopped so suddenly that I almost bumped into his back. We were headed out of the parking lot, but as we rounded the corner, I saw two rollers sitting on their bikes in the entrance in almost the exact spot Hayden had been parked before, clearly waiting and watching. He shoved me back as the two bikes roared to life. "Fuck! Run!" he yelled, snatching my purse from me before he grabbed my arm and pulled me along.

With his much longer legs, he could run faster than I could, but with him pulling on my hand, I felt like I was flying as we pounded across the parking lot. We could cut through the lines of cars, where the bikes had to go around, and they roared past us, trying to get in front of us and box us in.

Bryn suddenly adjusted his course, cutting in front of the hard charging Harleys. We plunged down a slight embankment, and had he not been holding me, I'd have fallen. I was gasping for breath. Riding boots weren't made for running, and I was tiring quickly.

The bikes screech to a stop behind us, but then one of them roared away. I was so afraid that I couldn't think, and my fight or flight instincts were fully engaged.

We plunged into the copse that separated Bryn's apartment complex from the small strip mall around the corner. I felt nothing, thinking only of escape, as the brambles and tree limbs clawed at my leather. I stumbled, nearly falling as vines and roots tried to snag my feet, but Bryn's strong hand kept me on my feet and moving. Almost lost in the roar of the departing motorcycle and the shriek and bellow of approaching firetrucks, was the sound of a body crashing through the underbrush behind us. The Rollers had split up. We were being driven like rabbits into a trap.

The thicket wasn't deep, and we broke out of the undergrowth behind the mall. We were nearly in the center of the building, but Bryn didn't hesitate, arcing left as he continued to drag me along. I was gasping for breath, almost out of gas, but I ran as fast as I could, the adrenaline flooding my system keeping me moving.

I glanced behind us as we rounded the corner of the building. Well back a fat Roller staggered after us, losing ground with every step. As we turned the corner and ran along the side of the building, I heard the bellowing roar of a motorcycle under heavy acceleration coming our way. On the street, a motorcycle braked hard before turning into the parking lot and then roared again as the rider raced down the row of cars toward us.

We ran as fast as we could toward the entrance of the Kroger. I was stumbling, almost too tried to run, struggling to keep up even though Bryn had slowed considerably, either because he was also exhausted or to keep from dragging me down.

We burst through the door and Bryn went down hard after colliding with a woman with a shopping trolley full of groceries, knocking her down and dropping my purse, but twisting and protecting his laptop with his body as he tumbled. With barely a pause to recover, he rolled to his feet, shoved the cart aside with massive heave, picked up his laptop and my purse, grabbed my hand again, and pulled me inside.

"What the fuck, you asshole!" the woman whose cart Bryn knocked over screamed at as we dashed through the inner doors.

"Call the cops!" Bryn shouted as we skidded to a stop at the registers. We must have looked like we were crazy, covered in whelps from our mad dash through the woods and gasping for breath. Everyone, customer and employee alike, stared at us, not moving. "Someone is chasing us! Call the cops!" Bryn yelled again, the desperation clear in his voice.

The inner doors rumbled open and a man entered wearing Roller colors. Though his face was no longer a pulpy mess, I recognized the Roller as the man Bryn had beaten the shit out of in my front yard.

Bryn shoved me to start me moving as we dashed through a closed lane and down an aisle. I chose the aisle poorly because the path was blocked by two fat bitches, their trolleys sitting side by side as they had a good ol' gossip. We ran down the aisle, and I tried to shove the carts aside so we could squeeze through, but I only succeed in knocking one of the women down and tangling her in the cart.

"Hey! What's wrong with you!" the second woman cried.

Bryn recognized we were trapped and whirled to face our pursuer. The Roller stopped well back as he slowly pulled his knife and flicked it open, perhaps remembering what happened the last time he faced Bryn.

"I've been waiting to do this," the man sneered as he began weaving his knife in front of him.

The two women cried out quietly as they scrambled to get away. Now they move their fat asses! Bryn stepped in front of me, throwing his laptop and my purse into one of the trolleys while putting himself between me and the blade as the man slowly closed in. Bryn took a deep breath and pulled his gun, setting up in a shooter's stance with the gun pointed directly at the man's head.

"You stupid fuck. You've brought a knife to a gunfight. Remember what I told you the last time? I guess today's your lucky day."

All the color drained out of the man's face as he dropped the knife and held his hands up in front of him. "Hey, buddy, you don't want to do this. I'm sorry, man. Don't shoot me okay? I'm sorry."

The second Roller staggered down the aisle, his face red as he gasped for breath. He pulled up short and reached behind him.

"Don't!" Bryn snarled as his weapon flicked to the second man, back to the first man, then back to the second. "Down on the floor! Both of you! Face down, hands behind your head!" Bryn ordered, his voice steel hard and ice cold. The two men look at each other. "Now!" Bryn screamed.

The men began to comply. "Don't shoot us, man! Don't shoot us! We're sorry! We won't bother you again! I swear!" the first man begged.

Bryn didn't waver, his gun tracking them all the way to the floor. "Go get something to bind their hands," Bryn growled, his gaze never moving from the men. "Not that way!" he barked, as I started to do as he said. "Go around the other way, behind me."

I ran around the end of the aisle to the front of the store where everyone has gathered, watching the drama unfold. There were several half-full buggies scattered around after customers fled in terror. I grabbed the first employee I reached.

"I need something to tie their hands!"

"I, uh..." the girl began. She was useless.

I turned from her as an older woman spoke. "Aisle eleven. Come with me."

I followed the woman, probably the store manager, and we turned into the junk aisle that all grocery stores had. I looked around and grabbed some zip-ties from the rack and tore it open with my teeth as I ran back to Bryn.

"That's good," Bryn said in approval. "Now," Bryn continued to the men. "She's going to tie your hands. If you so much as twitch I'm going to blow your fucking brains out. Do I make myself clear?" The men didn't nod, perhaps afraid Bryn would see that as a twitch. Bryn moved so I could approach men and not get in his line of fire. He nodded at the second man. "See his gun?" I nodded. "Carefully pull it out of the holster, put it on the floor and slide it to me." I did as he instructed, and he kicked weapon farther down the aisle. "Now, pull their hands down behind their back. Make it tight."

The man allowed me to pull his hands down. I looped the tie around his wrists and yank it as tight as I could with a quick zip! The man yelled in pain as the plastic bit into his skin, but I give it another jerk for good measure, tightening it down a little more. I did the first man the same way, and as the tie tightened, I could sense Bryn relax, though he kept his gun pointed at the men.

"Now their ankles," Bryn said when I released the tie.

I bound their ankles in the same manner. As I finished Bryn blew out a stream of air and holstered his gun before kneeling beside me. He strung two ties together, looped the ties through the binding on their wrists and ankles, and jerked it tight, folding the guy's legs tightly at the knees and drawing the men's shoulders back.

"Ow! You motherfucker!" the man growled.

I smiled as I repeated what Bryn had done on the second man. When we were done, the Rollers were trussed like Thanksgiving turkeys. Bryn was just standing up when two cops ran into the aisle as two more roughly shove the crowd back. Both officers trained their weapons on Bryn.

"Freeze! Hands on your head! Hands on your head!" the officer screamed. I started to stand, but the gun flicked toward me. "Stay down! Don't move!"

I stayed down. "Do as they say," Bryn said as he slowly placed his hands on the top of his head.

There was a tense moment when nobody said anything. "You the man with the weapon?" the cop asked, his gun never wavering.

"Yes," Bryn replied slowly. "One of them. That gun is his." He didn't even nod in the direction of the pistol lying on the floor.

"Where's yours?"

"It's holstered in my back."

"Show me."

Keeping his hands on his head, he slowly turned his back to the officer.

"What's your name?"

"Bryn Ludlow."

The officer's eye snapped to me. "Reagan McKenna."

"You licensed?" the first cop asked as the second spoke into the mic hanging on his shoulder, giving someone on the other end our names.

"Yes. I live in the apartments that are burning, and I suspected that someone would be waiting for us. They were."

"Don't move."

The cop crept forward, his weapon still pointed at Bryn, and quickly plucked the pistol from Bryn's belt. He handed the weapon to the other cop, as a third officer moved in and placed Bryn's wrists into handcuffs. As Bryn's wrists were secured, the officer holstered his weapon.

"What?" I shouted. "Wait! You're—" Bryn secured, one of the officers pulled me to my feet, and jerked my arms roughly behind my back. "Wait! What are you doing! We didn't do anything!" I screamed as I began to struggle.

"Reagan!" Bryn barked. "Stop it! Just do as they say. We'll sort it out later."

"Anything in your pockets?" the cop growled at me.

"Just my fucking driver's license and phone!" He began patting me down as another cop did the same to Bryn. "Goddammit! We didn't do any-fucking-thing!" I snarled at the cop. "You can't—"

"Stop it!" Bryn snapped as the officer began to muscle me out of the store.

"But we didn't do anything!"

"We'll get it sorted! Just calm down!"

I stomped along, my thoughts dark and evil. No wonder everyone hates the fucking cops! We didn't do shit! We were running for our fucking lives, and we're the ones that get fucking arrested? This is such fucking bullshit!

When I realized they were taking us to separate cars, I began to panic. "No!" I screamed as I tried to get free, lunging and jerking in desperation. "No! You can't do this! I have to go with Bryn! Let me fucking go! I have to go with him!"

"Reagan! Stop it! Just stop! It'll be okay! Just do what they want!" Bryn shouted as the cop began to fold him into a cruiser.

It took two officers to stuff me into the back of the car as I fought and screamed for Bryn. They started out warning me, and then got increasingly more aggressive until they forced me into the unit and slammed the door.

I burst into tears, so mad and frightened I couldn't think. After a moment, I got control of myself. If I twisted hard, I could see Bryn sitting calmly in the back of his cruiser, watching me, his face full of concern. It's okay, he said, speaking slowly and clearly so I could read his lips. I slammed myself back in my hard, plastic seat and fumed.

After what felt like hours, a female officer opened my door and helped me out. Without a word she turned me around and released the binding on my wrists. "You're free to go," she said, handing me my phone and license, collected during the pat down, before turning away.

"'You're fee to go?'" I snarled. "Just like that? No, 'We're sorry?' No, 'We made a mistake?' Just 'You're free to go?'" I demanded

The woman turned back to me, her eyes hard. "Look, honey, I can give you a ride downtown if you'd prefer."

"Come on, Reagan, let it go. They're just doing their job," Bryn said as he stopped beside me and took my arm, trying to gently pull me away.

"They burn your house down, chase us, pull a fucking knife and gun on us, try to kill us, and we're the ones the fucking police arrest and put in the back of a police car!" I shouted, the rage at how I—we—were treated returning full force and more bitter than ever.

"You better calm your girlfriend down," the woman officer warned, her voice hard.

He pulled me more firmly, trying to draw me away before I got myself arrested for real. "Get the fuck away from me!" I screamed as I jerked my arm free and shoved him, and that snapped me out of it. I began to weep, turning to him as I buried my face in his chest.

"Shhh..." he murmured, taking me into his embrace to rock me gently as he caressed my head. "It's okay. Shhh..."

I looked up just in time to see two patrol cars leave with a man in the back seat of each of them. I sniff and wiped my eyes. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have yelled at you. You just saved my life... again," I whispered as I tried to pull myself together.

He smiled at me, touching my face gently as he wiped away my tears. "It's okay." He nodded in the direction of cop cars waiting to turn out of the parking lot. "That's what being arrested looks like. The cops just had to sort it out first. They're just doing their jobs."

I couldn't understand how he could be so damned calm during all of this, but his serenity was beginning to calm me down.

"Mr. Ludlow. We're going to have to take your weapon into evidence. Someone will contact you when you can pick it up at the Habersham Street station," an officer said as he approached.

Everything since the fire was a blur, and I couldn't tell if he was one of the cops that had arrested us or not. The officer extended a clipboard to Bryn. Bryn took it, glanced over it, and then signed it before handing it back.

"Thank you, officer."

The cop smiled as he accepted the clipboard. "Good job in there. Ever thought of joining the force?"

Bryn snorted. "No. I have enough excitement in my life already."

The Uber had arrived and left while we were cooling our heels in the back of the cruisers. We returned to the store. Every eye was on us as the doors closed behind us. "Can I help you?" the woman who'd helped me with the zip ties asked.

"Do you have my laptop and her purse?"

She nodded. "Behind the desk. Hang on a second and I'll get them."

She disappeared behind the customer service desk, pulled our items out from behind, and handed him the computer and my purse.

"Thank you... and sorry about what happened."

The woman, Rochelle according to her name tag, smiled. "It's not every day something like that happens, that's for sure. What was it all about?"

"Those two guys wanted to kidnap her," he said, jerking his head at me.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"Why?"

"I wish I knew."

"Are you some kind of bodyguard?"

"No. Just a friend."

She was wearing a wedding band, but I could tell from the way she was looking at him, if he were to ask her to his bed, she'd at least consider it. "Every girl needs a friend like you."

I snuggled into his side, reinforcing my claim on him. "Yes, they do."

"Again, sorry for the... mess."

"You're welcome to come back, but leave the bad guys at home the next time."

He sniffed out a laugh. "Believe me, I will if I can."

He led me out of the store. "What the hell is so important about that laptop?" I asked, as we circled the block. Smoke was still darkening the sky where his apartment was.

"Records," he replied, and I took his meaning. Yes, it wouldn't do to have those fall into the hands of the cops or the Rollers.

As we entered the apartment complex, I saw his building was still burning, but it appeared the firemen were getting it under control. He led me to the Roller's Softail, still parked at the edge of the grass embankment where he'd left it as he chased after us. Conveniently, he'd left the key in it, and after handing me the laptop, he mounted the motorcycle and rode it down the embankment to the edge of the woods. As I watched, he stepped off the machine, revved the engine hard, and released the clutch. The bike lunged into the trees and underbrush before crashing, almost disappearing in the growth as it lay on its side.

He turned and walked away as the bike idled. I smiled in grim satisfaction. Running while on its side would quickly wreck the engine from oil starvation. We walked back to his apartment and joined the knot of people as we watched the fireman poured water into the structure. The building was going to be a complete write-off. After we watched for a while, Bryn's face hard, he took my arm and led me away to where our bikes were... parked. The machines were scuffed and dented, and their rear tires were flat, but they appeared to be otherwise undamaged. Our cars were in even better shape, with only the cut tires, though it appeared one of those Roller assholes keyed my car in spite when they cut the tire. They may have done the same to Bryn's car, but the sides of his poor little Subie were already so scratched and banged up I'm not sure I'd have noticed. Unfortunately, our keys, for all our vehicles, were in the key bowl on the corner of Bryn's desk.

This had been carefully planned to flush us into the open, and it'd worked. I hadn't seen anyone when we arrived, but my head was so full of thoughts of being fucked by Bryn I probably wouldn't have noticed. Worse, despite the fact over the past three weeks I'd only seen glimpses of the High Rollers, it was clear we were being watched, and Hayden hadn't forgotten about us, or given up.