SAVAGE ROAD - Layne & Shelby by Ana W. Fawkes

kill himself. He was paranoid and wouldn ’ t talk about it. He barely
worked, more or less a figurehead of authority. I thought maybe my mother would
know something about why he turned out this way.
    Maybe I should have just run.
Gotten in my car and started driving. Gone somewhere to start over. Forget
about my mother and just leave a note for Dad. He wanted me to go. He ’ d love me for it. He ’ d respect me for it, too.
    But something inside me wouldn ’ t let that happen. I couldn ’ t just let it all go. I had to
know about my mother. I had to try and save Dad. More so I had my own little
secret.
    “ Shit, ” I whispered.
    I took my little notebook out of my
back pocket, along with the piece of paper from Brett. I guess he was trying to
kiss my ass for being a complete dick.
    The piece of paper had my mother
much closer than I could have possibly imagined. Of all things, she helped to
find missing people. That was, if the information in my hands was correct. Her
name was Donna and she helped from Reno to Vegas and a little bit west. Not
where I was though. If I wanted to see her, I ’ d
have to do a little traveling myself.
    Which wasn ’ t all that bad, I guess. Maybe I could use time
away from the MC. Especially with Layne here. Him going after me was sexy, hell
yes, but it was risky. I couldn ’ t
keep breaking my rule. I had to stop fucking Layne. Or letting Layne fuck me.
Or whatever the hell was going on between us.
    I stood up and tucked my notes
away.
    In my mind, I couldn ’ t figure out what was going to
happen when I did find my mother. If we ’ d
look at each other and hug each other. Cry our eyes out. She ’ d apologize. I ’ d accept. Then I could ask
anything I wanted, without worry. Or it could go the other way. We ’ d see each other and she ’ d get angry. I ’ d get angry.
    My thoughts were chased away by an
approaching vehicle.
    All black. Tinted windows. Even the
rims on the car were black. No markings for the make or model but it had the
over all appeal of something very expensive.
    The car slowed and started to turn
as though it was going to pull into the compound lot. I watched as Jack started
to open the main gate. They had some kind of system in place to know who was
allowed in and who wasn ’ t.
Jack put a hand out to signal the car to stop.
    But it didn ’ t.
    The car revved forward and hit
Jack.
    The sight made me gasp. I blinked a
few times, wondering if what I saw was correct.
    Jack went up on the hood of the car
and then rolled off the side.
    Michael - aka Mack - started
to run toward Jack.
    The car then backed up and the
passenger window opened.
    When I saw the gun, I dropped to my
knees.
    Sugar and AJ came at me. I threw my
arms around them and hugged them, as though I could protect them. Christ, the
dogs were bigger than me. They were protecting me.
    I shut my eyes, hating the sound of
a gun firing.
    The gun was very quiet though, a quick pff sound and that was it. By the time I opened my eyes and looked, the
car was now speeding away. My mind told me to get the plate number, but it was too
late. The car was too far gone to see anything.
    I hesitated for a few seconds,
almost in a state of shock.
    My first thought was that nobody
from the table was there to help. Yeah, there were patched in members, but the
true power mostly came from the guys at the table.
    I stood back up, patting the heads
of the two dogs.
    “ Stay
put, ” I said.
    I left the dogs and rushed over to
the scene at the front of the compound.
    The first thing I saw was blood.
    A lot of blood.
    Pooling on the ground.
    “ Holy
shit. ”
    I hurried to Jack and dropped down,
wondering what I was going to be able to do. Michael was there, tearing off his
jumpsuit, stripping down to nothing but a white t-shirt and his boxers. He
rolled the jumpsuit up and pressed it to the side of Jack ’ s neck, where the bullet had
penetrated him.
    “ He ’ s going to fucking die, ” Michael said. “ Fuck. He ’