“There’s something seriously wrong with you.”
“What? I kid. I joke. People love that about me. I’m a fun guy.”
“Where is she?”
“Chill out, she’s throwing darts with Hammer.” Griz lifted his chin toward the dartboard across the room.
Shades stalked across the room. With a chin lift to Hammer, he grabbed Skylar by the arm. “Let’s go.”
As he hustled her out the door, she asked, “Where are we going?”
“To your place, then to the shop. I’ll explain later.”
Without another word, she dutifully followed him out to the bikes, took the helmet he handed her and climbed on behind him. If she kept this blind obedience up throughout the trip, maybe things wouldn’t go so bad after all, he thought. Chances were, it’d all go to hell, though.
Ghost revved his throttle and looked over at him. “I’ll pack a bag and meet you at your shop.”
Shades nodded and Ghost took off. Shades gunned his own throttle and pulled out before he gave Skylar time to ask about what Ghost meant by ‘packing a bag’. They rolled through the side streets, got up on I-59 and headed for I-65. He took it south of town, over the mountain, exiting on 119. A few minutes later he was pulling down her drive and parking in front of her door.
They both climbed off. He trailed her up the stairs and waited by the door while she unlocked it, and then deactivated the alarm. He followed her inside, where she turned to him.
“So, are you dropping me off here or…?”
“No. Go upstairs and pack a bag. Something small that can fit on the bike.”
She frowned up at him. “Why? Am I staying at your place?”
He shook his head. “I’m getting you out of town. Away from the DKs.”
She swallowed and her voice got soft. “Oh. How long will we be gone?”
“Four days. Maybe longer. Until this blows over.”
“Shades, I don’t think this is going to just blow over.”
“It’s being taken care of,” he lied.
“How?”
“Sky, just go upstairs, and do what I told you.”
“Four days?”
“Yeah.”
“And you think I can pack all that in a backpack? Baby, you don’t know women.”
“One pair of jeans. A handful of tank-tops. Some panties.” Then he grinned. “No, scratch that last item. And a jacket. That’s all you need. Anything else, we can pick up along the way.”
“Where are we going?”
“You’ll find out when we get there. Now move.”
“Okay, okay.” She headed up the stairs.
He shouted after her, watching her ascend in the cute pair of sandals she’d been wearing. “And wear boots. We’ll be riding.”
Twenty minutes later they were pulling up at his shop. Ghost was already sitting in the lot waiting for them.