A siren.
A flash of red.
A cop car right behind them.
“Fuck it,” Jayden snapped, then weaved through the lanes, pulled over, and drew to a halt at the side of the freeway. He was as tense as a bow about to fire an arrow.
“What did we do wrong?” she asked.
“I shouldn’t be in that lane,” he said. “But if I hadn’t been a Barbarian, they probably would have let it go.”
In the bike’s mirror, the reflection of a patrol car, lights flashing, made her heart sink. A cop got out and strutted toward them hand on his weapon.
“Remove your helmet,” he said, standing at Jayden’s side.
Jayden did as requested. “What’s up, Officer?”
“This your bike?”
“Sure is.”
“Got your license?” The cop looked at Tammy as though she were some conspirator in a crime.
Her hackles went up, and she wanted to protest innocence. Instead, she kept quiet.
Jayden handed over his license. The cop studied it, then passed it back. “What you got in that storage box?”
“Nothing, Officer.” Jayden shrugged nonchalantly.
“Open it.”
“It’s empty.”
“You want me tomakeyou open it?” He put his hand on his weapon again.
Jayden kind of laughed, a strained, deep sound. “I’ll open it, but you’re wasting your time. There are criminal assholes out there you should be catching.”
“I’ll be the judge of whether or not I’m wasting my time.”He stepped back and waited while Jayden climbed off the bike and then opened the box. He peered into it and huffed.
“See, empty.” Jayden closed it again.
“You know you just made an illegal maneuver, right?” The cop nodded at the busy road.
“Yeah, sorry about that. In a rush.”
The cop raised his eyebrows. “Oh yeah?”
“Got a kid to collect from school.” Jayden made a show of looking at his watch. “Don’t wanna be late.”
The cop took out his notebook and pen, slowly and then started writing.
Tammy was squirming with impatience, but she didn’t dare say anything.
He walked to the rear of the bike and wrote down the license number. After several long, drawn-out minutes. He put his notebook away. “I’ve got you in my sights, Barbarian. You start regularly visiting this neck of the woods, we’ll be falling out.”
“Just passing through.” Jayden climbed back on the bike and pulled on his helmet. “I wanna be outta here as much as you want me gone.”
“So go.” The cop hitched up his trousers at the waistline, pulling them over his portly belly. “And obey the damn rules of the road.”