The Road Back (The Unknowns Motorcycle Club Book 3) by Ruby Reid Read Free Book Online Page B

During his countless one night stands, a few had become something close to dating, and only one of those had felt anything like love.
     
    But now there was Amanda, and all of that changed. Had he known that there was something about her from the start? Had he sensed it when he had rescued her from that creep in the restaurant parking lot? He thought so… only then, less than a week ago, he hadn’t known it for what it was.
     
    Those thoughts were interrupted by the approaching sound of a purring engine. Living around motorcycles for so long, Alex knew a bike engine when he heard it, even from a distance. He turned to look back the way he had come, waiting for the glow of a headlight. It appeared two minutes later, lightly bouncing down the road towards him.
     
    As he watched Slim’s bike pull up next to him, he again felt bad that his friend had gotten involved. It was not his fight. Sure, it could be stretched to say that because Marco O’Brien was an enemy to the Unknowns, it sort of was Slim’s fight. But as far as Alex was concerned, the main goal at the end of this was Amanda’s safety and, if he was lucky, her eventual forgiveness.
     
    Slim killed his engine several yards away and walked his bike up beside Alex’s.
     
    “Looks like trouble follows you even when you aren’t part of the club,” Slim joked.
     
    Alex smiled and surprised them both when he gave Slim an awkward man-hug. Slim returned it awkwardly and said, “You’re good people, Alex. But I’m not about to go Brokeback Mountain with you out here in the middle of nowhere.”
     
    “Thanks for coming,” Alex said.
     
    “Of course. You got a plan?”
     
    “Aside from ‘kill, kill, kill,’ no, I don’t.”
     
    “Hey, that’s a plan that’s always worked for me. Let’s get to it.”
     
    Slim then reached into his saddlebag and retrieved two guns that Alex had seen several times in his years on the road with Slim. They were both standard Glocks, the kinds that Jameson preferred for Unknown work.
     
    “The good news,” Slim said, “is that they’re both fully loaded. The bad news is that I don’t have any more ammo. So if you need to take a shot, make sure it’s a good one. You know if he has any hired hands?”
     
    “He had one with him earlier. But I took care of him. I’d never seen the goon before, so I guess he’s hiring local muscle.”
     
    “Yeah, he has a history of that. I’m going to assume he didn’t bring you all the way out here to have a one-on-one with you.”
     
    “Yeah, that’s what I figured.” He then looked to his phone. He had fifteen minutes left out of the two hours Marco had given him.
     
    “Time to go?” Slim asked.
     
    “Yeah.”
     
    “Lead the way.”
     
    Alex started walking down the state maintenance road. An old sign scarred with buckshot informed them that the road would end in half a mile. The road was partially made of gravel with the other half consisting of ruined pavement. Their footsteps were quiet, masked by the tall grass of the field around them.
     
    They walked along the edge of the road, Slim directly behind Alex. The road made a slight bend and then straightened out again. After several hundred yards, Alex saw the shape of a building and a car parked in front of it. A light was on inside the building. As they got closer, Alex tried to determine what sort of building it was, but it was difficult to do in the dark. His guess was that it was some sort of retired power station or a random shed that the state had once used to store equipment.
     
    As they got closer, Alex then saw the other car. It was parked along the side of the building, almost as if it was supposed to be hidden but whoever had done so had done a terrible job.
     
    “Yeah,” Alex said. “Two cars. He’s definitely got some help.”
     
    “That makes this a lot more interesting.”
     
    “You say interesting, I say dangerous.”
     
    Slim shrugged nonchalantly, but it was apparent that he was