It was dumb to do, because for all Erik knew, this asshole could have had a loaded gun on the seat next to him. Or the driver could swerve to the left, hit Erik’s motorcycle, and watch him drop. Either way, Erik would probably die. Somehow, neither possibility bothered him enough to back off.
The driver of the black pickup hit the brakes and cut to the side of the road. The truck threw dust and rocks, the tires crunching as it came to a skidding stop. Erik slowed and soon had Gaige, Blaine, and Miller surrounding him.
“What the fuck is this?” Miller growled.
“He almost killed you,” Erik said. “So I'm going to kill him.”
Miller stood, but Gaige put an arm out. “Let him go.”
That’s all Erik heard.
Let him go.
Erik was off his motorcycle just as the driver of the black pickup opened his door and jumped down.
“What’s your fucking problem?” the driver yelled.
“You almost killed someone running that stop sign, asshole.”
“Who the fuck are you? The fucking stop sign police?”
Erik closed in on the guy and threw a punch. His right fist smashed off the guy's face, sending him stumbling back. Erik wasn’t done. He stayed with him, throwing fist after fist. The guy went all way the back and hit the side of his truck. He tried to put his hands up, but Erik was too quick and too skilled with his hands. As blood poured everywhere, Erik was lost in his own dark world and could not control himself.
Then suddenly he heard crying and he snapped back to reality.
Erik shook his head and stepped back. The man fell to his ass in a heap of bloody flesh. His head slumped to the side. Erik was about to kick the guy when he heard the crying again. It was coming from the truck.
Erik grabbed the open door and that’s when he saw how bloody his hands were. It was like a murder scene. When he looked in the backseat of the truck, he saw a little boy hugging a dirty white teddy bear and shaking.
“Shit,” Erik whispered.
“Will you help me?” the little boy asked.
Erik looked back and screamed for Miller. All the guys ran over and then they all took a step back when they saw the boy.
“What did you do?” Miller said and grabbed Erik’s leather cut.
“He’s going to hurt me,” the little boy said.
“Who is this man?” Erik asked.
“My daddy. He’s not supposed to have me. He’s bad. He took me from my mommy. I want to go home.”
Erik looked at Miller. “Call Jerry.”
“Holy Christ,” Gaige said as he crouched down and pressed his fingers to the man’s neck. “Well, he’s not dead.”
“He fucking should be,” Erik said.
Erik put his hand on his gun and Miller grabbed his wrist.
“Hey,” Miller said. “This guy did nothing to us. You want to kill him in front of his son?”
Erik looked at the little boy in the backseat. He took his hand off his gun and pushed away from the truck. He looked up at the night sky. It was filled with millions of twinkling star clusters. Erik made fists and his hands were already sore. He looked back and saw the man slowly fall sideways to the ground. Miller was on his cell, probably calling Jerry to come clean this mess up. Blaine stood with one leg up on the truck, offering one of his rings to the little boy. Gaige stared at Erik.
There was nothing to say here, it was clear to them all.
Erik was intense, pissed off, and desperate to kill. He just hoped he could kill the right person before he killed too many of the wrong.
three.
Kaity ran. Her hands were covered in dried blood, blood from where she didn’t know. The only thing she did know was that she needed to keep running. If he caught up to her, he would kill her. In fact, that was his last promise to her. Part of Kaity always knew it would end in death. After all the time she spent helping him, this was how it would end.
The hallway was long and dark. Kaity put her hands out and could touch each side of the hallway. As she ran, her fingertips brushed against unknown objects. At first, she screamed, wondering if he was crazy enough to hang knives or something right on the walls. But it wasn’t knives touching her. It was pictures. They slid and fell back into place. Two fell, shattering the glass. Kaity whimpered, knowing he would hear the breaking glass and come find her.
She knew she was close. So very close. Down the hall and to the right. That would lead right to the steps. Freedom waited outside the front door.
Yes.
She was so close to having all of this.
Kaity’s legs hurt. Her shoulder ached. The dried blood on her hands was crusty. But that would wash off. It would all wash off. Maybe with time, the memories would wash off too.
At the end of the hallway, Kaity turned, stumbled, and caught herself against the wall. She braced herself for a few seconds and took deep breaths. She swallowed and prepared herself for the next part of the escape and turned to face the steps.