Maybe that was why I missed her as much as I did.
“That makes me want to go in there even less,” she said.
“You're just worried.” I paused for dramatic effect and surveyed our little love-in spot to make sure I wasn't leaving anything behind when we left. “Yeah, you're worried that the Loch Ness Monster really is in there, aren't you?
“Har har har, dick.” Kait punched me in the arm.
I helped her onto the bike and I took her home. I wished we could've stayed and camped out, but she was right. That was government property. We needed to leave before the law caught up.
And from my past experiences, I could confidently say that the law always caught up.
What I didn't know was that it would catch up to me later that night.
Chapter 8
Malik
That didn't take long.
I sighed heavily as the blue and red lights flashed in every reflective surface around me. A survival instinct kicked on in my head that told me to run. I still remembered the town well enough that I could probably lose him.
But why should I?
Fuck it. I wasn't speeding, drunk or riding recklessly. There was nothing they could legally do to me. I put my directional on, pulled over and killed the engine.
“Problem, officer?” I flipped up the visor on my helmet when he walked over to me.
“Maybe.” It only took one word from the cop for me to know exactly where my night was heading. “License and registration.”
“Why'd you pull me over? I wasn't speeding.” Maybe I could talk the guy into giving me a warning. I sure as hell didn't want to give him my license, not because I was doing anything illegal. It was just that right now I was only some random biker asshole, but the second he ran my name they would really know who I was.
“Somebody said they saw a shady looking guy on a motorcycle hanging around the wedding of a friend of ours. Matches your description.”
“What exactly is my description?” Jeans, T shirt, leather jacket and black helmet, I looked like any other biker on the road. “Or are you just hassling every prick on a motorcycle?”
That gave the man pause, but not for long. “You got something to hide, friend?”
“Nah,” I shook my head slowly. “I just don't feel special is all, if you're pulling everyone over.”
“License and motherfucking registration.” There was a snap sound behind me. I didn't have to look to know that cop unclasped the strap that held his pistol in his holster. “Or are we going to have a problem?”
Of all the things I wasn't good at, shutting-the-fuck-up was pretty high on that list.
Alright, I handed the cop the ID out of my wallet. Let's see how this plays out.
A few minutes later another cop car pulled up, and then another after that. I was frisked, my belongings checked, a few were taken, but that didn't bother me. I didn't have any paraphernalia on me. It was late, and in a town like this I imagined they all responded to a nearby call if they weren't busy. They could send the whole night shift for all I cared. Hell, I'd buy the donuts. Springfield's cops weren't known for being thugs so I wasn't worried.
It was the civilian pickup truck that pulled up a few minutes later that made my tongue itch. They wouldn't have called him on his wedding night would they have?
“Malice Long is back in town.” Brendan's voice rang out through the slamming of his truck door.
There he was, the man of the hour. My old best friend stepped into the street light. I knew that if I stayed I'd have to talk to Brendan at some point, but I didn't want to do it like this.
Brendan wore a weary expression, he had to still be drunk from the reception. He rubbed a hand over his high and tight haircut, looking both amused and pissed off. It was wild how similar he looked to Kait, they had the same nose and facial structure, but was a little taller and more stretched out.
“Hey, Brendan. Long time, brother.”
“Brother...” Brendan chuckled. There was no mirth in the sound. In the movies, it was the kind of laugh that someone would give right before they clocked a guy in the jaw. He said the word again a few times, each time it rolled of his tongue with a slightly different syllable emphasis, as if the word was rapidly losing its meaning.
“Look around, Malik. The only brothers I have here are wearing a uniform.” He spread his hands out toward the cops that were standing off to the side watching everything go down.
“Of all the day's you come back. You picked my wedding?” If things got really hairy between me and Brendan I wondered how much they'd intervene. Probably a lot if it looked like I had the upper hand.
“I thought about sending a card, but that felt really impersonal.”
“So instead you figured you'd come back here and let me kick the shit out of you for how your family destroyed mine?”