“Have you, um.” She waved her hand in a small circle. “Do you cook often?”
“Not as often as I'd like, convection ovens don't fit easily into the saddlebags.”
Flora muted a smile and tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. Beneath her crusader exterior, and her paper-thin seduction attempts, she was surprisingly clever. It was nice. I rarely had casual conversations with the girls I surrounded myself with.
“So what's the deal with you? I take it you're in a biker gang, right?” she asked, pointing at my chest. “Who are the Steel Veins?”
The mirth drained from my grin. I looked down at my vest, my closest friend. The weight of the leather was such a part of me that I forgot I still had it on. Since the call with Poet, I was no longer a member. I really shouldn't be wearing it at all. “Something like that. It's a bit of a long story, and with you leaving soon... Really, the less you know the better.”
“Yeah, I guess so.” There were faint hints of melancholy in her resignation. Maybe I was reading into it, but it didn't sound like she was as energetic about going back with the Knights as she once was.
I now had some time to figure out a deal with Lucky that might keep Flora alive; maybe if I formally apologized and offered to pay her worth, or some shit. I didn't know exactly, but I knew I'd think of something. I always worked best under pressure.
“Suffice it to say that, as far as the outlaw MCs go, we're the good guys.”
Flora crinkled her nose. “Except you imprisoned me against my will. That's not a quality I'd associate with 'good guys.'”
“Well... 'good,' most of the time.” I shrugged casually with a smirk. While I had her here, maybe I could prepare her a little for what she'd signed up for. “Still, a comfy bed and breakfast is better than what you'll get with the Knights.”
“What do you know about them? Do you know where they may have taken Claudine?”
I blinked, thinking. “Hard to say. I know that the Knights have some major ties down south, but they've been very tight-lipped about this whole transportation gig. Maybe some of the officers in the Veins know more, but I didn't find out about it at all till, well, until you walked in that brothel. It's a mean business, Flora. Human trafficking is some heavy stuff. Not a lot of storybook endings there.”
“Yeah.” She looked past me. Her irises, the shade of clouds preparing for a hurricane, grew distant and unfocused. It wasn't what she wanted to hear, but I needed to be straight with her.
If not for her sake, than mine.
“Why me?” Flora's eyes cleared, she regarded me intently. “Out of all the girls back there, why did you take me?”
The words came out smoothly. “It's my nature, I suppose. I tend to gravitate towards the prettiest thing in the room.”
“Wow, practice that line much?” Flora chuckled, her cheeks reddening a shade. She put the spoon down and picked out the last strawberry. Looking up at me, she smiled, idly biting into the fruit.
I matched her stare. “Every chance I get.”
The way she sat up straighter made me smile.
“You were the greenest girl in there,” I went on to say. “Your eyes were dull from the drugs, but overall still vibrant. You either got yourself into heroin recently, or it took you by surprise. Either way, I knew you were worth more to them than the rest, and I wanted to hurt the Knights any way I could.”
“Oh.” Had my answer deflated her? She swallowed, then asked, “Speaking of them... When are they coming, by the way?”
“Unfortunately, not until tomorrow. Something came up.”
She tilted her mouth, pretty lips forming into a tight rosebud. It was obvious my news had upset her. Fuck, how could I make it clear that she had to back off of this path?
A noise in the distance made me immediately forget whatever lie I was about to tell. It was the distinct chug of a Harley motorcycle, getting closer by the second.
This time of year, with the chill of winter rearing its ugly head, most casual riders had their bikes in storage. That left mostly just MC members cruising around. The occasional, unaffiliated straggler or hardened rider would stick it out till the end of the month or so. What struck me as odd, was why anyone would come down a long, dead end drive to a bed and breakfast that was closed during the week, just to turn around and go back the other way?
Unless they were here for a purpose.
Flora said something, but I didn't hear her; I was too engrossed with concentrating on the sound.
The Harley wasn't alone.
“Roach, you dirty—” I shot up, stuffing my gun into the back of my pants and checking that I had everything else I needed for a quick escape. “Flora, we have to go. Now.”