Hopefully, Steve didn’t stay long. They almost never did.
“Coyote,” I yelled over the deep thrum of the base.
I waited patiently for him to finish his song, letting the power of the music wash over me and calm my nerves.
“What’s up?” Coyote asked as he finished his number and slung the bass over his shoulder.
“Are the others here?” I asked.
“Upstairs.” He gestured for me to follow him before he set his bass lovingly on its stand next to all our other instruments.
I glanced longingly at my own guitar but turned away before picking it up. I needed to talk to the guys first. Then I could play a few numbers. I was the lead guitarist in our band and used our small-time gigs and practice to escape and de-stress.
“Rex!” Charles Roberts, known to us as Chase, threw a beer at me almost before my foot cleared the last step up the spiral staircase. “How’s your aunt?”
I caught the beer and settled onto the large and comfortable couch before answering. I had lived with my aunt since I was twelve. My parents had both been killed in a drive-by shooting orchestrated by the Las Balas motorcycle club. It was for some retaliation or other, and they were aiming for Padre. They missed.
Since that night, Padre had taken a special interest in making sure my aunt and I were well taken care of. Maybe he felt responsible, or maybe he felt guilty, but either way, I became almost like his adopted son. It was the reason I didn’t like talking about Padre, either.
“She’s good,” I finally answered, looking around the station’s living quarters.
We had been using the fire station to practice and sometimes sleep since we were in middle school. I bought it when I graduated high school, making sure no one could kick us out. Not that anyone would.
“That’s good,” Chase answered.
I nodded. Chase was our rhythm guitarist and the newest member of our band and Outlaw Souls. He moved here from Las Vegas a couple of years ago and was very talented with the guitar and his fists. I decided to sponsor him when I saw how well he held his own in a fight with two old Las Balas members. Anyone who could hand those bastards their ass was fine by me.
Chase had gotten his patch from Ryder a few months ago. It was Ryder’s first, and I was strangely proud that it had been Chase. I glanced over at Mack, who had remained quiet up to this point.
His given name was Kiernan McMillian, and he played the drums and rarely spoke unless it was important. I liked that about him.
Mack, Coyote, and I all went to school together, and we all joined the Outlaw Souls together. We had started our band in sixth grade and had played at a few dozen small-time gigs since then. I had known them over half my life, but I still had no clue how they would react to my news.
Sighing, I sat forward, gaining their attention. Stalling was not going to help matters. I quickly explained my conversation with Ryder and his offer then waited quietly for their reactions.
“Sounds pretty cool,” Chase answered. He was adventurous and young. And this wasn’t the first time he would pick up and move, so I hadn’t been too worried about him.
I looked at Mack, who shrugged. “I think it could be interesting,” he said, his deep voice rumbling over us. “We’ve never left La Playa, and it might be nice to see the rest of the world.”
Grimacing, I looked at Coyote. He was the one I was the most worried about.
“I don’t know,” he said, hesitating.
I understood. He was worried about his mom. Mack understood too.
“You can’t help her if she doesn’t want help,” Mack told him. “And you know that Ryder and the others will watch over her. I’m pretty sure Vlad would kill for her if we are honest.”
Coyote rolled his eyes, still refusing to believe that Vlad was in love with his mother. Coyote, Vlad, and Coyote’s mom were the only three people in La Playa that didn’t know that Vlad was in love with Coyote’s mom, Iris.
I swallowed my laughter, not wanting to start something. It wasn’t as if Vlad was a bad choice for Iris. She obviously had a taste for bad boys, and Vlad was the club’s enforcer and was in charge of arranging deals for Outlaw Souls to acquire cheaper auto parts. Cheaper, meaning stolen most of the time. Vlad was also Russian and had ties to the mob, which came in handy for Outlaw Souls. You couldn’t find a better bad boy than Vlad Kushniruk. In fact, the only softness he had in him was his feelings for Iris and Coyote. After a few more minutes of thinking, Coyote sighed and gave me a jerky nod. He knew deep down that as long as Vlad was around, his mother would be safe.
“Let’s do it,” he said, his voice tight.
I grinned. It had been a lot easier to convince them than I thought it would be. But, if I thought about it, we all had gypsy hearts that needed to be free to roam. That was the cooler way of looking at it. I think we were all just sick of La Playa and wanted to see more of the world.
“So when do we get our new patches?” Chase asked.
“We will give Ryder our decision on Sunday, and I imagine he will tell us what we need to know then,” I answered.
They all nodded before following me downstairs to practice. If we were going to be traveling musicians, we needed to look and sound the part.
Two
Emma
Slamming on my breaks, I swallowed half a dozen curses threatening to spill out of my mouth.
Damn bikers, I thought as I glared at the four motorcycles that were weaving in and out of traffic. I gave the one that had almost sideswiped me a particularly long glare as I took my foot off the brake and rolled through the green light.
I was already running late for work and didn’t need this extra stress. Ever since the biker bar, The Teton Lounge, moved in down the street from the restaurant, bikers had overrun the neighborhood like a swarm of flies—violent, noisy, annoying flies.
Sighing, I pulled into the parking lot of the Rainy Day Diner. I had been working there for over a year while taking online classes. The cost of living was too high for me to live in Seattle and go to campus for classes. Every extra second I had was taken up with extra shifts or studying. Online school was easier with my schedule and cheaper than living on campus while spending hours a day in classes I didn’t need.
Although I was happy living off-campus, I was anything but happy with my job. I had nothing against waitressing. In fact, I loved that part of my job. It was my boss who I hated.
Misogynistic and cruel, he made my life miserable from day one. He also allowed his brother, Theo, to come in and treat me however he liked. Theo was one of the many bikers swarming the area. He was also the meanest, constantly picking fights and harassing girls. I was his favorite to harass and torment.
Slipping in through the back door, I peeked into the dining room and let out a sigh of relief. Theo wasn’t here…yet. Tying my apron around my waist, I grabbed my small notebook and pen before heading out into the dining room. I did my best to keep up with all the orders. It seemed one of the newest waitresses hadn’t shown up for her shift, and I was the one who had to take over her tables, as usual. At least I would get her extra tips.
It didn’t take long for me to find my groove. I bounced from the kitchen to the dining room, completely in my element. There was even a lull between the lunch and dinner shifts that allowed me to venture back to the kitchen. I loved to bake, and the head cook, Martin, hated it. He loved it when we were slow enough for me to whip up the night’s desserts for the customers.