Find My Way Home (Bulldogs MC #4)

4: Knight In Shining Armour

^^ Adam ^^

Life is surreal. I'm currently stood in the middle of the café that I stole from not so long ago, laughing as Shelby tries to fix the cash register without swearing. So far I've made $12 in tips, and learnt how to draw the cool pictures on the foam in the coffees. I bite my lip as I watch her fist connect with the side of the machine, before her hands go to her hair, fisting it tightly.

"If it wasn't so fu- fricking expensive, I'd throw it out!" She groans, before throwing her hands up and walking around the counter to sit on a stool.

"Have you tried unplugging it and plugging it back in?" I ask her, moving to do exactly that as she shakes her head solemnly. I jump back as the tray opens when the power comes back on, looking at Shelby with wide eyes. "Is that supposed to happen?"

She laughs and shakes her head. "No, it's not," She reaches up to her temples and massages them before looking at me and tilting her head. "Can you do me a favour?" I nod, and she continues. "If I give you the money, can you run down to the pharmacy and get me some Tylenol? My head is killing me," She pouts and widens her eyes, and I have no doubt that it's the expression she uses whenever she wants anything from the guys. There's no way they could turn her down with that.

"Sure," I say, untying my apron and dropping it on the counter.

The heat hits me as soon as I open the door, and I find myself whining as I miss the café's air-con. The trip to the pharmacy only takes me five minutes, but as I walk past an alley between two shops, I look up and freeze. A guy is running towards me and he slides to a stop just before crashing into me. My eyes go wide, but as I see the sheriff rounding the corner just ahead of me, I act on instinct and push him into the alley, before looking at the sheriff with a wide grin.

"Sheriff. Lovely to see you as always," I say, trying to hide the fact that my heart is racing.

He looks at me warily, before his eyes the street. "You see a young man running this way?" He asks, looking me up and down.

I nod slightly. "Dark hair? Leather jacket?" I ask, nodding in return when he does. I hear the guy in the alley suck in a breath slightly and clear my throat to cover the noise. I point behind me and across the street. "Yeah, he ran that way. Almost got squashed by a car when he bolted across the road,"

The sheriff nods, before moving off in the direction I indicated, and I turn to look at the guy who is now leaning against the wall just inside the alley. He rests one foot on it and has his arms crossed over his chest as he smirks at me. "Thanks," he says, running a hand through his hair.

I nod and shrug slightly before walking back to the café. I didn't do it for him; I did it to get the sheriff back for being so rough when he cuffed me.

***

The rest of the day goes by quickly, with the only break I get being when Lenni comes in with a black eye and stitches in her cheek. She tries to play it down like it's nothing, but I can tell from her eyes that she's more worried than she wants to let on. I know that Banjo hit her by accident, but there's something more that she isn't telling me. I know it's stupid, but I feel completely excluded; like I'm just in the way again. The feeling is only made worse when Lenni sits me down that evening, saying we need to talk.

"The sheriff came to see me earlier. The station got sent a missing person's poster from Atlanta. Apparently, it's been sent nationwide now," I go to leave, knowing that I've got too comfortable here and everything has caught up to me. "Hey, sit down. Talk to me. We're in this together remember,"

I try and slow my breathing down, but I can't relax. I know she'll send me back. She's got no reason not to. As she watches me carefully I know I've got no choice but to tell her. "I ran way about two months ago. It was easy at first; no one was looking for me. I was gone for two weeks before I was even reported missing, and I bet that's only cos the school did it," I see the fear on her face, and rush to ease it. "I wasn't like abused or beaten or anything. I was just forgotten,"