Blue Fire

Chapter Twenty-Four - Stories

CATCHER

It took until late afternoon the next day before I walked off without a hitch. We'd been separated considering they knew we belonged to the same club and would 'coordinate' if we were allowed to speak to each other. The thing was, they also knew this was wasted time and effort. They had us on basically nothing and I could almost hear the collective groans that filled the station when Garrett Devine walked in with his briefcase and bulldog attitude. I had no fucking clue how he did it, if he'd bribed people there to drop the charges or what, but once they saw him they all knew they'd lost yet again. I almost felt bad for Farley's colleagues every time he did this since he did it just to fuck with us and even he knew it wouldn't stick.

He took me to a room, Garrett entering behind me and the bullshit had gone on for about ten minutes before Farley had had enough fun and Garrett had talked circles around him for long enough. I was released and Garrett moved on to the next one. Pile would probably hang on in there the rest of today, but he'd be out by tonight.

I waved at Farley as I walked out the doors and enjoyed the sneer he sent my way. A part of me kind of thought he might miss me if he ever managed to make something stick. The fucker seemed to get off on this little charade we had going and I was sure his life would be just that little bit emptier without me in it to piss him off.

Outside Rough already waited in his truck, looking slightly worse for the wear and like he'd had a rough night.

I climbed in and looked him over.

"There a reason you look like someone chewed you up and spit you out?"

"Shut up. Your bikes won't be released until tomorrow, or so I've been told. They have to be processed out again and you know what that means."

They'd be fucked up when we got them back. Some accidental tires popping, scratches because they fell over, that kind of shit. Farley played his games just like I played mine. It was a pain in the ass but if there was severe damage to them they'd pay for it considering we were out and the state had caused damage to our property.

"Yeah, I know. Anyone else out?"

"Rilo, this morning. He has no priors at all and he's only twenty-three. He's insignificant to Farley so he didn't put up much of a fight. Probably just wanted to get him over with before he dealt with you and Pile. I'm surprised he went for you before Green."

"That was Garrett."

"Gotcha."

"Now, why do you look like three-day old shit?"

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?"

I sighed and cracked my neck. Those cots did not make for a good night. "Just wanted to hear a good story about crazy pussy after having to piss in a drain this morning."

"She might be crazy but she's got a mouth like a Hoover."

I chuckled and shook my head.

"She still there?"

"Which one?"

I shot a look at him that told him exactly how funny I thought that was.

"Yeah, far's I know. We didn't talk much. Though I figure they're cut from the same cloth, wild and wind. Takes a lot to tame wild, even more to tame wind."

True words. Words we both knew because we both had that in us too and it was only this club that had managed to do that. I'd been on the wind for years before I rolled up in here and found my place. I'd left Kansas at thirteen, drunk for a dad and a mom who fucked off before I could crawl, I hitchhiked to Tennessee where a mechanic named Tom Parsons took me in. He'd lost his son and seeing me roaming around outside his shop, watching what he was doing compelled him to take me in. At eighteen I'd bought my first bike and just gone. Wild and wind had been in my blood, had gotten me into a lot of shit, and then I found Wilder on a fluke and knew that was where I could at least put a leash on it, one that I could hold for my own. I was a free man, a man who could go roaming if I wanted, one who appreciated the wild, but there were different kinds and a family was irreplaceable. So, yeah, I knew wild and I knew wind and I knew what it took to tame it, to leash it up. At least in myself.