Let It Ride (Hell's Tribe MC Series) [Book 3]

Chapter 5: One and Done

Song for this chapter: All Summer Long by Kid Rock

~Mick~

June 21st, 1989

I woke up for the first time since I'd gotten to California, very excited to leave. Although this place had a certain charm to it, I'd admittedly missed Tooele and a certain blonde beauty who lived there. Val had been at the forefront of my mind this entire trip, and Bear even felt the need to point it out. It took every ounce of strength I had to pay attention to all the business talk and details that this California crew had been shooting at me when all that I could think about was Val. I had never been this infatuated with a chick before, and although it was a little daunting, I was weirdly excited to see where it went. I called her a couple of days ago when I couldn't take it anymore and just hearing her voice had done something to me I couldn't explain.

Ever since then, I had been in a major rush to get back on the road and put some miles into my bike. Our stay had been a little longer than anticipated, but even then, it had been less than a week and I already missed her. What the fuck was wrong with me?

I didn't even need an alarm to wake me up this morning because as soon as the sun came up I was ready to go. I had to practically drag Bear off of the couch he had been crashing on, and drug him with coffee, but he was finally awake and ready to head out.

Our new Stockton friends were surprisingly awake to see us off, putting in one last good impression before we left.

We'd been introduced through a mutual friend who thought we might to do well together in business and had been talking on the phone for weeks before we finally decided to take the trip out to Cali and meet them in person to talk details for real. Bear and I had both agreed after our first initial meeting that we liked them, and more than that, we trusted them. Of course, we would have to see how it all played out, but as far as first impressions went, we all felt good about this potential arrangement.

I extending my arm to shake Fernando's hand before I moved on to his brother and boss—Miguel.

"We look forward to doing business with you," Miguel informed, giving my hand a firm shake.

"Same here," I agreed.

Miguel was definitely the more intimidating Rodrigro brother, but I respected him and could tell that he didn't fuck around when it came to business. He wanted things to run smart and as low profile as possible. He had warned us that the way he and his brothers ran the business wasn't to become the next Pablo Escobar and if that's what we were looking for then we could bow out now.

I wasn't looking to make myself filthy rich or become some local drug lord. All I wanted was something profitable and comfortable for all parties, and I was starting to think this arrangement might be the way to do it.

"Safe ride, mano," Fernando waved as Bear and I both headed off to our bikes.

"I think this is gonna work out," he said, once we were out of earshot of the brothers.

I nodded, fastening the strap of my helmet around my chin. "I think so too," I agreed.

_______________________________

We were riding our way through Nevada when Bear and I both decided it was time to call it quits for the night. The sun was strong, and the heat was bordering unbearable. Although it would be dark in a few hours and would cool down dramatically, we decided that making it halfway through the ride was good enough for one day. Even though I was almost desperate to get back, I was ready to throw in the towel. We ended up finding a shitty motel just outside of Winnemucca and figured it was the perfect midway mark to Tooele.