Runaway ✔

001 • Dana

Dana raked a hand through her hair. Well... what now? She was as unprepared as she could be. No clothes, no phone, she had nothing taken with her. What should she tell her brother? "Hi Tom, I killed my crazy ex's little brother. Yeah, my best friend. The only one I still had. Can I hide here?"

That was not an option. If someone found out why she was hiding, she'll put them all in danger. She couldn't use her own name, that would increase the chance that Maddox would discover where she was.

A tall, broad-shouldered guy came out of the garage and walked up to her. He nodded. "Hey." He looked at her bike. An admiring look appeared in his eyes. "Need any help?" There was a black smudge on his cheek, that ended somewhere in his beard.

"I'm looking for my brother. Believe he's a member of your club."

"Is he?" The man studied her face, surprised, and rubbed the black beanie on his head. "I thought I'd met most family members, but I'm sure I've never seen you. Come in." He put his arm around her and led her to the clubhouse. "Give the girl a drink," he ordered a balding man with strange gloves. He sat next to her at the bar.

It was dusky in the clubhouse, and there was a smell of beer and cigarettes. Even these she hadn't taken with her.

"I'm Opie. Most of the guys are elsewhere, but they'll be back in a few hours. Who's ya brother?

"I'm... Maggie." She took a beer from the man behind the bar and imprinted her new name. It was a name that had no meaning for her. It had just been the first thing that had popped up in her mind, probably because it rhymed with Opie. "Tom's my brother."

"Tom?" Opie stroked his beard. "Know no Tom."

Dana sighed. Tom had probably adopted a cool biker name. She bet this "Opie" wasn't registered with that name either. She bit the nail of her little finger. "The last time I've spoken to him, was five years ago," she admitted. "Dunno what you call him. Same shape as you, cropped hair, thirty-five years old..."

"Happy?"

Dana shrugged. He hadn't been a very happy person, but maybe that was the clue. Sarcasm must be in their blood.

"Come." With a glass in his hand, he walked to a wall on which hung pictures. She pointed at a picture where he bent over a pool table, with a cue in his hand. "That's him."

"Happy, yea. Want me to call him? Is it urgent?"

"Nah, I'll wait," Dana mumbled. She wasn't exactly thrilled about facing him, and she looked stupid, now she had admitted that she hadn't seen him in years.

"Don't wanna keep you from work," she apologized.

"Nah, ya don't. Are you in trouble?" he asked, lowering himself on a couch.

Dana sat beside him and bit her cheek. He wasn't an idiot. He knew this wasn't just a friendly visit. She had to come up with a good lie. Or... she could be honest as well, as long as she kept his name to herself.

"My ex. He's stalking me." Every word was true. That she had to kill his brother to get away, wasn't something Opie needed to know.

Opie shortly laid a hand on her leg. "We'll know what to do with that kind of guys." He winked.

She suppressed a sigh. Yea, bet ya do.

Too bad things would immediately end up in slaughter.