Free SAVING REBEL: Renegade Rebels Motorcycle Club by Honey Palomino Page A

could miss this meeting.
    I turned the bike around, getting on the freeway and heading towards Oak Cliff.  One of the oldest neighborhoods in Dallas, Oak Cliff was part Mexican ghetto, part old mansions once owned by old money, now inhabited by yuppies who had done their best to gentrify it.  Most people in Dallas had a love/hate relationship with it, and I was no different.
    Rebel and I had grown up here.  Our parents had bought a house here when they first got together, the clubhouse being our secondary home.  Unfortunately, the courts auctioned it off after they went to jail, but every time I came back, I couldn’t help but feel a bit of nostalgia as I drove down the streets of the Cliff.
    I pulled up in front of a house around the corner from the cemetery and told Rebel to get out.
    “What’s this?” she asked, looking around.
    “I need to drop you here.  I have an unexpected meeting I have to attend.  At the cemetery around the corner.  Just sit your ass on this curb and wait for me.  I shouldn’t be more than ten minutes.”
    “Oh.  Um…”  she looked as if she was going to argue with me, but the look on my face made her stop short.  “Sure, Harley, whatever you say.”
    “Thank you.  I’ll be right back. Stay here and don’t fucking go anywhere, understand?”
    “Sure, sure…”  she obeyed like a well-trained dog, setting her backpack on the sidewalk, and promptly sitting on the curb.
    “Alright.  I’m gonna leave my bike here, too.  Be right back.”
    I walked around the corner to the cemetery, ignored the no trespassing sign, and hopped the chain-link fence.
    Johnny was already waiting for me, standing outside of the fenced off area where Clyde Barrow’s grave was located.  He looked like your typical low-rider gang banger - baggie khakis, shiny pointy loafers, a red bandana around his forehead and a button-up shirt, buttoned up all the way to his tattooed neck.
    He stood with a slouch, one hand in his pocket, probably fingering his gun, and yet smiling the friendliest smile at me as I walked up.
    “He was buried in the same plot as his brother,”  I told him.
    “Yeah, I see that.  What a crazy life he led, huh?”
    “I guess.  Back when life was simpler and people only fought over money, mostly.  It’s so much easier to make money now that you don’t have to rob a bank to do it,” I said.
    “Ain’t that the truth,” he replied.
    “So what’s up, Johnny? What’s so important that you couldn’t tell Mason over the phone?”  I couldn’t help but think about Rebel, she was bound to wander off at anytime. 
    “The cartel contacted us.  Said they had something come up.  Need to reschedule our meeting for Saturday at noon, same meeting place - the Mercury Warehouse in Deep Ellum.”
    “Okay, fine. That gives us more time to prepare.  And we can still have Maverick’s birthday party Friday night.”
    He nodded at me, his eyes still trained on the grave in front of him.
    “You and your men are invited, Johnny.  Mi casa es tu casa, you know.”
    “Thank you for your hospitality, Harley.  I’ll tell the boys.  We’ll be there.  And then on Saturday morning, if you need anything from us at all, you just let us know.”
    “No, I want you to go in and do the deal as you normally would.  The less you and your boys know, the better.  I don’t want the cartel knowing you tipped us off.  Less heat on you.”
    “Alright, but you know we can handle a lot of heat, Harley, but I appreciate that. We’ll see you Friday night, but remember, we’ll have your back, just in case.”
    “Thank you, my friend.”
    We shook hands, and I turned to walk away.
    “I’m in a hurry, Johnny, but I’ll see you Friday night!”
    “Have a good day, Harley.”
    I hopped the fence and ran around the corner to the bike, my heart racing with worry that Rebel had done something stupid and wouldn’t be there.
    But she was.  
    And the sight of her made me laugh out loud. She was