Free Simple Ride (Hellions Ride Book 6) by Chelsea Camaron Page A

without
hesitation.
    Pamela screams yet remains on the
floor on the other side of the bed.
    His blood splatters all over my wall
along with brain matter as his body drops and his gun slips from
his grasp.
    I wipe my face and blink. Blank. Void.
Black. I have to numb myself to the situation. I took another
life.
    I hear her crying but refrain from
moving to her.
    “ Pamela, I need you to call
the police,” I say calmly without going to her.
    She has truly seen me at my worst now.
She knows what I am capable of. It’s over now. No turning
back.
    I watch her sit on her knees on my
floor and reach for her phone. She rattles off our situation and
location to the dispatcher in a panic. The dispatcher must have
asked her about me because she looks to me with tears rolling down
her face and states perfectly, “No, I’m not in any danger anymore.
Boomer saved me.”
    My chest aches with the pull to touch
her, to hold her. I can’t, though. I took another man’s life.
Regardless of the reason, I killed another man. I killed her
husband. I killed the father of her children. She will never get
beyond tonight.
    I don’t know if I will ever move on. I
reacted. Did I react wrong? Would he really have killed Pamela? I
guess we will never know. I wasn’t willing to risk it, though. I
hesitated long enough for him to fire one round, and that was one
round too many.
    My mind goes to the place I shouldn’t
let it … What if Pamela hadn’t moved? What if the bullet had hit
its mark?
    I stand still in the dark of my room
with the woman who has captured my mind sitting huddled by my bed,
crying while her husband bleeds out on my floor.
    Claim her, give her the protection of
the club, and give her life with her kids—it was supposed to be
simple. Only, now can it ever be? Will she forever be haunted by
the events that happened right in front of her? Will she ever see
me as the man who could bring her body to life and keep her safe?
Or will I always be the killer who took out her husband?
    Bile builds in my throat, and I
swallow hard not to puke. Man up, they always say. Boys are trained
from a young age to steel their emotions. Don’t run and cry into
your mom’s apron; be a man.
    Well, I don’t want to cry, and I have
no remorse for the scumbag being dead, but I do feel bad that
Pamela had to witness this side of me, the side that will do
anything to protect the people who matter to me.
    I have lost enough in my life
helplessly. Tonight, I wasn’t going to lose her at the hands of a
dickhead.
    I am who I am. I have no regrets about
using my skills to keep her alive for her boys. I just hope she can
still accept me as I am.
     
     
    ~Pamela~
    The paramedics come in, and the body
bag goes out, carrying Dennis. The police have taken our
statements. Boomer is not being arrested right now, but he’s not to
leave town without notifying them until the case is
closed.
    Dennis is dead.
    The man who has been my source of
torture, pain, and heartache for so many years is gone. I can go to
my kids and no longer look over my shoulder.
    Elation runs through me. Then I look
over to Boomer whose eyes are hiding a pain so deep.
    Guilt?
    Sorrow hits me like a punch to the
gut. He took a man’s life to save mine. Does he feel
bad?
    We are in his living room, and he
keeps looking to his bedroom door, the room that may not have a
body left in it, but still has the mess that shooting someone in
the head leaves behind.
    Boomer doesn’t speak as the last of
the patrol cars pulls out of the driveway. He moves to the room,
his room, and I decide to give him space.
    When he emerges a little while later,
he has showered and changed. No doubt, he wanted to feel clean.
Even though he had to change and give his clothes to the police, he
didn’t get to shower until now.
    I notice he has my bag in his
hand.
    Well, this is
it.
    I steel myself. My problems are over,
so it’s time to send me packing. It’s okay. I can do this. I can
get on the road and get to my