Free Hope (The Virtues #1) by Davida Lynn

laughed again.

    Blood rushed to my face. I mouthed oh my God to him. I couldn't believe that the old lady was so randy. I guess it worked in our favor, but I thought I might die of shame before I took another step. Trask waved and thanked her.

    The two of us walked past her. Trask gave her a smile, but squeezed my shoulder to let me know he wasn’t trading me for an old fat lady. I shook my head, my cheeks still hot.

    Down the cul-de-sac, Trask ran through the plan once again. I knew he was doing it to ease my mind. I appreciated what he was doing, even if my heart was slamming against my ribcage, trying to escape and find peace somewhere outside of Bakersfield, California.

    “I’m going to be inside the house. If they don’t know Nick personally, I’m going to try and impersonate him. If they do know who he is, I'm going to try and lie to them. If neither of those work, I'm going to intimidate them, and if all else fails, I'm going to try and beat the shit out of them. Sound good?”

    I could hear the military in his voice. Plans A through D were right there, laid out plain as day.

    “It sounds terrible,” I said coldly. I needed him to know how I felt about putting him in danger. I was well aware that I needed him to do it, I just didn't want it.

    He turned to me, grabbing my shoulders and leaning in. “I know it’s bad, but without the support of the gang, we have to play it cool. Even if I can buy Nick more time, I’d rather do that than fight these guys. I don’t know what you think of the SEALs, but the number one thing they taught me was to hide. Number one thing.”

    I had to trust that he knew what he was doing. He protected an entire motorcycle club, after all. “Okay.”

    He smiled at me. “And you will be?”

    I jerked my thumb behind me. “I’ll be on the other side of the trailer with Casper. I’ll have my phone out, and I’ll be ready to call the club, but only, ” I mocked his parental tone, “if absolutely needed, because Bear doesn’t know about this.”

    Trask nodded. “And he’d be beyond pissed if he found out, so let’s say a quick prayer.”

    I was shocked when Trask bent his head forward. He’d never been religious, although his aunt and uncle were. Maybe some of it had rubbed off on him, or maybe he’d picked it up in the military.

    I lowered my head out of respect for him.

    “Oh Heavenly Father, please don’t let this get fucked. Amen.” He looked up at me, smiling the cocky smile that I was starting to get used to. I guess we’d see soon enough if it was real or not.

    “Jesus, that's maybe the most blasphemous prayer I’ve ever heard.”

    Trask winked at me. “The other bikers have ones that are far worse.”

    “I don’t pretend to understand the club at all.” I shook my head as we walked the rest of the way to the trailer.

    “Not much to understand. It’s a place for those without a place. The rejects, the unwanted. We are brothers because we have no one else. And also we like riding Harleys, drinking beer, and seeming real badass. It certainly worked for you, didn’t it?”

    I threw my head back. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

    “Mmhm.” He smiled at me and allowed me to walk up the stairs.

    Pulling the door open, I saw something I should have expected, but didn’t see coming.

The place was absolutely trashed. It hadn’t exactly been clean the day before, but it was an absolute wreck. I stood there until Trask asked me what was wrong. I stepped to the side so he could look in. It was littered with trash, dirty dishes, anything that had once been on the shelves or counters. Some cabinet doors were broken and on the floor. Others were hanging at sad angles. The fridge was open and what little had been inside had been dumped out.

    “What the hell?”

    I couldn't even turn to him to reply. “Yeah, I was wondering the same thing.”

    I was about to pull out my phone and call Nick when one last surprise meandered