Free Railed (Courage MC #2) by Kara Hart

two-way mirror in front of us and shouted, “We did what you wanted us to do. Now it’s time to hold up your end of the bargain!”
    The door unlocked and opened. The three men came in the room and sat in front of us, Indian style. “Hope. You showed a great deal of courage last night. We’re very proud of you, as we know this is a new journey you have chosen to embark on. As for you, Avery. We were disappointed by your initial hesitance. But you have been given a gift: Hope.”
    “A gift? You mean this hot piece of ass?” I smiled, winking at her. She made a disgusted face at me and pushed me away.
    “You lack elegance, Avery. Your whole tribe does. But you did what we asked and for that, we are willing to resume business with the Courage MC.” one of The Sapo Boys said.
    “You ain’t gonna inject us with one of your toads?” I asked, half-joking, although I regretted even asking.
    “Simple fables. Do you believe everything you are told?” One of the men laughed. The door opened behind them, leading us to an exit outside. “You can find your way home.” they said.
    As they left, I turned to Hope. “Sorry, for being kind of an ass lately.” I said.
    “It’s okay…” she sighed. “Just treat me with more respect, alright? Who knows, you may need my courage again…” she looked at his tattoo on his arm. I know what she was thinking. That I lacked the main points of what our gang stood for. Well, that goes for all of us. But, as I was finding out, she was right. I needed to hold onto our values a little more. If I were to really become the leader of Courage, I would need her help. This was a new lesson for me, but one I would value for the rest of my life.
    We stepped out into the warm sun, ready for the new day. Only problem was, we were in the middle of nowhere. That’s right, the boys were ahead of us in the distance, riding their long black bikes into the sun. “You gotta’ be kidding me…” I muttered through clenched teeth.
    Hope looked at me with exhaustion. “Are you serious? What do you propose we do now?”
    “We walk.” I said. It was all we could do, really. These were The Sapo Boys in their heyday. Everything they did was a trick, including their sales negotiations.
    We must’ve walked about ten miles before reaching a familiar service station. It was a broken down shack near the highway, with an old man out front in a rocking chair. He simply nodded to us as we walked inside.
    We loaded up on water and food for the trip back. Though, how we were gonna get a ride was another story. “There are bikers all over these parts, so we shouldn’t worry.” I said. It was true, except for the fact that there also were conflicting chapters and ex-Courage MC’s hiding out around the desert here. We had to be careful.
    As I was contemplating all of this, the old man out front bagged all our stuff and had us on our way. “Need a lift?” The old man asked.
    I chuckled to myself. “Guess it’s clear our bikes broke down?” I asked.
    “Yip. Thought you might be stranded. I can get you all back before sunset if you’re close by. Got a tractor. It ain’t much, but it does the trick.” he smiled, revealing the fact that he had no teeth. Hope nearly jumped out of her new dress, which was covered in dust by the way. My fault I s’ppose.
    “Well that would be mighty kind of you.” I said, as cheerfully as I could.
    “Sure thing. It’ll just be 100 even.” he said, walking to his tractor.
    “100 even? Is he kidding me?”
    “Just do it, Avery. Don’t make me leave you for good.” she said. I bit the bullet and accepted the bad deal. Today just wasn’t my day.
----
    A few miles later we were on the highway. The tractor couldn’t go much past 20mph and I could tell Hope was angry with me. “How do you think I feel? My new bike is stranded at the steakhouse.” I said. She was doing her best to give me the silent treatment. I hated the silent treatment. “Alright. You want me to say