Deliciously Damaged (Reckless Bastards MC 3)

I shook my head but still took the clipboard just to make sure this was Mandy’s doing and not someone else’s. It was her block writing, straight and efficient, with curt instructions.

“Nah, nothing here is mine. This was my friend’s place, you know?”

He flashed an understanding smile. “No worries, man. She left as soon as we got here.”

And it didn’t take a genius to figure out that she’d made good on her threat to leave Las Vegas. I’d thought it was an idle threat, something she blurted out when she was frustrated with her job, her life. Why didn’t she tell me she was serious? She left behind everything that was too big to carry, including her television, sofa and bed. She was traveling light, probably to put as much distance between her and Vegas and the Roadkill MC as possible.

The question was, where the hell would she go? Mandy could be any fucking where, headed anywhere and I had no clue where to start looking. “How long ago did she leave?”

The blond looked at his watch and frowned. “About thirty, maybe forty minutes ago. She left instructions and booked it out of here. Only let me carry her bag because I insisted.”

“And called her ma’am,” one of the other movers, a chubby guy with a red buzz cut said with a wide grin.

“Yeah, she didn’t appreciate it,” he confirmed with a sheepish grin that told me she’d probably used a few colorful words to express her displeasure.

“Thanks guys.” My boots pounded loudly on the concrete steps and I had my phone out, dialing the one person who might have an idea of where she might go, or even better, where she was headed. “Teddy, do you have any idea where Mandy would go if she was leaving town?”

“What?” Her voice screeched so loud I had to pull the damn phone back.

“Teddy, focus. I’m at her place now and the Salvation Army people are here taking all the shit she left behind. Do you know where she went?”

“Shit, I didn’t think she was serious. I haven’t talked to her in a few days. She hasn’t been answering my texts.” She went silent as if coming her memory. “You know, last time we did talk, she said maybe it was time she left Vegas. I thought it was the painkillers. She never said she was leaving though.” Teddy sounded just as frantic as I felt and that wasn’t helping. At all, dammit.

“And you didn’t tell me? What the fuck is going on?”

Teddy sighed and I could practically see her rolling her eyes even through the phone. “I don’t know, Savior. Maybe she wants to get away from, well, everything.”

O

uch. “Yeah, well that’s just too damn bad.” She would get my help and my protection, along with the rest of the Reckless Bastards. “If you think of anywhere she might go, let me know,” I told her and ended the call before she said another word. I hopped on my bike and headed to the clubhouse.

Right now, the only thing I needed was a drink and my brothers.

Chapter 21

Mandy

Why I decided that leaving the city while I still had broken and bruised bones was a good idea, I’d never know. More importantly, I had to question my own smarts when I chose to hop on the I-15 south to Los Angeles. It was a little over a four-hour drive and a few freeways and driving with one hand wasn’t the smartest plan I’d ever come up with, but at least I was still breathing.

LA was so damn expensive, plus, traffic was atrocious. On the other hand, it was a great place to get lost for a while. With millions of people in the city and more flooding the limits every day hoping to become the next big thing, I would be just another anonymous face in the crowd. That meant I could heal properly and figure out what came next.

If I ever made it. God, I was stupid to think I could. Not that making the best decisions was my forte or anything.

Pain seared through my midsection and shot up my arm all the way to my skull. After about a half hour of driving, it was so bad I pulled over and closed my eyes. Deep breathing wasn’t helping me right now. I contemplated taking a painkiller but I knew if I did I’d be zoned out in the scorching desert heat for hours. Chances were my little piece of shit car would overheat and I’d never get the hell out of here.

It took almost an hour of praying to whoever was up there and long deep breaths before the pain dropped from a nine to a six and I figured that was probably as good as it was going to get. If only I could get my body to listen, to sit up so I could strap the damn seatbelt back on and get back on the road. To yet another temporary stop on my way to my real life.

Whatever the hell that meant.

“Holy shit!” The tap on my window was loud and scared the hell out of me. I looked up and found Detective Haynes’ green eyes peering down at me through the window. When my heart finally decided to stop trying to kill me, I let the window down. “What can I do for you, detective?”

“Going somewhere?”

I huffed out a laugh. “Yeah, trying to escape the biker gang that beat me to a pulp. It may be hard for you to remember since you guys don’t give a shit.” He flashed that annoyed cop look that did nothing to stop my frustration.

“We need to talk to you, Ms. Sutton.” His voice might have scared me if cops didn’t always use that tone to get their way. So I said nothing.

“Preferably at the station.”