Page 54 of Street

“Two weeks. I had some challenges getting enough money to repair it,” Street said. “Sheet rockers don’t work cheap.”

“Maybe I should have checked out that specialty. They get to walk on stilts, don’t they?”

“Some do. We’ll see if you think you should change when I put the Sheetrock up in our house next week.”

She was quiet for a few minutes before asking, “A tough job, huh?”

“Heavy work.” Street smiled at her, enjoying their conversation. He had a feeling their blue-collar jobs would be one more link between them. Though the Daddy thing ruled over everything else. She’d always be his Little girl.

“I’ll stick with plumbing. I like it. Even when I’m dealing with sludge.”

He winced, considering what she called sludge, and changed the subject. “What other skills did you tackle today?”

Listening and commenting on the details of the topics, Street navigated through the traffic, returning to Inferno. The rumble of motorcycles behind him made Street check his rearview mirror. Green caught his eye.

“Get down on the floorboards, Little girl,” he snapped, interrupting her.

Rosa didn’t hesitate or ask questions. She unfastened her seatbelt and folded herself into a ball, cowering next to the dashboard. Peeking up at him, she asked, “What’s going on?”

“The Ravagers are coming up behind us. They don’t seem to be focused on us, but I’m not taking any chances.” His mind raced as he hit a button on his phone that called Lucien directly. The MC President answered on the first ring.

“Street. Are you and Rosa safe?”

Boggled slightly that the enigmatic man knew he had his Little girl with him and that they were off Devil Daddies’ property, Street hesitated. He put the phone on speaker and set the device in a cupholder.

“Street. Can you talk to me?” Lucien’s voice had softened to a low growl, as if he thought Street couldn’t respond.

“Lucien, we’re okay. I’m on the highway, heading back to Inferno in one of the unmarked trucks from the warehouse. The Ravagers are coming up behind us at a rapid pace.”

“I see you. Truck fourteen. How many Ravagers?”

He didn’t give himself time to process that Lucien could track him. “Over twenty bikes. They’re going somewhere fast.”

“Pull into the second lane on the right. Hopefully, they’ll swarm to the pass lanes on the left. The sun should be coming from that direction. Pull the visor down and flip it over to the left side. Make sure you can still see your mirrors. Keep your speed with the traffic.”

Street followed the directions as they came to him. The visor now stretched across the driver’s side window, partially concealing him. Street tried to watch his mirrors without bobbling his head around to reveal that he had spotted them and was worried.

“Are they coming, Daddy?”

“They’re at my rear bumper, Rosa. Stay as small as you can make yourself.”

Rosa curled her head down. In his peripheral vision, he could see her shaking. His arms ached to hold her as his anger built. He could swerve to either side and take out at least six bikers. Gritting his teeth, he stayed in his lane and tried to appear unbothered.

“Street, Pirate has hacked into the camera system on the highway. He isn’t getting a clear picture of the cuts. Could the group be from out of town?”

“No way. I can see the Ravager colors.”

Giving up on trying to appear as if he hadn’t noticed them, Street slowed down as if the swarm that currently drove on both sides and behind him intimidated him. The bikers jeered as they sped past him. Street avoided meeting anyone’s gaze directly as he checked them out. He didn’t recognize the men. Had the Ravagers brought in a slew of members?

“Lucien, I think these are new recruits.”

Gritting his teeth, Street controlled his urge to yank the steering wheel both ways to eliminate the Ravagers. The crowded highway created too many witnesses. He also didn’t want to traumatize his Little girl. Her safety was more important than anything else.

After passing him, the Ravagers swerved dangerously close to the front bumper as they moved in front of him. Street controlled his first inclination to stomp on the brakes. The motorcyclists didn’t linger in that dangerous location ahead of the truck but sped up immediately as if their goal was to scare him and then avoid an accident.

Smart. In a battle between a truck and a motorcycle, bikers didn’t win.

The other cars and trucks slowed as well. Traffic snarled around him as other drivers became panicked by the motorcyclists who lane split, steering between the vehicles as a sudden backup occurred. A man in front of him jerked his steering wheel to the left as a motorcycle came within an inch of his car while the biker rode along the dotted white lane.