Page 2 of Crucified By the Dark
“Did they say who it was?” Judd spoke into the two-way radio.
The radio on Judd crackled. “Guy said his name is Dean.”
A smile broke out across her face as she heard who it was a moment before the vehicle came to a stop. She marched for the Hummer and the man behind the wheel. She missed Dean’s face. There were few who she missed more than this man. They’d pulled asses out of the fire together and kept one another sane. That was more than most people did in a lifetime, and it bound them together like fucking spirit animals.
“Well, well, well…as I live and breathe, it is you. I thought someone was pranking me when I was told you called.”
He smiled widely, something he didn’t often do. “Yeah, I didn’t expect to be out this way either,” he said.
The loud rumbling of a mass of motorcycles starting up vibrated the air. It always gave Morry chills to hear them fire up like that. It was accentuated with them all inside one of the large metal outbuildings. The shed was too large to be called a garage. Anything that could hold five hundred motorcycles was more like a plane hangar. The group drove past, and each rider dipped their head with respect.
“Business is good,” Dean asked as he watched the last of the line pass.
“Of course it is.” The sun was setting in just the right direction to catch all the sexy angles on Dean’s face. “You’re still a sexy S.O.B. You finally going to let me ride that gear stick of yours,” she asked teasingly.
That was their thing. How they always spoke to one another, but there had never been any sexual tension, which was what made it fun. They loved each other like family and would die for one another, but sex was never on the table.
“You’re still the hottest fucking grease monkey I’ve ever laid my eyes on, but the answer is still no.”
“Fuck, you are a tough nut to crack,” she said, laughing as he wrapped her up in one of his signature hugs and spun her in a circle.
Giving his arm a playful smack when he put her down, she put her hands on her hips. “So, what brings you to my neck of the woods,” she asked, her eyes finally registering that there was a second person.
Dean held his hand toward the young guy, who looked like a terrified mouse. His hair was too long and greasy, hanging over half his face and hiding it from the world. She figured the guy would’ve hidden his entire face if given a chance. Morry looked the guy over. His jeans were ripped and dirty, and he wore a thin hoodie that he held tight around his narrow frame. He was tall but mostly bones, from what she could see through the material. The one eye she could see was the brightest shade of blue she’d ever seen.
“This is Jeremy, and he needs the works.”
She stepped past Dean and gave the guy an even closer inspection. The sheen of sweat on his forehead, dark sunken eyes and hollowed out cheeks were a tell-tale sign that he was an addict and starting to suffer some serious withdrawal symptoms.
“You keeping this one?”
Dean leaned against his Hummer and crossed his arms. “That is yet to be decided.” She knew that he’d already made up his mind and intended to take the guy under his wing. The threat was more for Jeremy’s sake.
“What’s your drug of choice?”
Jeremy crossed his arms, the false bravado evident in the unsure look in his eyes and the way he looked down at his boots. “What does it matter?”
“If you want to fucking stay here, it matters. Now answer the question or get back in the Hummer, and Dean here will bury your body in the desert on his way out.”
Jeremy glared at her before his eyes found Dean. “Are you and all your friends this bitchy?”
Wrong first impression. Morry reached out and grabbed him by the front of that threadbare hoodie. She easily picked him up and slammed him down on the front of the Hummer, despite his much taller frame.
“Respect, learn it, and fast, or you’re going to get on the unfriendly side of my personality. Trust me. You don’t want to go down that road,” she said and released him.
Morry laced her fingers behind her back and stuck her chin out for a cheap shot. Would he take it? She wanted to judge what kind of person this guy was in his heart. Sniveling and untrustworthy weasel, or broken man just needing a chance? She’d defied all expectations for women in the military and then some. She earned the respect of the men in her class and unit. She met Dean on her first day, and they quickly became friends, pushing one another to their ultimate limits. She finished second only to him.
“Let’s try this again. What is your drug of choice,” she asked and loved how Dean never lifted a finger to interfere. He knew she could handle anyone here and had never offered to show her up. It was part of the reason they were friends.
The brief mask of anger was replaced with fear. “I don’t have one. I took whatever I could get my hands on, depending on how much money I could pull together. Flakka, Liquid Ecstasy, China Girl, and Serial Killer if I was really desperate.”
“Fuck, kid, you’re lucky to be alive.”
“You sure you want to back this pony?” Morry spoke to Dean but never took her eyes off Jeremy.
“Too much of a challenge for you?” Dean smiled, and her competitive streak bristled to life.
“You always knew how to irritate me more than anyone else,” she said and smiled.
