Page 56 of Thug

His lights came on. Then, his sirens.

I pulled into the next parking lot and rolled to a stop amongst a few soccer moms carrying groceries and one woman with freshly painted fingernails.

I watched in my rearview mirror as the officer got out of the car. He was clean-cut and young. In his early thirties, by my guess. I’d been pulled over and questioned by every cop in town, and his face wasn’t familiar.

I gripped my handlebars in each hand and propped the heels of my boots on the foot pegs.

He stepped to my side and folded his arms over the front of his ballistic vest. “Do you have any idea how fast you were going?”

“First things first,” I said dryly. “I’ve got a license to carry and I’m armed.”

His right hand shot to his holster’s side. “Where’s the weapon?”

I knew not to point at it, reach for it, or gesture to it. I slowly lifted my left boot off the foot peg. “Left ankle holster. It’s loaded. Safety’s on.”

He glanced at my boot, and then at me. “No sudden movements,” he said. “You reach for yours and I’ll reach for mine. Believe me, you’ll be at the disadvantage.”

I lowered my boot onto the foot peg. “No sudden movements. Got it.”

He relaxed a little. “You always ride that fast?”

“How fast was I going?”

“Clocked you at one-oh-three. That’s ‘go to jail’ speeding, not ‘traffic ticket’ speeding.”

“Sounds about right,” I said. “Hard to tell, I ain’t got a speedo on this little fucker.”

“Is there a good reason you were going that fast?”

I spit out a laugh. “Is there such a thing? A good reason?”

He widened his stance. “None that I can think of, but I’m always up for a good story.”

I detested cops. Talking to them, looking at them, listening to them, or receiving a ticket from one of them was a reminder of their existence. At that moment, I was guilty of all four. Considering that every decision I’d made throughout the day had produced shit results. I decided to go against the grain of normal.

“Met this gal at a little bar north of town,” I said. “She’s got a smart mouth, and a little pussy that fits my cock like a glove. Light brown hair with blonde streaks in it that rolls over her shoulders like a shiny little waterfall. Her eyes are cool as fuck. They’re kinda green and kinda brown.” I glanced to my left. “Ever seen a gal with true hazel eyes?”

“My wife’s got hazel eyes.”

I didn’t give a fuck about his wife. I wanted to see Gray. “Well, hot damn,” I said in a sarcastic tone. “Isn’t that something?”

“Where’s this story going?”

“Well, I turned forty nearly a year ago, and I’ve never met a woman that could keep my attention longer than it took her to suck my cock. Then, I met this gal. Ever met a guy that has a walk that makes you think twice about fucking with him, based on nothing but how he walks?”

He gave me a blank stare.

“She’s got a walk like that,” I said. “And she’s a chick? Craziest damned thing I’ve ever seen. Hell, she’s got me so awestruck that I hate the thought of leaving her bar. I want to stay in there all night and talk to her, and as hard as it may be for you to believe right now, I’m not a talker. We like the same music, same foods, and she’s just got this way about her that makes me want to sit and stare at her. It’s like I want to figure her out, but there’s nothing to figure out. She puts it all out there for everyone to see.”

“If we’re making this very long story short,” the officer said. “You’re running to see her?”

“That’s where this story gets sticky,” I said. “I can’t go see her. That’s the problem. She’s missing. She didn’t show up to work, and no one’s seen or heard from her.”

“Has she been reported missing?”

“That’s kind of the point of this conversation,” I said. “Took me a minute to get to it, but that’s the punch line. She’s missing. I’m pissed. I’m reporting it to you, right now. Lost my phone and had to go get a new one. Was hoping she’d called, but she hasn’t. I was headed to my office to see if I can find anything out from the fellas I run with. Considering this gal’s got that tight pussy and those eyes I told you about, I’m a little overeager to get there. I damned sure wouldn’t be speeding in excess of a hundred if she wasn’t a dime piece.”

He smirked. “Your office?”