Claimed by the Biker Giant (Maxine and Tank) novel Chapter 244

Storm POV

I stood and watched until the chopper was out of sight, and then a little longer until I could no longer hear it. A piece of my heart was in that chopper, and I wanted to hold onto that thread a little longer.

“What are you staring at, mate? Come on, let’s ride.” Skunk slapped my shoulder and nudged me to move towards the garage.

“The chopper’s leaving.”

“Well, it’s gone, come on.”

Reluctantly, I moved with him, to our bikes, and climbed on mine. Once I had the engine running, all thoughts of missing Cloe vanished, and the excitement of the road trip took over. I needed to get out and about, be with my mates, having been cooped up at home too long.

Thirty of us took off down the long country roads, with sweeping wide and some tight corners. I love picking up the speed, once we were out of town, and having sparks fly as I took some corners, low and deep. I was sitting about in the middle of the pack, enjoying the ride, the sights and smells, fresh and clean after some recent rains. So far, no road kills, but that could change as animals come to the roadside to drink water from areas that have pooled close to the road, and, being startled, could dart across the road. An eagle high in the sky, doing circles, as it hunts for its prey, coming lower and lower as it finds something of interest.

This was what I needed: to see and feel the freedom on the road. Good friends, all worries of home far behind me.

We stopped for fuel and lunch. I found a spot under a tree. Once I had fueled up, grabbed two cheese-and-tomato toasted sandwiches and a bottle of water, and sat under the tree, watching my bros, I fueled and grabbed lunch, as I had just done.

“Did you see that eagle swoop down and catch something so wicked?” One of the noms said, a huge smile on his face. He had a bit of windburn, and bet he will be in pain tomorrow.

“Time.” Our lead calls out, and I am glad I am just one of the riders, and not the organiser. I do it, but I don’t always like being the one to call time and rouse everyone.

On the road again, and three clowns start to much around, while we are in a reasonably straight area, the corners not too tight. The first one flies past me; he’s leaning over his tank, feet resting on his back seat-a huge grin on his face. The guy following him has his feet on now.” Dad looked around at the growing number of people all wanting to hear the news.

“Got to go, can you grab a bag for Cloe and me?” I pulled out my car keys and ran to my truck, ignoring the calls to stop and wait. I needed to be there, where my girl was. Broke every speed limit as I made my way to the hospital, and rushed to the counter and pushed my way to the window.

“Gramps, why target Grams? What would they gain, you signed over most of your assets to mother years ago. Didn’t you?”

“Yes, but since then I have made a few business agreements, that I was going to leave you and the kids, but now I am going to leave it all to Cloe, she earned it today. Why they targeted her, I have no idea. We haven’t done anything lately to attract unwanted attention, and there have been no new acquisitions this year.”

“Could they have been targeting Cloe?” I didn’t want to ask, but I needed to know at the same time.

“No. Cloe flagged a guard and pointed to the red dot snaking toward Grams; it never once moved toward Cloe. Cloe reacted quicker than the guard, who was on his phone, calling for backup, or a possible sniper attack. We didn’t know whether it was one or more Snipers; the guard was as shocked to see the red dot as he was new to the job. The whole security team that was on duty will be questioned, and I am having our team do another background check, tracing calls, and movements, ensuring we don’t have a traitor in our midst.” I listened, my mind racing at the thought of a traitor; most had been with the family all their lives.

“Could it be a woman scorned, Gram’s viper mouth causing someone to want to close it?” I didn’t care that the Grams could hear my accusation; it had to be said.