Clive Cussler - Pirate

“Those would be the white men who came in here earlier asking if we had seen two Americans — one a woman with red hair?”

That feeling of vulnerability increased, and Remi suddenly wished that women’s head scarves were back in fashion. “They were here?”

“About twenty minutes ago, but not to worry. As I promised your husband, you will be safe here, pretty lady. What will you have to drink?”

“Water, please,” she said. Serious alcohol would have to wait.

He poured her a glass, slid it toward her, then took a rag and started wiping down the bar.

Remi sipped her drink. But as the seconds ticked past into minutes, her gaze kept returning to the door, hoping Sam would appear. At one point, she walked over, cracked open the door, noticed a number of motorcycles parked out front but no sign of Sam.

The bartender joined her. “Perhaps you should let me have a look instead. No one will notice a man like me. But you’re a different story.” He stepped out to the sidewalk, wiping his hands on his towel as if merely taking a break from bartending. When he returned inside, he guided her back toward her stool. “Your husband will be here soon. He is good at hiding, but I am better at finding.”

Less than a minute later, Sam rushed in. He crossed the room toward Remi, somewhat out of breath. “Big problem.”

Jay-Jay poured Sam a glass of water. “What problem, my friend?”

He took a drink, nodding toward the door. “Avery’s men… Saw their car parking just up the street… One walked into the business at the far end.”

Jay-Jay nodded at the bikers sitting at the tables closest to the bar. They rose from their seats, two moving to the front door, two heading down the hall to the back. “The second time they have been on this street,” he said. “That would worry me.”

Remi grabbed her purse from the counter beside her. “Should we go out the back?”

Sam shook his head. “No way to get to our car without being seen.” He looked around the room, eyeing the men and women who remained. “Then again, there actually may be a way…” He leaned toward the bartender, disclosing his idea in a voice too low for Remi to hear over the music.

Jay-Jay nodded in agreement as Sam went over the details, asking a few questions in return. At the conclusion, the man gave a deep laugh, saying, “A good plan, my friend. Hide in plain sight. If we can find some volunteers.” His gaze landed on a couple sitting near the jukebox. “Antwan, bring your lady here.”

The pair walked up to the bar, and Jay-Jay asked, “How would you like to earn free drinks for a week?”

“For what?” Antwan asked.

Sam said, “Lend us your gear for a few minutes.”

An agreement was struck. Antwan and his girlfriend turned over their leather vests and motorcycle helmets, and Jay-Jay slid a set of keys across the counter toward Sam. “You’ll take very good care of my bike.”

“Like it was my own.”

“You’re sure you know how to ride?”

Sam picked up the keys. “Anything happens to it, there’ll be a new one waiting before the day is through.”

“The old one is fine. It’s the black Harley with the license frame advertising my bar.”

Sam glanced at Remi’s expensive-looking purse — talk about a beacon announcing their presence. Jay-Jay, however, solved the problem by providing a backpack to hide it in. And just in time, as one of the bikers standing watch at the front door announced that the two men had just emerged from the shop across the street and were eyeing the bar.

Jay-Jay nodded. “Who wants to ride?”

Everyone in the room stood, ready to roll.

“You see?” Jay-Jay told Sam. “My friends are your friends.”

“One problem,” Sam replied. “These men are armed.”

“No worries,” Jay-Jay said. “Billy here will make sure you’re well protected.”

A towering biker stepped forward and lifted both sides of his vest. On the left, Sam saw a handgun in a shoulder holster, and, on the right, a trench knife with a handle that doubled as metal knuckles. Suspecting that Billy wasn’t the only armed man in the room, he was grateful that everyone here had decided he and Remi were the good guys.

Turning back to the bartender, Sam shook hands with him one last time. “We’ll make it worth everyone’s while.”

“Which will be very much appreciated. But not necessary. Be safe, my friend.”

Sam and Remi put on the helmets, Remi tucking her hair beneath. Both lowered their visors before stepping outside, surrounded by the other bikers. They mounted their motorcycles, Remi sitting behind Sam, wrapping her arms around his waist, as he started the Harley, then shifted into gear.

They took off, engines roaring. Sam glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Avery’s men crossing the road toward the bar. One of them looked their direction.

Suddenly, both men started running down the street.

So much for that deception. And any advantage they had in getting to their car. They’d have to lose them on the motorcycles — not part of Sam’s plan.

Unless…

He stopped his bike alongside the white SUV. Billy circled back around and pulled up alongside him, Sam asking, “Mind if I borrow that trench knife?”

Billy drew it from its sheath, handing it to Sam. As hoped, the two-edged dagger was razor sharp.

Remi’s grip around his waist tightened. “They’re coming,” she said. “Wouldn’t the gun be better?”

“Don’t worry.” He leaned down, punched the sidewall of the right front tire, yanked it out, then repeated the process, widening the hole.

The tire flattened in a whoosh of air.

“That should buy us some time,” he shouted as he returned the knife to Billy. They took off again.

Just before they turned the corner, Sam looked back, saw Avery’s men stopping by the SUV, one of them punching the hood in anger.

He smiled. Finally, something was going their way, and he relaxed, enjoying the short remainder of the ride to the rental car.

“That was close,” Remi said, waving to the bikers once they were safely in their own car.

Sam pulled out, angry over the turn of events. “Too close. I don’t know what I was thinking, bringing you here.”

Remi had just started plugging in their route to the hotel and looked up from her phone. “What do you mean by that?”

“It was foolish to come to lunch when we knew they were out here.”

“I was just as much to blame. You certainly didn’t see me protesting.”

“But I know better.”

“You mean, I don’t?” Remi sighed. “First of all, we had no reason to think they’d be going door-to-door looking for us. It would have been far more expedient and efficient to stake out our car. That’s what we would have done. Second of all, it turned out fine, so quit blaming yourself.”

She was right about the door-to-door thing. Which made him wonder just how intelligent Avery’s men were — not that it made them any less dangerous. Though this trip was much less eventful, he and Remi kept their gaze glued to the mirrors. No sign of the white SUV or any other car that seemed to be following them. Even so, when they reached the hotel, Sam checked out, drove to a new hotel where they checked in under a different name, then made arrangements to have the rental car returned and a new one sent. No sense giving Avery’s men the advantage of knowing where they were and what car they were driving.

Settled in their new hotel room, Sam placed his phone on the glass-topped coffee table, turned on the speaker, then relaxed on the couch.

Selma answered on the first ring. “I was hoping you’d call. I figured you might be at dinner and didn’t want to interrupt.”