Treasure
Thunder Run

Chase drove his motorcycle hard, well over a hundred miles an hour, as they escaped from the rest area. He was lucky traffic was light. It wasn’t long before they were in Wyoming. “Shouldn’t we be getting off the road,” Rori asked.

“It won’t take long until they figure out we’ve escaped on a motorcycle,” he said. “Right now, time is not our friend. We have to get as far away as we can from the RV before we stop.”

She liked being by him, but being on his motorcycle was not as much fun as being on her own. Her pride and joy remained in the RV. She understood his bike was more powerful and more comfortable with a passenger, but come on! She wanted to ride again. She pulled herself closer to his back, wishing they had the time to put on their leathers instead of just jeans, boots, and shirts. The night air was starting to get cold. “We can’t ride forever. I’m going to freeze if we keep doing this.”

The Evanston exit was coming up. The signs advertised some of the recreational areas. “Take this exit so we can check my phone,” she said. He exited the freeway and turned south while she checked her navigation. “Any reason why we couldn’t stop for a while and call for help?”

“I don’t want to register at a hotel.”

“We’re wolves, all we need is a place off the road to curl up.” She checked her phone; there was the Flaming Gorge National Recreation Area to their southeast. The map showed a road on the far side that led to Denver. She entered the waypoint, and they drove another hour on the backroads until they climbed the hills and left civilization behind. Along the way, Rori was busy with phone calls, glad that her helmet had a Bluetooth link to her phone. Her first call was to her parents. She let them know what had happened, and that they were riding for the Denver chapter. Mom put her on speakerphone in the office of the Renton chapter; the men and women were furious and promised they would get them protection. Her second call was to Bunny. “How are you,” she asked.

“We’ll be fine. Those men found us a few minutes after we got onto the freeway, and it went bad fast,” she said. She related the events on the road to her, and Rori had the link open to Chase so he could listen in. “The RV has a few dents in it now. Sorry about that.”

“The RV is nothing, are the bikes all right?”

Bunny laughed. “They’re fine.”

Rori regretted that her friends got dragged into this. “I’m just glad you’re all right. Where are you now?”

“Park City Hospital.” She paused and caught herself. “Before they left, the leader kicked Aces in the ribs. He has three broken ribs and a punctured lung,” she said. “I drove him down here. The doctors got it reinflated, and he’s in recovery now.”

“Oh my God, Bunny, I’m so sorry.” She never wanted her friends hurt, then she thought about the reaction. “Does the Club know?”

“Oh yeah, Trike was listening in when it happened. We got license plate numbers, and one of the Ladies ran them. They’re all registered to a private company up near Casper. We’ve got members from five chapters converging on us now. They’ll regret the day they fucked with the Brotherhood.”

“We can’t have them going after the Pack, Rori, that won’t end well,” Chase sent.

“Bunny, I need you to call Trike back. Keep the RV, take it back to Vegas since Aces won’t be in shape to ride for a while. There’s something more important right now.”

“What is it, honey?”

“The men who attacked you are after me because I found out who my birth parents were, and there is a big estate involved. I need to head to northern Minnesota to meet with a lawyer and claim it. If I don’t make it, those men stand to inherit everything. That’s why they want me so bad. The best way to get them off my ass is to get there and take it myself.”

“They fucked with a Chapter President, Rori.” Bunny’s voice was low and angry; she wanted blood.

“Yeah, and I’m sure he fucked them up too,” she said. The laugh on the other end told her she was right. “Getting me to Minnesota is more important than getting this fucker back. Trust me; there’s plenty of time for him on the ride home.” She paused for a moment. “We had planned to sneak up there in the RV because we thought it wouldn’t attract attention, and that didn’t work. Maybe it’s time we demand attention.”

“Thunder run?”

“Damn right. You think you can replace some people up for a long ride?”

“For you? Hell, yes! Girl, I’ll call every Steel Lady in the country if I have to.”

“Tell everyone to meet us at the Denver chapter. We’re going to the North Shore of Minnesota. Nice riding, but the weather is a lot cooler than Vegas, so plan accordingly.”

“There’s a lot of chapters between Denver and Duluth, and they can each do parts of the ride. We’ll tuck you into the center of the formation and roll. Nobody is going to fuck with the Brotherhood. We own the fucking road.”

“Thanks, Bunny. Tell Aces thank you, and I’m sorry.” She hung up the phone and put it away.

They found an empty campground and parked the motorcycle in the trailhead, undressing and leaving their clothes in the saddlebags. Shifting quickly, they sniffed and rubbed against each other before running into the woods. Rori was hungry, and her wolf wanted to hunt. Chase taught her how to replace and catch rabbits, and after an hour, she had eaten two and was happy. Chase found a sheltered hollow under some deadfall, and they curled up nose to tail and quickly fell asleep.

She woke up the next morning, thirsty and needing to go to the bathroom. Chase was still sleeping as she crawled out of their shelter; her breath was foggy in the high-altitude morning air. Finding a spot to relieve herself, she focused her senses and heard a stream. Trotting downhill through the pine needles and leaves, Rori found the water and took a long drink. She felt him approach before she saw him. “I don’t like waking up alone now,” he said.

“Sorry. We should get going.”

“It’s too bad we can’t drive the Harley in wolf form. I like my fur,” he teased. They ran back to where they had left their motorcycle and shifted, pulling on their clothes from last night. He had a jacket he offered her, but she declined since she would be swimming in it. “We’ll stop and buy more clothes where we can,” he said.

The ride was cold but fun; they found a general store in a small town and bought sweatshirts, gloves, and a leather jacket for her. It was the middle of the afternoon before they arrived at the Denver clubhouse, which looked to be on a war footing. The gate was closed and guarded, the lot was full of bikes, and she saw cuts from at least four chapters as they pulled up. “Who the fuck are you,” the Prospect said, not seeing any cut on Chase.

“He’s my fiance,” Rori said as she got off and removed her helmet.

“RORI!” She recognized some of her friends from the Kansas City chapter. “Open the fucking gate, prospect. She’s a Steel Lady.”

He did, and Rori got mobbed by a dozen bikers and their Old Ladies. “Everyone, this is Chase Nygaard, my old man. He’s a doctor from Washington. Chase, this is Tank and his old lady Double D, he’s the President of the Kansas City chapter.”

Tank pulled him into a bro-hug before Double D gave him a big kiss. “Oh, our little Rori is grown up and found herself a doctor,” she said with a grin.

“I found her,” Chase said. “I’m the lucky one.”

“Well, he rides, which is good, but he doesn’t have a fucking Brotherhood cut. I’m not sure I approve,” Tank said.

“He can get one. We’ve been a little busy.”

Rori saw a man coming out of the clubhouse and waved at him. “Trike, what are you doing here,” she asked. “Why aren’t you in Salt Lake with Aces?”

“He’s fine. I sent a couple of our patched members up there to escort him back to Vegas,” he said. “They won’t release him from the hospital until tomorrow. I figured you would want your bike, so we had the Prospect load it in the van. It’s in back with the gear you left behind.” He pulled something out from behind his back. “You should never leave this behind,” he said as he handed over her Steel Ladies cut.

“Thanks, Trike,” she said as she hugged him before putting it on. “We were kind of in a hurry.”

“Time for Church now that you’re here,” Panhead said.

“Chase, this is Panhead, he’s President of the Denver chapter.”

“Thank you for your help,” Chase said as he shook the big man’s hand.

“We’ll see about that. Members inside, Old Ladies and Prospects stay here, except you two,” he said as he turned his back on them.

“Come on,” she said. Holding Chase’s hand, she led him into the Clubhouse, which she had visited once during her time in Kansas City. Church was in the main room due to the number of clubs present. The four Presidents were sitting at a table at the front. They listened as Rori described what had happened and why, and Trike told everyone what had happened with the attack on Aces. He was going to be released in the morning and would return to Vegas to recover.

“What do we know about these guys,” he said.

Trike stood up; his Club had a computer guy. “The vehicles are all registered to a private company. State documents show the company’s run by a guy named Raymond Waterman. The board includes his father, Royce Waterman, and three other people. They own a few thousand acres of land that backs up to the Bighorn National Forest. They are rich; the holding company owns multiple businesses in the region. It looks like a few hundred live on the property based on satellite photos. It’s like a private town there, well back from the borders of their land. We sent a guy to the nearest town, and they’re pretty tight-lipped about them. What we know from the attack is that they are well-funded and trained.”

“It’s like a private security force,” Rori said. “They are dangerous. In the big picture, they aren’t important. They were after me, and if I am safe and inherit my parent’s estate, they have nothing. The men who did this, they don’t matter.”

“Raymond Waterman does. If he gave the orders, he must pay for it,” Panhead said. “We can’t let someone attack a President and get away with it.”

“Aces got hurt because of me, let me take care of him,” Chase said as he stood up. “Trust me. I will make sure the lesson sticks.”

“You aren’t Brotherhood, Chase.” Panhead looked at him, not trusting those outside the Club.

“Not yet, but Rori is a Steel Lady, and she will help. I will make sure of it. My priority is to keep Rori safe. To do that, I need to get her to Two Harbors where she can meet the lawyer. Everything else doesn’t matter.” Chase sat down next to her and pulled her tight.

“Why don’t we just put them on a plane? They can be there in a few hours. Denver airport has a dozen flights a day to Minneapolis, then they can take a commuter plane up to Duluth,” Tank said.

“Too many paper trails,” Rori said. “The men we are up against have law enforcement in their pockets. They can put a flag on our names with the TSA and have people waiting. We can’t afford to be caught and delayed. That’s why we didn’t fly from Portland.”

“Bunny suggested a thunder run, and my President agrees,” Trike said. “We keep to the freeways but surround her with Club the whole way. We stop for gas and rest at Chapters. We know we have the people to keep her safe this way.”

“We can shuffle her between Clubs,” Panhead agreed. “Denver and Vegas can escort her to Kansas City. They stay overnight then KC takes them to St. Paul. The final day is a short ride to the North Shore. Simple, and it makes the rides a reasonable length.”

“We’re in,” Tank said. “I’ll talk to the boys back at the club. We’ll get the smokers fired up and the beer on ice. We haven’t had Rori around in a while.”

“She needs an engagement party,” Double D said with a nod. “Members across the country are going to cry when they replace out she’s off the market.”

Church broke up, and arrangements got made. Chase and Rori put on their leathers and left their bags in the Prospect’s van. They each mounted their bike with the others. Three dozen Harleys headed out of the gate, staying in formation as they reached the Interstate. That’s where they opened the throttles.

Riding in Club formation was familiar to Rori, but not Chase. The Club members gave him a little extra room until he was comfortable with it. The Club’s parallel lines of riders made an imposing sight on the freeway; people moved over to the right and let them pass as they powered by. Even the police didn’t mess with them as they blasted by at eighty miles an hour.

They stopped once at a truck stop, taking over six pumps as all the tanks were topped off while people used the bathrooms and grabbed snacks. Chase used one of his reloadable debit cards to pay for it all. The Ladies and a few men escorted Rori when she went to the bathroom. They roared back onto the road fifteen minutes later and made Kansas City about ten at night.

The clubhouse was rocking as they pulled in, food was ready, and the kegs were flowing. They partied with the Club until midnight, then collapsed on the bed in the guest room.

The next morning, they were on the road again at eight. There were about twenty-five in the group on this leg, and they rolled into St. Paul at six. They spent more time at the party here. Rori’s parents had flown in and got to spend a few hours with her before their flight to Orlando. Rori and Chase had a great time, going to bed well after midnight.

Finally, at nine the next morning, they started the five-hour run to the North Shore. The President of the St. Paul chapter was happy to help, but didn’t like leaving her outside Club protection up there. “It’s all right. I have family that will protect me once we get close,” she said. The weather in the late fall was perfect for riding, as long as you dressed for the cold wind off the lake, and the scenery was beautiful.

The handover was at a North Shore landmark and favorite touring stop, Betty’s Pies. Chase called his Mom after they passed through Duluth and set it all up. The bikers swarmed into the parking lot, taking over a large section of the lot before heading in. Chase and Rori parked their bikes on the edge of the lot, next to some other motorcycles, then walked inside. Two minutes later, they joined the large group that was leaving the restaurant and pouring into the lot. Getting back on their motorcycles, they followed the group’s SUV’s out the lot, with two other bikers falling in behind them.

An hour later, Rori was being embraced by her Aunt and Uncle for the first time as they all cried happy tears.