They disappeared into the desert brush.
Cole looked at Emily.
“You stay here.”
“I will.”
“If you're lying, we'll know.”
“I understand.”
Emily wrapped her arms around herself.
Cole noticed that she wasn't afraid of being exposed.
She was afraid they wouldn't believe her until it was too late.
And that worried him more.
Twenty-Two Lives
The minutes passed slowly.
Dust drifted across the road.
The motorcycles sat silent.
Emily remained standing nearby.
Cole eventually asked:
“Do you have a family?”
“No.”
“Nobody?”
“There was someone once.”
She looked down.
“Not anymore.”
“How long have you been alone?”
“A while.”
She hesitated.
“I stopped counting.”
Cole's jaw tightened.
“Where do you sleep?”
Emily pointed toward the distant horizon.
“Under an old bridge.”
“Under a bridge?”
“It stays dry.”
Cole thought about his own daughter.
He rarely saw her anymore because of mistakes he had made years earlier.
He looked at Emily again.
Seventeen.
Living beneath a bridge.
And nobody had come looking for her.
“How old were you when you became homeless?”
“Sixteen.”
Something changed in Cole's expression.
Before he could say anything else, footsteps came racing through the brush.
Snake appeared first.
He was breathing hard.
“Bear.”
Cole stood.
“She told the truth.”
The club became rigid.
“Tell me.”
“There are at least six men. Maybe seven.”
Snake pointed toward the ridge.
“They're positioned above the road. Long guns.”
He looked toward the pavement.
“The obstruction is real.”
His voice lowered.
“If we had entered that curve at speed, we'd have gone down together.”
He looked at the twenty-two motorcycles.
“All of us.”
Nobody moved.
Twenty-two men suddenly realized they should have been dead.
Diesel turned toward Emily.
For the first time, suspicion disappeared from his face.
“You saved my life.”
His voice was rough.
“You saved every one of us.”
Emily didn't know what to say.
She had prepared herself to be accused.
She had prepared herself to be threatened.
She had even prepared herself to be ignored.
She had not prepared herself for gratitude.
Her knees suddenly gave way.
Cole caught her before she hit the pavement.
“Easy.”
He held her upright.
“I've got you.”
Emily whispered:
“I'm sorry.”
“Why are you apologizing?”
“I got dizzy.”
She looked embarrassed.
“I haven't eaten today.”
Cole stared at her.
She had not eaten.
Yet she had found the strength to stand in front of twenty-two motorcycles.
“Cutter!”
A young rider immediately ran forward.
“Food. Water. Now.”
Within seconds, a canteen and half a sandwich appeared.
Cole crouched beside Emily.
“Slowly.”
Her hands shook so badly that Cole had to steady the bottle.
After a few sips, she looked at him.
“You believe me now?”
“Yes, kid.”
His voice softened.
“We believe you.”
Emily lowered her eyes.
For the first time in two years, she wasn't alone.
But the danger wasn't over.
The Man in the Ditch
Emily suddenly looked toward the ridge.
“Wait.”
Cole turned.
“What?”
“There is another one.”
Snake frowned.
“Another what?”
“Another man.”
Emily pointed toward the lower side of the road.
“Everyone you saw was above the highway.”
She swallowed.
“There is someone hiding below.”
Cole immediately called Snake over.
“Did you check the ditch?”
Snake's face changed.
“No.”
Emily nodded.
“He's there.”
Cole stared toward the ridge.
Then he looked at Emily.
“You just saved us again.”
The club moved carefully toward the ridge.
Emily pointed out the hidden position.
A boot was barely visible beneath the edge of the ditch.
Torres spotted it.
“I see him.”
Cole nodded.
He sent Emily down behind the ridge with two riders.
Then he positioned the rest of the club.
The ambushers had expected twenty-two men to ride blindly into their trap.
They had not expected twenty-two men who already knew exactly where the shooters were.
Cole deliberately stepped into view.
“You boys waiting for us?” he shouted.
The hillside erupted.
The ambush collapsed almost immediately.
The attackers fled when they realized their advantage was gone.