Thunder Road: Walk The Edge Part 1

Thunder Road.

Walk The Edge.

Katie McGarry.

One moment of recklessness will change their worlds.

Smart. Responsible. That's seventeen-year-old Breanna's role in her large family, and heaven forbid she put a toe out of line. Until one night of shockingly un-Breanna-like behavior puts her into a vicious cyberbully's line of fire-and brings fellow senior Thomas "Razor" Turner into her life.

Razor lives for the Reign of Terror motorcycle club, and good girls like Breanna just don't belong. But when he learns she's being blackmailed over a compromising picture of the two of them-a picture that turns one unexpected and beautiful moment into ugliness-he knows it's time to step outside the rules.

And so they make a pact: he'll help her track down her blackmailer, and in return she'll help him seek answers to the mystery that's haunted him-one that not even his club brothers have been willing to discuss. But the more time they spend together, the more their feelings grow. And suddenly they're both walking the edge of discovering who they really are, what they want, and where they're going from here.

There are lies in life we accept. Whether it's for the sake of ignorance, bliss or, in my case, survival, we all make our choices.

I chose to belong to the Reign of Terror Motorcycle Club. I choose to work for the security company a.s.sociated with them. I also choose to do this while still in high school.

All of this boils down to one choice in particular-whether or not to believe my father's version of a lie or the town's. I chose my father's lie. I chose the brotherhood of the club.

What I haven't chosen? Being hara.s.sed by the man invading my front porch.

KATIE McGARRY was a teenager during the age of grunge and boy bands and remembers those years as the best and worst of her life. She is a lover of music, happy endings, and reality television, and is a secret University of Kentucky basketball fan. She is also the author of Pus.h.i.+ng the Limits, Dare You To, Crash Into You, Take Me On, Breaking the Rules, Nowhere But Here and the novella Crossing the Line.

RAZOR.

THERE ARE LIES in life we accept. Whether it's for the sake of ignorance, bliss or, in my case, survival, we all make our choices.

I choose to belong to the Reign of Terror Motorcycle Club. I choose to work for the security company a.s.sociated with them. I also choose to do this while still in high school.

All of this boils down to one choice in particular-whether or not to believe my father's version of a lie or the town's. I chose my father's lie. I chose the brotherhood of the club.

What I haven't chosen? Being hara.s.sed by the man invading my front porch. He's decked out in a pair of pressed khakis and a b.u.t.ton-down straight from a mall window. The real question-is he here by choice or did he draw the short stick?

"As I said, son," he continues, "I'm not here to talk to your dad. I'm here to see you."

A hot August wind blows in from the thick woods surrounding our house, and sweat forms on the guy's skin. He's too c.o.c.ky to be nervous, so that dumps the blame of his s.h.i.+ny forehead on the 110-degree heat index.

"You and I," he adds, "we need to talk."

My eyes flash to the detective badge hanging on the guy's hip and then to his dark blue unmarked Chevy Caprice parked in front of my motorcycle in the gravel drive. Twenty bucks he thinks he blocked me in. Guess he underestimated I'll ride on the gra.s.s to escape.

This guy doesn't belong to our police force. His plates suggest he's from Jefferson County. That's in the northern part of Kentucky. I live in a small town where even the street hustlers and police know each other by name. This man-he's an outsider.

I flip through my memory for anything that would justify his presence. Yeah, I stumbled into some brawls over the summer. A few punches thrown at guys who didn't keep their mouths sealed or keep their inflated egos on a leash, but nothing that warrants this visit.

A bead of water drips from my wet hair onto the worn gray wood of the deck and his eyes track it. I'm fresh from a shower. Jeans on. Black boots on my feet. No s.h.i.+rt. Hair on my head barely pushed around by a towel.

The guy checks out the tats on my chest and arms. Most of it is club designs, and it's good for him to know who he's dealing with. As of last spring, I officially became a member of the Reign of Terror. If he messes with one of us, he messes with us all.

"Are you going to invite me in?" he asks.

I thought the banging on the door was one of my friends showing to ride along with me to senior orientation, not a d.a.m.ned suit with a badge.

"You're not in trouble," he says, and I'm impressed he doesn't shuffle his feet like most people do when they arrive on my doorstep. "As I said, I want to talk."

I maintain eye contact longer than most men can manage. Silence doesn't bother me. There's a ton you can learn about a person from how they deal with the absence of sound. Most can't handle uncomfortable battles for dominance, but this guy stands strong.

Without saying a word, I walk into the house and permit the screen door to slam in his face. I cross the room, grab my cut off the table, then s.n.a.t.c.h a black Reign of Terror T-s.h.i.+rt off the couch. I shrug into the s.h.i.+rt as I step onto the porch and shut the storm door behind me.

The guy watches me intently as I slip on the black leather cut that contains the three-piece patch of the club I belong to. Because of the way I'm angled, he can get a good look at our emblem on the back: a white half skull with fire raging out of the eyes and drops of fire raining down around it. The words Reign of Terror are mounted across the top. The town's name, Snowflake, is spelled on the bottom rocker.

He focuses on the patch that informs him I'm packing a weapon. His hand edges to the gun holstered on his belt. He's weighing whether I'm carrying now or if I'm gun free.

I c.o.c.k a hip against the railing and hitch my thumbs in the pockets of my jeans. If he's going to talk, it would be now. He glances at the closed door, then back at me. "This is where we're doing this?"

"I've got somewhere to be." And I'm running late. "Didn't see a warrant on you." So by law, he can't enter.

A grim lift of his mouth tells me he understands I won't make any of this easy. He's around Dad's age, mid to late forties. He gave his name when I opened the door, but I'll admit to not listening.

He scans the property and he has that expression like he's trying to understand why someone would live in a house so small. The place is a vinyl box. Two bedrooms. One bath. A living roomkitchen combo. Possibly more windows than square footage.

Dad said this was Mom's dream. A house just big enough for us to live in. She never desired large, but she craved land. When I was younger, she used to hug me tight and explain it was more important to be free than to be rich. I sure as h.e.l.l hope Mom feels free now.

An ache ripples through me, and I readjust my footing. I pray every d.a.m.n day she found some peace.

"I drove a long way to see you," he says.

Don't care. "Could have called."

"I did. No one answered."

I hike one shoulder in a "you've got s.h.i.+t luck." Dad and I aren't the type to answer calls from strangers. Especially ones with numbers labeled Police. There are some law enforcement officers who are cool, but most of them are like everyone else-they judge a man with a cut on his back as a psychotic felon.

I don't have time for stupidity.

"I'm here about your mother." The a.s.shole knows he has me when my eyes snap to his.

"She's dead." Like the other times I say the words, a part of me dies along with her.

This guy has green eyes and they soften like he's apologetic. "I know. I'm sorry. I've received some new evidence that may help us discover what caused her death."

Anger curls within my muscles and my jaw twitches. This overwhelming sense of insanity is what I fight daily. For years, I've heard the whispers from the gossips in town, felt the stares of the kids in cla.s.s, and I've sensed the pity of the men in the Reign of Terror I claim as brothers. It's all acc.u.mulated to a black, hissing doubt in my soul.

Suicide.

It's what everyone in town says happened. It's in every hushed conversation people have the moment I turn my back. It's not just from the people I couldn't give two s.h.i.+ts about, but the people who I consider family.

I shove away those thoughts and focus on what my father and the club have told me-what I have chosen to believe. "My mother's death was an accident."

He's shaking his head and I'm fresh out of patience. I'm not doing this. Not with him. Not with anyone. "I'm not interested."

I push off the railing and dig out the keys to my motorcycle as I bound down the steps. The detective's behind me. He has a slow, steady stride and it irritates me that he follows across the yard and doesn't stop coming as I swing my leg over my bike.

"What if I told you I don't think it was an accident," he says.

Odds are it wasn't. Odds are every whispered taunt in my direction is true. That my father and the club drove Mom crazy, and I wasn't enough of a reason for her to choose life.

To drown him out, I start the engine. This guy must be as suicidal as people say Mom was, because he eases in front of my bike, a.s.suming I won't run him down.

"Thomas," he says.

I twist the handle to rev the engine in warning. He raises his chin like he's finally p.i.s.sed and his eyes narrow on me. "Razor."

I let the bike idle. If he's going to respect me by using my road name, I'll respect him for a few seconds. "Leave me the f.u.c.k alone."

d.a.m.n if the man doesn't possess b.a.l.l.s the size of Montana. He steps closer to me and drops a bomb. "I have reason to believe your mom was murdered."

Breanna I HAD b.u.t.tERFLIES.

It was a combination of the nervous type and the exciting type and then they died with the utterance of one question. It's difficult to maintain eye contact with Kyle Hewitt as he continues talking, explaining why he's asked what he has of me. He stands a safe distance away-a little over one purple locker's worth. "I need your help with this, Bre."

He uses my nickname, the name reserved for my two best friends and family. I hug my folder to my chest, uncomfortable he feels like we are familiar with one another.

People pa.s.s us on their way to the gym for orientation, but he acts as if we're alone as his just-above-a-whisper words cram together. "English is tough... Writing papers is tougher... Football practice this year has been harder than normal... My parents have expectations... In two weeks there will be college scouts... You're smart...everyone knows this... You can make life easier on me and I can make life easier for you."

Easy. Natural. Meant to be. The smartest girl in school a.s.sisting the athletic golden boy. Two of the town's finest helping each other succeed, but he hasn't really given a fine example of how this plan will benefit me.

"I'm not suggesting anything romantic." He waves his hand in a downward motion that suggests he'd rather slit his wrist than become involved with me. This guy seriously needs to reevaluate his selling methods. Nothing good can happen from insulting the potential buyer.

Kyle grins. It's all teeth, and until this moment, I used to adore his smile. He has black hair like me, but he's much taller than I am and, thanks to his lifelong dedication to the game of football, he resembles a brick wall.

He's handsome. Always has been, but he's never been the kind who notices me. For a few seconds, I had delusions of grandeur that the reason he called my name was because he appreciated my change in appearance and, in theory, my change in att.i.tude.

I have never been so wrong in my life.

"What do you say? Will you do it?" Kyle shoves his hands into the front pockets of his Dockers as if he's the one who's nervous.

Like my younger brother wore for his junior orientation yesterday, Kyle sports a white s.h.i.+rt, nice pants and a tie. The football coach required his entire team to dress up on the day of their orientation. I think it makes them stick out, but my younger brother claims it shows solidarity.

School starts in a few days and tonight is senior orientation. My parents are currently in a meeting with my guidance counselor while I'm being propositioned.

Propositioned. My lips tilt up sarcastically.

My goal for this evening was to be noticed. Guess I succeeded. I was noticed, but not for my new choices in clothing, hairstyle, or because I dumped my gla.s.ses for contacts. Nope, I was hunted for my brain. All exciting and swoon-worthy romance novels start off this way, right?

Kyle misreads my body language and his dark eyes brighten. "So you'll write my English papers for the year?"

Fifty dollars per paper-that's his offer. Standing in my sister's second-generation hand-me-downs of a sleeveless blue blouse, shorter-than-I've-ever-worn jean skirt and platform sandals causes me to consider his proposal if only for the course of a heartbeat. I'm the middle of nine children and, I'll admit, new and s.h.i.+ny gains my attention, but this...this is wrong.

"Do you know this is the first time you've spoken to me?" I say.

He laughs like I told a joke, but I'm not kidding. Snowflake, Kentucky, is a small town and everyone tends to know everyone else, but just because we breathe the same air doesn't mean we communicate, or act like everyone else exists.

"That's not true," he retorts. "We sat at the same table in fourth grade."

I incline my head to the side in a mock why-didn't-I-remember-that-bonding-moment? "My, how time flies."

He chuckles, then scratches the back of his head, causing his styled hair to curl out to the side. "You're funny. I didn't know that. Look, it's not my fault you're quiet."

Kyle's right. It isn't his fault I became socially withdrawn. That blame falls solely on me. It's a decision I made in seventh grade when I was publicly crucified.

Blending into paint for the past couple of years has kept me safe, but it creates the sensation of suffocation. Everyone says the same thing: Breanna's smart, she's quiet. On the inside, I'm not at all quiet. Most of the time, I'm screaming. "I'm not writing your papers."

Kyle's smile that had suggested he had a done deal morphs into a frown and acid sloshes in my stomach. Denying Kyle isn't what bothers me as much as it worries me what he'll mention to his friends. They're the reason why I went voluntarily mute in seventh grade.

Heat races up my neck as the repercussions of refusing sets in, but I don't even consider agreeing. Cheating is not my style.

Kyle surveys the hallway, and if it's privacy he's searching for, he'll be sorely disappointed. He slides closer and a strange edginess causes me to step back, but Kyle follows. "Fine. One hundred dollars per paper."

"No."

"You don't understand. My grades have to improve." Easygoing Kyle disappears and desperation is hardly attractive.

I steal a peek into the school's main office, hoping my guidance counselor will beckon me in. Half of me hopes she'll have life-altering news for me, the other half hopes to end this insane conversation. "What you're asking for is crazy."

"No, it's not."

In an answer to the one million prayers being chanted in my head, my guidance counselor opens her door. "Breanna."

Kyle leans into me. "This conversation isn't over."

"Yes, it is." But he ignores my reply as he jogs up the nearest stairwell. Great. So far my senior year is starting out as the ant.i.thesis of my wishes-back at this tiny, strangling school with a group of people who think I'm beneficial for only one thing: as a homework hotline.

My attention returns to the main office and my guidance counselor has already settled behind her desk. Mom and Dad sit in two worn particleboard chairs across from her and neither of them acknowledge me as I enter and take a seat.

Dad stares at his loafers and Mom has become fascinated with something beyond the windows as she fiddles with the office ID badge for the hospital where she works. Only my guidance counselor, Mrs. Reed, meets my gaze, and when she subtly shakes her head, my heart sinks.

I bite my lower lip to prevent it from trembling. This was a long shot. I knew it when I pleaded with my counselor to discuss this opportunity with my parents, but I was stupid enough to have a shred of hope.