Page 48 of Flash and Bang
“Shit!” Thayne said. He glanced up at Jarrett before looking over at the Harley and then back to Jarrett.
“In a suit? You know I hate ridin’ the Harley in a suit,” Jarrett growled, knowing exactly what Thayne was thinking.
Thayne smiled. “Let’s go upstairs and change. We could wait for AAA but I don’t want to get so late of a start that we get caught up in traffic.”
“Fine. Let’s do this, then.”
Thayne closed the hood and locked up the car before turning back to Jarrett. “Come on. Let’s get changed. We’ve got an hour drive out to SanBernardino.”
They changed into jeans and T-shirts since the weather had turned a little cooler. Pulling on leather jackets and gloves, they descended the stairs and walked out to the bike. Within a couple of minutes, they had their helmets on and were pulling out of Thayne’s subterranean parking garage. Jarrett hadn’t had Thayne on the back of his bike in nearly a year. It was amazing how nostalgic he felt with Thayne sitting behind him with his arms wrapped around his waist. He smiled as he remembered the first time Thayne’s hands had gone roaming over his chest on the drive back from Santa Monica. It had been one of the single sexiest moments of Jarrett’s life. One thing was certain when it came to Thayne Wolfe… the man was smokin’ hot and sex personified and he didn’t even realize it. That just made the man even more desirable.
Jarrett pulled onto the freeway to begin the long trek out to San Bernardino. Traffic was fairly light and they were able to make pretty good time. Once they transitioned onto the 10 East, it became more crowded. There was construction going on. California seemed to constantly need to fix something on the freeways. They were always widening lanes, doing earthquake retrofitting of bridges, or something to snarl traffic and inconvenience drivers,generally during rush hour. Now, Jarrett thought, if they could fill a few potholes, the folks at Caltrans may have a reason for living. Unfortunately, the bureaucracy and inefficiency of the state legislature was mind boggling. The 10 Freeway was the largest east/west thoroughfare in the state and was the primary artery for big rig traffic. Eighteen-wheelers picked up cargo containers down at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and delivered goods to destinations all over the country which just contributed to traffic congestion.
Jarrett remained in the middle lane as traffic slowed to a crawl. He ended up behind a tractor-trailer as the road began a steady incline. Before long, the terrain on the right side of the freeway dropped off and became a steep downward hillside with no guard rail between the shoulder of the road and the cliff. Drivers instinctively slowed down when approaching this stretch of highway, especially those in the far right lane. Every year, it seemed, several drivers took a plunge over the side when falling asleep. Jarrett didn’t plan on joining that elite club any time soon so he was almost relieved when traffic remained slow going.
When the truck in front of them continued to belch out foul-smelling exhaust every time it sped up, Jarrett decided he’d had enough. The fast lane on hisleft had been made into a carpool lane but it was running just as slow at the moment. Making up his mind to get out from behind the stinking truck, he was pulling into the far right lane fully intending on passing it, when the driver behind him suddenly sped up and slammed into the back of the Harley. The bike lurched onto the shoulder when it was hit from behind. Jarrett struggled with the bike to keep it upright and on course and looked over his shoulder when he felt Thayne’s arms tighten around his waist. The car that had hit them was a black SUV with windows tinted so dark, he couldn’t see anyone in the driver’s seat. Surely it had been an accident.
“You okay, Thayne?” He had to yell to be heard with his helmet on.
“I’m fine, Jarrett. What the hell is wrong with him?”
Before Jarrett could answer, the SUV swerved onto the shoulder and hit the bike again, pushing the Harley perilously close to the edge of the hillside. Jarrett struggled again to keep the bike from toppling over as very real fear made him go cold.
“Christ!” This time, there was no doubt in Jarrett’s mind that the driverhadintended on pushing them right over the cliff. He sped up, staying on the shoulder, passing cars. In his rearview mirrorhe could see the SUV closing the distance between them. It was kicking up a cloud of dust from the shoulder of the road behind him as it followed.Gotta get back into traffic.Jarrett steered the bike straight ahead, watching for a space between cars in the heavy traffic where he could swing off the shoulder and back into the far right lane. He couldn’t find anywhere to go. The traffic was bumper to bumper and at the speed he was going, he was going to kill them if he tried to swing back into the right lane.
The driver of the SUV suddenly gunned its powerful engine and a moment later, it hit the back of the Harley again. Jarrett and the bike were forced into a pile of road debris on the shoulder of the road before he could steer around it. The next thing he knew, Jarrett, Thayne, and the Harley were flying through air. The ground rushed up at them as the bike landed on solid ground, bouncing as it began its slow roll down the hillside. There was nothing Jarrett could do but hold on and pray that they’d be able to survive the fall. Sticks, dirt, and small rocks stung his body. Even through the thick jacket, he could feel everything as he and Thayne were thrown from the bike.
The momentum pulled Jarrett downward as he and Thayne tumbled down the hillside, rolling over and over, hitting rocks and trees and everything elsein their path. At some point, Jarrett realized that Thayne was no longer holding him and he frantically tried to stop himself. He knew he must have tumbled for thirty seconds or more before something, most likely a tree stump, rammed into his ribs, stopping his fall. He felt a sickening crunch and then blinding pain shot through him. Jarrett gasped for air as the wind was knocked out of him. Mercifully, he passed out a few seconds later. When Jarrett came to, a man was leaning over him with a penlight in his hand, shining it in his eyes.
“Sir, can you hear me, sir?”
Jarrett tried to hold his eyelids open but they were so heavy, he let them drop again. Someone jarred him by shaking his shoulder and he opened them again.
“Sir! You’ve been in an accident. I saw the whole thing. My name is Adam and I am a registered nurse. I was on my way into work but I’ve already called paramedics. You need to hang on.”
“Thayne?” Jarrett tried to lift his head but it was pounding so hard, the least little movement was excruciating. He realized his helmet was gone and wondered if this man had removed it. “Where’s my partner?” Jarrett asked frantically.
The man turned his head and then lookedback at Jarrett. The expression on his face was grim as his lips thinned.
“Thayne!” Jarrett yelled louder. His broken ribs protested and he gasped in pain.
“Please don’t turn your head until we’re sure you don’t have a spinal injury,” the man said. Jarrett realized he must have seen the accident and traversed down the hill to help him. Gratitude washed through him along with sheer panic as he realized Thayne might be badly hurt. He tried again to turn his head and the man leaned down, speaking close to him so that Jarrett would have to focus on his face.
“Is Thayne the man who was on the back of your bike?” the man asked.
Jarrett’s heart beat wildly and he nodded even though it hurt like a bitch to do so. He nodded.
“My coworker is with him. He looks like he’s in better shape than you.” He laid a gentle but firm hand on Jarrett’s shoulder, willing him to calm down and stay immobile until help could arrive. “Now, relax and stay still until the ambulance arrives. You may have some broken bones and internal injuries and we may be here a while. Traffic is really heavy.”
“Who hit us?” Jarrett gasped out. He groaned from the pain as he tried to keep his head back.Clouds obscured the sun from his vision as he stared straight up to the heavens praying that Thayne was okay. The longer he lay on the ground the more he realized he had other injuries as well. He had come through IED explosions in Iraq with fewer aches and pains than he had from rolling his beloved Harley down a mountain.
“It was a black SUV with tinted windows. That’s all I saw. I was so shocked that he seemed to be trying to hit you, it took my breath away. I wasn’t watching him… only you. It’s not every day you watch a motorcycle go over a cliff,” the man said, warming to his story. A moment later, another man appeared in his line of sight. He was wearing scrubs the same as the man who’d been talking to him and he laid his hand on his coworker’s shoulder.
“How is he, Adam?”
The man helping Jarrett looked up. “I think he’s going to be okay but I want him to lay here and remain still until we can get a C-collar on him.”
“Thayne? How’s my partner? How’s Thayne?” Jarrett struggled to lift his head again and nearly passed out from the agony that ripped through him.