Part 2
Sara asked herself why she had agreed to the whole thing. Well, actually, she had only agreed on meeting Sofia, her boyfriend and Greg tonight but she knew that at least Greg expected her to approve on the trip to Chicago. She wasn't sure yet if she wanted to go. Two weeks with Greg, Sofia and a guy she didn't know. Why didn't she lie and tell Greg she didn't have a motorcycle license? Honesty wasn't always good.
"Are you sure this is the right place?" Skeptically she looked at Greg. They were in front of an old bar. Around a dozen bikes were parked in the front, a group of men in leather was outside smoking, talking, laughing and all of them looked a little bit like trouble to Sara.
"That's what Sofia wrote down. I guess, we meet at a biker's bar. See the baby on the left? Great paint job."
"Don't drool on the bikes. I'm sure these guys won't like that. Treat them like something holy, yes. Touch it? No!"
"Like Germans with their cars."
"Maybe."
"I read that in a magazine. Did you know they have the left side of their highways only for BMW, Mercedes, Audi and Porsche? And they've to be black. No other cars are allowed on the left side."
"I really doubt that." There couldn't be a law like that, could it?
"I'll show you the magazine." He stopped his car a few yards away from the bikes, not risking covering any of them with dust.
Sara left the car. It was a kind of a pity show: Greg's old car next to the new motorbikes. On the other hand, even a crappy car was worth more in a thunderstorm than a great bike. At least Sara preferred the car when there was heavy rain.
"I think we need to have a look inside." Greg eyed the men next to the door and took another look on the piece of paper. That was definitely the address.
"Nobody will hurt you, Greggo."
"Probably you live in these places, Sara
"No, not really." She had spent a lot of time in biker bars when she was young, so she didn't mind it. It wasn't unusual; plus they were here because they wanted to talk about bikes. It made more sense to meet in a biker bar than in an opera house.
Another dozen people were in the bar, some at the bar, a few around a table, playing poker. Sara needed a few seconds to get her eyes used to the room. It was much darker than outside in the sunshine. There was Sofia. The blonde was sitting at the bar, a tall guy next to her. He looked like a mix between a biker and a model, the perfect man for Sofia. Tall, sporty, short blonde hair, dressed in leather. They made a really nice couple.
"It's very interesting where you spend your quality time, detective." Sara approached Sofia.
"Hey, you like it?" The blonde smiled. "I see you dressed up perfectly." She let her eyes run over Sara's leather jacket and the jeans.
"Found it somewhere in my wardrobe."
"Sure. And Greggo, where's your leather jacket?"
"Another thing I need to buy."
"Looks like. Want something to drink?"
"A coke. I'm the driver." Greg sighed. He had offered Sara to drive plus, he was on call. If he had some bad luck he had to go to work tonight. Grissom told him only one of them could have the night off, so Greg offered the free night to Sara. He had promised her, he'd do anything to make her drive him up to Chicago. This was the first part of his promise.
"Sara?"
"A beer."
"That's a chick." The man next to Sofia grinned.
"Careful, Marc, she's a CSI, almost as bad as a cop."
"Jeez, don't you have any normal friends? What is he? A cop too?"
"CSI."
"You're bad for business."
"Depends on the business." Sofia leant on the bar. "Ben?"
"Yeah." A Mexican-American man appeared. "These are Sara and Greg, I told you about them."
Sara caught her breath. The model next to Sofia wasn't her boyfriend? She had talked to the bartender, was that…? He wasn't the man Sara had imagined for Sofia. She had placed the blonde with a model. It wasn't that the other guy looked bad but he wasn't tall and Sara doubted he was as tall as Sofia, and he…Sara didn't know why but she was surprised.
"Hi, I'm Benjamin." He pronounced the 'j' like the 'x' in Mexico. "You can call me Ben."
"Sara."
"Greg."
"So you're interested in a trip to Chicago on bikes?"
"He is." Sara pointed to Greg.
"She's too but she doesn't want to admit it." Sofia laughed. "So let's go with: Greg is desperate to go. Sara has the license and him in her hands."
"It's always dangerous to be in the hands of a woman."
"I beg your pardon?" Sofia eyed Ben. "What did you say?"
"I said, I'm glad I've got a detective who has me in her hands."
"Got you out in the last second, dear."
Ben smiled and turned his attention to Greg. "You like bikes?"
"I love them. I saw a few real beauties outside."
"Want to see some more?"
"Sure."
"Sara?"
"I'm fine. I don't need to drool at bikes."
"Okay." Ben laughed. "Honey, could take care of the bar for me while I show Greg around?"
"I'm not a bartender."
"Forget for a second that you're a cop, please."
"Okay." She blinked at him.
"Thanks. Come on, Greg, I show you some beauties." Ben and Greg left the bar.
Sofia changed her place from in front of the bar to behind. Her first activity was to fix Sara a beer.
"There you go."
"Thanks. That looks like you don't do that for the first time."
"I spend some time here when I visit Ben."
"Isn't it illegal for you to sell alcohol?"
"You heard him. I'm supposed to forget that I'm a cop."
"You forget that so easily?"
"No." Sofia chuckled. "I have a license. I'm allowed to sell and serve alcohol. I haven't told Ben yet but I thought it might be fun to work with him every now and then, so I got the license. That doesn't mean I'll spend my nights off as a waitress or a bartender. It simply means I can spend time with my boyfriend and give him a hand when I feel like it."
"If he knows you, he knows that you've got a license."
"As long as we haven't talked about that, he doesn't know and you won't tell him, Sara Sidle."
"That will cost you."
"You might get a Harley trip to Chicago with us."
"Like I said, that will cost you." Sara grinned wide.
"You don't do me a favor."
"You offered it."
"Yes because I could see how important it is to Greg. I have never seen him as happy as the minute, I offered him the trip. That made his day. And if Ben doesn't mind, I keep the offer."
"What about the bike?"
"Have you been around the building?"
"No."
"This side is a bar and the other side is a motorbike shop. Ben is a motorbike seller, he's a mechanic too and being in that position, he has more than one bike. I know about at least one Harley he works on and if that beauty gets a trip to Chicago, he knows it runs good. Like a good test drive."
"He can test it himself."
"Of course but his girlfriend wants a road trip and he gives his girlfriend what she wants."
"You trained him well."
Sofia smiled as an answer. She fixed a few more beer and gave them to the men in front of the bar.
"How did you meet him?"
"There was a motorbike presentation, I was very interested in one of his Harleys, we started to talk, he invited me to his shop, I told him I don't have a license yet and he said it wouldn't matter. There's always a way. So I came here, he gave me a lesson in the backyard, we had some beers in here, the rest is history. I was amazed. He isn't like you imagine an ordinary biker."
"No. And you can't wear heels next to him."
"No. I've already an inch on him, with heels, we need some heels for him too. So yes, I'm taller and older. I prefer an unusual relationship over one of these all boring ones. Unusual doesn't mean bad, it means interesting…" Sofia's face got annoyed when she saw something behind Sara.
"Not again."
Sara turned. Around five yards behind her, two men looked like they wanted to start a serious fight. Both were in leather, both had their hands on the throat of the other one.
A loud explosion behind Sara got her attention away from the men. She was close to let herself drop on the ground, it sounded like a gun.
"Hey!" Sofia yelled. In her hand was a gun and the attention of everybody in the bar was on her. Even the two men had stopped for a moment. Her blue eyes lay on them, angrily.
"You two have three possibilities. First: you take your fight out of the bar, off the premises. Second, I'll take you downtown and my colleagues will work it out with you. Or third, you forget the fight, order a bloody beer and behave properly. Make your decision now, I don't like waiting. So?"
"Beer." The man on the right said.
"Make that two."
"Good decision." She put the gun away and made two beers that she put on the bar and the men got them. With their drinks, they walked away.
"Idiots." Sofia mumbled.
"Did you just shoot the ceiling?" Sara had no idea if she was dreaming or awake. This seemed to be very unusual.
"I didn't shoot anything. That thing isn't real, it just sounds like a real gun. All I wanted was the attention of these two dickheads before they start a bar fight. Worked out."
"You've hidden talents."
"I'm full of surprises."
"Yes." Sara shook her head. Sofia was not only a bartender in her spare time. She also shot with faked guns and stopped guys trashing each other and the bar. If the detective was sick and tired of her job one day, she had a lot of possibilities what to do next.
"Why do you make such a noise?" Ben and Greg came back in the bar.
"Some idiots wanted to fight, I stopped them."
"Which of your three decisions did they make?"
"Beer."
"Good decision. I don't like it when my girlfriend has to become a cop again and leaves me to get some brainless wankers downtown."
"I am a cop all the time."
"I know, Honey." Ben smiled and got the evil eyes of Sofia. He didn't take her serious.
"Your smile tells me, you saw a lot of nice bikes, Greg." Sara had problems not to laugh when she saw the way her young friend grinned. He looked like a child who came out of a candy shop.
"It was like I was dead and in heaven."
"Your boyfriend is in love with my bikes, I'm sorry to tell you."
"He isn't my boyfriend." Sara corrected dryly.
"In that case, he can dream of the bikes as much as he wants. They are loveable, but you are never allowed to put them over a woman. My detective taught me that."
"I'm glad you remember." Sofia kissed Ben shortly.
"Sara versus a Harley?" Greg cocked his head. "I have to think about that. A Harley is something I dream of since I was a young boy. The power, the energy, the feeling, it's pure freedom. Sara is…" His cell phone stopped him. One look and the smile disappeared. "Oh shit. It's Grissom."
"He has a case for you?"
"Yes. I need to go."
"If you want, I can go and you stay." Sara felt sorry for Greg who wanted the night off the first place.
"No, I promised you a night off, I keep my promises."
"Sure?"
"Yes."
"Okay, But if it's something bigger and you need some back-up call me and I'll come over."
"Thanks. And thank you, Ben, for the little bike tour. I'll come back to find the perfect bike for me and I'll have a look for a driving instructor tomorrow. I need a motorcycle license. Fast. See you, Sofia."
"Get it and we'll find a bike for you."
"Black and sexy."
"You name it, you get it."
"I love this man." Greg smiled one last time, waved and was gone.
Ben turned to Sara. "So, what is your call?"
"Mine?"
"Sí, do you want to join us?"
"The question is, do you want to have two strangers around when you go on your first holidays with your girlfriend?"
"Do you think Sofia is a good cop?"
"I don't know, I'm not a cop. I can't say what's good or bad. But I can tell you, she was a great CSI and as a cop, she is very pleasant to work with for a CSI. Is that an answer?"
"Sounds like you won't give her a hard time."
"Why should I?"
"I heard some stories."
Sara turned to Sofia who stood grinning next to Ben.
"Did you tell him lies?"
"No, I told him about the first times we worked together."
"You're unforgiving."
"Sorry."
"Why did you offer me to join you when I'm such a pain in the ass?"
"You were, not you are. That's the difference. You don't have to make decision now, have a sleep over it. I told Ben the same."
"I'm glad I don't have to face a faked gun and get forced to make decision right away like the two guys. Thanks, Sofia." Sara made a grimace.