Road Rash

Shea Stevens hates feeling useless. But a motorcycle accident has left her with an injured knee and a nasty case of road rash, leaving her unable to build a new bike for an upcoming competition.

When the daughter of a friend disappears into a suspected cult, the battered biker chick is determined to intervene before the woman is lost forever.

Infiltrating the organization, Shea uncovers the cult’s horrifying plans and tries desperately to convince the naïve woman to leave. But the cult’s powerful brainwashing forces Shea to take drastic measures, pushing her broken body beyond its limits as doomsday approaches.

Can Shea rescue the young woman before the cult executes its final deadly scheme, or will she too be seduced by their twisted indoctrination?

Road Rash is the nail-biting fourth novel in the Shea Stevens Outlaw Biker series. If you enjoy harrowing psychological suspense, full-throttle action, and queer women who kick ass, you will love Dharma Kelleher’s roller-coaster conclusion to the series.

Buy Road Rash today and join Shea as she dives deep into the murky waters of freedom, manipulation, and soul-crushing consequences.

Chapter 1

Inagua's Hands

“Quit crying and grab her legs.”

Megan Thornton wiped her wet face and did as her mentor instructed. “Bethany was my friend, Linda.”

“And now she’s just heavy.”

Together, they pulled the body out of the back of the van. 

The night was alive with the ratcheting drone of katydids, punctuated by the hooting of a pair of owls perched on opposite sides of the truck. 

The gibbous moon’s argent light washed out the red rock landscape silhouetted by Capitol Butte, Coffee Pot Rock, and Sedona’s other oft-photographed sandstone towers against a mandala of stars.

Under any other circumstances, Megan would have savored the breathtaking splendor of Sedona after hours. But this evening, her heart felt as heavy as the remains of her friend wrapped in a threadbare bedsheet.

Megan sobbed, straining to carry her end of the body up the narrow, dimly lit trail. Thorny palo verde branches scratched her face and arms, but she paid them little mind. She was being punished, though she didn’t know why. 

When they reached a small clearing, Linda set her end on the rocky ground. “This will do.” 

“I don’t understand why we couldn’t have called 911.”

“Because NCB said so. That’s why.”

The words triggered a childhood memory in Megan’s mind. Her mother, Nita, used the same nonreason for many of the crazy things she did prior to getting clean. “Because I said so.” 

Megan sat on a rock and cried heaving sobs, no longer caring what Linda told her. She wanted to understand, to know that she was a good person, changing the world for the better. 

Linda’s hands gently wrapped around hers, the older woman’s breath a whisper next to Megan’s ear. 

“Sweetie, I understand you’re grieving. It’s understandable. No one wanted Bethany to die. I did everything I could to save her. But now she’s gone. Leaving her here at this beautiful vortex is the most loving thing we can do to honor her memory, to pay tribute to all that she contributed to Luminos and the world.”

“But shouldn’t we bring her back to her family?” 

“NCB has confirmed that laying her here is for the greater good. Taking her back to her family will only bring trouble. We don’t need the government interfering with our work. They are part of the system we are trying to change. You’ve accomplished so much in your time with Luminos, rising faster than many of your peers. I know you understand that.”

Megan didn’t understand. But after reflecting on the lessons she’d learned over the past six months in Luminos, she figured that if NCB said it was true, then it must be so. 

“Yeah,” she mumbled. 

“That’s my girl. Doing this should earn you your orange slider. Now let’s go.”

“Shouldn’t we… shouldn’t we bury her or something?” 

The thought of coyotes and other animals tearing apart her friend’s body horrified Megan. She shivered and wiped the tears from her face.

“She’s in Inagua’s hands now,” Linda replied. “She’ll be okay.”