“MOVE DOWN THE ROAD. RUN! TO DOLLY’S. DON’T STOP. DON’T LOOK BACK.” Gunner’s instructions weren’t just to his teammates, but to the people millingabout Ford Avenue that morning. Oh, lord. Whatever this was, it was bad.
“Move! Move! Get to Dolly’s! It’s not safe here!” Gunner’s commands continued to ring out over the street.
“Fuck, Red. Christ, you’re okay.” Gage pulled Sloane out of Stone’s grasp. He could see Gunner and Lily, with Sage safe in his arms. Nash had scooped up Embrie, Sebastian was letting Dolly hold his left arm while Danny held the right. Thank God Emma had stayed in Bell Ridge with Addie.
Hayes, Colt, Beau, and Lachlan were stopped in front of the hardware store.
“What’s going on?” Stone asked.
“I went out for a smoke break. Found a package. Got a look at it…. all wires and a fucking timer. Looks real from what I remember.” Lachlan’s hands shook as he squeezed his pack of cigarettes.
A bomb.
“What the fuck?!”
“Keep moving, I’m calling it in.” Colt ordered. “We need to clear the block. Go.”
Stone walked with Beau, Hayes, and Lach until they reached Dolly’s. It seemed like half the town was already there, standing on the sidewalk in front of the diner.
“Doc!” Hawk jogged over to him. “Christ. You need to sit down? You look like shit.”
“Oh, god.” Stone looked down at the concrete under his feet. The same spot he’d nearly lost his life on just a few weeks before.
Hawk’s eyes went wide. “What?”
“I remember…”
The SUV.
Fuck.
He knew who shot him.
The devil was alive and well.
Mae crouched down in front of Jessie. “Are you okay? Did they hurt you?”
“I’m fine. I woke up in the van they used to transport us here. We drove probably another thirty minutes before pulling into this place. It's a long way off the road. I thought for sure the jostling would have woken you up, but you were out cold. Scared me half to death that you were gone.”
Holy shit.
“Not gone. But I’ve got a terrible headache.”
“Wouldn’t have known it from the way you handled those two,” Laurel scoffed.
“Yeah, well, bitch mode just comes naturally to me sometimes. You should know what that feels like. That’s the state you always live in, isn’t it?”
“Down girl. I fucked up. I obviously know that because…” Laurel waved around the cell. “I landed here first.”
“I’m not going to lie and say I’m not glad you're here. Because every ounce of information I can have about this place is going to help. Between what Jessie saw and what you can tell us about this place, we might just be able to get ourselves out and to safety. How long have you been here?”
“A few days, I think. I’ve had three meals, but it feels like it’s once a day.”
“That makes sense. Nash and Gunner found your hotel room trashed two days ago. What can you tell us about where we are? Or those guys that took us.”
Laurel sighed, wincing as her hand brushed over her bruised cheekbone. “I don’t know where we are. They knocked me out in my hotel room and I didn’t wake up until I was behind these bars. But I can help in other ways.”
“Tell me,” Mae said as she continued to search for anything she could use to start some sort of escape plan.
