Even though I doubted she meant it as a dig, the comment stung. I didn’t know what Sammy had been through since the last time we’d seen each other, butclearly it hadn’t been the picture-perfect future I’d imagined for her.
I was about to pull the door closed when heavy footsteps came from down the hall.
“We just got an update from one of our scouts,” Arrow said. “We know where they’re keeping the kid, and Thunder wants to go after them now.”
CHAPTER 6
SAMMY
I satin the front seat of Juice’s truck and stared out the front windshield. Juice and a few of his fellow Mustang Mountain Riders had disappeared into the woods right after he pulled the truck over to the side of the narrow mountain road. He hadn’t wanted to alert anyone that they were coming, so he’d parked about a mile up the road from where Oliver was being held and would backtrack through the woods on foot.
Dense clouds blocked out the moon, and I couldn’t see much in the darkness of the cab. Juice had left Sirius with me like a four-legged babysitter. I hadn’t been in a position to object since none of the bikers wanted me to come with them in the first place. Having the big dog nearby provided a sense of comfort, though he didn’t seem to like having to stay behind in the truck.
That made two of us.
There wasn’t anything I could do to help Juice and the others, but I felt so helpless waiting.Sirius was getting antsy as well. He paced the short length of the backseat over and over.
“Hang tight, buddy. I’m sure they’ll be back soon.” I wasn’t sure if I was trying to reassure the big dog or myself.
Sirius stuck his nose up to the crack I’d left at the top of the window and let out a soft whine. I ignored him. Juice had said not to get out of the truck under any circumstances. For once in my life, I planned on actually doing something someone told me.
The dog started pacing again, stopping at the cracked window to whine every few passes. What if he had to pee? Even though he didn’t look like a puppy, Juice said he was still pretty young. The only dog I’d ever been around was the teacup poodle mix we’d had when I was a kid. Seemed like that dog was always going outside.
“You need to go? Is that it?” I turned to face Sirius in the backseat.
His ears perked up and he let out a high-pitched whine.
“Be quick about it. I don’t want us to get in trouble.” I climbed out and opened up the back door.
Sirius hopped to the ground, then stood perfectly still.
“What is it?” I whispered. The silence made me nervous. He was staring at something in the trees, but I couldn’t see anything beyond the edge of the gravel road.
Then a huge animal stepped out of the woods. My scream stuck in my throat as I tried to force my feet to move. Sirius whined and took a few steps closer.
“Get back in the truck.” I scrambled into the front seat and pulled the door closed behind me. Dammit. With the back door still open, there was nothing to prevent the beast from leaping into the truck. I squeezed between the two bucket seats and tried to reach the open door. “Come on, Sirius. Get in.”
The two animals circled each other in the middle of the road, their teeth bared. It had to be a wolf, though it was bigger than any wolf I’d ever seen. I felt around on the floor of the backseat, searching for something I could use to scare it away. My fingers closed around a metal tube. I lifted it up to try to make out what I’d found. Nothing but an ice scraper with a brush on the other end. Still, it was better than nothing.
Pulling myself as close as I dared to the open door, I held up the ice scraper and shook it over my head. “Get away from here!”
Sirius and the beast paused and shifted their attention to me.
“That’s right. Leave him alone and go.” My voice cracked.
The two animals stared at me for a long moment as I held my breath, waiting to see what they’d do next. Would the wolf leap into the truck and rip me apart? Or would he go after Sirius first and save me for dessert?
The wolf growled and snapped at Sirius. Then the two of them disappeared into the woods.
“Sirius?” I hopped down to the ground and called out to him. “Come back, boy.”
Nothing. The forest had swallowed them up. Whatwas I supposed to do now? I didn’t dare go after them, and I didn’t want to risk calling Juice on the two-way radio he’d left with me. He’d warned me to only use it in an emergency since my cell phone had no service out here in the middle of nowhere.
I hadn’t been able to protect my son from being taken from me, and now I’d lost Juice’s dog to a huge, wild wolf. Feeling like the most useless woman in the world, I shut the back door and climbed into the front. All I could do was wait. I just hoped it wouldn’t be too long.
Juice
Something wasn’t right. We reached the edge of the clearing where the cabin the Savage Bones were supposedly holding Oliver, but there was no sign of the club. Unlike other places they’d holed up, this place had potted flowers on the front porch and curtains hanging in the windows.
