“I just want all of this to be over. I just want us to be happy. I swear I don’t normally cry so much. Orkillso much.”
Ringo chuckles, his lips kicking up in a crooked smile as he glances at me.
“I’ve seen your playful side, Abs. Happiness is just around the corner. I’m sure of it.”
Reaching out, I run my hand up his arm, feeling the thick corded muscles, and wonder how I got so lucky to have found him.
I stare at him for a long time until my eyes grow heavy, then wake hours later as the car slows, turning off the main road.
Blinking past my sleepy haze, I realise we have made it to the other side of the state since the sign on the side of the road says the Victorian and South Australian border is only twenty-five kilometres away.
“Welcome back.” Ringo’s voice is light, and I take in his smirk.
“I was snoring, wasn’t I?”
He shrugs. “There was more drool and fly catching than snoring, but you did have a go at one stage. Thought a truck was coming for me.”
I gape at him as he chuckles, my cheeks heating with a dash of embarrassment.
“Next time you snore, I’m recording it on my phone so you can hear yourself,” I rush out, and he simply shrugs.
“That’s fine, Angel. I’ll just record your come cry and play it back to you.”
My eyes narrow. “That will mean war.”
“War with you sounds fun.” He smirks, wagging his brows as he flicks on the indicator and the car slows again. “We can’t get across the state border until the morning, when the cops the Angel sisters have on their payroll are working, so we’re staying here for the night.”
I want to protest. Scream that we need to keep driving to get my little girl back, but also, I’m kind of terrified to see her.
What if she doesn’t like me?
What if she sees the monster I really am?
I get jostled as we turn onto the pothole ridden driveway of a dingy old caravan park, the rumble of the motorcycles idling around us as they roll in too.
I’m not sure what business owner would be happy about a horde of bikers wanting to stay and use their facilities, but whatever charm JD and Spud wield seems to work. Within minutes, we’re waved through to the back section of the park to set up camp for the night, and I’m a little amazed at how everyone seems to know their role to get the job done.
Some set up swags and tents, while a group of club brothers assemble what I quickly realise is an outdoor kitchen. Someone gets music going, and another guy starts handing out beers, and it all just flows, like they’ve done this a hundred times before.
The only odd one out is me, since I’m the only female.
The Doxies were ordered to stay behind, along with a group of club brothers, to watch over the compound and keep up with the construction of their little village. No one but me, Ringo and Lewy knows where we are headed exactly. Ringo wanted to keep it quiet, which of course, pissed off Smitty, but he still insisted the club join the hunt.
Ringo has parked the Landy off to the side, and moves the baby seat to the front before showing me how the seats lay down, and how the self-inflating mattress works.
I’ve never slept in the back of a car before, and if it weren’t for my need to pee and eat, then I’d happily slip inside and hide for the rest of the night.
Once we’re set up, Ringo acts as my bodyguard, leading me to the women’s facilities, slipping inside to make sure it’s all clear.
We are the only people staying in the park so I knew it would be, but I enjoy this protective side of him. It makes me feel cherished and special.
Once I’m done, Ringo leads me back to the camp, and I spot Daniel tied to a tree behind the van, eating a bread roll as two club brothers watch over him.
We needed to bring him along with us. That was quickly decided last night. He’s our leverage, should we need it when we arrive in the little seaside town Elizabeth is hiding in with Bobbi.
A barbeque dinner is cooked up, and Ringo fetches us a couple of plates filled with food, and just like he did months ago, he feeds me, clearly enjoying having me on his knee and ordering me to open mypretty lips.
It’s not long before the men get a little rowdy and bored, and some start to have a competition to see who can piss the furthest.
