Page 44 of Ruin

But another thought was occurring to me pretty quickly: We’d been in town for an hour now, riding the streets and going slowly enough to see the faces of anyone out. The cops could have taken us in already, and they hadn’t.

I was starting to wonder whether Devil’s payment had run out... and if that meant I could take some bigger risks when it came to tracking my girl down.

“THE BANK?” I ASKED, surprised.

The man on the other side of the phone call grunted. Bryce was a mechanic that we used whenever we needed serious clutch work done, and he’d always walked a fine line when it came to the law.

It made him one of my favorite people. Legitimate but also slightly crooked. Someone the cops left alone, but also a guaranteed ally if I needed one. He’d been one of my first stops, and had immediately said he’d work all his contacts to find Saraya.

When he called half an hour later, I picked up the call on the first ring.

“You know the one. On the edge of town, past the hospital.”

I knew the one. It was on the other side of the city from where we were currently riding. And I’d never heard Saraya mention it.

“What’s she doing there?”

“My contact didn’t say. Just told me he saw her parking a bike in the alley, early this morning. Still dark out, he said, and he only saw her because his headlights flashed across her face. Recognized her as the bitch that used to ride with Devil. Said she didn’t act like she was in trouble, but she definitely looked like she was hiding.”

I stifled the instinct to overreact at his contact having called Saraya a bitch and considered what he was saying. A bank on the other side of town. She’d left when it was dark—probably to do it while I was still asleep, as well as Brock and Remy—and had driven all that way by herself.

But why? What was going on at that bank that I didn’t know about?

And how quickly could I get there?

“Thanks,” I muttered. I hung up and looked back at my friends. “The bank on the other side of town, as of ninety minutes ago,” I told them. “They didn’t know what she was doing, but she didn’t look like she was in trouble. Looked like she was waiting for something.”

“Waiting for Devil?” Remy asked.

I saw Brock’s eyes narrow and his chin jut out but didn’t react to that. I was too busy trying to figure out what Saraya was doing.

“That’s my guess,” I answered. “And I want to be there before he finds her.”

“Right you are. Let’s go.” Remy revved his engine and took off, with Brock and me on his heels, all of us, I knew, doing the mental calculation of how long it would take us to get to that bank. And hoping Saraya would still be there when we arrived.

CHAPTER 24

SARAYA

I WAS GETTING REALLY, really tired of watching this fucking bank.

Nothing had happened. And I mean nothing. It was now—I checked my watch—nearly nine in the morning, and employees were starting to show up at the bank. Unlocking the door and strolling in with the coffees-to-go and paper bags full of breakfast.

I knew they were full of breakfast because I could smell them. Croissants and bagels with cream cheese and breakfast sandwiches. Even a breakfast burrito with, if I wasn’t mistaken, sausage and pico de gallo. The scents made me realize that I was fucking starving. I hadn’t eaten before I left the house this morning, in too much of a rush to take the time, and I was now deeply regretting that mistake. I was a very big fan of breakfast. Never skipped it, if I had a choice.

Right now, my stomach was telling me quite clearly that I’d done exactly that, and my brain was reminding me that I had a rather stressful situation ahead of me and I could really have used those calories.

The problem was, I knew that the moment I went to get something to eat, that would be when Devil showed up.

Although... I narrowed my eyes and squinted at the bank’s sign, trying to read what it said. As far as I knew, the hours were probably 10 to 5, which meant I had nearly an hour before anyone could actually go into the bank.

Nearly an hour before Devil and whoever he brought with him would show up.

That thought had barely settled before I was moving for the closest coffee shop, my mind already on what I wanted to order and whether I could get through the line, order, and get my stuff before someone who shouldn’t see me showed up. I was on the opposite side of the city from where Knight and his crew were staying, though.

Surely I’d be able to sneak a little stop at the café.

FIFTEEN MINUTES LATER—MAYBE twenty—I was back at my post, a bag full of pastries in one hand and the largest coffee I could order in the other. And damn, did it taste good. I bit into the chocolate croissant and groaned with pleasure. This wasn’t something I’d normally order—too many calories in one small package—but there was a pretty good chance I wasn’t going to live to see the end of the day, so I figured I could treat myself.