Page 64 of The Riders’ Reign

Ace orders a group of men to start a cleanup operation. The pig farm is going to get some more food this week.

“Fuck, what about Jarrod?” I suddenly ask.

I think he got hit, but I haven’t checked he’s definitely dead.

Ace glances back at the bodies. “He got shot. You might want to check he’s not breathing, though.”

“We checked,” Cash says. “No one is breathing from their side.”

Still, I want to see for myself. That fucker got everything he deserved. Ace points to a form face down on the ground.

“That’s him.” He laughs. “Dumb fuck should have stayed down, but he stood up and tried to run for it and took two bullets for his troubles.”

I stride over and roll him onto his back. I stare into his unseeing eyes. With disgust, I spit on him, kick him, and walk away.

With a determination to put all the terrible shit behind me, I join Camile and Ace and the people who are now my family.

28

CAMILE

The car winds down the roads, driving smoothly behind the bikes that lead the way, and I try to take in everything that has happened. Now the adrenaline is leaving me, I’m feeling shaky and exhausted. Zoo is driving, and I’m in the back, with Ghost on one side of me and Megan on the other. Ghost is a big guy to be in the back seat, but he wanted to be near me, and I totally share the sentiment.

The past hour has been insane.

Surely there will be reports of the plane explosion?

“What if the cops go to the airstrip?” I ask Ghost softly.

“They’ll focus on locating the debris from the plane first, which will take time.” He shrugs. “By the time they track it back to the airstrip, all trace of us ever having been there will be gone. Once they figure out the plane belonged to a cartel, I doubt they’ll even investigate any further. If they do, they’ll come to the conclusion it was sabotage.”

“What did you do?” I ask.

“I cut some fuel lines and some of the electronics. I thought it would mean he just wouldn’t be able to fly the damn thing. I didn’t know it would be quite so spectacular.”

I grit my teeth, and my tone is sharper than I intended. “He deserved it.”

“You’re getting scary, you know?”

Ghost gently nudges me to show he’s joking. He’s not wrong, though. I am. I’ve gone from being a girl who wouldn’t even truly stand up for herself, the boring one of the college, in some ways. Miss-Goodie-Two-Shoes, that’s who I was, and look at me now. I’m a badass. I almost giggle, but then I look at the woman in the car beside me and my stomach twists for her.

Megan is sitting curled up against the door, and I can see from her expression that she’s traumatized.

“What did they do to you?” I ask her gently. “Do you feel up to talking?”

Megan shakes her head. “I want my sister, and I want to speak to my husband.”

“Not long now,” I reassure her. “Once we’re back safely, you can see Shelly and we can call your husband for you.”

God, I’m so glad that I didn’t do anything to hurt Shelley when I first lost it. I just saw red, but now that I’ve calmed down, I realize she’s not to blame.

I wonder if Vani will ever reach that conclusion with me. Or is she always going to be angry at me now? Even though things have improved between us a little, they’re still pretty bad. The girl doesn’t like me being with her dad. It shows in every line of her body, and every micro-expression.

Staring out of the window into the dark night, I think about how all this started, with a date I only went on to try to forget about Jack. And look where we all are now.

The SUV eventually pulls off the road onto a narrower, country lane, and I start to recognize the area. We’re getting close to the turning for the compound.

The tall, chain link fencing comes into view, together with the gates barring the property from the road. The motorcycles in front of us stop while someone checks who we are, then the gates rattle open. They’re still being cautious.