Page 10

As rage swallowed my fear and regret, I imagined myself going feral and killing everyone in my path.

The SUV cargo door opened, and the blanket was tossed aside. With my eyes still closed, I wasn’t sure which asshole reached down for me. I only knew that as soon as I felt his hands on me, I attacked. One blade disappeared into his right jugular vein. The other sliced across his left eye.

As he hollered and backed away, I flung my tired, numb legs out of the cargo area and dropped to the muddy ground. My vision adjusted to the night illuminated by the red brake lights. Nearby, blood poured out of Aaron as he toppled to the ground. I tried to stand, but my right ankle refused to carry my weight.

I heard the other asshole calling out for Aaron. Vinny wouldn’t be taken by surprise.

I quickly shoved the blades into the rings and reached for my ankle pistol. Finding my holster empty, I reached for Aaron’s gun strapped to his hip. The man gasped for air. His left hand covered his damaged eye, while his right hand covered his throat wound. As his body failed, he couldn’t stop me from stealing his weapon.

Once Vinny came around the back of the SUV, I tugged on the trigger twice. The first shot hit him in the belly. The second one skimmed his cheek. He fell back to use the SUV as cover. I dropped flat and aimed under the idling vehicle. My third shot struck Vinny in the ankle. He hollered and dropped.

Trying to save his friend, Aaron reached for my busted ankle. I cried out and kicked his hand. Scrambling away from the lit area around the SUV, I tumbled into a wet ditch. Reaching the bottom, I aimed upward and waited to see if Vinny came looking for me.

Breathing deeply, I calmed myself and began devising a plan to survive until morning. Neither man was dead, and I had no way to know if they would come looking for me.

I wasn’t sure which direction to crawl. Heavy clouds hid the moonlight. Rain had drenched the state several days earlier. The ground remained damp in places. I had to shove the gun into my jacket pocket to avoid losing it when my hands sank into the mud.

I moved steadily over ground covered in rocks and sticks. My ankle screamed in pain as I dragged my foot behind me.

No matter the pain, I couldn’t stop moving. I needed to create distance between the SUV and me. After a few minutes, I dragged my battered body up an embankment and found myself in a wooded area. The gnarled tree branches hung low, snagging my hair. After a struggle to get through the brush, I hid next to a large tree.

I had no sense of the time. The accident happened around eight. How much time had passed?

The longer I settled in the darkness, the less I was able to concentrate. My mom’s voice left me. I hurt everywhere. The chill of the wet ground spread to my bones, leaving me shivering.

Retrieving the gun from my jacket, I listened for movement around me. The world sounded echoey. We weren’t far from the highway. Occasionally, I heard a semi-truck rumbling by in the distance.

As I waited for sunrise, my thoughts returned to York. He owned Nova’s old house. I could picture him there, even if I didn’t know how he furnished the place.

I imagined us sitting on a masculine leather couch and watching a movie. Our dogs were nearby. I pretended they’d be fast friends.

In my fantasy, everything was easy and comfortable. I didn’t feel trapped. York never craved space. We somehow worked in the way Elle and Zodiac managed to do despite their strong personalities.

With that image in mind, I stared in the direction I came from and waited for my fate to become clearer.

YORK

I could barely follow what Zodiac was saying on the speakerphone. Once he mentioned Goldie’s name, I became a man on a mission. I moved my best rifles to a duffle bag and added as much ammo as I could carry.

“If they grabbed Goldie, where would the assholes take her?” I asked as I moved around my house and grabbed supplies.

Zodiac owned a big ego and flashy personality, but he was sharp in a crisis. So, I was surprised when he replied, “There’s no reason to think she isn’t injured from the accident.”

Walking to the front hall, I pulled out a jacket and barked into the phone, “Where would they take her?”

“How the fuck would I know?”

“You need to find out.”

Zodiac didn’t speak for a long minute. I put Junior out in the backyard and dumped a bunch of food in his bowl. As I filled his water bowl, my president began speaking to someone else.

Once the dog was taken care of, I filled a thermos with water and stuck it in my backpack. I added a handful of bandages, several snacks, and a bottle of pain medicine. I had no idea where I was going, so I prepared for several possibilities.

Zodiac finally said something helpful. “Clint is talking to Boone to see if Goldie’s phone shows her location.”

“I’m leaving the house now and heading to Arkansas. You tell me where to go.”

“What if the assholes are headed here?”