“Where did he go?”
Tate shakes her head as her hand slips behind her back, ready to grab her gun at a moment’s notice. “Just keep moving, Row… and maybe get that taser out now.”
“Okay,” I whisper, nodding as I pull the taser out of my bag and turn it on. My hand shakes as I grip it tightly, my gaze flicking around the mall and my heart pounding in my ears.
Where is he?
“We’re almost there,” Tate tells me when the front door comes into view and I nod, glancing behind us and sucking in a breath. He’s there, walking calmly in the same direction we are and I barely resist the urge to sob as my mind drowns in fear. I nudge Tate.
“Behind us.”
She glances over her shoulder and gives me a curt nod before stepping closer to Blaze and Piper. “Pick up the pace. He’s behind us.”
I swear I can feel his fingertips brushing against the back of my shirt as we all walk a little faster toward the exit but I refuse to look back again. My stomach flips and tears sting my eyes as my heart hammers out of control in my chest. The memory of the way Travis held me in the nightclub, the last time we were in this situation, pops into my mind and I can’t help but wish he was here now.
“Keep moving,” Blaze calls back to us as we step outside and cold air blasts us in the face. Glancing up at the gray sky looming over us, I can’t help but think it’s indicative of our situation as one single thought echoes through my mind.
I’m going to die here.
Sucking in a breath, I can’t stop myself from glancing back again but when I peek over my shoulder, he is gone. It should calm me, reassure me that I’m safe now but the only thing worse than seeing Warren is not seeing him because if I’ve learned one thing since moving here, it’s that he is always working behind the scenes, plotting his next move and it usually proves disastrous for us. Turning back to face Blaze and Piper as we near the SUV, I take another deep breath, desperately trying to calm myself but my hands won’t stop shaking and my heart is about to beat right out of my chest. When we finally reach the vehicle, Tate opens the back door for us and ushers me inside first before forcing Piper in next to me. Once we’re inside, she jumps in and Blaze slips behind the wheel and starts the engine, refusing to take his eyes off the parking lot. He locks the door and puts the SUV in reverse as the sound of a motorcycle engine rips through the air. I turn to look out of the window as one races up our aisle and pulls to a stop behind us, blocking us in.
Oh, God, this is it.
“Fuck,” Blaze hisses, his eyes hard as steel in the rearview mirror. He backs up as far as he can without hitting the bike and Warren doesn’t even flinch as the bumper of the SUV inches closer and closer to him. When Blaze can’t back up anymore, he puts the vehicle in drive. The spots on either side of us are open as well as the space next to the small truck parked in front of us, allowing him to crank the wheel to the left and slip through the maze of cars without incident. His knuckles are white on the steering wheel as he races down the aisle, toward the exit, and he periodically glances in the mirror to monitor Warren. The sound of the bike’s engine revving fills the air again as lights dance across my vision as I reach down and grab Tate’s hand off of the seat. Her eyes meet mine and despite the bravado she usually walks around with, I can see her fear as she squeezes my hand.
“Tate, call Kodiak. I want him, Chance, Streak, Henn, and Moose to meet us on their bikes and surround the SUV,” Blaze orders and she nods, releasing my hand to make her phone call. As soon as my brother answers, she fills him in on what is going on and his shouted demands for more information fill the car even though she doesn’t have him on speakerphone.
“Later, Lincoln,” she snaps, her knee bouncing next to me as she turns to look out of the window. “Just get here now.”
He says something else to her but it’s too quiet to hear and as she ends the call, I turn to glance behind us. The bike is probably about five car lengths back now but I can tell it’s creeping closer and I just hope the boys get here before he catches us.
What would he do if he actually caught us?
The thought sends me into a tailspin and I press my hand against my chest as I turn forward again and flop into my seat as an awful idea about what he could have planned for us flicks through my mind and I struggle to breathe. If everything he’s done so far has just been a warm up to his main event, how bad will it get and will any of us survive? My mind drifts to the note that came with Piper and Wyatt’s wedding present as I shake my head.
One down, four to go.
Does that mean he’s only coming after a certain four people and he has no intention of hurting anyone else or are we all just collateral damage in his quest to get to those people? Will he sacrifice everyone and everything to complete his mission?
“There they are,” Blaze says, pointing to a line of bikes as they roar past us going the opposite way. Flipping in my seat, I stare out of the back of the SUV as they cut across the median and start gaining on us, weaving through the other cars on the road with what looks like reckless abandon but I know each and every one of them is hyper-focused on reaching us before anyone else does. Warren glances over his shoulder as they race up behind him and he falls back, blending into the other traffic as the boys reach the SUV and surround it with their bikes.
“Only a few more minutes to the clubhouse,” Tate whispers and I’m honestly not sure if she’s reassuring me or herself but either way, it’s nice to hear. Settling back into my seat, I turn to the other side and watch Travis as he rides along next to the SUV and I can almost imagine his furrowed brow as he focuses on the road in front of him. A wave of peace washes over me as I stare at him, fighting back the fear and panic so I throw all of my focus on him, remembering the way he held me last night while we slept, like he never wanted to let me go. Shaking my head, I dismiss that thought. This is a high pressure situation and it’s making me overthink things and imagine things that aren’t really there. Travis and I are casual, despite what everyone else says, and it would be monumentally stupid of me to forget that.
Finally, after what feels like an eternity, we pull to a stop in front of the gate to the clubhouse and Lincoln jumps off his bike before punching in the code and standing back to let us all in. As soon as Blaze has the SUV parked in its usual spot, Tate opens the door and we all spill out of the vehicle. Before I can even get two steps from the door, Travis runs up to me and scoops me up in his arms, lifting me off of my feet as he crushes me to his body and buries his face in my neck. His entire body is shaking and his chest heaves as he struggles to catch his breath but he still doesn’t release me until both of our heart rates have slowed.
When he finally sets me back on my feet, his eyes meet mine before scanning my body methodically, checking for injuries as his hands smooth over my skin. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I whisper, my voice still shaky as I nod and he releases a breath before pulling me back into his arms and presses his lips to my forehead.
“Fuck, baby. I was so scared…”
I nod because he doesn’t need to explain. Just like the other night when we laid under the stars, I can see and feel everything he is trying to say in his eyes and in his touch. His hand slips into my hair and he begins massaging my head as he shakes his own and presses another kiss to my forehead. Our connection wraps us up, cocooning the two of us in our own little world as he releases another sigh - one that tells me how happy he is that I’m safe and just how worried he was that he was going to lose me.