He frowned, watching the approaching car. “If it comes to it, I’ll deal with Mimi.” He tilted his head in the direction of the road. “Let’s take cover behind those junipers and bitterbrush.”
We ran toward the road and crouched down out of sight.
Ripper tugged on the collar of my white spa robe. “Looks like Mimi held you prisoner in some fancy-ass hotel.”
“She kind of did,” Hannah said. “She lives in a big mansion way out in the middle of nowhere. She still has electricity and hot water and good food.”
“What’s her deal?” Ripper asked.
“She’s a wealthy woman who happened to be staying in her vacation house when the flu hit,” I said. “Her staff died. She’s been alone for months—”
“Except for her two cats,” Hannah interrupted.
“Except for her two cats,” I agreed. “I think that the isolation and loneliness wore her down. She’s losing her mind. It’s tragic actually.” I laid a hand on Ripper’s chest, felt the firm muscles beneath my fingers, tangible proof that I didn’t have to face the post-pandemic world alone. “I don’t believe she started out as a bad person. She just doesn’t have what it takes to deal with the new reality.”
Mimi was adrift, lost without her anchor, a fragile woman, unable to cope. Not too long ago, I’d been afraid that I, too, was weak and fundamentally flawed. Now I knew better. Ripper had helped me discover my strength. Without him, would I have been as helpless as Mimi? Maybe at first, but eventually I would have found my way.
Despite everything she’d done to Hannah and me, I pitied Mimi.
Ripper’s dark eyes bore into mine, seeing the plea behind my words. “Unless she gives me no other choice, I won’t hurt her, Mac. She drives on by, I’ll leave her in peace. All right?”
Nodding, I buried my face in his chest. I breathed in his familiar scent: soap, leather, and a hint of exhaust combined with his own distinctive musk. Home. In his arms, I was safe and seen. “I love you.”
His arms tightened around me. “Love you, too, Mac.”
I drew back, remembering. “Sahdev. The Wilcox Brigade took Sahdev. Did you see them bring him to Valhalla?”
“Think so. Dwight and Darryl took off after some headlights. When they came back, there was a man in the front seat of one of the pickups. Didn’t get a good look at him because they pulled into the garage, but it had to be the doc.”
“Do you have a plan yet to get him back?” I asked.
“Working on it.” Raising his gaze, he held up a warning hand. We fell silent and hunched over as Mimi’s car slowly glided past. When her car reached the intersection with the main road she paused, as if torn between turning right or left. Her head pivoted from side to side. Finally, she turned right onto the road.
Ripper pulled the walkie-talkie from an inner pocket of his cut and called Levi.
“You ready to roll?” he asked.
“You found them?” The relief in Levi’s voice was palpable. “Is Hannah okay?”
“Yeah. They’re both fine. Listen up. We’re about two miles past where you discovered the jeep. Be ready for trouble. The woman who took them prisoner is looking for them. She drove off in the opposite direction, but she might be back.”
“On my way.”
Ten minutes later, the jeep trundled into view. Ripper stood to signal Levi, who pulled onto the side of the road and leaped out of the cab. Hannah flew toward him, almost knocking him over when she jumped into his arms.
“We gotta move.” Ripper swung onto his bike, and I climbed on behind him. “We’ll talk back at the house.”
Levi and Hannah pulled out first. Ripper followed close behind. I kept twisting around, imagining that I heard Mimi’s car sneaking up behind us—afraid that she’d force Ripper’s hand—but we made it back to the house without incident.
Kyle burst out the door and swept me up in a bear hug. “You scared the crap out of us, Kenz.” He swung me around, my feet dangling a foot above the ground, until I gasped for breath and pounded on his chest.
“Put me down, you big goof,” I laughed.
Ripper cocked a brow, grinning at Kyle’s exuberant greeting. Hard to believe that just weeks ago they were at each other’s throats. Their animosity had withered and died, thank God. The world was a scary place, and I needed my tribe.
Kyle gently set me on the ground and kissed my forehead. “Welcome back, sweetheart.”
“We didn’t scare you on purpose, you know,” Hannah said, both arms wrapped around Levi’s waist as they mounted the steps into the house. “The stupid Nazis took Sahdev and we got lost running away from them.”
Hector lifted his head and whimpered when we entered the house. Hannah and I ran to his side and dropped to our knees, murmuring sympathetic words and gently stroking his fur.
“What happened to you guys?” Levi demanded, taking a seat on the sofa.
“The Wilcox Brigade boxed us in,” I said. “Sahdev backed the jeep into some trees and told Hannah and me to climb out the back and run.” My throat ached at the memory of his bravery. I swallowed hard, but couldn’t keep the tremor from my voice. “He let the brigade take him so we could get away.”
Leaning forward from his seat in a beat-up leather recliner, Ripper held out a hand. “C’mere.”
I stood and climbed onto his lap. I shifted around to face the others, running my palm up and down Ripper’s forearm while I told them about our misadventure with Mimi.
“Kenzie broke us out.” Hannah gave me credit for our escape. “We barricaded the door and made a rope from the bedsheet. We’d stashed our backpacks under some rose bushes—Kenzie’s idea—and we grabbed them and ran, following the driveway toward the main road.”
“Just before dawn, we saw the headlight on Ripper’s bike.” I threaded my fingers through his. “We didn’t know if it was Ripper or Tuck, but we were getting nervous about Mimi chasing us down, so we decided to risk signaling him.”
“And you know the rest.” Hannah stood, yawned, then plopped onto the sofa, lifting Levi’s arm and wriggling underneath it to cuddle against his chest.
“So what are we going to do to rescue Sahdev?” I asked.
“And Bear.” Kyle perched on the arm of the sofa.
“Been giving that a lot of thought,” Ripper said slowly.
I turned around in his lap to study Ripper’s face. In the excitement of our reunion, I hadn’t noticed the dark smudges beneath his eyes or the lines of fatigue etched onto his face. If circumstances required, he’d push himself beyond the point of exhaustion to take care of the people he considered his own.
Ripper had claimed me, but that possessiveness, that protectiveness, ran both ways, didn’t it? I traced a fingertip over the grooves that bracketed his mouth. He gazed down at me with bleary, bloodshot eyes.
“When’s the last time you slept, I mean really slept, not just resting your eyes while you stood watch?”
He shrugged, dismissing my query.
I caught hold of his chin, forcing him to meet my gaze. “Don’t you shrug off my question, Mr. Solis.”
Startled confusion yielded to humor in his expression. “Should have warned me that you’re so bossy, Ms. Dunwitty.”