Family was family. Amelia had to understand what was going on and forgive her.
Keenan...well, Keenan would probably hate her. He depended on her.
"Where am I going?" Amelia leaned over the steering wheel, trying to see the road in the dark.
"Go to the main street by the river and keep going. You'll eventually hit a small town called St. Maries. We can get a hotel room and talk." She pressed against the headrest and looked at Amelia. "You'll have to pay. I don't have my card with me. Or, shoes."
Amelia reached over and held Grace's hand. She squeezed back. Relief at knowing her sister understood she was alive and well and would no longer worry washed over her.
"I have so much to tell you," she whispered. "You're never going to believe what I've been through."
"I'm afraid to ask, but I need to. Who is responsible for locking you in that house?" Amelia glanced at her before looking back at the road. "Were you hurt?"
Many times, during her stay with Keenan, she suffered. The pain at times was almost more than she could bear, especially when a man was killed right in front of her. She'd feared for her life for days, living in a constant state of exhaustion.
"I wasn't hurt," she whispered. "Just confused."
She stared out into the darkness. It seemed like she hadn't seen Keenan for days when in fact, it'd only been hours.
It felt strange to be outside, in a car and leaving Avery Falls. But she couldn't risk staying in the mountain town with her sister if men wanted to hurt her. She'd never endanger Amelia.
She closed her eyes to stop the tears. It seemed like every time she turned around, she unknowingly hurt someone she loved.
This time, it was Keenan.
He was going to tear the town apart looking for her. For how hard he'd tried to keep her safe, she'd done exactly what he tried to keep her from doing.
She'd found a way to escape and had left him.
Chapter Thirty Three
Keenan jumped off his Harley and grabbed J.J., shaking her. "Where is she going?"
"I don't know." J.J. pushed against him, propelling her body away. "Jesus, Keenan. What have you done? You locked that woman in your house."
"It's none of your business." He stalked toward her. "Tell me who has her and where she's going."
"She's with her sister." J.J. palmed her forehead and shook her head. "I was closing the store, and this woman stopped me at the door, upset because she was looking for her sister who was missing in our area and couldn't find the police station. I told her Avery Falls doesn't have one, and she'd need to contact Idaho State Patrol. I asked if she needed help because she was upset, a-and she told me her sister was camping and hadn't come home or checked in. Since you're the only member around lately, I thought maybe you could tell her if her sister was staying in the area. I was only trying to help, and then we find the women at your house. Locked in your house. God, Keenan. Is she the missing woman from the poster at the store?"
J.J. shook her head, disappointment written all over her face. Keenan headed toward the house. If there were anyone else out there trying to hurt him, they'd have an easy way to reel him in by snatching Grace. He needed to bring her home.
Inside the house, he grabbed the gas card off the kitchen counter. Then, he walked back outside.
J.J. rushed up to him as he sat the Harley. "Don't go after her. You're going to get in trouble. I think they were going to contact the police."
"Which way did they go?" He toed the kickstand.
J.J. pointed. "What are you going to do?"
He started the bike and shot out of his driveway without answering her. The only thing on his mind was finding Grace. He had a feeling they'd drive until they came to the first town with a police department. He'd follow and eventually find her.
At the gas station, he found himself shaking with impatience. If he hadn't had to deal with the club, he would've been home. Grace would still be with him.
Even stopping for gas and being unprepared to ride any distance slowed him down. Precious minutes wasted. Anything could happen to Grace without him by her side, and it would be his fault.
Once on the two-lane highway, he opened the throttle. His thoughts centered on Grace. He rode on instinct that he was trained for. He took the corners, feeling the tilt of the road. Aware of the dangers, he gazed ahead of his headlight beam. The adrenaline coursing through his body heightened his senses.
The high mountains hugging the road backed away. Every so often, a vehicle passed him, going the opposite way.
In the distance, lighted signs guided him. His vision adjusted. But his body remained tense. He hated coming into St. Maries. There was comfort in the mountains, surrounded by those who were just like him.
He had no idea where to look, but he found himself riding by the police station first. The building was closed, but there was a phone outside the door for emergencies.
Grace wasn't an emergency. He was taking care of her. She was safe with him.
Not seeing a navy two-door car that he'd passed on his way home tonight, he widened his search, going down main street. She had to be here somewhere. He rode by every gas station. They'd need fuel to continue their trip.
Grace lived with her sister in Canyon Beach, Oregon. He'd ride all the way there if he had to.
Next, he sought out every hotel, driving through the parking lots. How hard could it be to find an out-of-state license plate to match with a small, dark car?
After the third hotel, he moved his search to the edges of St. Maries. On Eleventh and Maple Street, he slowed. It wasn't Grace's sister's car that had him roughly shifting gears. The flashing lights in the parking lot told him he'd found Grace.
He circled the block three times before he spotted the emergency. There were several people, including Grace, standing in the dimly lit walkway between two of the hotel's buildings.
Even though he knew his freedom was almost over, he parked at the back of the lot where he had a view of Grace. Though he tried to hear the conversation, he was too far away to hear them with the traffic noise behind him.
It wouldn't be long until the cops would leave and go looking for him. Grace would go back with her sister to a life that made her comfortable. She'd regret her time in Avery Falls, where the bad things overpowered the memories of the good times.
She'd dwell on the murder of Four and not on the first time they had sex. Away from him, she'd doubt her choice to stay with him. She'd forget how electrifying it was when they touched.
He was no good at relationships.
He should've done more, said more, shown more.
Incompetence filled him, and he balled his fists. God damnit. She deserved someone better—someone, who came to her free of the weaknesses he possessed.
One of the cops walked away from the group. He closed his eyes, not wanting to see him coming in his direction. He'd already faced a lifetime of someone else telling him what to do, molding him to be someone else, and punishing him until he walked, breathed, thought the way he was trained.
It would be no different in prison.
He'd go from participating in one organization to being in a facility that was ready to kill him.
He opened his eyes, facing his future, and found the cop talking on the radio at his shoulder near his patrol car. Keenan tilted his head, catching parts of the one-sided conversation, not understanding the code words or numbers but realizing he spoke about another emergency call—an accident. Not Grace. Not him.