Don’t think I’m leaving for good. You’ll see me again, after I’ve found out who is stalking me and stop him. Please tell Viper not to worry about me. I’ve been on my own since I was twelve years old, and I’m pretty good at taking care of myself. The only part I regret is leaving you.
Go home, Gavin, where you want to be. Just do me one favor; try not to fall in love with someone else. You really are meant for me.
Love,
Ginny
Opening the door of the apartment, Reaper found the key he was looking for on the counter in a plastic tray. There were two sets; one was for the rental car, and the other was for a spare motorcycle that Rider kept there when he was on Ginny’s detail. The brother was going to have a hissy fit when he found out Reaper had taken it. However, he needed the speed and the maneuvering that a car couldn’t provide.
Locking the door behind him, he was in the elevator in less than six minutes after getting Shade’s call. Shoving Ginny’s letter into his jacket pocket, he rushed to find Rider’s motorcycle.
Starting the bike, he pulled up Google maps on his phone, trying to decide which direction she would go. There were so many ways out of Nashville that he would have an easier time throwing a fucking dart at a map.
About to call Nickel and ask if the surveillance tape showed which direction she had gone, a thought struck him. Ginny was big on saying good-byes. She had written a note to both Nickel and him and was mailing one to Viper. She also told the two kids at the pizza store last night that she wouldn’t be seeing them again.
Sending a quick text to Kaden, Reaper put his phone and the letter in his pocket and gunned out of the parking garage. He was going to take a chance on Ginny’s next move. If he was wrong, there wouldn’t be any catching up with her.
Going so fast, he was surprised he wasn’t pulled over. It took him ten minutes to get to where he was going versus the almost twenty minutes it would have taken him to ride to the nightclub. Finding a spot to park was aggravating, and he didn’t have the time, so he parked between two cars. The owners were going to be pissed off when they returned and saw he hadn’t left them any room to move their cars. Uncaringly, he got off the bike to go into the restaurant he swore never to go in again.
Marty was behind the grill and there were several customers standing at the cash register.
Reaper went around them to stand at the counter. “Has Ginny been in here?”
“Today?” Opening a brown paper bag, he started putting burgers inside.
Placing his hands on the counter, Reaper prepared to jump over the counter if the asswipe kept playing games. “Yes, today.”
“She left about ten minutes ago.”
Reaper lifted his hand just to smack it down in frustration. “Fuck.”
“She give you boys the slip?”
“Which direction did she go?”
Marty lifted the fry basket to dump the fries inside the bag. “Took off toward the interstate.”
Nodding, Reaper headed toward the door.
“Wait!”
The customers moved when Marty waved them away.
“Take this.” Marty held the bag over the cash register for him to grab. “You’re going to get hungry before you catch her.”
Giving him a dirty look, Reaper ignored the offering, reaching for the doorknob instead.
“If you underestimate Ginny, you’re never going to find her. She wasn’t driving the same car she usually pulls up in.”
“What was she driving?”
“A black four-door Taurus. I’m guessing it’s a 2015 or ’16 model. I took down the license plate. It’s on the bag.”
Leaning forward, Reaper took the bag from him. “Thanks.”
“Didn’t do it for you. Did it for her. I don’t want anything happening to that girl. She’s my best customer. She came by to give me a good-bye card. Bought me a week’s getaway in the Dominion Republic.” Marty shook his jowly head. “Like I have the time to take a vacation.”
Ginny meant more to him than any customer. The asswipe cared about Ginny, and she cared about him, too, or she wouldn’t have come to tell him good-bye and give him something so Marty would remember her.
“Do yourself a big favor and sell your business as fast as you can. Take a break from the restaurant and put a hold on the Dominion Republic for a few months.”
“Any reason why I would want to sell?”
“I’m just returning the favor.” Reaper left with the bag, leaving the asswipe to stare after him.
On his bike, he called Shade with the license number and the direction she was headed. Then, putting the burgers in the saddlebags, he took off toward the interstates.
He chose the westbound ramp, since the southbound interstate would send her toward Florida. Though she’d find it easier to hide with all the tourists, something had him going west. He told Shade to call Nickel to take the eastbound interstate. That only left northbound, which would have put Ginny coming too close to Kentucky, the exact place she’d lead her stalker away from. Once on the interstate, he started looking for black cars
His deductions were based on wild guesses. Guesses that, if he was wrong, Ginny would no longer be the responsibility of the club or him. If she achieved her goal and successfully managed to slip away, Ginny could be out of his hair forever, or at least the time it took her to feel safe enough to return to Treepoint.
A shiny black hood caught his eye.
Speeding up, he rode the line between a semi and a red pickup, risking his neck to gain speed on the black car, hell-bent on catching her.
Then all he had to do was let her go.
He had a little something to give her to help her remember him.
Chapter Twenty
Getting in line behind a father with two young children wasn’t the best decision she had ever made. Ginny pretended to be patiently waiting for her turn in line while all she was doing was blasting herself. It would be quicker to get back in her car and go through the drive-thru. She had come into the fast food restaurant to use the restroom and grab something quick to eat and drink. She hadn’t planned on getting behind a five-year-old who couldn’t make up her mind on whether she wanted nuggets or a hamburger.
She should have waited until she was ready to stop for the night. Her rumbling stomach had disagreed, though, reminding her of why she was in line in the first place.
Finally able to give her order, Ginny then took the paper cup from the employee to fill up at the self-serve drinking fountain.
Putting the lid on the top when she was finished, Ginny poked a straw through the lid to take a sip when she heard her number called out.
The sip went down the wrong way when she saw Gavin standing in line to place an order. She started choking and felt a dozen pair of eyes on her as she tried to clear her throat.
“Are you okay?” the woman behind the counter asked, holding out her order.
“Yes.” Nodding, Ginny took her order, not knowing what to do next.
The employees behind the counter gave her curious looks when she didn’t move away. She couldn’t with her eyes locked with Gavin’s.
“Go sit down, Ginny.”
Trembling, Ginny found an empty booth and sat. Staring at the bag, she didn’t lift her eyes even when she felt the table shake as Gavin slid into the other side of the booth.