“Ew, can we not talk about my brother’s sex life?” Emmie complained. “And anyway, I don’t think that’s it. That chick at Gunner’s party was all over him, and he blew her off. He’s always been picky, but I can’t even remember the last time he showed interest in anyone.”
I tried not to be thrilled by this news. It would be a long time, if ever, when I could stomach the idea of Max with someone else.
“Ladies,” Cash greeted, the ever-present toothpick between his lips. Cash was a giant Viking of a man with blond hair that fell past his chin and blue eyes. He’d patched in while I was away at school, and though I didn’t know him well, it was clear he’d become close with Gunner and Max. He was also gorgeous, I couldn’t help but acknowledge despite being completely consumed by Max.
“Hey, Cash,” Gracie greeted.
I kept my back to them, forcibly controlling my breath as Max moved into my periphery. “Wren, there’s something I need to catch you up on.” His voice was low and full of authority.
I ground my teeth. He was putting me on the spot. If I declined, everyone would know something was up. Well, two could play that game.
I forced myself to look up at him. “You caught me up Friday night, remember?” I replied, keeping my tone as light as possible.
His eyes flashed. “There are some key details we didn’t get to,” he ground out.
“What are you guys talking about?” Emmie asked in confusion.
Shit.
“Wren’s helpin’ me fix up the GTO,” he answered easily. Max had a gorgeous black Pontiac GTO. I’d never ridden in it, but had salivated over it for years.
At least one of us could think quickly on their feet.
I eyed him steadily. “I was trying to convince Max not to sell it, but apparently he doesn’t think she’s worth much.”
“Actually,” he argued as he continued to stare at me, “she’s just about the most important thing to me.”
My heart hammered in my chest at his words as my anger flared. “That’s quite a change of heart,” I observed coolly as the blood ran hot in my veins.
“Not a change.” He shook his head. “Call it a realization.”
“Why do I feel like we’re not talking about a car?” Gracie stage whispered.
In a likely failed bid to downplay our exchange, I turned to Grace with a forced smile. “It’s just a car, and speaking of which, I have an early day tomorrow. I should get going. Thanks for the drink.” I held up my beer, finishing the dredges and slamming it on the table harder than I’d intended.
Olivia shot me a look that promised she’d be calling me later as I grabbed my jacket and hightailed it out of there.
I heard Max’s heavy footfall behind me and winced at the sound.
“Max, a word.” Axel’s deep baritone was full of urgency, and I knew from experience, it would stop any of the guys in their tracks.
I sent a silent thank you to whatever divine intervention was saving my backside as I barreled out to my car, alone.
I fired up my gorgeous Mustang, very recently street ready, loving the sound of her throaty throttle as I backed out of the lot and onto the road, headed for home.
I decided to take the back way, wanting to clear my head before I had to deal with the nightly twenty questions from my parents. They meant well, but living under their roof was definitely a short-term solution for me.
When a pair of headlights appeared in my rearview far closer than was standard, at first, I blew it off as some asshole on the road. I slowed down to let them pass. Instead, they moved closer to my bumper, the large vehicle bearing down on me with alarming speed.
“What the hell?” I asked out loud as the headlights grew so close I braced for impact. I couldn’t get a clear make on the car but could tell it was some sort of large SUV or Suburban. I hit the gas, mindful of the windy road. I was an excellent driver, but my car was old and far smaller than the beast behind me.
I’d thrown my purse with my phone inside into the back seat, far out of reach.
I was on my own.
The steering wheel shook under my hands as I pushed my Mustang to her limits. It felt like an eternity since I’d left the bar but had only been minutes as I began to crest the hill that would drop down toward my parents’ house. Sweat broke out on my brow. I was so close to home and so infinitely far.
Who the hell was behind me? What did they want?
My relief at hitting the top of the hill was short lived as a second later the SUV’s onslaught intensified and they made contact, hitting my rear end with enough force to send me spinning over the guardrail and off the road into the ravine below. My car crashed through the underbrush as if in slow motion. There was a moment where the nightmare enveloped me until there was just darkness and, oddly, peace.
Chapter 12
MAX
Are you with Wren?
The text from Olivia had a chill shooting down my spine as I swung off my bike. I’d just pulled into my garage but was quickly ready to ride out again, to where I wasn’t sure.
Instead of texting her back, I called her, my phone in a vice grip as I held it to my ear.
“What’s going on?” I barked the minute she picked up.
“Wren never made it home from the bar,” she told me in a shaky voice. “Sal called me. I was wondering if maybe she went to your place or something.”
“No,” I replied, wishing like hell she had. A million possibilities rushed through my mind, none of them good. “She left the bar, what, an hour ago?” I asked. “Did she have more than one beer?”
“Just the one, she was fine,” she replied. “And yeah, it was about an hour ago. I think Sal and my dad are going to head out and look for her.”
“I’ll join them. Riding out now,” I confirmed, already swinging my leg back over my bike.
I debated where to head first, feeling helpless. The thought of anything happening to Wren had my gut so twisted it was painful as I sped back toward the bar, planning to retrace her steps.
I tried to put myself in her shoes once I got close. She’d been keyed up when she left. Knowing Wren and how much she loved that ’Stang, she might have wanted to take the long way. I immediately pointed my bike toward Raven’s point, the windy road that would drop her down toward her parents’ place.
I forced myself to go slow, to watch for any clue as to what might have happened. When I hit the crest and saw the guardrail had been busted what looked like recently, the blood chilled in my veins. I cut to the side of the road and swung off my bike, rushing to the edge. When I saw her taillights peeking out through the brush, I let out a roar of fear, sliding down the embankment as fast as my body could go.
“Wren!” I hollered her name, ignoring the vines that cut my face and the rocks that dug into my limbs as I scrambled down the steep ravine.
The sight of her slumped over the wheel was something I’d never forget, not if I lived a thousand years. I reached for my phone, praying it hadn’t fallen out in my slide down the hill, relieved to find it still inside my pocket.
“911 what is your emergency?”
“I’m at the bottom of Raven’s Peak, my girl went off the road in her car. She’s unconscious. I need an ambulance now!” I hollered, my voice shaking with adrenalin and something I wasn’t accustomed to feeling—fear.