The drive continues in silence, which for me isn’t pleasant at all, since with each mile I recognize less and less of the countryside. I must’ve sent them down the wrong way. I must’ve.
And that could very well be a death sentence.
They’re Devil’s Nightmare MC, according to the backs of the cuts Cross and Ace are wearing.
And that club is not to be messed with. It’s the club Piston and Horse were attacked by the night that Ace saved their lives. Now I’m thinking that was all staged. Does Stormi know who Ace really is? He’s a member of Devil’s Nightmare MC, and they have a long-standing reputation of being merciless and ruthless killers for hire. So’s Colt. But I can’t dwell on that, not now.
I’ve proven myself useless to them, and I’m afraid to think about what they do to useless people. What if Cross decides I’ve been lying to him and sent him on a wild goose chase? What does he do to people like that? Monarch would kill a person he thought was disrespecting him on sight. Horse and Piston were forever feeling slighted, as was Griff. None of them hesitated to punch or kill for it. What then?
My panic is so high I’m getting nauseous and I’m already rehearsing the apology I have to deliver now. I have to convince Cross that I wasn’t just making this stuff up, that I really thought the ghost town was this way. Should I start speaking now? We’ve been driving a long time, much longer than the ride me and Piston took. Or does it just seem that way, because I was so happy to be out of the bar that night, on the back of a bike, going fast? I don’t know. I don’t know anything anymore. I should say something…
The setting sun behind us suddenly glimmers off metal roofs in front of us. There rows of houses, about ten per row are visible from the road, their roofs glowing orange. And one of them, the big house built slightly above the rest of the town on an elevation with the hill behind it, as though looking down on it, is reflecting the orange of the setting sun all over. The last time I was here, the light of the full moon was doing the same thing, only everything was bright silver then.
“That’s it!” I say. “We found it!”
I’m breathless because I’ve been holding my breath in fright and panic for so long. My heart is still hammering in my chest, but not in a bad way. I did what I told them I’d do. Now they’ll let me go, now they’ll let Colt and me spend as much time together as we want to. Now I’m truly free.
Cross slows down as we approach the town. It was only clearly visible from that bend in the road where I spotted it, and we get no glimpse of it again until we reach the dirt road that leads to it.
“This is the way to the gate,” I tell them once we do.
Even to my untrained eye, the fresh tire tracks in the gravel leading up to it are clearly visible.
“I think they are here,” I mutter.
“Seems that way, but we need to find a spot to observe the town unseen from and make sure,” Cross says. “How big is the town, do you remember?”
“It’s not huge,” I mutter, remembering how Piston insisted we ride slowly down every street with the lights off to watch for ghosts. “Maybe like a hundred houses and like a bunch of streets off the main one. But everything was pretty tightly packed together.”
“We’ll head for the hill, see what we can see,” Cross says and accelerates again.
We meander for a while, getting lost, and turned around on the hill before we finally find a spot Cross is happy with.
“Let’s go,” he says, turning off the engine, grabbing a two getting out. Ace gets a large black bag from the back of the truck and slings it over his shoulder.
The sun is still giving off some light, but it’s faint. We creep along the dusty, rocky soil, finding our way among the short shrubs that are pretty green despite the scorched terrain. I’m trying not to think of snakes as I follow Cross and Ace with Colt just behind me.
About five minutes later, Cross stops behind a pile of rocks and motions for us to get behind him. He’s found a great spot. Most of the town is visible from up here, and I bet we’re well hidden from view by the rocks and the fact that we’re so far away that the people moving around are tiny.
“See if you two recognize anyone,” Cross tells Ace, who pulls out two sets of binoculars from the black bag he’s carrying and hands me one.
Colt has to help me focus mine, because I’m not sure how to do it. I’ve used a pair of binoculars maybe twice in my life, if that many.
But once I can see, I spot Lisa and her flaming red hair right away. She’s sweeping up the sidewalk in front of one of the buildings along the main street, not looking very happy about it at all. That’s right, bitch. You forgot how to work while me and Stormi did everything around the clubhouse and bar.
The venom of the thought surprises me. But then again, Lisa did go out of her way to make my life miserable at the bar.
I recognize some of the guys approaching the place Lisa is sweeping in front of, which I assume is their new bar.
“That’s Snake going up to the big house,” Ace says. “Right?”
It takes me a couple of tries to find that area with my binoculars.
“Yes, that’s him. I’d recognize that ass-long, thin ponytail anywhere,” I say. “He seems to be running the show now, since he’s staying in the big house. That was supposed to be for Griff, his sons, and the execs.”
“All right, so it’s confirmed. They’re here,” Cross says, reaching for my binoculars. “Let’s get a count and then take some pictures.”
“I count about thirty,” Ace says after a while.
“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Cross says. “But let’s plan for twice that many. Take the pictures. Make sure everything is visible.”
Ace puts away his binoculars and pulls out an expensive-looking camera and starts clicking away.
Colt is standing very close to me, and I’m dying to feel his arm around me, despite the heat rising from the ground all around us. I lean on him and wrap my arm around his waist and he pulls me close by placing his arm around my shoulders just like I wanted him to. I love how connected we are. How we can practically read each other’s minds. How safe I feel when he’s near me, holding me, how natural feeling this way feels.
“What’s gonna happen to the Sinners now?” I ask quietly, thinking only Colt will hear me, but Cross turns to me sharply and pierces me with his black eyes.
“Do you care?” he asks.
I shake my head. “I’d like to see them all rot in hell.”
Cross nods and starts surveying the town again. I lean against Colt and hold him tight with both my arms around his waist now, not talking. We don’t really need to talk, and I don’t want to say the wrong thing again.
It was full dark when we returned to the motel. They sent me ahead into the room, while they conversed in the truck. I tried, but I couldn’t help fretting over what’s gonna happen next.
The maid had been in while we were out, and the room smells only slightly of bleach, because the scent of lavender is overpowering it. I suddenly miss Stormi viciously.
Where is she? Is she even OK? Did it work out between her and Ace? Is her sister all right? So many questions I wish I could ask Ace, but a good moment to just didn’t come up.