Burned (Devil's Blaze MC, #2)(61)

I’m just about to junk-punch him with my knee, since my hands are a little busy, when the guy falls to the f*cking ground like a piece of lead. Standing behind him is Shaft, who holds a big ass rock he just swung into the man’s head.

Once he makes sure the motherf*cker’s unconscious, he drops the rock on the man’s gut. The guy’s body jerks, but shows no other signs of consciousness.

“About damn time,” I growl, pissed off that I couldn’t finish the motherf*cker myself.

“If a son of a bitch had let me leak my lizard earlier, I would have been here, so shut it. What do we do with the son of a bitch?”

“Kill him.”

“Wouldn’t it be, y’know, smarter if we just tie him up and deliver him to the cops?”

“Not as much fun.”

“Whatever, man. I’m not the son of a bitch who’s leaking blood all over the place and starting to look like I haven’t seen sun in a couple of years.”

“Fine. Tie him up and we’ll call 911 anonymously. There’s a first aid kit in the car. I’ll see about fixing my arm up.”

“Got it. You going to get your woman?”

“Skull told me not to, so no, but we sure ain’t letting her out of our sight.”

“Joy,” Shaft grumbles. “I’ll be back. Gonna get some rope out of the truck.”

I follow him after making sure that the * hasn’t come around. He’s still out cold, so I start walking back to the truck. I stop mere feet away from Katie’s jeep. She’s still sound asleep. She better be glad Skull forbade me to grab her tonight, because if he hadn’t… f*ck. I was already pissed. After seeing how close she got to some pervert raping her—or worse—I’m not sure how gentle I’d have been with her. I give her one more glance through the window of her jeep, then walk back down to my vehicle.

It’s gonna be a long night.





Sleeping in my car was a lot more fun when I was younger. I think I’m sorer now than I was before I took my nap. I didn’t mean to stay out quite so long. Apparently, Mississippi rest areas are safer than the ones I’m used to because no one bothered me.

I’m back on the road, headed to my sisters. I should be there any moment, which is good. Up ahead, I see a road sign that reads “HWY 3209” and take a small breath of relief.

Finally, I’ll be with Beth and Gabby again. I go across a small, low-water bridge, take the right turn like Bethie explained, and start watching the odometer. She said the hotel was on the left about two miles. I cringe when I see it. It was probably a great hotel—back in the early eighties. I pull into the parking lot and take a breath. I can do this, I tell myself. Nothing to it. I’ll just collect my sister and niece, then we have to get the f*ck out of here before Norman Freaking Bates shows up. Simple.

I look around and it seems clear. I don’t know why, but I’ve had this feeling all morning that someone’s been following me. I could’ve sworn I saw the same truck a few times, but each time it would get lost in traffic or pass me. It’s the interstate, and that shit happens, but I’m just being paranoid. I blame Torch. He got me to let my guard down and now I see enemies everywhere.

I go to the right door, then knock. It takes a couple of minutes before Bethie opens the door. When she does, she wraps her arms around me so tight I can’t breathe.

“Let’s get out of the open,” I tell her, still unable to shake that feeling.

We retreat back into the room. She closes the door behind me. “Are you okay?” she asks at once, sitting down on one of the double beds in the room.

“I’ll be better when we get on the road,” I admit. “You got all your stuff packed?”

“All but Gabby’s. She’s still sleeping. She barely closed her eyes last night.”

“Isn’t she getting any better?”

“Yeah. You know I wouldn’t put Gabby’s health in jeopardy. She’s just got her days and nights mixed up.”

I walk over to the far bed that Bethie and her slept in. Little Gabby’s curled up against a pillow, her thick black curls laying over her face. She looks like an angel.

“Hello, my sweet niece,” I whisper with a smile. She makes everything better, just by being close. These two are all I need. I don’t need Torch. You can only depend on family. God, that sounds absurd, coming from me. But Bethie and Gabby are the only real family I’ve ever had, so it’s true.

“We need to get going,” Bethie warns me. “How about I load up my stuff and move yours from the jeep? We’ll put it all in my car. You can rest your leg and watch Gabby. Then, when I’m done, we’ll load up the rest of her stuff and get the heck out of here.”

I smile because that’s Bethie, kicking into mother mode. I sit back down with a sigh. “Am I that obvious?”

“You’re limping like crazy.”

“Okay, it’s probably a good plan,” I concede, because I am in a lot of pain.

“And I’m driving when we hit the road,” she insists, going to the nightstand and grabbing her keys.

“I’m going to miss my jeep,” I complain.

“Too many people will be looking for it,” Bethie reasons, “from what you told me on the phone this morning. I can’t believe you and Torch…”