Loving Me, Trusting You(61)

“Gimme just a sec,” Beck says, pulling out his cell phone and playing with the screen for a moment. I have no f*cking clue what he's doing, but I wait. When it comes to this sort of thing, Beck actually has his uses. Based on some of his tattoos, I've got a weird suspicion that maybe he's ex-military or something, but I've never been able to prove it, and I've never asked. “I installed one of them GPS things on his phone,” he says, playing dumb when I know he knows exactly what he's talking about. After a moment, his stupid half smile turns into a frown, and my heart stops.

“What?” I yell at him, getting up close and staring him down. Beck looks at the screen and then up at me. “Is he far ahead of us?”

“Not too far,” Beck says, tucking his phone into his back pocket.

“Then what's the problem?” My * friend, the one with the terrible sense of humor, who's dumb as a Goddamn doornail, looks at me with a grave expression.

“Well, from what I can tell,” he says, glancing back at Austin and Kimmi. “He isn't moving, so … either he's stopped for gas or he doesn't have his phone on him anymore.” There's an unspoken or in that sentence, something that tells me Beck doesn't believe either of those things. I finish his sentence for him.

“Or,” I say, taking a deep breath and squeezing my fists at my sides. “They've already got him.”





I expect to ride through the night before I come even close to encountering Bested by Crows, but it doesn't happen like that. I ignore Kimmi's instructions and end up on the interstate, going as fast as I can, pushing my Tiger to her limits while I apologize under my breath. I'm not just chasing demons here, I'm running from Mireya. If she catches up to me while I'm out here, I won't be able to go through with it. I have to hurry before she wakes up and comes after me because I know she will.

About an hour outside of town, I hear them coming.

Even though I don't expect to see them yet, I'm ready, pulling over to the side of the highway and hiding my bike in some bushes. I crouch down and wait, watching as they come around the corner, colors flying, bikes shining under the orange streetlights. My plan is to follow behind them and take them out when they least expect it. I don't think I'm going to get them all, but if I can grab Will, Mack, and the other faces I recognize from the roadblock, I think it'll be okay. I'm hoping that they'll split up again, let their guard down and park their rides at some point.

What I don't expect, don't even friggin' consider, is that they already know I'm coming. Somebody saw me leave and they passed on the word, just like they've been doing all along. I don't know who it is at the moment, but as soon as I hear the crunch of boots behind me, I know it's true.

I turn but not quick enough, pulling my gun out and aiming it at the nearest body. I manage to fire off a single shot into one of the leather clad chests before I'm being grabbed and shoved to my knees. Boots slam down on my back, into my head, smash the bones in my legs. It happens so quick that I don't have time to shout, to struggle, to defend myself. Before I can even roll over and put up a fight, something hard smashes into my skull and renders me unconscious.





Austin pulls together a large group of people to take with us while I pace outside next to my bike and let my mind run wild. I can't even believe this is happening. I can't even f*cking believe that Gaine would do something like this. Really, Mireya? You're surprised that someone loves you enough to try to protect you, to risk his life to save yours? Did I want to leave Triple M? Fuck no. I would've been miserable, I'll admit it, but I was willing to do it to keep them safe. And now, if we don't catch up to Gaine before it's too late, he might not make it at all. If Bested by Crows gets ahold of him, the only hope we'll have is that they'll hold him as a hostage in the hopes of getting me instead.

I throw up one of my grandmother's favorite prayers, hoping that in some way, she'll be here with me tonight. I could use a bit of her strength.

“Dios te salve, Maria. Llena eres de gracia: El Se?or es contigo.” I swallow hard and fight back the pain in my heart. It's not too late yet. I could be grieving for no reason. Hell, Gaine might be stopped at a late night diner nursing a cup of coffee and regretting his stupid ass decision. I keep praying. “Bendita tú eres entre todas las mujeres. Y bendito es el fruto de tu vientre: Jesús.” I close my eyes and listen to the sound of the doors opening behind me, the hurried footsteps across the pavement. “Santa María, Madre de Dios, ruega por nosotros pecadores, ahora y en la hora de nuestra muerte.”

“A-f*cking-men,” Austin finishes for me, drawing my gaze around to his stoic face. He holds out his hand and gives me a pistol. I have no f*cking clue what kind it is, but it's heavy and full of bullets, so it's good enough for me.

“Amén,” I whisper as I press it to my lips and then stuff it in the back of my pants. Hopefully I won't shoot myself in the ass before we get there. I look around at Beck, Kimmi, at the rest of the familiar faces, people I've known for years and said few, if any, nice things to. I wonder if they all hate me, if I'm the most unlikeable person in this group. Not to Gaine you're not. I ignore that annoying inner voice, the one that's decided to spring up at the worst possible moment, to try to remind me of all the wonderful things he's done, how amazing he's been. It's sort of the last thing I need right now. “Thanks,” I say because that's all I can get out, the only positive thing I can think to say right now. If Gaine survives this, if I survive this, I promise that I'll try to be different, that I'll let people in. I have to. I've been saying I want to move on all this time, thinking that vengeance and blood would get me there. In reality, I had the ingredients I needed all along. I suck in a deep breath. “Now let's get the f*ck out of here.”