Page 76 of Minus

“Baby elephant,” I said, with a yawn.

“The tree?”

“No, it’s safe, don’t worry. I’ll tell you all about it in the morning,” I said, and passed out.

* * *

Cricket

At least one of us could sleep. After the fourth pillow fluff and side roll, I gave up and got out of bed. I was jetlagged, overheated from the wine, and having a hard time getting the sheep to slow down long enough for me to count them.

After a failed attempt at finding my pants in the dark, I decided the night was warm enough to go out in the sweat shorts I’d worn to bed, so I slipped on my shoes, and opened the sliding door that led outside. The cool night air felt amazing against my burning skin, and I followed a path that led all the way to the front entrance of the house, then up the long driveway toward the main road.

Large open fields flanked each side of the road, and the wind played a tranquil song through the tall grass reeds. Minus was right, this place was magical. I could see what spending time here with Duke and Pearl and the horses had done for him. His soul seemed at rest here. And even amidst all the club drama he was going though, I’m not sure I’d ever seen him as relaxed as I did at dinner tonight. Even as he and Duke sat and strategized, afterwards, he had a stillness about him. I could see the leader that Cutter and Duke saw coming to the surface, with a quiet intensity.

He was right, Jase was going away, and Minus was taking control. It was exciting to see… and scary at the same time. It was also sexy as hell. I’m not sure that I ever would have classified myself as someone who was attracted to a man in power, but something about Minus made mewantto let him take charge. I began to heat up again when my thoughts turned to him, and my exposed thighs burned against the night air as I continued my walk.

My thoughts were broken when headlights appeared on the road, off in the distance.

“Goddamned pothead poachers,” I muttered in my best Duke voice.

I hid out of sight, in the tall grass, as the oncoming vehicle continued its approach. Just before the car reached my hiding spot, the driver cut the headlights, but continued driving. I could hear tires on the dirt road, as the vehicle slowed and eventually stopped approximately seventy-five yards away from the house. In the moonlight, I could barely make out the silhouette of the car parked along the fence line.

After a few moments, the driver quietly got out of the car and began briskly walking up the road, toward the house. If this was a pot grower, he was after more than a patch of out-of-the-way soil. Staying low, I carefully made my way to the parked car and peeked through the rear window. The car was empty, and I breathed a sigh of relief, having now realized I was completely unprepared should it have been filled with bad guys with machetes. In fact, I didn’t even have pants on, I was out here, stalking God knows who, in the middle of the night, unarmed in nothing but short shorts, a t-shirt and sneakers.

Oh, and the ring that Minus gave you. You mustn’t forget that.

That flippant thought sparked an idea, and I felt along the side of the ring and pressed the tiny lock release. I removed the nano-tracker from the ring and wedged it between two flexible pieces of the car’s plastic bumper. I didn’t know who this guy was, but at least Minus would be able to track him later if he got away tonight.

I made my way back down the road, being careful to stay hidden, and trying not to think about every scary movie I’d ever seen as a teenager. You know, the one where the stupid half-naked blonde is walking alone in the woods, while a shadowy figure lurks about.

Cricket, you are just lousy with smart choices lately, aren’t you?

I followed the path back to Minus’s room, but when I got there, he was gone. The slider was wide open, and all his stuff was there, but there was no trace of Minus.

I quietly opened the bedroom door and peeked into the hallway. There was no trace of him there, or in the bathroom.

“Minus,” I called out quietly, but got no response.

I grabbed my phone from the nightstand and turned on the flashlight. I checked the top drawer for Minus’ gun, which he had placed there before bed. It was right where he’d left it and the safety was on. If he’d heard a noise and gone to investigate, he obviously didn’t feel the need to take his gun. Maybe, he woke up and found me gone and went outside to look for me. Either way, I didn’t want to be alone with someone creeping around outside.

Just then, I was startled by a loud thump coming from somewhere inside the house. I grabbed the gun and my cell phone, and quietly walked down the hall to the great room to continue my search.

“Minus,” I called out again, a little louder this time. I’d almost reached the kitchen when I heard another muffled thump. This time, I could hear that it had come from the master bedroom, so I quietly made my way in that direction, hoping that I would find Minus or Duke and not a homicidal maniac. Once I reached Duke and Pearl’s room, I saw that it was ajar. Pointing the gun with my right hand, and holding the phone light with my left, I slowly nudged the door open. Moonlight poured through the room’s windows, bathing it in cool blue light.

Pearl was sleeping soundly on a giant four-poster bed. As I continued to approach, I could see that the spot next to her, which I assumed was reserved for Duke, was empty. My heart skipped a beat as I heard another thump, and I looked to see Duke, lying on the floor, struggling to move.

“Oh, my God, Duke!” I exclaimed and rushed over to him. “Pearl wake up! I think Duke’s having a heart attack!” I cried out, but she didn’t stir.

“Shhhot,” Duke said, barely able to speak.

“You’ve been shot?” I asked as I examined him for a bullet wound.

“Pearl,” he whispered as he tried to extend his hand out to her.

“Where were you hit, Duke?”

He shook his head, while fighting to keep his eyes open. “Pearl,” he said one final time, before his head hit the carpet with one last thud. His breathing was shallow, but at least hewasbreathing.

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