Page 16 of Eternally Ginger

9

Ghoul

“Where the fuck is she?” I mindlessly complained, pacing across the porch, and my eyes squinted every damn time the loose board squeaked beneath my feet. The lead in town was yet another dead end, so we beat Ginger back to Aunt Hadley’s house.

“She probably went to another store, Ghoul. It wouldn’t be the first time a woman got distracted. Relax, man,” Sac pointed out, his hand held onto the chain descending from the porch ceiling and hooked to the arm of the swing. He tucked his feet underneath the swing and then straightened them out with a goofy grin plastered on his face.

My eyes narrowed in his direction, and I scoffed, “You look ridiculous.”

“So the fuck do you.” His body flung forward as he hooted and elbowed me in the side when I sat beside him. “Seriously. She. Is. Fine.”

I heard the words he spoke, but they didn’t bring one bit of comfort. What the hell did Sac know anyway?

“Did you try texting her?” Spider groaned as he lowered himself gently into the rocking chair, one hand bracing his lower back while the other clutched the frame of the chair for support.

All my brothers’ who were out here had their gazes fixed on me, and each bore similar emotions. They didn’t have to explain their thoughts because I felt them, too. “Dumbass,” I mumbled to myself, tapping out a quick message to Ginger and sending it with a tap of my finger.

Sleeper’s mouth opened, and I glared at him. “Not a word, prospect.” He held his hands up and shook his head.

My feet found the floor and carried me back and forth over the porch’s length again as I impatiently waited for her reply. My hands rubbed my beard, and then my fingertips nervously ran over my chin.

“You put a tracker on that thing?” I anxiously asked Sleeper, stopping in front of where he sat.

“Do a basset hound’s ears drag the mud?” he snorted.

“I don’t know.” Thin lines formed on my forehead while my lip twitched in confusion. “Did you or did you not?”

“Yes, Ghoul,” he flatly said.

“Yes, what?”

“For fuck sake! Yeah, I put a tracker on it! I’m not a dumbass.” It was a dig at me, but right now, I didn’t care. They didn’t know Ginger like I did. She wasn’t the type to mindlessly wander from store to store. Plus, she hated shopping.

His hand dipped into his pocket for his phone before thumbing through a few screens to open the app. “That’s weird.”

“What?”

“Looks like she’s in the woods outside of town.”

My eyes focused on the banister, and I told myself to breathe. I was overreacting and felt like a dumb shit for doing it. This wasn’t who I was, or at least, it wasn’t who I used to be. In all actuality, I usually only behaved irrationally when it came to anything involving Ginger. When I thought of having to live without her, it physically hurt. My chest heaved with fear, and I fought that shit.

“Let’s go get her,” I articulated each short word, battling the uneasiness slipping around my body. More than likely, she was fine, but my gut instantly imagined the worst. If this was how it felt to love someone, I was fucking doomed.

* * *

Since I was familiar with the area, I rode in the first position behind the cage, even though Sac had scouted the area and probably could have done it. It had literally been his job as our Road Captain since he patched into the club. Realistically, I was too impatient to ride behind anyone, which wasn’t much different than any other day. I was pissed off and on edge, fully aware if I had trusted my intuition, we would have known Ginger wasn’t where she said she was earlier.

Sledge drove Aunt Hadley’s car in front of us while Sleeper’s phone did the navigating. As soon as Sledge stomped on the brake, and the red lights glared in front of us, my throat went dry. I swallowed hard, pulling off the road, and almost laid my bike over, trying to get to the van.

“It’s empty.” Spider barked, his fist pounding against the sliding door on the driver’s side of the vehicle.

“Fuck,” I cussed, my palm smacking the back glass with a thud. “Shi—”

Sleeper’s hand caught mine before it could whack against his grandma’s van again and motioned to Sac.

“There’s a cabin up the road a little piece,” he quickly reported, throwing his leg over his motorcycle and signaling ahead.

“Let’s go,” roared out of my lips, and I prayed we weren’t too late. This didn’t look good for Ginger at all. Instantly, my mind zeroed in on Kingsley. If that fucker had her, there was no telling what shape she was in or what kind of hell she was dealing with. There were too many unknowns to keep considering, but it didn’t stop me from thinking about every damn one of them. The only thing I was certain of if that poor excuse for a man had her, he was dead. I wouldn’t waste time with weapons or intimidation, I would crush his fucking windpipe, and the world would have one less sicko.

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