Page 10 of Vicious Souls

She stops the car on the side of the road and slides out, holding the door open for me before she climbs into the passenger seat. “I’m really enjoying our little tete-a-tete,” she starts, “but I really must get home.”

I look at her out of the corner of my eye as I maneuver onto the road, more questions swirling around in my head.

“You have a curfew?” I ask. She looks way too young to be out on her own in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night. I wonder if anyone has even missed her. I wonder what her connection to Murray is and what she’s hiding.

Mystery Woman snickers and faces forward, obviously not wanting to discuss things further.

“I’m Dante, by the way,” I introduce myself. “You have a name?”

“No names.”

“In my mind, I’ve already named you Mystery Woman. You want me to keep referring to you as Mystery woman?”

She shrugs nonchalantly.

“Ok, then Moneybags it is.”

“Moneybags?”

“It’s the perfect name for you.”

* * *

We driveon for another twenty minutes, passing only one other car on the darkened roads. Eventually I move off the main road and turn the car onto a dirt path, travelling the narrow tree lined clearing until we come to a cabin in the woods.

“What is this?”

“The car’s almost out of gas. I for one don’t want to get stranded on the main road when those motorcycles roll up.”

“So we just stay holed up here?” She looks almost horrified at the prospect. “What is this place, anyway?”

“We’ll stay until someone can come out with some gas. It should only be a couple of hours.”

“I really need to get home.”

Yes, she is definitely terrified.

“Well, unless you relish the thought of a long, long walk in the dark, this is your only option at the moment.”

Moneybags gets out of the car reluctantly and follows me up the front steps of the cabin. My family is lucky enough that we have properties scattered across the state, and this being one of my favorites, it’s always fully stocked with every luxury one could possibly need for a short stay.

“You can use my phone to make any calls you need to,” I tell her, unlocking my phone and handing it to her. She shakes her head and declines.

“I don’t suppose a taxi would make it out this way, would it?”

“He’d never find this place,” I tell her, which isn’t very far off the truth. The cabin is so out of the way, a person could get lost a thousand times before they’d find it.

“Ugh!” She drops her bags to the ground and runs two hands through her hair in agitation. This night is definitely not how she’d expected it to turn out.

“You want something to eat?” I ask.

She shakes her head. “Just coffee, if you have it.”

I’m not surprised that she takes her coffee black with no sugar. She seems the type to enjoy a strong brew. I hand her the mug and sit on a chair opposite her, drinking my own. There is good lighting in the cabin and for the first time, I get a good look at her. She is even prettier than she appeared in the club, even with her now wild mane of hair after the night that she’s had.

“Are you in trouble with that motorcycle gang?” I ask her. I don’t expect her to answer. She surprises me by shaking her head, but she isn’t going to make this easy.

“You know them outside the club?” Again, she gives me a small shake of her head. I’m finding it hard to believe that they had tried to attack her because of one man’s bruised ego, but hey, she can do her all she wants.

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