Page 120 of Ryder

“Pipes is right,” Casey chimes in. “I’ve seen him shoot, he’s really good.”

Pipes flicks his eyes up to the rearview mirror again. “You have?”

She ignores him. “The point is, the MC always comes out on top. The odds are in our favor.”

“But we’re still not there yet,” I cry. “That’s a shit ton of time for… for…”

“That’s not gonna happen. Ryder won’t let anyone hurt Ade.” Casey’s voice is low and not as panicked as it was before. I wish I could get my own under control, but I’m freaking the fuck out.

“She’s right,” Pipes adds. “The man is a machine, especially when he’s angry. Sit tight, we’re not far behind.”

I fold my arms over my chest. I’ve never been more afraid of anything in my life. I’ve never been so scared. And now I’m supposed to just sit in the car while God knows what is going on out there?

The fucking bayou.

I can’t even think about what could be happening.

I close my eyes, thinking of something,anything,to take my mind off this terrible situation. All I come up with is telling myself it’s going to be okay.

I love you, Ryder. I love you, Aidan. I’ll be there soon, and we’ll all be together again.

Just hold on.

That’s what I need right now.

Just a few more minutes…

25

RYDER

All of a sudden,I’m pulling up to a secluded area of the bayou, and an uneasy feeling washes over me. I’m no fool. I know why we’re here. We bring men out here to make them disappear; the alligators do the rest.

I take a breath.

This asshole is the spitting image of Jimmy. His twin. Either that or I’m hallucinating.

“You’re not Jimmy,” I say. “I killed him, and trust me when I tell you I know he’s dead.”

I don’t meet his murderous eyes, but I can feel them boring into me. He’s high, which doesn’t help matters, but I could use it to my advantage. If he’s high then he’s unstable, and if that’s the case, I can use that as a weakness. He hasn’t checked me over for weapons, and I might not be packing, but I do have a gun under my seat, and a knife in my boot. Call me superstitious, but I always carry a weapon.

“I’m not Jimmy. I’m his twin brother, Jarrell. I was inside when all that shit went down and you murdered my brother,” he goes on. “When I heard what you did to him, I knew one day I’d get out and pay you a visit. You killed the only family I had left.”

I snort. “What about what he did to my wife? He almost beat her to death, all because he couldn’t handle bein’ a real man.” I stare him down. “I guess that runs in the family.”

“Are you tryin’ to get your head blown off?” He cocks his head to one side, as if he’s trying to figure me out.Good luck, sunshine.

“I think if you wanted to do that, you’d get me outside first.”

He contemplates for a few seconds, glancing in the back.

Aidan, like the good boy he is, still has his headphones on.

“You really wanna hurt him?” I say. “He’s five. He’s innocent in all of this. Do what you wanna do to me, but leave my kid out of it.”

“Shut up! I’m tryin’ to think!”

“You don’t wanna do this. Killin’ a kid, it’s different. You might hate me for what I did, but that punishment is for me, not him.”

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