Page 112 of After All The Wreckage
Nothing jumped out.
I pulled up the two warehouses on the internet, switching over to a satellite view.
Nothing.
But one of these two buildings had to be the location.
I closed my eyes and weariness immediately assaulted me.
I didn’t have time to be tired. I needed to get to them before they disappeared from the warehouse altogether.
Before they left Demi behind as collateral damage.
I pulled myself up from the chair and reassembled my bag with my computer and equipment before reaching for my stun guns. I only found my pen-like one. My Vipertek was missing. Had I left it in Walden’s room? I was almost certain it had been with me when I’d gotten back into Gage’s Pathfinder. Which meant it was likely in his car. I opened the gun safe and stared at my Glock. I’d wished for it more than once today—or rather yesterday—but having it with me upped the probability of Monte’s vision coming true.
Did I care?
If Dunn was involved with those who killed my mom and turned around and threatened Demi, would it matter if I shot him?
I knew the answer was yes and despised myself for it.
But I also needed protection. They’d killed Walden, partly because I’d left him tied up and defenseless. If he’d been able to reach for the gun that had been in the case, would he have had a chance? Or would he have ended up dead sooner? That was assuming he even knew how to use the damn thing.
Knowing how to handle a gun wasn’t an issue for me. I not only knew how to use mine, but I was a damn good shot. I could control my emotions, couldn’t I? I wouldn’t shoot someone unless another person was at risk. I put the gun in my bag and headed for the bathroom.
I took a cold shower, hands lingering over the red marks from Gage’s scruff on my neck and thighs. I was sore and tender from using parts of my body I hadn’t used in a long time. Those moments in the hotel room seemed like another lifetime already. More like a movie I’d watched or maybe an alternate version of my life where I’d been able to keep the man who’d brought me peace…
I shook my head and finished washing off the scent of our lovemaking along with the sweat and tears of the day before stepping out. I braided my hair so it would stay out of my way and didn’t even bother with makeup. There was no point.
There was no escaping the anguish and grief that marked my face. Instead, I purposefully avoided my eyes in the mirror as I tugged a knit beanie over my hair. Then, I slipped into more black clothes. I traded my leather jacket for a padded vest that hugged my body and wasn’t as likely to get hooked on anything if I had to slip in and out of a building through a window.
The sky was still dark and thunder-filled. The weather app predicted another onslaught throughout the day, so I grabbed the keys to Pop’s old Jeep. It would be safer traveling in the rusty classic, but it would also be more conspicuous. If the color didn’t make it stand out, the noise would. A beefy growl that was louderthan a pack of dogs burst through the air as I turned the engine over.
Nan would know I’d left. She’d worry. More guilt rolled through me. Could you die of guilt? Maybe not the guilt itself but the physical response to it?
As I pulled onto Main Street, a pair of headlights fell in behind me, following at a distance. If it wasn’t three o’clock in the morning, I wouldn’t have thought anything about it. But Cherry Bay was quiet at this hour. Especially on a holiday.
It was hard to believe it was actually Thanksgiving. I didn’t feel very thankful at the moment. I felt tattered and torn and angry. At myself and the assholes behind all of this.
In the dark, with the clouds and mist, there was no way I could make out the make and model. It was fairly low to the ground. A sedan most likely. Maybe Sheila. I flipped off my lights, made several right turns, and by the time I ended up on a dark country road, I’d lost them. Or maybe I’d just overreacted, and they hadn’t been following me at all. But right now, it paid to be paranoid.
I turned my lights back on and headed down the pitch-black back road. As I made my way north, lightning lit up the sky, striking a tree close to the edge of the road, and my heart skipped a beat. It was followed by a clap of thunder so loud it rattled the soft top of the Jeep, air rushing in and causing a shiver to creep down my spine as the sides flapped.
Once upon a time, I’d ridden down this road on the back of Gage’s motorcycle in a similar storm. I’d thrown my head back and laughed at the lightning. I wondered if the fates had heard me that day and decided I needed to be taught a lesson.
If everything that had happened was because I’d dared the universe.
Then, I thought of what Gage and Monte had told me about Demi’s psychic abilities. How one little decision you made todaycould change everything about your future. One decision. And I’d made thousands of them since being on the back of Gage’s bike.
I gritted my teeth, determined that the decisions I made today would bring only justice for my mom and Gage’s family. I was going after my enemies like Veronica Mars had, but not just for revenge. Not just to get even or take an eye for an eye. This was so the people I loved would never again be hurt by those who’d come after us.
I vowed that no matter what happened—whether I shot Dunn and ended up behind bars, or I changed Monte’s vision andtheyall ended up behind bars—my loved ones would be safe. I wasn’t sure how, in just a handful of days, my loved ones had come to include Gage and his siblings.
But maybe I’d never stopped loving Gage. Maybe he’d never left my heart from the time he’d entered it when I’d been too young to really understand the meaning of it. I did now. I understood it just like I understood that there was a huge chasm that resided between us.
I couldn’t think about it at the moment. I couldn’t think about anything but catching the bastards who’d put these wheels into motion.
CHAPTER FORTY
