Page 15 of Ride Hard
Chaser
Takingthe key from the old lady behind the counter, I pushed out of the motel office and into thesunlight.
Sloane was standing beside the car, her arms resting on the hood and her cheek pressed against the metal. Her ass was sticking up in the air, and I tilted my head to the side. Round, tiny, and good for slapping. Her jeans left little to the imagination,too.
I crossed the pavement and she raised her head as she heard meapproach.
“Get up,” I commanded, opening the rear door and yanking out her duffel. Fuck, it weighed a ton. How many books did she shove inthere?
“I hope you requested two singles,” she said, snatching her bag offme.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” I drawled. “You can have the bed and the bugs all toyourself.”
“What a fuckinggentleman.”
Ignoring her, I popped the trunk and got my own shit. Slinging the bag over my shoulder, I locked the car and went to find the room. It was only lunchtime, but after driving all night and beating the shit out of that guy, I figured it was best to keep our heads down for the moment. We would get back on the roadtomorrow.
Room number eight wasn’t far away. Unlocking the door, I was aware of Sloane behind me. She was a master shit talker, all bravado, but it had me wondering what kind of bite she had under all that or if there were any teeth atall.
Kicking open the door, I let her go in first. She dropped her duffel on the floor and glared at the scene beforeher.
The place reeked of mothballs and damp. The whole motel had seen better days, and so had theupholstery.
All these rooms were the same no matter where I went. Cheap-ass floral curtains, scratchy duvet covers, mold in the showers. Plumbing clogged with lime and rust buildup. I’d forgotten how precious women could be about thisshit.
“This is what seventy bucks gets?” She sounded mortally wounded, and Isnorted.
“Sure you don’t want a cuddle?” I asked, baiting her. “We got adouble.”
“Eat shit.” She rolled her eyes and dragged her bag further into the room where she flung herself onto the floor and pulled out thecontents.
I glanced over my shoulder at the empty lot before closing the door and turning on thelight.
Sloane was illuminated by the cheap fluorescent, and for the first time, I saw her clearly. No half-light in a dingy strip club, no orange streetlights, no dark corridors. I hadn’t bothered looking too close outside, not when the sun was on her. One glance at her milky skin had turned my gaze right back onto theroad.
Five days and we would be back in LA. I could do it in two, but I needed to stay sharp. Last night had shown just how brazen the assholes who were after her couldbe.
Back roads, inconspicuous motels where they didn’t ask questions, and everything in cash. No planes, trains, or buses where ID was required and security cameras were on twenty-four seven alerts. Drive within the speed limit, keep our heads down, and be on the look out fortrouble.
Grimacing, I had a bad feeling the trouble was already in theroom.
Sitting on the end of the bed, I opened my own bag and took out the gun Sloane had shoved against my head the night before. Pulling out the magazine, I checked the bullets. Glancing at her, Ifrowned.
She’d split from Fortitude when she was eighteen. Just upped and ran away. Everyone knew it, and the one thing the boss had never explained was why she left in the firstplace.
Narrowing my eyes, I watched her go through her clothes and smooth out the creases before refolding everything. Everyone was guilty of something. Maybe you could trust them for now but neverforever.
Sloane, or whatever she called herself now, was a runner. She’d already tried to slip away once, and lucky me…I would have to watch her like a hawk. I was forbidden to harm her, and that meant restraining, hitting, locking her in the trunk, and using her for sex...even if it was her idea. If I touched her or delivered her with a scratch that was my fault, the boss would string me up and flay mealive.
“What the hell are you looking at?” Sloane demanded, dropping the little dress she’d had in her hands and glaring atme.
Scratch the part where I mentionedsex.
She was headstrong, argumentative, and oblivious to how much danger she was in. Fuck, she didn’t even seem bothered by the fact she’d almost been raped and murdered in a back alley behind a strip club. Or finding her neighbor dead in the hallway of her apartment building—at least on the surface. If she knew what those men were capable of, she would be singing anothertune.
“You’re still staring at me,” she said with asnarl.
“I’m having a shower,” I said, ignoring her sharp tongue. “Then I’ll get us some food. Don’t think aboutleaving.”
