Page 20 of Ride Hard
Sloane
I’d never seena grown man pout likeChaser.
Either it was just the way he looked or he was pissed he didn’t get his own way. Either way, all men like him were the same. Sadistic bastards who liked to see womensquirm.
Watching the landscape change outside the car window, I studied the horizon. A bluish-purple tinge faded upward with a smear of clouds that broke it all up intopieces.
Trees flanked either side of the road. Then a yellow road sign flashed past telling trucks to use their breaks. Down the steep hill, a hand-painted placard advertising a garage and diner loomed in the distance, telling us it was only two miles to Meta Gas ’n’Go.
Welcome toKentucky.
Chaser turned the car off the main road and onto a smaller piece of asphalt that led toward thetown.
My stomach squirmed, hoping for something edible at the mysterious diner and a way out of this mess. Pressing my nose against the window, my hopes were dashed when I saw the population count on the welcome sign. Two hundred and ninety-two.
So, the plan remained the same for now. Play along, give Chaser what he wanted, fish for information on who was after my dad, and the moment his guard slipped, make a break for it. As long as the break was in a populated area with adequate means of transportation and evasion—from bothparties.
The Gas ’n’ Go wasn’t much to look at. Neither was the town. It was a ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ kind of set up. The garage had two pumps and a sign displaying the current per gallon price. It looked like it was from the seventies and had various so-called ‘modern upgrades’ tacked on here andthere.
When he cut the engine, Chaser flung the door open and gotout.
Following his lead, I slid out of the tin can and rounded the hood, stretching my arms over my head. Man, my ass wasnumb.
Glancing up and down the street, there was no one around. Other than movement inside the Gas ’n’ Go from the lone employee on duty, we werealone.
Chaser eyed me over the top of his sunglasses, the muscles in his bare armstensing.
Resigning myself to the fact there was no chance of escape without causing a scene, I leaned against the side of the car. Squinting my eyes in the sunshine, I watched the display tick over. Dollars andgallons.
“What’s he into this time?” I asked, fishing forinformation.
Chasergrunted.
“Father dearest?” I prodded. “Has he graduated from petty turf wars fought with Molotovcocktails?”
“He can explain that,” he replied. “It’s not mybusiness.”
“If you’re Fortitude, then it is yourbusiness.”
“Maybe you misheard me. It’s not my businessto tellyou.”
“It must be some heavy shit,” I went on after a moment. “Full-on mafia. Has to be if some Pube Face is trying to rape and murder me on the other side of the country. Especially since I’m not part of that fucked up familyanymore.”
“Pube Face?” Chaser raised aneyebrow.
“C’mon. You saw the guy. He had ratty ginger pubic hair all over hisface.”
“You really don’t care, do you?” He shook his head, and his jawtensed.
“Care I was almost raped while my throat was slit?” I kicked the toe of my boot against the side of the pump. “Of course, I care. Does a woman have to be crying and inconsolable for a man to realize she gives a crap aboutsomething?”
“No.”
“Good. But why do you care if Icare?”
He raised an eyebrow and pulled the nozzle out of the fueltank.
“This world is already fucked up,” I went on. “Either that or I’ve seen too many violent movies and been desensitized to it, even when it’s happening tome.”
