Page 72 of Ride Hard
There was no payphone, but I made a reluctant Chaser buy me a cheap prepaid cell, which we took outside and put together. The moment the SIM card was stuffed in the back and the phone was on, I punched in Yvette’snumber.
Putting some distance between us, I leaned against the wall of the gas station and eyed Chaser warily. Nothing about this conversation would be easy, and having him overhear was just another round of ammo he could use against me. He broke my heart, he really did. I wanted to love him—I pretty much already did—but there was this invisible barrier between us that was all him and then some.Goddamn you,Chaser.
“Hello?” The sound of Yvette’s voice was like music to myheart.
“I hear you’re looking forme.”
“Sloane? Oh, God! Where have you been,girl?”
I frowned, hating I’d put her in danger just because she cared about me. Thinking about Chaser, I could see the parallels, but it wasn’t the same. Was it? I wanted it to be. He had the means to fight back. Yvettedidn’t.
“You’re still looking for me,” Istated.
“Of course, I am,” she declared, and I imagined the pout on her face. “You’re in trouble, Slo. I care about you, and I want to help, but I can’t do anything if I don’t know where youare.”
“That’s the problem,” I said, my heart twisting. “You can’tknow.”
“Sloane…”
“Are youalone?”
“Why?”
“Last time, youweren’t.”
It took a moment for her to reply. “No, I wasn’t. Your neighbor was murdered, and you disappeared. Then there was that security footage from behind Teasers… I thought a serial killer had kidnappedyou.”
I snorted. She wasn’t far off themark.
“Yvette, are you alone now? Is anyonelistening?”
“No. They gave up after that call, Slo. I swearit.”
“Good.” I flattened my palm against the wall, hoping Chaser was tactful enough to not listen in. “Listen, I’m going to tell you as much as I can, but you need to promise mesomething.”
“I don’t know if Ican…”
“You have to.”Damn you,Yvette!
“Fine,fine…”
Taking a deep breath, I rattled off the cliff notes version. About where I grew up, who my father was, and why I’d run away. I told her about Chaser and why he’d come and our flight across the country. I was careful not to let slip about the bodies, and especially not about the guy whose head I shotoff.
“So you see… I’m in the middle of something I can’t control, but only I can deal with it. This goes beyond you and me, Yvette. Whatever my dad’s in, it’s big. Big enough to put a target on myback.”
“Fuck… Sloane, I had no idea.” She sounded breathless like my story had taken the spark out of her life,too.
“I wanted to leave that life,” I went on. “I wanted to start someplace new and get an education. Be a better person. A normal person. One day at a time…but I can’t escape it. I’ve got to face this head on and deal with it, or it’ll dog my footstepsforever.”
“I wish I could help you. Iwish…”
“Coming after me will only get you and Brittany into trouble. I’ll be fine. I know how these peoplework.”
There was a pause as the gravity of the mess I was in sank in even more than it already had. I’d fought all the way across the country, but it had always been futile. I was fucked the moment I laid eyes on Chaser that first night atTeasers.
“Brittany asked about you that other day,” Yvettesaid.
“I find that hard to believe.” I rolled my eyes even though she couldn’t see me. “She’sthree.”
