Page 39 of Ride Long
Chapter 13
Sloane
Aweekafter I’d finished degreasing the garage floor, I was promoted to repairing punctured tires. It was a step up, and my bruised knees thanked me forit.
Two things that hadn’t changed, though, was the weather and Chaser’s absence. He still wasn’t back from whatever awful job Marini had sent him on. I didn’t like it, and I’d been dwelling on all the worst outcomes because of it. What if his stab wound wasn’t healed enough? What if someone jumped him? What if the Hollow Men got him? With each passing day, I became increasingly irritated, and the heat didn’t help. The bikers in the garage had started calling me Sulky Sloane until I superglued Ram’s ass to achair.
My fate was still up in the air, and I was still confined to the compound, so all I could do was keep on keeping on. Making friends, skirting around the edges of danger, and avoiding one of my many nemeses—Harley. Sam had started talking to me again, though it was only in one-syllable words, the fear in her voice unmistakable. In the beginning, she’d been ordered to shadow me to glean information, but when I’d taken matters into my own hands, that had all gone by the wayside. I was now too unpredictable to be around, especially when it came to threatening Harley’s domination ofher.
Turning over in bed for the hundredth time, I was failing to find a comfortable position. The mattress was lumpy, the air was stifling, and my brain was workingovertime.
It was so damn hot in here sleep was impossible. Sweat stuck to my body as I tossed and turned, the open window doing nothing to ease the heat in my tiny bedroom, not to mention between my legs. No Chaser meant no orgasm. Orgasms always put me to sleep. My hand didn’t seem to be able to match the prowess of pretty boy Chaser and that damned cock ofhis.
We could still run away, a little voice said in the back of my mind.It’s not too late. You did it once before. You could do itagain.
No. Giving up when things got tough was a complete cop-out. Besides, I’d been in worse situations than I was right now. I’d been flung from a rolling car, crawled across a desert, and shot a man in the head to survive. That was infinitely crappier than being held hostage at Fortitude.Infinitely.
Sitting up, I groaned and rubbed my eyes.This wasimpossible.
Flinging my legs out for underneath the covers, I found my jeans and pulled them on, shoved my feet into my boots, and dragged on another T-shirt. Shuffling over to the door, I flipped the lock and peered out into the hallway. No one was standing guard, and they hadn’t since I’d arrived, but I wouldn’t put it past my enigmatic father to implement it withoutwarning.
Sliding out into the hall, I walked toward the common room, tingling all over like I was doing something naughty. It wasn’t against the rules to explore the compound, though I don’t know why anyone in my position would want to. I could handle myself, and I’d made that clear when I’d broken Harley’s nose, so that kept unwanted bikers away. Now I had friends in the garage, distances were being kept more permanently. It was a good thing, though I wasn’t sure if any respect was being won because ofit.
Being the middle of the night, there weren’t many people around. I could hear the sounds of men coming and going—sexual and nonsexual—as I walked the halls.Damn orgasms. DamnChaser!
Shaking out my frustrated limbs, I found the door to the roof and opened it. No one stopped me. If I was going to fling myself off the edge, it seemed no one was very concerned about stopping me. Glancing once more over my shoulder, I climbed thestairs.
Pushing open the door, a cool breeze wafted into my face, and I sighed. It wasn’t much, but it was better than inside. The air was clear, albeit tinged with pollution, and I filled my lungs to the brim before letting it all whoosh out. Totalcleanse.
Walking to the edge of the building, I peered over the edge to the concrete below. Grimacing, I immediately moved away. Nope. Not forme.
Overhead, the sky was tinted orange by the city. Lights stretched as far as I could see, tangerine and white twinkling on a landscape I would never be a part of. All those people with their families, their fame, mundane jobs, morning commutes, and petty squabbles. What kind of life did I want? Hell if I knew. All I’d wanted was to be somewhere else other thanhere.
And now? After the things I’d seen… A future where I was safe. Where Chaser and I were free. That was all Iwanted.
I felt his absence more keenly up here. I wasn’t sure why, but it felt like a place he would like. It was away from the chaos downstairs and more in tune with the solitude we’d had on the road. Our world was small then, more manageable. Here, it was too big to keep up with. Whatever happened next, I knew I wasn’t made for great things. Small, simple, and quiet. That was where I belonged. Kind of went against the whole leading Fortitude thing I had goingon.
Angling my head toward the sky, I was disappointed I couldn’t see any stars. The moon was a quarter full, but it was all that was up there. Humanity’s mark had invaded theskies.
A hand fisted into the back of my hair and twisted, the abrupt movement taking my breath away. Gasping for air, I cried out as my scalp burned. That was when my fight mode was activated. My body had sensed a threat and lashed out bigtime.
I kicked backward at my assailant, and a male grunt signaled I’d gotten him in the shin. His grip loosened on my hair, and I turned.Harley. I knew this moment was coming eventually, but I was hoping it would be later. Muchlater.
The one second it took for me to shake off my shock was all it took for him to grab me again. He pushed me backward toward the edge of the roof, and I stumbled and fell. Letting out a scream, the wind was forced out of my lungs as I landedhard.
Harley was on top of me, his hands tightening around my neck. He squeezed, and my fight mode turned into full-blown panic as I realized my head was hanging over the edge of the building, a hair’s breadth away from a three-story drop onto the concretebelow.
“This’ll teach you to mess with me,bitch,” he growled. “Who has the powernow?”
My heart twisted, and panic set in. I trembled, a sob working its way up the back of my throat, but the hands around my throat caught it. Suddenly, I was back there, back behind the dumpster at Teasers, Pube Face Bailey’s knife pressed against my neck.It would be so easy to turn my head to the side…No!
“No one would ever know it was me,” Harley said with a malicious grin. “I could toss your little bitch ass over the edge, and it would look like asuicide.”
I clawed at his hands, the broken remains of the acrylic nails Sierra had given me tearing at his skin. If I could just kick him in the right place, he would let go, and I could shove him off the edge instead… I would not go slack. I wasn’t that woman anymore.Iwasn’t.
Fight, Sloane!Fight!
“Eat shit,” I got out. “Eat shit anddie.”
