Page 22 of Ride Forever
I smiled and caught him in a quick, blistering kiss.
“This might go down quick, or we might be waiting a long time,” he murmured. “Either way, we have to be ready to get out of this city as quickly as we can.”
“We’ll be ready.” I nodded. “Where will we go?”
“Away.”
“Let’s go to Montana.”
“What the hell is in Montana?”
“Horses,” I replied with a shrug.
“Horses? They have them all over, you know.”
“I think the point is that it’s far away.”
Chaser raised his eyebrows and put on his trucker hat. Ironically, he looked really good in it.
“Let’s go,” he said, opening his door and sliding out.
I followed, waiting as he locked up and rounded the hood.
“Where are we going to stay?” I asked, shying away as my voice echoed a little too loudly. Luckily, there was no one around.
“We’ll do a sweep first, then figure it out.”
“A sweep?” I asked as we walked toward the exit. “What does that mean?”
“I want to test the perimeter of the Halcyon,” he explained. “See where their security begins, where the cameras are, and who’s on their payroll outside.”
I frowned. This was more complicated than I first realized. I mean, I knew it was going to be hard, but all this? I wasn’t a secret agent with specialized training. I was just a woman with an ax to grind. Chaser was the guy with all the smarts.
Doubt clouded my mind as we left the parking garage and headed toward the Strip. Ahead, I could see the world beyond, and I wanted nothing more than to puke in the gutter, then turn around and run.
Chaser tugged me forward, my boots feeling heavy on my feet, then we were on the border between the old and the new. The new wasn’t so hot if you asked me.
I glanced up and down the street, watching the flow of foot traffic. There were so many people. My stomach gurgled, and I realized I was nervous. We’d talked, done all the research, prepared for what was coming, and now we were here… I wasn’t ready, but I had to be. There was no backing out once I stepped onto the street.
I tensed as Chaser slid his hand into mine. It wasn’t like him to be all public display of affection, but knowing he was close, made my anxiety settle some.
“This is it,” he murmured, leaning close. “There’s still time to turn back.”
I lingered on the edge of the sidewalk, my life flashing before my eyes. Well, it wasn’t quite like that, but I thought about all the things that had brought me here. The multiple times my father had attempted to sell me to King, the attack behind Teasers, and the incident on the train with Pube Face Bailey and Blue Eyes. The beatings, my mother’s murder, the childhood I’d missed out on, my escape from Fortitude all those years ago, and the future I’d so desperately tried to find. So much had happened that I hardly understood who I’d become.
Then there was Chaser. He was in this deeper than I would ever be. The Hollow Men had stolen everything from him, and the FBI—the people he’d dedicated his life to—had betrayed him and abandoned his wife to her fate. The law had driven Chaser to take matters into his own hands, and as a result, King had killed Madison right in front of his eyes.
Yeah, Chaser was in this deeper than I would ever be.
Thinking of the things he’d done for me, I knew I couldn’t abandon him now. If I backed down, he’d still carry on with the plan, with or without me, and I’d be another person on the list of those who had betrayed him. I had to stay. For myself, but mostly, for him. That was what love was, right?
I took a deep breath and slid my sunglasses on. “Let’s go.”
* * *
I pulled my trucker hat lower and peered across the square.
The sun was hot as sin, and I leaned a little further into the shade. Across the flow of tourists, I could see a guy watching the comings and goings, a bulge in the left pocket of his shorts. When he angled to the left, I could see the telltale antenna on a hidden walkie-talkie.
