Page 56 of Lawless
"When we break out, we'll come for you." Gunner, the taller of the two of them, reached up to stroke his thumb along my jaw. "We'll explain everything later. But in the meantime, you can't let them find you. No matter what. Promise us, Mari."
If I wasn't in danger of falling off this thin ledge, I would've leaned down to kiss him. Or hell, both of them.
"I promise." The words came out a shaky whisper.
"Good girl." Jandro flashed me a tight smile. "Now go."
I didn't know whose lives I feared for more, theirs or my own. At some point, I found myself caring for these men. I just didn't realize it until right then.
With a final look at their tense faces, I swung my bare leg over the wall and carefully lowered myself down the other side until they disappeared from view.
Now outside the grounds of the outpost, wild brush, sparse trees, cactus, and a rocky ravine greeted me. The best part? I was still in a bikini with worn out sandals as footwear.
"Don't move, Steel Demons," a voice followed by dozens of footsteps called out from the other side of the wall. Despite the speaker not seeing me, I hardly dared to breathe. "Where's the woman you came here with?"
"Who, your wife?" the snarky reply came from Gunner. "Still passed out in my bed where I gave her the dicking of her life."
"Search inside and outside the grounds!" The speaker was not amused. "Find the biker woman and bring her to me. Then," his voice took on a cold, calculating tone, "after I'm done with her, I'll bring her to Fischlin myself."
Fuck! I couldn't stay here. I had to move. But there was literally nowhere to hide except the ravine, looking like a steep, miniature canyon as I peeked over the edge.
Taking a deep breath, I lowered myself to the edge and slowly placed one foot on the rocky outcropping to begin my climb down.
Huge mistake.
The rock came loose and my foot slipped.
I could only grab desperate handfuls of dirt and sand as I tumbled down into painful darkness.
Twenty
MARIPOSA
"Ow...fuck."
Everything hurt except for my head, which was the first thing I thought of. The last thing I needed now was a concussion.
My palms, forearms, and legs, however, were a different story. I slid down some sharp rocks down into the ravine and fell about another six feet to the even rockier bottom. In a bikini, no less.
I tried to stay calm as I mentally checked myself over from head to toe, carefully wiggling fingers and other small joints before moving onto the big stuff. When it felt like nothing was broken, I let out a huge sigh of relief. The pain was intense but it all felt like bad scrapes and bruises.
"Find her! Search the ravine!"
I sprang into action, rolling to the wall of the small canyon I fell in and pressing myself against the rocks. The sky looked like a narrow tear at least ten feet above me. My heart crashed against my ribs like a drum as I waited for faces to poke into view.
Footsteps along the edge caused small showers of rocks and dust to fall on me. Fighting the urge to cough, I raised a bloodied hand to shield my eyes and mouth. The outpost guards kept walking back and forth, talking to each other in low voices.
"Fuck you, I'm not going down there!" someone cried out.
I looked around desperately, my eyes finally adjusting to the dim light. On the opposite wall was an outcropping of rocks just high enough off the ground for me to hide under. Looking up, I nearly bit a hole through my lips. If they looked while I ran to the other side, I was fucked.
"Don't be a pussy, just..."
I made a break for it, crossing to the other side in five big steps and curling into a ball under the rock shielding me from above.
"Did you hear that?"
"Just a fucking ground squirrel. Look, she can't hide forever. Me and Sen will patrol the ravine. The rest of you check the outpost perimeter. She can't have gone far..."
