Page 196 of Wicked Minds
Dax nods, accepting my final word on the matter. “Then let’s go get this little girl.”
All of us have been camped out at The Depot most of the day, fine-tuning plans that we cemented days ago, and we’re all ready to move. To get this over with.
I’ve been communicating with Lydia via text and phone calls for the last few days, keeping her apprised of the fake bids thathave come in, and given that she wants a quick turnaround, we agreed that the auction on Aurora—hold while I barf—would end at six p.m. tonight with the transaction occurring ASAP afterward. Lucky for us, tonight’s top bidder lives right here in Halston.What a coincidence, eh?
We pile into Dax’s blacked-out SUV and begin the tense and silent journey to Springview.
“Take the next left,” I instruct Dax when we’re thirty minutes away from the location Lydia sent, following the directions on my phone. The closer we get, the more nervous I become. I can sense Logan feels the same way. The tension in the car has grown thicker with each passing mile.
Away from the freeway, the roads become darker and more remote as we head further out into the country until only the high beams and stars overhead guide our way along the winding tree-lined roads.
“Should be just up ahead,” I mutter, eyes flicking between the blue dot on my screen and the road in front of us. A minute later, we pass a worn sign stating Blackwater Basin is two miles ahead.
Wheels crunch over gravel as we pull onto a lane, rolling slowly along it until we’re forced to a stop at a pair of gates with ano-trespassingsign hanging haphazardly across them.
“Thank goodness I brought these,” Dax sighs, grabbing bolt cutters from the glovebox before jumping out of the car.
“This the place?” Logan asks, voice hushed as he leans between the two front seats to peer out the windshield.
“Yup.”
“Doesn’t look as though she’s here yet.”
“She will be,” I state confidently. Lydia wants her money and to be rid of this kid for whatever reason. She’ll come.
“She better be,” Logan alters, an edge of menace in his voice that has me turning in my seat to look at him. In the dark, his face is cloaked in shadow, but I can see the hard lines and his jawpulsing as he glowers out the window. He’s a man on a mission tonight. Ready to shed blood if it means getting Aurora to safety.
“We’re not leaving without her,” I assure him, my voice mimicking the violence written into his tense posture.
His response is a sharp nod. An agreement. A promise.
Dax slinks back through the darkness to the car, the gates now unlocked and opened wide enough to fit the car through. We bump down the gravel road for another few minutes before it opens onto the reservoir’s edge. Adjusting the car to face the way we came, Dax puts it in park, leaving the headlights on.
I peer out the window at our remote location. Blackwater Basin is where people come to walk and breathe in the fresh air during the day, but at this time of night in the dead of winter, it’s eerily still. Or perhaps it only feels that way because I swear none of us is breathing inside the car.
“She’s late,” Dax grumbles, apparently not liking being kept waiting. I glance at the illuminated dashboard clock, noticing that he’s right. It’s precisely 8 o’clock, the time we agreed to meet.
“She’ll be here,” I reiterate, glancing his way before returning my focus to the track road we appeared from.
The seconds tick by, and I glance his way, unable to take the silence any longer. “When are you heading back?”
“Soon as we’re done here. My next fight is in two days.”
“Well, I appreciate you coming out to help. We owe you one.”
“Don’t sweat it.”
One side of my lips quirks up. “I was hoping you’d hang around long enough for me to kick your ass again.”
He snorts. “You got lucky. Don’t let it go to your head,Ruthless.”
I huff under my breath at his mocking tone.
Flicking his gaze to Logan through the rearview mirror, he asks, “Have you given my offer any consideration?”
“Not really,” I admit with a grimace.
“What offer?” Logan butts in, shoving his head back between the seats to stare at me.
