Page 30 of Pike
“First order of business,” Diesel assured me.
“Good. Now we need to talk about the obvious, is this place burned? Do we need to relocate?”
Diesel and Rocky shook their heads at the same time, but it was Rocky who answered. “We don’t think so. We’ve been watching the Ghost Riders for weeks and tonight they split up in different directions. They didn’t come straight here, got pinched for a couple of days for breaking and entering two other vacation rentals before they found you.”
“The phones are headed to Slate so he can see if they let anyone know they found you here. Be cautious and be fucking careful, but right now I think you’re good.”
It wasn’t the best news but it sure as fuck wasn’t the worst either, so I simply nodded.
And poured another cup of coffee.
Chapter Seventeen
Chloe
Ididn’t sleep at all last night. Again. Every creak of the floorboards, every gust of wind that smacked against the cabin walls had my stomach twisted with dread. I must’ve checked on Gemma no less than a dozen times between sitting vigil in front of the door. I slipped upstairs after every noise and slipped inside her room, watching her chest rise and fall in the sliver of moonlight that slipped between the curtains. That small, hypnotic movement was the only thing that kept me sane through the long, dark night.
The Ghost Riders were gone—for now—but the fear wasn’t.
It coiled tight in my spine, making it impossible to relax enough even for a catnap. Every time I attempted to close my eyes, the only image it managed to conjure up was that giant, bloody log that I’d used to kill a man. Again.
As soon as morning came and the sun broke free in the sky, bringing the lake outside to life, I took another shower and made a full pot of coffee. I was two cups in when Pike came through the kitchen muttering something about checking on the property. He hardly spared me a glance, which was only slightly offensive considering how he’d made me feel in the hours before the Ghost Riders had shown up.
I hadn’t forgotten it, but it seemed as if he was determined to, so I located that place deep inside where I kept all the things I didn’t have the time or the bandwidth to deal with,and I shoved my feelings aboutthatin there before closing the lid tight and focusing on what needed to be done today.
Today I had to stop waiting. I needed to stop reacting and stop hoping that the Ghost Riders would simply give up and let me and Gemma live our lives. That wouldn’t happen, which meant I needed to do something about it.
“Can we sit outside today, Mommy?” Gemma’s question pulled me from my thoughts, and I turned to see her watching me with a careful expression.
“Yeah sure. What do you want to do?”
She held up one of the coloring books that one of the Steel Demons left for her along with puzzles and age-appropriate books. “I wanna color.”
My shoulders deflated a little at the thought that my little girl didn’t want to spend time with me, but we’d been in each other’s pockets every single day for more than three years now so maybe she needed some space. “Okay, let me finish the breakfast dishes and we’ll go get some sun.”
The moment the last dish was done, Gemma had her book, Mandi, and two boxes of crayons and rushed to the front door. “Hurry, Mommy.”
I laughed and opened the door. “Stay where I can see you and don’t wander off, yeah?”
“I won’t, Mommy.” She was already laying everything out exactly how she wanted it and then bent over the coloring book, her tongue stuck out and one arm holding Mandi close.
I don’t know how long I watched Gemma, searching for any sign that she wasn’t okay. Any indication that she’d heard any of what happened last night, but there was none.
Good. Perfect.
Pike stood near the water’s edge with his arms hanging loosely at his side but the tension in his shoulders and spine was visible if you knew what to look for. I told myself it didn’t matter how good he looked in the sunlight or how well his jeans hugged his ass, because I needed a favor that had nothing to do with sex. Except now that Iwasn’tthinking about sex, I was now thinking about sex. “Hey,” I began and cleared my throat. “Can I talk to you?”
He turned to face me quickly before he turned back to the water. “Everything okay?”
No. Not even close to okay, but I nodded anyway. “I want to learn.”
He turned fully to face me. “Learn what?”
“How to use weapons. For real.” I crossed my arms, hugging my midsection because admitting this truth made me feel vulnerable even though it was no secret. “I’m tired of grabbing whatever is closest and hoping it’s the weapon that saves my life. If something happens again, I want to be ready so that I’m not so scared.”
“You should always be scared because the outcome matters.”
I swallowed at the intensity of his words. “Okay. So will you help me?”
