Page 58 of Seeking Vengeance
Suddenly, Brookes was beside her. He eyed her warily. Seemingly satisfied that she wasn’t going to break the bottle and slit his throat with it, he handed the beer back to her along with a flash drive.
“What’s this?” she asked, palming the drive.
“Directions to a safe house. Taser says you need to chill for a while, stay off the grid, and get your shit together.” He paused, pulling out a beer for himself. Then, Brookes sat back, closed his eyes, and stretched out his long legs as he raised the bottle to his lips.
“Where?”
“Don’t know. Drive’s flaggedN2K.”Need to know.
“And you didn’t look?” she asked skeptically.
Brookes smiled without opening his eyes. “Of course we did. But it’s encrypted. Taser made sure you were the only one who could access it.”
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
The landscape changed as she traveled down I-81 South through Maryland and into Virginia. The mountains became more angular; the peaks were sharper and the valleys more severe. They made for a beautiful view against the horizon. Piles of snow along the side of the road dwindled down into patches, then occasional puddles, and then nothing. Along the highway, she spotted big farms with horses grazing peacefully within the confines of split-rail fencing as far as the eye could see. Large, well-kept homes sat atop rolling hills, and Nicki couldn’t help but feel a pang of envy for a life she would never have.
At least she was free now.
Her mother was gone. As hard as it had been, Nicki was glad she had made her peace with her before she died. The nurses had said Charlene never regained consciousness, but Nicki knew in her heart that Charlene had heard her. More than once, her mother’s eyes had moved beneath closed lids, and the cadence of her breathing had changed slightly in response to her daughter’s presence.
Nick was going to be okay, too, despite his most recent lapse in judgment. Something told Nicki he wouldn’t be repeating that mistake again. There was no reason to. With Charlene and her out of his life, he wouldn’t feel the need.
It had been great to see him again. He was such a man now. All grown up but retaining enough boyish qualities to save him from complete darkness. He had his own life; he was in a good place. Pine Ridge was a nice town. There were decent people there, and he had an honest job doing what he loved. She smiled. It wouldn’t be long before he found someone and settled down. He was her twin, and without him, she would always feel as if a part of her was missing, but it was much easier to move on, knowing he was surrounded by people who would be there for him.
Benny was gone. Really and truly gone. He would never hurt anyone again; he would never ruin anyone else’s life. While his demise had been necessarily quick, she had made it as painful as possible, being sure to concentrate on those areas of him that had caused her the most grief. Castration had come first, for all that he had raped and used her, and then the bullet right between the eyes. She’d had the pleasure of seeing the naked fear in his eyes, and that alone was worth a hundred suspensions. To see that rotten bastard know true terror, that eased her heart somewhat. Oh, she’d never forget the pain she’d endured or that of her brother’s, but there was definitely some closure in the knowledge that he would never, ever do that to any child again.
She probably should have felt horror over what she had done, but she felt only a strange kind of numbness. She’d brought a lot of people to justice over the last eight years or so, but she’d never done so with such extreme prejudice. Maybe, just maybe, if it had been only her life he’d ruined, she would have been satisfied with some other form of retribution. But it hadn’t just been hers. And for as long as she lived, the eyes of all those other young girls and boys she’d watched him destroy would haunt her.
Nicki threw her head back and let the breeze whip through her hair. The damp coolness of the predawn hours felt invigorating against her skin as she opened up the throttle and shot forward.
Eventually, Friendly’s became Shoney’s. Wawa became Flying J.
She’d kept her quasi-Ducati. It was her most prized possession, and she could not bear to give it up. She hadn’t bothered to change her appearance that much either. She’d traded in her leather and chains for blue jeans, soft cotton tees and hoodies, comfortable shitkickers and a plain leather jacket.
She felt almost lost. For the next three months, she had no role to play, no persona to assume. It felt strange. She wasn’t even sure who the real Nicki was anymore.
She hadn’t fought against Taser’s direct orders. He was right, as usual. Now that her mother was gone, Nick was on the right path, and Benny had been delivered back into the pits of hell, her motivation had become somewhat cloudy. Her life goals had been realized, all of her wants obtained. What was left?
Nicki left the interstate somewhere after she passed the border into South Carolina, then began to wind her way northwest up and into Tennessee, following the GPS coordinates Taser had given her. Soft accents progressed steadily into a full, smooth Southern drawl. She’d never been attracted to the sound before, but now, she found the easy cadence unexpectedly comforting. It made her think of Brookes, and with a sharp pang, she realized she would miss him and Fisher in her mandated solitude.
Nicki’s journey finally ended in a little town called Tempest. Located smack-dab in the middle of nowhere, Tempest was well off the beaten path, nearly a hundred miles from the nearest major thoroughfare. There was an old railway station there. Nicki could easily imagine that at one time, it had been a nice stop on the train routes between the North and the South, but time and progress had long since left Tempest behind.
Nicki took in everything with a well-practiced eye while drawing more than a few curious stares as she cruised down the single main artery. The town proper consisted of maybe three square blocks. There was a diner, a small grocer’s, a gas station with a single-bay garage, a post office, and an Agway complex that dwarfed everything else. With a population of about three thousand—and that was a generous estimate—perhaps thirty percent lived in and around the main street in old but sturdy clapboard houses. The rest dwelled beyond the town proper in the acres of farmland and woods that sat at the base of the western edge of the Appalachians.
A few miles outside beyond the town limits was Taser’s personal refuge. Nicki wasn’t quite sure what to expect—with Taser, you just never knew. She was as likely to find a one-room underground bomb shelter as a two-story Swiss chalet. The guy’s tastes were eclectic, to say the least.
What she found was a very private, well-stocked cabin set askew in the middle of a clearing, surrounded on by thick, dense forest.
The place was clean and spacious. Comfortable but not fancy, except for the satellite gadgetry. The cabinets were filled with nonperishable canned and dry goods. Even the fridge had been stocked with an array of fresh fruit, cheese, milk, and several six-packs. The freezer held neatly wrapped packages of steaks, burgers, chicken, ribs, and more.
Nicki couldn’t help but smile when she saw the single bedroom closet held an assortment of clothing—all casual, all women’s, and all in her size. Even the bathroom—thank God this place had indoor plumbing!—held her favorite shampoos, conditioners, body washes, and shaving gels.
The man knew her better than she knew herself.
Since all she had was a single backpack, it didn’t take long for her to unpack and report her safe arrival, but that was probably unnecessary. She was quite certain Taser had been tracking her all along, using the device embedded beneath her skin. At first, she had resented it, but now, she took comfort in knowing it was there. With it, she was never really alone.
After fixing herself a bowl of cereal and eating it on the shaded porch, Nicki did some exploring. Not far from the cabin was a wide, lazy stream with an honest-to-God swimming hole and big, flat rocks she planned to sun herself on. There wasn’t another place within miles.
