Page 74 of Ripper
“I’ll be taking care of that later today. Once we finish up here, of course.”
“Ah, Ripper roped you into helping with the shed, huh?”
“Oh, yes he did.”
“You girls talkin’ about me?” I heard Ripper ask.
“We’re just making sure your lady here knows that she ain’t gotta spend all of her time with you. We’re much better company anyway.”
“Yeah, yeah.”
I chuckled, helping the girls take the remaining materials out to the shed. It felt good to be around them because, for the first time in my entire life, I truly felt like I belonged.
We got to work dragging planks of wood along the sandy ground while the guys started putting them together. I helped sand down a few pieces, nailing others where they needed to go. A few hours passed, and I headed back to the main house to get us all some bottles of water when I noticed something sitting in the plant pot near the door. The plant was dead, but there was a slightly charred piece of cardstock sitting there that must’ve blown away when Anna had started the fires.
I took it between my fingers, one side coating them with ash, and I couldn’t quite make out what it said. I turned it over to see an address written on the back in pink ink.190 Castle Parkway.
I walked back over to the guys hard at work on the shed. Ripper turned to me, wiping a few beads of sweat off of his forehead, staring down at the small piece of cardstock in my hand.
“What is that?”
“This was in the plant pot near the door. Do you know what that address is?” I asked.
He took it between his fingers, reading over the pink ink, shaking his head at me.
“No, I don’t.”
“I think this might have been on Anna the night she set all the bikes on fire. It might be a location worth checking out. She was smart, but not smart enough to plan a takedown that far ahead in advance. I don’t think this was a trap set for us. I think this was something given to her by someone,” I said.
Ripper pulled out his cell phone, quickly mapping the directions to the place, and he turned the screen around so I could see it.
“This place is in Sedona. I’ll tell Tank. After we drop the bikes off, we’ll head there tonight. This may be just what we need to get a lead on Ray,” he said.
He leaned in, kissing me softly.
“Nice one, sweet pea. Always on the ball, huh?”
“You know it.”
***
The sun had just started to set, and the sky was a blend of dark blues and oranges when we were getting ready to head out. Ripper and I started up our engines. Tank and Claymore’s roared high while they took off before us. We followed their lead all the way to the main road and broke off to see who’d get their first. Ripper and I kept our bikes steady, revving our engines. We overtook them whenever they caught up, and before I knew it, we were already in Sedona.
I felt the adrenaline rush through my veins again, and I relished in it. I gripped the handles of my bike tightly, turning unfamiliar corners until we were in the residential area. We pulled up to the small house with its colonial-style white paneling and wire gate out front. The lawn was overgrown, there were cigarette butts still out on the concrete pavement leading up to the porch stairs.
I peered into the window trying to see if there was anyone inside or even lights on, but there was nothing. Ripper fiddled with the door while Tank, Claymore, and I waited. He got it open, breaking the lock clean off, and when we entered, the place was still pretty much intact. I was expecting it to be littered with beer bottles or trash, but every corner of the house was in perfect condition.
It was stuffy, dusty, but it just looked like a place that once housed an entire family. I walked into the living room taking a look at the mantle. I took in all of the baby photos that were there, trying to figure out who this place belonged to, and that’s when I saw it.
“Ripper! Come look at this.”
He rushed over to me, glancing down at the picture, and his jaw practically dropped to the floor.
“That’s Ray. What the fuck?”
“Who is that?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen her before,” he said.
