Page 48 of Road to Redemption

Usually, I pocketed the money. But while they were off being teenageers, I used to hang around Prize Alley and dream about taking one of the stuffed animals home.

I guess I could have one now.

I squinted at the display of stuffed animals lining the roof of the beanbag toss booth, trying to decide which one would make little me the happiest. But before I could hop out of the car to grab one though, a gust of wind blew through the stand, revealing something that chilled me to the bone.

The stuffed animals weren’t dangling from a display rack. They were hung by miniature nooses.

“What the fuck?” I cringed. What sick fuck was meticulous enough to do that?

“What?” Kiera frowned from the other side of the car, but I just shook my head and turned my gaze to the front of the car.

“Just wondering if Dom has to hit every pot hole on the route,” I lied.

“If you have feelings about my driving, you can walk,” Dom grumbled.

But after what I saw, I didn’t feel like testing my luck out there. “I’m good. Just don’t blame Lady if there’s an accident back here.”

Does she know where she’s going?

Looking out the front of the car didn’t bring me much more comfort than looking out of my window. It felt like Dom was navigating some fucked-up maze made up of different time-periods pasted sloppily over one another.

One minute, we were in a logging town that neighbored a cartoonish city, and the next, we were passing through a jungle inhabited solely by animatronic characters. It was like walking through a fucked-up acid trip.

Actually, are we sure they weren’t doing acid when they designed this park?

But eventually, Dom brought the Cadillac to a stop in front of a campy old Wild West restaurant. “We made it. Now get your shit out of the car.”

No one wanted to open their door first, so Leo broke the seal. Throwing open the door of her shotgun seat, she quickly moved to open Kiera’s. “Princess…”

As I walked around the car with Lady padding behind me, I could see Kiera hesitate before grabbing Leo’s outstretched hand and stepping down from the SUV.

She’s so nervous…

I hated seeing her like that. Well, when I wasn’t the one spooking her, at least.

So I took in a deep breath as I circled around to her side of the car, doing my best to push aside my own nerves. Despite whatever creepy jokes our hosts were pulling, my priority — now and always — was Kiera’s safety and comfort. I could handle a few jumpscares with grace if it meant she would feel better.

“You ever been here before, Bunny?” I looped my arm around her shoulders, hoping the gesture would make her feel safer.

But before she could answer, Dom piped up from the trunk.

“We came here every year it was open.” She hoisted a duffel over her shoulder before scoffing. “Isaac hated how kitschy it all was.”

“And my dad thought it was hilarious,” Kiera giggled.

Seeing the spark come back to her eyes was as heart-warming as it was bizarre. I never thought I’d see the day that Kiera and Dom got along, let alone… whatever this was.

Usually, they fought so much that it was easy to forget how much history they shared, and that not every bit of that history was so fraught. Hell, if Viv’s stories were to be believed, some of it had even been pleasant.

But it was nice, seeing them be friendly. Along with Leo and the kids, Kiera and Dom were two of my favorite people in the world. Even despite Dom’s general dickishness.

The people in this western hellhole were the closest thing I’d had to a family besides Jess and the kids. And maybe with some time, we could make it through a night without one of them trying to kill the other.

I guess their exposure therapy back in Washington did something after all.

My heart felt lighter as I scooped up Kiera’s bag from the trunk and slung it over my shoulder along with my own. “You know what that means, right?”

“What?” Kiera tilted her head, that adorable little crease taking shape between her brows.