Page 118 of Praying for Thunder

“Not with my own eyes, but Chubs wouldn’t lie about that.”

“Chubs.” She said his road name with such compassion.

“That bad?” Had Diesel been right about him?

“And that’s only the little we know.”

I wanted to go to sleep and not wake up. “If you blow the case, Onus will never let an outsider close again.”

She sniffled. “I know, and he will keep trafficking.”

“No. Let’s stop him.” Give me strength. “What do we do?”

“We could try to fake our way through this.”

“If we fail to convince them?”

She held her chest. “That’s the problem. I have no way of telling my team what’s happening.”

What kind of operation are you runnin’? Wait— “Rya.”

“I’m so sorry. I made a mistake. I didn’t realize his hatred for her.”

I wanted to puke. I wanted to get on my bike and race to her, hide her away, but I would never have made it past the front door before Hell unleashed on me, exposing Rya to horrible things.

We lay there for a while.

In the quiet, I wondered what Dio would do. But then something hit me. And hit me hard.

“Thunder, there was a voice in the dream… But… I’m ta tell ya somethin’.”

“Okay.”

She rose onto her tippy toes, her lips touching mine. “Do whateva’ it takes.”

Choices. Life is full of choices.

People pray to make the right ones.

Some even pray for forgiveness after making the wrong ones.

“Tabi.”

On her back, she stared above her, but I knew she wasn’t seeing Roam’s mattress. She was lost in thought. “Yeah?”

“Do you think some people were put on this earth to protect others?”

Dio…

Her whisper was full of doubt. “I was hoping I was one of those people, Thunder.”

“Me, too.” Some weight was lifting from my chest. “I’m willing to do whatever it takes to save girls from a life—” Ani… “—I’ve had to witness.”

“And live. Thunder, you’ve had to live a hard one.”

I suddenly hoped my fate wasn’t everyone’s. “Does anyone live easy ones?”

“Compared to yours, yes.”