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“Why the fuck are you doing this?”
“I jumped through hoops for you. You can play hopscotch for me.” His words were cold as he took a long look at Amber. “See you later.”
The words escaped my mouth before I could weigh them. “I could just shoot you.”
“You could.” He nodded, taking another drag of his cigarette, and stretching his arms over his head. “Well, what are you waiting for?”
“Damn you to hell, Laz.”
“Like I told you the day you left me bleeding in this hotel room, this is hell, but now I rule it.” His grin was evil, and his eyes were filled with hate…for me.
I rolled my eyes as Amber began to shake and scratch. She was withdrawing. “Can you walk?”
She nodded as I opened the door, gun pointed in every direction as I shut it quickly behind me, walking Amber to the car and shoving her inside. I hauled ass to the driver’s seat and pulled out like a bat out of hell only to be tailed.
Welcome back to the Wild West.
I gunned the Chevelle as I drilled my sister. “Is it true? Is he running the town?”
She looked at me with wide eyes and laughed dryly. “He’s running all of Gibson County.”
Hearing gunfire, I dropped the car into gear and skidded to a halt on a bridge in front of a razored tire strip.
“Jesus,” I whispered as the car blazing bullets gained on us. Having no choice, I put the car in reverse and told Amber to get down. I grabbed Leroy from the console and put the barrel against my forehead in prayer. I yelled at Amber on the floor, “Stay down!”
This made no goddamn sense. If Laz wanted me dead, why wouldn’t he do it himself? I had no clue why he would drag me thirteen hours to release the hounds of hell when he could’ve done the honors himself. It dawned on me then. He had no intention of letting me die tonight.
He was playing with me.
And even as certain as I was, the men on the other end of the guns had no idea I was onto them. I stopped the car just as they approached and got out, placing myself between the Chevelle and the vehicle racing toward me. I took aim and began to open fire as bullets buzzed several feet away from me. These idiots were either trying to miss or really horrible shots, and I’d bet my life on my first conclusion.
Laz really should have warned them who they were up against.
I stood perfectly still and took aim with my exhale, opting for a Hail Mary shot to the front tire, and my bullet ripped through it just as an SUV came out of nowhere and T-boned right into them. My enemies repeatedly flipped until they landed on their side. A dark figure exited the SUV and jumped onto the crushed car, pulling open the door and firing inside. I hauled ass back into the Chevelle and pulled away, certain that Laz would not be happy with the outcome and that he’d picked the wrong night to play cat and mouse with me. His enemies clearly had no issue interrupting our game. I ran to clear the path of the tire shredder and then took off like a shot, thankful for my lust for fast cars. I drove aimlessly through roads my GPS couldn’t lead me out of, cursing and keeping my eyes fixed on the rearview.
“Amber, if you happen to know where the hell we might be, now is the time to speak up.” As much as I’d like to think I knew these roads like the back of my hand, it had been too many years. I was completely lost. She stared straight ahead as I tried to snap her out of her dazed state. “Amber!” She leaned forward just as I yelled and emptied her stomach on my dash and floorboard as I went into panic mode.
Two days ago, I was leading the corporate world, with endless resources at my fingertips. Today, I had pulled my gun three times and was toting my sick, meth-addicted sister around the country, lost and completely alone. I pulled the car to a slow stop keeping the car idle as Amber recovered.
“Well, this isn’t exactly how I pictured this would go.” I laughed softly while glancing over at Amber, who was still retching, the putrid smell filling the cabin of my car. I rolled down my window and pulled the fresh air through my nose. “I thought we could start with something simple like ‘Hello, how have you been?’ and then move on to the questions like ‘Are you married? Any children?’” I looked over at Amber, who was staring at me like I’d grown another head. “I can see now those aren’t exactly the right questions.” I was rambling nervously, and it only made the situation worse when I wouldn’t shut up.
“Or how about ‘How’s Momma? She dead yet?’”
Finally, my sister spoke up. “Yes.”
I shot back a little in my seat, taken aback by her words and not sure I wanted the details, so I asked another question.
“How did Laz find out about me contacting you?”
“He looked through my phone.”
I crossed my arms and let out a breath. “Jesus, Amber, you actually socialize with him!”
“He’s been watching over me since you left.”
I turned on the cabin light, grabbed a water bottle out of the back seat, and handed it to her. She drank it slowly and said a quiet “thank you.”
Before I had a chance to ask any more questions, she opened her door and threw up again.
