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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Cooper was roused froma booze-enhanced sleep by a thundering ruckus at the door to his motel room, and he was wide awake and on his feet at once.
“COOP!”BANG BANG BANG“COOP!”BANG BANG BANG“PREZ, WAKE UP!”
Grabbing his Beretta out of ingrained habit, he ripped the door open before Zach could beat on it again. “What’s wrong?”
Zach looked entirely freaked out—pale, wide-eyed, hair mussed from his own sleep, half dressed. His phone was in his hand; he held it out like it was the answer to Cooper’s question.
“Lyra ...”
“Lyra’s hurt?”
Zach shook his head. “She called. Coop ... fuck. Your house burned down, man. And the one next door. That’s Siena’s, right?”
“What?” He jumped back and started grabbing his shit, yanking his clothes on.
Zach followed him into the room. “Lyra had the police scanner on, and she heard the call. She recognized the street name, and she looked the address up and thought it was too close to yours not to check, so she went over there. Shit, Coop. She says it’s a total loss.”
There was shit in that house he’d had most of his life, but it was just shit. “I don’t give a fuck about that—what about next door? Siena’s house? She’s got a kid sister. Are they okay?”Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.
“I don’t know. I sort hung up on her to get to you. I’ll call her back.”
While Zach called Lyra, Cooper called Siena—but her phone went straight to voice mail, without even a ring. She never turned her phone off. Had it been destroyed in the fire?
“FUCK!”
He’d wanted to ride straight through and make today the last day of the run, but the hand-off had gone smooth as glass, and there was always a kind of euphoria that kicked in afterward, when they no longer had to watch their backs, were no longer hauling life sentences across the country. They’d partied hard the night before, and they’d all been a little off their game riding today.
When they’d stopped for supper in Ely, Geno and Kai had nodded at the strip club and casino just outside town and made an emphatic case to stop where they were for the night, which had been the plan anyway. Everybody else had liked the idea, or at least been amenable, and Cooper had been in a good mood, so he’d agreed.
He couldn’t say for sure that he’d have been home when the fire started, but it would have been close. Probably he’d have been home and still awake, and he could have protected them. Stopped the fire before it started, maybe. Kept them safe.
Instead, he was three hundred something miles away and had no idea how badly they’d been hurt.
“Kai and Geno are gettin’ movin’. We’ll all be ready to roll in less than five, boss.”
At the sound of Ben’s voice, Cooper whipped around and saw that his room was filling up with Bulls. Ben, Reed, and Lonnie had all joined Zach. They were all dressed and ready to go.
Cooper focused on Ben. He had to know more or he’d lose his fucking mind. “Did Lyra call you, too?”
Ben nodded. “Both your girls got out. Ambulance took Siena to the hospital. Lyra headed there, too. Don’t know more than that right now.“
Ambulance? Hospital? “She’s hurt? How bad? Is she burned?” Fuck, she’d been through so goddamned much already.
“I’m on with Lyra now,” Zach said. “Siena lost consciousness at the scene. But she’s not burned. Smoke inhalation, looks like. Lyra’s at the hospital, keeping watch over the sister.”
“Geneva. Her name’s Geneva.”
