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But neither of them argued with me. Because we were in a hurry. Because Cain always liked my back-up when he wanted to give someone a beat-down, and right now, Stellan had hit the top of his list. And because the four of us were all in it together when it came to Aurora, drawn to her even though she was sweet-scented poison.
Now the three of us were in my truck. Cain’s anger hung in the air, simmering dangerously even though I knew it wasn’t directed at either of us. He thought he was so untouchable, and yet Aurora drove him to all-new levels of insanity. As much as he loved thinking of himself as the cruelest and most dangerous man of his generation of gangsters, he still had some fragment of a heart left… and Aurora had walked off with it tucked into her pocket and a smile on her face.
Remington frowned down at his screen. “Well, it looks like they made a U-turn. What are you up to, Stellan?”
“He could’ve realized we’d be tracking him. But there’s nothing he can do about that, unless…” Cain’s hands tightened into fists.
“He’s not going to hurt Aurora. He’s not an idiot. Not about that anyway.” Remington rattled off new directions for me, then scrolled his phone. “I’m going to check in on his cell phone. I installed all the security shit on all of your phones like you asked, Cain… so now I’m the only one who can eavesdrop on you.”
“What the fuck?” Cain demanded, but Remington just grinned at him.
“I never bother, Cain. You’re not very interesting.”
Remington knew damn well how many conversations Cain had that would incriminate him with a life sentence in prison. Cain shook his head, his jaw tense. He trusted Remington completely. If Remy were anyone else, Cain would’ve hurt someone for threatening his privacy.
“And dropping in… now.” Remington raised his phone, but the only noise was a loud rush of white noise.
Remington’s face went from cocky to concerned instantly. He began to tap frantically on his phone again.
“What is it?”
“It shouldn’t sound like this if his phone is in the car.”
In the distance, over the white noise, there was a faint tinny sound of someone asking for thirty dollars in gas.
“Fucker,” Remington said, sounding appreciative. “I thought he was too addicted to his phone to just leave it somewhere. And if he’d turned it off, I would’ve noticed.”
“He has to know we’re tracking him by Aurora’s chip.” Cain clapped my shoulder. “We’ve got to intercept them before he gets desperate.”
I was already speeding, but I crossed into reckless territory, weaving adeptly through the traffic on the highway. Everyone else slowed as a storm blew in, and I cursed in exasperation.
Heavy rain washed across the windshield, turning it white. The car went quiet and tense except for the sound of the rain beating against the roof of my truck.
“What do you think Aurora’s condition is?” Cain asked into the silence. “Stellan, for all his faults, never used those drugs on a girl before. Unlike that bitch Reynolds. So he doesn’t have any practice getting it right.”
“Don’t torture yourself thinking about it,” Remington said.
“I’m not. I’m going to torture Stellan.”
“You’re going to love him again next week once you’ve sufficiently terrorized him and—” Remington suddenly broke off, not even interested in his own prattle when his tech had distracted him.
“What?” I demanded.
“They just got off the highway. It’s weird but…” Remington trailed off and directed me. We left the highway and entered quiet country roads heading through farmland, passing wet, grouchy cows and broken-down farmhouses.
“Where do you think he’s taking her?” I asked. “I didn’t think he grew up in the country.”
Remington scoffed. “Did you ever ask?”
“No.” Now that Stellan’s past and Aurora’s future seemed tied together, it occurred to me that I could’ve been a better friend and taken some interest in his life.
“Maybe there are places he and his sister visited that we don’t have the first fucking clue about.” Cain said the same thing I was thinking. “Or maybe he’s taking Aurora from us for another reason. Going to sell her or something.”
“He wouldn’t do that,” Remington said.
I glanced at him, wondering if Remington knew the first thing about hate, how it was like its own animal that stole your humanity.
Because I thought Stellan might be capable of anything.
