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“We’ll go out as far as I-37, then turn round and come straight back,” Corbett confirmed, his hands mimicking the route. “Two hours, maybe three. With the work I do, it’s better to... keep moving. I do appreciate,” Corbett was at pains to be clear, “your valuable time.”
“Oh, horseshit. You appreciate me rolling over like a puppy.”
“Hank,” said Ridge tiredly, “do as the man says and everything will be fine. Raven says she’ll be here at about eleven, and when Corbett brings you back, we’ll have a drink and just chill out, the three of us. OK?”
Car doors closed, Corbett took them steadily out of Ridge’s neighborhood, and for the first time in... it felt like several days, he could relax. “Peace,” he breathed with a deep relief, “and quiet.” He pulled a thick cushion from the couch and sat on it, cross legged on the floor, straightening his back into the traditionalmeditation posture.Deep breath in... slowly out...
As usual, he was confronted with a thousand crowding thoughts, and let each one pass like a cloud, easing along from right to left, until it was out of view. Hank’s lazy selfishness. Snapping at people in the gym.Navy, not Army, you goddamned...Raven’s gentle tongue on his. Oh, God, her scent, her willing mouth, her...
Deep breath in... slowly out...
Is the shotgun loaded?A slight shift in posture, the better to clear his energy channels.Deep breath in... Hey, who are the Rangers playing tomorrow?“Shush, dammit,” he said out loud, as he did when his unbidden cloud of cares needed an extra push away.Deep breath in... slowly out... She’ll have flour in her hair when she comes back, will need a shower... maybe we could... Shit, Ridge... focus... Deep breath in...
The phone rang. “Farewell, enlightenment,” he sighed and picked up.
“Ridge? Hey... could you, maybe... come to Cheryl’s and pick me up?”
He was actually out of the door before he finished answering. “Sure, Raven, of course. Are you OK?”
“Yeah, yeah,” she said distractedly. “I just... erm...”
“I’ll be there before you know it.” Ridge sprinted to his Chevy Colorado and, had the cops been around, would have incurred $600 dollars in speeding fines on the ten-mile journey.
She was standing outside Cheryl’s — under the bakery’s security light, he was pleased to see — and her car, he saw confusingly, was parked right there.
He pulled up, and she gingerly got in and buckled up. “Raven, tell me what’s happened, honey.” She was ashen and had been crying.
“They know everything,” she said, and handed Ridge a crumpled sheet of paper. “This was on my windshield when I finished my shift.”
Heart pumping, Ridge unfolded the note and read it:
Dear Miss Samuelson (and her dependable friend),
We respect family loyalty.
But your brother has made a lot of mistakes.
And he needs to talk with us.
Tell him to come to church for a private midnight Mass.
First Assembly of God, Three Rivers, TX.
He was calm, almost as if he had been expecting something like this. Raven watched him read it again and then nod simply. “OK.” He called Corbett and said only, “Hey, we’ve had a message. There’s a midnight meet,” and he gave the address and listened calmly for a moment. Then another simple “OK” and he rang off.
“What did he say?” Raven managed, her voice fluttering with fear.
“He said he’ll handle it. These bozos will be celebrating Mass alone.”
“What if they...?”
It was Ridge’s turn to quiet her with a gentle finger to her lips. “You’re safe. Hank is extremely safe. And these people have noideawhat they have gotten into.” The confidence of her protector, the way he simply dismissed the danger as if it were of no consequence, brought some calm to Raven’s shivering body. Ridge started the Chevy. “We’re going to go home and just monitor things. It’s fine,” he said, looking at her once more. “Really. It’s all fine.” They rode back in silence, his strong right arm pulling her close, warming her fragile frame.
And all the while, a part of Ridge’s mind — one sealed off from the tearful, beautiful girl leaning into him, craving his warmth — was silently forming a plan born of searing, unimaginable rage.
CHAPTERTEN
The noise was deafening,an assault to the ears, a ceaseless, rhythmic warfare.
