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“Damn man, that’s some knot-work,” I said, eying him sideways.
“Hobby. C’mon, if we’re taking him, we need to blow this place before everyone else turns up.”
Cyd started blubbering. Something about we’d pay for this shit, and we’d never get away with it. Blah, blah, blah . . .
Cook rolled his eyes and clocked him at the base of the skull. “Nite-nite, you sack of shit.”
Rubbing my wrists, I laughed as Cyd—the fucking Greek—went limp in Cook’s arms.
* * *
The occupants of the scorpion-infested motel must have been accustomed to the sound of gunshots. Sure as fuck, it took them long enough to stumble out of the rooms to see what was doin’. Cook and I opened the back hatch of his beat-up Ford Bronco and shoved Cyd inside. Now that I had a name for the piece of shit, I wasn’t giving him the honor of referring to him by any kind of fatherly name.
Cook tossed me the keys as I saw the first gun flash in the late afternoon sunlight. We crouched and ran to get inside. The Bronco might be ancient, but she started up like she was a fucking spring chicken. I caught a final look at Betty, and my heart broke a little as I backed out and skidded off in a billow of dust and a squeal of tires. Ducking in the seat, I pushed the Bronco as fast as it would go as shots rang out and crashed into the metal.
In the passenger seat, Cook shot me a sick grin, cocked his gun, and leaned out the passenger window to fire back at them. Pointless, because we’d pulled too far ahead and were moving too fast for anything to land, but he seemed to be having a blast playing up the scene.
When he sank back inside the cab, he wooted and said, “That’s the most fucking fun I’ve had in years.”
I glared at him sideways. “Glad I can be of some goddamn entertainment value. You know where I’m headed?”
Cook flipped on his gun safety and holstered it. Catching his breath from the excitement, he pointed. “Follow this until Highway 2, hang a left, then straight on ’til mornin’, motherfucker!”
I glanced over my shoulder. The Greek was still passed out in the gutted back end of the old four-by-four. I reached into my pocket for the phone Celt had given me. “FUCK!”
“What?”
“Lost my phone.” I held out my hand for his, but he just shook his head.
“No service until the border. So,” he drawled, “it looks like we’re singin’ show tunes to occupy our time.”
“The fuck we are!”
Cook laughed again and settled in, making himself a bit more comfortable for our little road trip.
“What the fuck was that back there?” I asked about his partnering up with the AX3.
Cook turned serious. Not an attractive look on his features. Suddenly, I understood his fickle manner a little more. That suited him. Serious Cook was scary as fuck.
“We got other problems.” He ran the back of his hand over his lips and glanced sideways. “The AX3’s got Celt... and Bou.”
I swerved. Cook had to grab the steering wheel to stop us careening off the road. Cyd’s passed out body rolled forward against the backs of our seats.
“More fucking details. Now.” I wrenched the steering wheel from his grip and righted the car
He summarized what happened in Celt’s house before Rex appointed him to go with Paola’s man, Gus. “I fucked up. I didn’t expect Rex to get Celt involved, and before I had time to assess the situation, Bou appeared. By that time, my options were to either keep playing along or try to fight Rex and his men. Shitty odds. Yeah, I wouldn’t have stood a fucking chance.”
I growled deep in my chest. “So you fucking threw your friend and his sister to the wolves? Not winning any brownie points, asshole.”
Cook sighed. “He’d have killed me for being a traitor and then he’d have killed Celt and Bou for the fucking fun of it. I decided to let Rex believe I was a loyal soldier. He needed to know I was coming to get you. You are the only reason he’d keep Celt and Bou alive. He’s the kind of sick motherfucker that likes to watch people suffer. He’ll wait until I bring you back before he tries anything.”
Fuck. The whole situation sounded hopeless. I latched on to his hope that Rex would keep Bou and Celt alive, but I knew men like Rex. Hell, I knew Rex. He’d only keep them alive while he was having fun. Whether that fun included me watching him kill them, or some other brand of sick shit, I didn’t know, but I needed to get back to The Ridge, and fast!
“At the border, I’m gonna need your phone.”
“Yeah? Well, first we’re going to have to tie you up and play a little game just to get across.”
I nearly ran off the road. “Ain’t no goddamn way you’re tying me up, motherfucker.”
