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“Hand me the other one.” Zeb gives a little flick of his fingers as I hand him the second shoelace.
Satisfied with his work of hog-tying Scott’s hands and feet together, Zeb steps back and pats down his shirt. He looks at me and cocks his head.
“Lost my phone.” He jerks his thumb over his shoulder toward the cliff and the mangled mess of what remains of the guardrail. “Please tell me you have yours?”
I bite my lower lip and shake my head. The wind whips at my hair and a flash of lightning illuminates the ground where Scott lies in the dirt.
“Well shit.” Zeb scratches his head and blows out a breath. “We can stay here, or walk. Guardian HQ is still a few miles from here.” He glances down at Scott and nudges him with the toe of his boot. When Scott doesn’t move, Zeb turns his attention to me. “He’s not going anywhere. We can walk to HQ, or wait for someone to stop and call the cops?”
TWENTY-EIGHT
Zeb
I starein awe as the night sky morphs into an ominous canvass of thick, billowing clouds. Flashes of lightning illuminate the sky, followed by the rumblings of distant thunder.
Roaring waves precede the fury of the storm, crashing against the jagged cliffs, making the ground shake and the air boom with each powerful strike. The power of the waves grows with every passing second; the tiniest reflection of what that storm will bring. I take a deep breath, feeling my chest tighten, and turn away from the horizon.
“I don’t like being exposed like this. We need to find somewhere safe to ride out the storm. Hope you don’t mind getting drenched.” My gaze casts up and down the deserted highway, then I take another look at the sky, trying to gauge the speed of the incoming storm.
My stomach twists with unease as I debate the merits of staying here, with Scott, or leaving him and hoofing it down PCH-1.
Guardian HQ isn’t that far by car, but on foot, it’s still a hike. And there’s no shelter between here and there. No homes perched on the cliffs. No businesses clinging to the edge. Nothing to protect us from the elements.
“We can’t just leave him.” Kaye glances at Scott with a worried frown.
She wraps her arms around herself and shivers with the blustering wind. Strands of hair blow wildly around her face, making her grab her hair and gather it in a fist. She glances at Scott with a worried frown, her gaze lingering on him as he lies face down on the dirt, right where I left him.
With the way I hog-tied his hands and feet, he can’t flip to his back. Fucker gets to eat dirt and I don’t feel bad about that.
He deserves a bullet to the brain for endangering Kaye’s life like that. If I’m lucky, a stray bolt of lightning will land on the fucker’s ass and fry him to charred bits from the inside out.
It would solve a lot of problems.
With that thought in my head, another bolt of lightning ignites the sky. Closer than the previous strikes, the thunder shakes the ground.
Damn, the storm’s moving faster than I thought. The first fat drops of rain fall on my face and I wish Kaye and I hadn’t leftInsanity. If we hadn’t, we’d be with everyone else, abandoning the beach and bonfire, and retreating to the safety of the massive estate.
Instead, we’re out here, lucky to be alive, after asshole Scott tried to kill us.
No phone.
No car.
And, evidently, we’re the only people on the road. What happened to the traffic?
“Whether we stay or go, we’re going to get wet. Be prepared,” I warn Kaye, not that there’s a need. She stares at the sky, concerned, but not frightened.
Honestly, stay or go, both options are shit.
“I’m not worried about a little rain.” Kaye shivers as the temperature drops. That storm is determined to slam into us.
“Me either, but I’m not keen on being out here with lightning striking all around us.”
“Even more reason we can’t leave him.” Kaye tugs at her hair, wringing her ponytail in distress.
I can.
I have absolutely no heartache leaving Scott to his fate, but if I leave his sorry ass hog-tied on the side of the road, there will be tons of red tape to be sorted out. He could charge me with assault. Which will immediately be thrown out after the whole running us off the road thing comes out.
