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“She said her sister got into trouble and was sent away,” Titus said in one breath, the words practically tumbling over each other.
“You asked about Esther?” My voice was flat. Fuck, he was such an idiot.
“I wasn’t obvious about it.” He glared at me. “Did you hear what I said? Esther was sent away.”
“Yeah, I heard you. What the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
“I don’t know. She just said that one day she was there and then the day after Thanksgiving she left.”
“The day after Thanksgiving?” Shit. It was alreadyJanuary. She’d been gone for months. Why the fuck hadn’t I followed up with her sooner?
“Noel was pretty upset about it. Once she started talking about it she didn’t stop for like five minutes.”
“Well, what else did she say?” I snapped, keeping my voice down.
“Nothing really.” Titus shrugged. “That she missed her and she wasn’t sure when she was coming back. She said her parents won’t even talk about it.”
“Fuck,” I breathed.
“Do you think—” He swallowed hard. “Do you think it’s because of you and her?”
My heart was beating like a fucking drum in my chest but I shook my head. “We hooked up in September. Your friend said she didn’t even get in trouble until two months later. It must’ve been something else.”
“What the hell else could it be?” Titus replied, frowning. “I mean, it’sEsther.”
“Maybe I wasn’t the only guy she hooked up with,” I said, knowing in my gut that it wasn’t true. “Maybe she got caught doin’ something else later.”
“Yeah, right,” Titus muttered.
The door opened behind me and I turned to see my mom poking her head out.
“Grab me a beer, Otto-mobile,” she ordered. “And then get your ass inside, dinner’s ready.”
As soon as I walked back into the kitchen, I knew something was up.
“No time for dinner,” Mick said to me over his shoulder before leaning down to give Emilia a kiss. “Gotta head back to the club.”
I looked around and Rumi was also getting up from the table, shoving his hand jokingly against Nova’s little brother’s head before kissing Nova goodbye.
“Sorry, ma,” I said, handing her the beers I’d carried inside.
“No worries, baby,” she said with a shrug. “Nothing new.”
I followed my brothers out of the house, still struggling to catch up to what was happening. My dad was already outside on his bike.
“Got some new information,” he said, lifting his helmet. “Those fuckin’ Bible thumpers have ’em. Go straight to the club, shit’s gonna get messy.”
We climbed on our bikes and followed him back to the clubhouse. The entire ride there I just kept thinking, thank fuck they’d sent Esther away and she wasn’t going to be in the middle of the shitstorm we were about to unleash.
Chapter 5
Esther
Ino longerwoke up and wondered where I was. The warm green sleeping bag and brown plaid couch had become as familiar to me as my childhood bed ever was. The little kitchen with my freeze-dried meals, and the fireplace, and even the outhouse bathroom had become my normal.
So, it was frustrating to realize that I was jumpy again. I thought I’d finally gotten past my fear of the dark and things that went bump in the night, but after a night of restless sleep, waking up covered in sweat from bad dreams, I knew that wasn’t the case. Every little noise startled me. Finally, just after dawn, I decided to get out of bed. The fire needed more wood anyway.
I hated waking up early. I’d never been an early riser to begin with, but living in the cabin had made it even worse. The earlier I got up, the longer the already long days were. As I rolled up my sleeping bag, I eyed the trap door.
