Chapter 106
-Hailey-
Talon climbed out of his truck, leaving me alone inside.
7
I hadn’t driven stick in years. He’d just given me a crash course so I could drive his truck to Oakmoss Lane. He and River would follow me on their bikes.
When he closed the door behind him, it felt like a vault sealing. There was no turning back now. Through the windshield, the clubhouse looked dark and solid against the evening sky.
Safety I was willingly abandoning.
I watched Talon and River clip their helmets on and mount their bikes. Then I put the truck in drive and rolled forward toward the main gate. I was a mess, and my heart was fluttering against my ribs. But I had to do this.
Every window I passed felt like an eye. I kept waiting for a face to appear, for a hand to slam against the glass, for Logan to come limping out the front door with green eyes full of fury and betrayal.
But everything stayed quiet. The two prospects manning the gate didn’t question their vice president. Their faces were blank as they hauled the heavy chain–link open wide enough for us to pass through.
As we rolled through, I caught a glimpse of the gun range in the side mirror. A box of reinforced steel, protruding off the side of the clubhouse.
He was in there… planning a war he didn’t know had already changed.
The warmth in my chest wasn’t pride or courage. It was that same old acidic guilt, burning a hole through me.
We hit the main road and I carefully shifted gears, pressing the accelerator. River and Talon’s bikes fell in behind me.
The city unspooled outside my window, but it was a different Riverstone than the one I knew. The diners, the auto parts stores, the tired–looking houses — they seemed like a painted backdrop.
Everything was a potential threat, a hiding place. A beat–up sedan waiting at a light became a scout car. A man walking his dog was logging our movement.
Anatoly’s mind games were working… he had made the whole world feel like enemy territory.
Twenty minutes later, I turned onto Oakmoss Lane and pulled off to the gravel shoulder. The road ahead snaked off to the right, surrounded by dense forest.
This was the swanky side of town. Big houses, big yards. The kind of places people lost in ugly divorces and bad investments.
River and Talon pulled up behind me, and the low growl of their bikes cut out a second later.
11:44 Fri, Jan 23
Chapter 106
This was it.
Talon walked up to my window. “You got the address?”
I nodded. My throat was suddenly dry,
“Comms,” he said, handing me a familiar tiny earpiece. I tried not to think about what had happened the last few times I’d worn one. “It’s live. We’ll hear everything you hear. We’ll be watchin‘ from the woods.”
My fingers were shaking, and I fumbled with the device before finally getting it seated in my car.
“Test it,” River’s voice muttered, tinny and close, directly into my head.
I jumped at the sound. “I can hear you,” I murmured.
“Good,” Talon’s voice came through, a low rumble in my skull. “We’ll move on foot from here. You take the truck straight to the address. Don’t speed. Don’t stop. You see anything, you say it. You hear me?”
“I hear you,” I repeated. The words felt hollow.
He nodded, pulling a Glock out of his waistband. It looked just like the one I’d shot Matt with. Bile threatened to race up my esophagus, but I took the gun from his hand and tucked it into the back of my jeans.
He held my gaze for a second longer, then patted my shoulder. “You got this, Hailey.”
Then he and River were moving, flinging their packs over their shoulders and melting into the tree line with a rustle of leaves and the soft clink of gear.
And I was alone.
I took a deep breath and put the truck in drive.
Oakmoss Lane quickly turned into a narrow gravel road that seemed to lead into the heart of nowhere. I passed two houses, and then there was nothing. No mailboxes, no signs of life. Just this road, winding on toward my potential death.
The comms in my ear were silent. I kept my eyes fixed ahead, on the spot where the lane disappeared around another bend, waiting for the roof of the house to break through the trees.
The
gun
tucked into the back of my jeans felt like a false promise of control.
I was driving straight into a trap, and the only thing louder than the engine was the sound of my own heart.
Finally, it appeared. 1847 Oakmoss Lane. It was a large, modern, two–story house with pointy edges and walls made of glass. It stuck out like a sore thumb in the wooded scenery around it.
Weeds choked the front yard, standing tall and brown against the house.
I let the truck roll to a stop in the cracked concrete driveway, right where the Russians would see it from the windows. My hands were sweaty on the steering wheel.
11:44 Fri, Jan 23
Chapter 106
I killed the engine, and the sudden silence was a slap. The only sound was the metallic tick–tick–tick* of the engine cooling down. Well… and the frantic thud of my heart.
I took two shuddering breaths. “I’m here,” I murmured. “I don’t see anyone”
A bit of static, then Talon’s voice, low and steady in my ear. “Copy. We’re moving into position. Eyes open. girl.”
“Yeah,” I breathed out.
I reached behind me, and my shaking fingers found the Glock. The weight of it was both comforting and terrifyingly alien in my hand. I turned the safety off with a soft click.
The sound was obscenely loud.
Okay. Now or never.
I pushed the truck door open. The hinge whined in protest and I flinched, half–expecting a shot to ring out from inside the house.
Nothing. Just that same heavy quiet.
I made myself walk slow, with my head on a swivel. I scanned the blank windows for movement. The glint of a scope. Any sign of life. The air smelled like damp rot and pine needles.
I approached the front door, and I didn’t really know what to do. Was I supposed to knock? I guess I had assumed I would’ve been greeted with armed guards by now.
But as I got closer, I saw that the door was sitting slightly open. An inch of darkness showed between the door and the frame. An invitation. A mouth waiting to swallow me whole.
I put my hand against it and pushed.
