I let out a long breath of air as I study my brother’s trailer and then I walk around to the back door, unlatch the locks, and pull them open.
Will’s bikes are state-of-the-art. His buddy down at the track has been taking care of them. Even raced them a couple times, he said. But he felt bad using them to win and just kept them in good working order until I was ready to pick them up and move on.
Which was supposed to be last weekend, but here they still are.
I have no prints. No last name.
I could go looking in the criminal database for Lincoln’s face, but that would arouse suspicion.
So? You should be shouting it out to everyone, Molly. Telling anyone who will listen there is a creepy pervert on the loose who lives in a Batcave up in the mountains.
But just thinking about that makes my stomach feel funny.
He intrigues me, sure. I have some personal fantasies that might involve his face between my legs and his hard chest crushing me to a bed.
But he planted a seed last night. Give in tonight, Molly. And I’ll give in tomorrow.
I shove a helmet on my head, walk into the trailer, release the ties that secure the street-legal bike to the walls of the trailer, then back it down the ramp and get on.
Lincoln said to come find him. And that’s exactly what I plan on doing. Only this time, I’m going prepared. I pat the pocket of my leather jacket where my gun is stashed. And I’m not coming back until I’ve checked every last dirt road on Wolf Pass Highway.
Chapter Twenty - Lincoln
A modified servo robot goes whizzing by, barely missing my head as I lie next to the bike, messing with the brake line.
“I’m not falling for your passive-aggressive bullshit, Sheila. And I don’t think you’re gonna run me over with one of those monstabots.” I do think that, actually. She’s been programmed to act like a woman and that automatically makes her cunning, vengeful, and able to carry a grudge until she wins.
But she’s not going to win. She wants details about last night. She wants for me to hear her out. She wants me to stop. And no. That’s not happening. None of it is on the table. I’m too far in. I’ve risked too much. I’ve… changed, and those changes can’t be undone.
Another servo goes by, clipping me on my bare shoulder. “Goddammit, you bitch.”
Sheila manifests into her holographic form in the center of the room. She wears the same clothes as always, but today, she’s got her hair different.
Am I supposed to notice that?
I roll my eyes and ignore her. Fucking women—even fake women—are beyond comprehension.
She walks over to me and stands there, silently waiting, and tapping her foot. It even has a sound effect. A tiny pat, pat, pat against the polished concrete floors.
“Can I help you?” I ask.
“You can’t keep doing this.”
“I can and I will. Until someone stops me.”
“Just what exactly are you trying to prove by murdering people?”
“That I’m capable. That I’m inhuman. That I’m perfect. That I’m Alpha.” I snort out a small laugh. “Even you know that can’t be changed. So why bother fighting it?”
“Because you deserve a future that’s not dependent on the past. I only want you to be happy, Lincoln. I want you to find a nice girl before you waste your youth on this plan filled with hate, and darkness, and revenge.”
“I can’t deal with this shit right now, Sheila. Just go away.”
“I think this Molly woman is the one.” She says ‘the one’ in a whisper like it’s a secret.
“Would you leave me alone? All I want to do is work on my bike in peace. And that means you need to go—”
Eeeeent, eeeent, eeent—the perimeter alarm goes off. I look at Sheila and she disappears to go investigate. Two seconds later she’s back, smiling.
“What was it?”
She crosses her arms and looks smug.
“What the fuck was—”
“I think you better go check the tunnel, Lincoln. You have a visitor.”
“Shit,” I say, throwing down a wrench with a clang that echoes through the cave. “That girl found me.” I get up off the ground and wipe my greasy hands on my jeans as I walk over to the security room and see Molly fucking Masters on all sixteen monitors as Sheila traces her movements from the moment she crossed onto the secured property. I own more than six hundred acres in all directions from the center of the cave. But not all of it is secure. Only the parts I don’t want people to find.