“I’ve heard that one before,” I remark, slamming the car door on her. I see the large colorful bag in the back that’s covered by cartoon characters. I open the back door and grab it, taking it over to Beth. I kiss her cheek. “It’ll all be okay, Beth. Hold tight. I’m going to take care of your sister, I promise.”
It’s not much, but it’s my way of reassuring her. I just hope I’m right, for both our sakes. She gives me a weak smile through her tears, then I turn to go back to my woman. Everyone has loaded up and, as I look over my shoulder, Sabre’s putting Beth in his SUV. It doesn’t escape my attention that Skull still has Gabby and he’s in a separate vehicle. Fuck, I hope I’m right. I go get my woman so we can get out of here before the Saints figure out we jammed their signal, fix it, then deduce our location. That’s the last thing anyone needs.
Our plates are full enough.
We’re almost back in Tennessee and we still haven’t said a word to each other, which suits me fine, but when he reaches over and turns off the radio, I know my reprieve is over.
“I thought you had better sense than to pull the crap you’ve pulled. What the fuck were you trying to do, get yourself killed? Not to mention spending the night in a fucking rest stop!”
I know my eyes go wide. I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that he knows everything, since clearly he’s been tracking me. It does though, at least slightly.
“I was doing what I had to do to protect my family,” I say in response. “And I was perfectly fine at the rest stop. It was safe. I know what I’m doing, y’know.”
Torch mumbles something under his breath, his knuckles going white against the steering wheel, and I can see his pulse throbbing in his neck. Then, he turns on me and I swear if a man could breathe fire, he’d be doing it.
“You kidding me? Jesus on a Harley, you’re completely nuts! You weren’t safe! Nothing about the harebrained shit you’ve been pulling has been safe, and if it wasn’t for me and my brothers being there this morning, Colin’s assholes would have gotten ahold of you.”
“Oh, they wouldn’t have, either! If you hadn’t been there to slow us down, we would be long gone.”
“Jesus, you are clueless. The only reason they didn’t get to you before we did is because we jammed their fucking signal when our intel let us know they were tracking the jeep.”
“Whatever. I still say we would have been long gone. And what do you care, anyway? You and your brothers are just planning on turning me and Bethie over to Colin anyways.”
He slams on the breaks and my body hurls towards the windshield. The seatbelt catches me and jerks me back, as well as my hand. The metal bites into my wrist.
“Are you fucking kidding me right now?” Horns are blaring and tires are squealing as they zoom past us and bow up behind us on the road.
“Will you watch it? Are you trying to get us killed? Hit the damn gas!”
“Fuck no! We aren’t going another damn foot until you look me in the eye and admit that you know that there’s no way in hell that I’m ever letting Colin or any of that fucking bunch get ahold of you!”
“Whatever you say.”
“I’m not playing you right now, Katie. Admit it. Jesus Christ! How can you even say that to me after everything that’s gone down between us?”
“You mean all of the lying? The taped conversations? The fucking backstabbing? You mean all of that, Torch?”
“Stop calling me Torch!”
“That’s your name!”
“The fuck it is! You call me Hunter!”
“Are you for real?”
“Katie…” he warns me.
“Fine then, Hunter. Perhaps you should run to the hospital because I think you’ve had a stroke! Or you’re just fucking insane!”
“You got that right, lady. Loving your ass has drove me completely insane.”
“Don’t say that,” I tell him, my voice so quiet, I’m not sure he can hear me. I just know that when he uses those words, it hurts. No, that’s wrong. When he uses that word, it injures me.
“Don’t say what, Katie? That I love you? Don’t you get it, sweetness? I fucking love you. I love you so much it’s keeping me from strangling the fucking life out of you right now.”
“Will you stop?” I scream, unable to hear that from him. His face jerks back like I’ve hit him, and I decide to just let out the rest. “I trusted you! I was letting my guard down, trusting you with the two things in this world that mean more to me than anything. They’re the only reason I’m still alive! And you used me, planning to—”
“Planning to get them back to Skull. My God, woman! Did you even see the hell on his face when he saw Gabby? Did that even register, or are you and your sister so selfish that you think this is all about you?”
His words cut me. He doesn’t know. He doesn’t have any idea. He couldn’t. I turn away from him then. A car comes up behind us and this time they don’t go around. They just sit there with their hand on the horn, blaring it continuously.
“I’m going!” Torch yells, then finally jerks it down into drive, slamming his foot on the gas.
I just keep staring out the window and feeling like I might not survive this.