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Blade braked in front of a small fleet of SUVs in a cave. Beau scrambled out of the ATV while Lyla stepped out with Nora. The SUVs pointed at a wall that seemed to be made of solid rock. Blade pulled out his phone.
“Any luck?” Carmen asked.
“No service, but that’s not surprising since we’re in the middle of nowhere.” Blade jerked his chin at Lyla. “Gavin should be able to track her through her watch.”
“Where are we going?” Carmen asked.
“Safe house in Arizona.”
“Can’t we stay here?” Pat asked.
“No. The protocol is to head to a safe house so that’s where we’ll go. Get in the car.”
Blade got into the driver’s seat, and her father took shotgun. Carmen lifted the back so Beau could jump in. Lyla slid onto the back seat and huddled in the corner to breastfeed Nora who calmed instantly. She stroked her daughter’s face as the fake wall of rock lifted, showing an endless expanse of desert highlighted by a half moon.
Blade messed with the GPS, which showed a snowy screen.
“Fuck,” Blade swore.
“Do you know where you’re going without directions?” she asked.
“Yeah.”
Blade navigated through the desert without lights. They were in the middle of nowhere without a road in sight. Her teeth rattled as the SUV handled the off-road terrain with ease. How could Blade possibly know where they were? She swallowed her questions. She trusted Blade with her life, so she’d let him take the lead.
She felt nothing. She was past fear or anger. Sadist would never stop. She looked down at Nora and could see just a hint of her face from the moonlight streaming through the window. Nora’s eyes were open and moving around the dark interior of the car. Nora clutched at her as the SUV dipped into holes. She held her close and noticed that Carmen managed to put a cap and socks on her daughter despite the chaos.
Carmen leaned between the two front seats, face tight with exhaustion and worry. Lyla looked down and saw that her once pink house slippers were now brown and filthy.
“What’s going on?” Pat asked.
The tension in the car ratcheted up to a screaming pitch. This war had been going on under her father’s nose for years. Despite the fact that Manny had been murdered, Gavin went to jail, and she had gone missing, her father hadn’t asked questions until now. She thought of her mother and squeezed her eyes shut. She would get her back.
“Someone has it out for the Pyres,” Blade said finally. “It’s the same guy who killed Manny.”
“So, it is your fault!” Pat shouted and tried to turn in his seat.
Lyla clenched her teeth as guilt raked her insides.
Carmen got in his face. “You’ve never been a father to Lyla. As far as I’m concerned, you should be happy we didn’t leave you there to die.”
“You’ve always been a disrespectful bitch—”
Blade’s fist flashed out and Pat slammed into the window. The sound startled Nora who began to cry. She cuddled the baby close and murmured to her as Blade spoke.
“I don’t like you.” Blade’s voice held no inflection, which made his delivery all the more effective. “You’re a lazy, shady fuck who has no respect for anyone. You’re all mouth and can’t back up your shit. You were all for Lyla being with Gavin as long as she gave you money. Far as I’m concerned, Gavin should have killed you when he caught you stealing. That’s the price you pay for taking what isn’t yours. The only reason you’re still breathing is because Gavin loves your daughter, yet you treat her like trash.”
They all jerked to the left as the tire dipped into a hole.
“I don’t like you,” Blade said again. “And I don’t care who you think you are. Right now, you’re not in control, you don’t call the shots, and you have no rights. I hear anything I don’t like coming out of your mouth, I’ll put us all out of our misery and put a bullet through your head before I dump your body in the middle of the desert. Shut your trap or I do it for you. We clear?”
Not a peep from her father. Lyla dropped her head back as it throbbed with the beginning pangs of a tension headache. Holy fuck. One innocent trip to the casino started a chain of events that couldn’t be stopped. Where was Gavin? Hopefully, he already knew what happened and was able to track her through the GPS imbedded in her watch. What if he was in trouble too? No, she couldn’t think that way. It would drive her crazy, and she had to keep her head.
She peered out of the window, waiting for a car to appear out of the darkness. She hoped Sadist’s men didn’t get through the guards to the house. What if they touched Manny’s urn? She closed her eyes and fought tears. She should have taken him.
She lurched forward as the SUV slid onto pavement. Blade spun sharply and slammed on the gas.
“How long will it take to get to this safe house?” Carmen asked.
