Page 9 of Tico

Seeing that Pyper’s gathering her things, I do the same, shoving clothes and any other essentials into my duffle bag. Next, I pry open a loose board in the closet where I stash my extra money, then grab my go bag off the top shelf. The last thing I grab is a set of pictures on my dresser from back when Mom was still alive. I carefully pack it in between some clothes and zip up the bag.

Turning, my heart breaks when I see Pyper looking longingly at her bookshelves. She’s an avid reader and I hate that we have to leave her collection here. Reading is her way of escaping this hellhole and Dad’s wrath. Glancing down at Dad and Scooter, I make my decision, even though it might slow us down a bit.

“I’ll get you more, Pyper, but we can take a few with us.”

I throw the strap of my duffle over my shoulder, ignoring the twinge of pain from my ribs, before doing the same to my backpack. I hold out my hands and Pyper eagerly shoves a stack of books in them before grabbing a stack herself. Then, we’re out the door and putting our bags and the books in the trunk of my old beater.

Shutting the trunk, I round to the front of my car and rip off the remote that lets me through the gates of the clubhouse and toss it into the weeds by the fence. It has a tracker in it and I hope that it’s the only one they put on my car. I know there could be a second one, but I’m hoping I can count on Techy’s lazy ass right now. He only does stuff when he absolutely has to.

Grabbing the first aid kit from under my seat, I open it up and then pull out my switchblade. I clean my shoulder and the blade with an alcohol wipe before slicing into my skin where I know the tracker is. A few seconds later, I dig it out and it drops onto the ground. I crunch it under my heel before turning to Pyper to find she’s already cleaning her shoulder.

“This is gonna sting like a bitch, but we need to get it out or they’ll find us. We don’t have time to numb the area.”

She nods, still visibly shaken from before and exhales. “Do it.”

Carefully, I repeat the process and then bandage her up before doing the same to me.

Sliding behind the wheel, I pull the GPS up on my phone and once Pyper’s buckled in, we head south. Then I dial the only person that can help me right now.

I just hope he keeps his promise.

Chapter 6

Ember

Aftermakingaquickstop at an ATM to get out the maximum amount they’ll let me withdraw, I get back on the road and head out of town.

About twenty minutes later, a black SUV suddenly zooms past us and then their tires squeal as they turn and come to a stop, blocking the road. I slam on the breaks, barely managing to stop in time.

As soon as the car is in park, I’m out the door, ready to fight until I see who it is.

Reese.

He gives me a lopsided grin. “Duncan messaged me. Let’s get those trackers out and…” his voice trails off as he notices the bloody bandage on my arm.

“Already done.”

He gives me a look I can’t decipher before nodding. “Phones,” he says while holding out his hand and I place my phone in his palm reluctantly. Pyper does the same.

I know what’s coming and I should have thought about it before. He turns them off before taking out the sim cards and crushing them with the heel of his boot. Then he crushes the phones as well.

“We’ll get you new phones later. Let’s transfer your stuff into my car. There’s another tracker on your car and the club is already rallying, trying to find you two. We need to get you out of town. Now.”

It takes us a few moments to transfer everything to his SUV before he drives my car into the ditch so it’s no longer on the road. Once Pyper and I are buckled into the back of his SUV, he tears off down the road.

Sitting in the middle seat, I wrap my arms around Pyper. Her body crumples against me, and she buries her face in my neck. I hold her as she cries, and the longer she cries, the more I wish I had hurt Dad and Scooter even more than I already did.

After a while, Pyper’s breathing levels out and I shift her slightly so that she’ll be in a more comfortable position.

“How did you know where to find us?” I ask, finally giving in to ask the question that’s been burning in my mind since Reese found us.

Reese’s gaze flicks to mine in the rear-view mirror before instantly looking away again. I narrow my eyes at him.

“Did you put a tracker on us as well?”

He clears his throat. “Ember…” he starts, his voice hesitant, and I know he’s going to lie to me. I slice my hand through the air in frustration.

“I deserve to know the truth. If you can’t tell me, then take us back to our car and we’ll figure things out on our own.”