Page 8 of Grave Stone

“Oh, Whitney,” she said in a low tone. “This is bad.”

“I know! Somebody killed Glenn and tried to kill me.”

“Where were you picked up?” she asked, producing a phone I’d never seen before.

“It’s one of Hadley’s. She’s letting me use it to search stuff I don’t want to search on my work phone.” She navigated to the map and handed it to me.

“It’s hard to know exactly without looking at the app on my phone, but it was somewhere in this area. I remember the three mailboxes in a row,” I said and passed the phone back to her.

Her eyes widened when she looked at the screen. “What was the name of the pawn shop?” she asked urgently.

“I don’t know, but it was the one on Stallings Road, in that strip mall with the vape store. Why?”

“Yep, this is bad.” She tucked the phone in her pocket and clapped her hands together. “We need to pack for a few days and go somewhere else.”

“Why? What’s happening?” I was trying not to freak out, but Stevie was scaring me. She usually underreacted to situations, but she was being serious as fuck.

“The pawn shop is owned by the Wood brothers—Nate and Tate. I’ve heard they’re loan sharks. Based on what you told me, I’m gonna say it’s true. When they find out you’re not dead, they’re gonna be looking for you. And the place you ran from? That was Grave Cremations, owned by the Grave Prowlers MC. So, yeah, they’re gonna be looking for you, too. Pack now. Questions later.”

I packed on autopilot. My mind was reeling from what Stevie told me—I was wanted by loan sharks and an outlaw motorcycle club. How was that even possible? Fucking Glenn. When I found out he was cheating on me, I thought my life was ruined. I was wrong. Cheating had nothing on making me wanted by criminals.

“Are you ready?” Stevie asked, startling me.

“I don’t know. I’ve never packed for anything like this.”

“That’s okay. We’ll take what you have and go. I can come back later if I need to.” She took my bag and nudged me toward the door. “Is this it?”

I pointed to the bed. “Those two and my backpack.”

“Oh good. I was worried for a second,” she joked, but I didn’t laugh. Fleeing my safe space in a hurry brought up a lot of bad memories for me. “Come on, let’s get you in the car.”

She loaded our bags and locked up the house while I sat in the passenger seat, dazed. I couldn’t process what was happening. I understood it; I just couldn’t believe it had happened to me. I felt like I wasn’t reacting like I should, considering what I’d been through.

“Where are we going?” I asked once we were on the road.

“Hadley’s.”

“Could you be more specific?” Hadley was rich as fuck. She owned several houses in South Carolina, and they were all multimillion-dollar estates.

“Yeah, but we need to call her first. Can you do that?” Stevie asked, gesturing to the display screen in her car.

“She doesn’t know we’re coming?”

“I haven’t talked to her. Have you?”

“No.”

“Hello?” Hadley answered.

“It’s me, and I’m in the car with Whitney.”

“Hey, Whit. So, why are you calling me on the secret phone I gave you?”

“Whitney has a situation, and we need to lie low for a few days.”

“I’m at the lake house. Do y’all want to come here?”

“Perfect! Yes, we do.”