Page 71 of Carson

He laughs, lighting up a cigarette. “Your mom is sweet.”

“That she is.”

“You missed your turn.” I look over my shoulder, pointing to the road he just passed.

“I thought since we were in the area …” he turns away from me, flicking his ash out the window.

“Fuck,” I whisper under my breath as he gets out to open the fence blocking our way. I really wish Carson was here. He’s the only one who’s ever been able to talk some sense into Carver.

When he gets back in, I do my best. “Hey, man, it sounds like this chick has it covered. We don’t need to interfere.”

He completely ignores me. “So, I need you to distract the sister. She’s a mute, by the way.”

“No. Absolutely not. And that was rude. She has a name, you know.”

He pulls up outside the shack, but no one is here.

“Thank god,” I whisper under my breath.

“I’m just going to check it out,” he says as he’s opening his door.

He gets one foot on the ground and we hear a click. His head pushes forward as a gun comes into my view. Holy shit.

He lifts his hands in the air. A blonde woman peeks into the cab, giving me a quick once-over before pulling Carver out and forcing him to walk to the front of the truck. She removes a pair of handcuffs from the back of her pants and slips them through the cattle guard on his truck.

She secures one of his hands with the cuffs and then looks at me through the windshield. She waves her gun, pointing to the spot beside them with the barrel.

“You want me to get out?” I ask, knowing she can’t hear me.

She nods and points once more.

“Yeah, fuck that,” I say under my breath.

She puts the gun to his temple, her eyes narrowing.

“Jesus Christ, this is just the kind of shit that happens when Carson’s not around.”

I get out of the truck and stupidly let her place one of my wrists into the other cuff.

“Now what are you going to do?” Carver asks her, getting in her face as she snaps me into place.

Her eyes stay on mine. She’s doing an incredibly good job at handling my crazy friend.

She finally looks away and backs up.

“I told you this was a stupid idea.”

“But exciting, yeah?”

I don’t have time to tell him off, because the woman suddenly whistles.

Carver looks at me. “Damn, I didn’t know mutes could whistle.”

“Stop fucking calling her that!” I yell, finally finding the end of my rope. I’m so pissed that Carson fucking left me to deal with Carver alone.

The door to the shack opens and Katie and Nyx walk out, both wiping blood from their hands.

Fuck. Katie’s here.