AllFreeNovel
Share Us
And again.
And… nothing.
I’m almost five-hundred miles from home right now, but the need to get back has me starting my car and peeling out of the gravel parking lot I’d been sitting in for the last hour.
I can’t fight this feeling in my stomach that tells me something has happened, but I pray I’m wrong.
Chapter 61
I switch my phone to silent and toss it in the passenger seat. I do not have the patience to deal with Bodhi right now, and the apology I’m sure he’s cooked up. I just want a clear head so that I can get this practice drive in and mentally prepare myself for whatever comes next.
This place wasn’t as easy to get to as I thought it would be. It’s kind of off the beaten track if you aren’t someone who has permission to enter the quarry. But there is a dirt road off the highway that brings you straight out here to the red rocks.
They tower up around me, reminding me of a family trip we took to Utah when I was younger.
Looking ahead of me, I almost wish I had a bird's-eye view of the area. The road in front of me disappears around a turn less than thirty feet away, and then nothing. I have no idea what I’m getting myself into out here.
Maybe Bodhi was right… maybe it’s too dangerous.
The thought frustrates me, and instead of turning around like my instincts say I should, I accelerate slowly, ready to see what lies ahead.
Chapter 62
The sound of an approaching vehicle has me setting down my newspaper and approaching the security window inside the brick guard house.
There isn’t any work currently taking place within the quarry, and I was told not to expect anyone out until Monday, when Mr. Castillo is meeting with a new foreman. But the car that approaches isn’t one of the typical black SUVs or work trucks I’m accustomed to. No, the blue Nissan that pulls up to the window isn’t anyone I’ve ever seen before.
“How can I help you boys?” I ask, offering them a cautious smile as I approach the window.
“Official Cast business, open the gate,” the man in the passenger seat says.
The Cast, as I know it, is an extension of the Castillo crime organization. I’ve only ever dealt with their front man, Mr. Chavez, but I’ve been given strict orders to treat any orders given by a member of The Cast as if they were given from Mr. Castillo himself.
“Right away,” I say, moving over to the switchboard and activating the gate.
I know not to ask questions, but that doesn’t stop me from committing the car to memory or jotting down the license plate number from the security camera footage on the screens in front of me. Just to be safe.
“Alright, boys, there you go,” I say, waiting for them to pull through and leave me to my paper.
Only when the passenger lifts his shirt to pull a gun from the waistband of his pants, I freeze and pray to God that this isn’t my last moment on Earth.
“You better pretend to be deaf, dumb, and blind, Viejo,” he says to me, the threat very real as I stare down the chamber of his loaded gun.
I nod my head, repeating, “Yes, yes, yes,” over and over like a chant. I’ll do whatever I have to as long as I get back home to my family.
“Good, because if you don’t, you’re dead,” he says, laughing like this is all some kind of joke to him.
I nod my head again, signaling to him that I understand, and then they drive off, red dust pluming in their wake.
Reaching up, I touch the tips of my fingers to my forehead, chest, and shoulders, making the sign of the cross, and praying that whatever, or whoever, those boys are after, God has mercy on their soul.
Chapter 63
I don’t know how anyone plans on actually racing out here, but they’re all insane. I’m second guessing myself with every turn that brings me closer to the exposed edge of these winding roads. How does anyone expect to pass one another on this road?
No wonder Bodhi freaked out when I told him about it. I see now why he called it The Snake.
I round the corner, and the high-pitched sound of an engine filters in through my opened window. Glancing in my mirrors, I notice a blue car about a mile back, one level down from where I am. Probably another racer. I wouldn’t doubt that everyone is coming out here to practice before the big day.
