He thought for a moment. “Yeah, that could work. Take Georgette Rush,” he added. It was one of the lesser used trails by a narrow, rocky stream.
She knew that path. They had ridden out there before.
“I’ll meet you, at the quarter mile mark, babe,” he relented into the phone. He hoped he didn’t regret this.
“Oh, thank you Gary. Thank-you. I didn’t do this baby,” she reiterated for good measure. “I just can’t go to jail.”
He ran his fingers through his shaggy blond hair. He needed to cut it, but hadn’t gotten around to it yet. He was regretting it already when she kept whining about how grateful she was. She’d better be, he thought. “I’ll think of something to get you out of the country babe,” he grunted into the receiver.
“I’ll be there in thirty minutes,” she made herself sound relieved even though she was nervous as hell. She had to get him to admit he did it. It was the only way.
Of all the fucking luck, Nikko cursed. He had been sitting outside behind a wood pile near the servant’s quarters for thirty minutes. He left his car a half mile back on the same dirt road he’d parked on before. He’d pulled it off the road into what looked to be an old abandoned campsite. It was well hidden and he felt confidant no one would notice it. He walked on up to Gary’s parent’s place and stuck close to the tree line. Relief swept through him when he was a couple hundred yards off and saw a light in the servant’s cabin up ahead. As he got closer, he could see someone moving about in what appeared to be the kitchen. He ducked behind the wood pile just in time when the front door opened and a really tall man walked out. He had nearly been caught. His heart pounded in his chest. He wondered if Ronnie was already here. He heard nothing but the guy. And the guy was Gary. He’d googled him, and saw pictures of him and his family at some local charity events.
He appeared unkempt now. Disheveled from the small glimpse he had before ducking behind the wood pile.
He was about to take another peek when he heard the sound of an engine roaring to life, and took the chance to peer around the side. Gary was at the wheel of a four wheeler, and he took off like a bat out of hell into the darkness. Fuck. Now what? Wait? Go look around? Where the hell was she? His blood was thundering in his ears. After the sound of the four wheeler could no longer be heard, he took the chance and got up stretching his legs. He made his way over to the cabin. Gary left the lights on, so he peered in the window. He was right about this being a kitchen in the front. When he peered in, he noticed no movement at all. He could see pretty much the entire cabin except for the bedrooms. No one was here. Fuck. The guy left the TV on, so he figured he’d be back soon. He’d give him a half hour and then head into town. He hoped he wasn’t wasting his time.
He didn’t have to wait long though. Thank goodness. After maybe ten minutes of crouching and getting eaten alive by mosquitos, with his patience wearing thin, Nikko thought he heard someone returning. The nocturnal sounds of the night creatures suddenly ceased. Someone was coming or the creatures wouldn’t have gotten so quiet. After a minute of nothing but dead silence, his anger was up again at the thought that he had been wrong. Where in the hell was the guy, and where in the hell was Ronnie? His palm itched to really tan her hide. She deserved it for the danger she was putting herself into.
He shifted again, and then he definitely heard something, it sounded like voices approaching in the distance. Two voices, a guy and girl, but they were still too far off to make out what they were saying, or who they belonged to. His ears strained to hear something. Anything.
Fuck, he heard her. It was Ronnie. He couldn’t see her yet, but it was her. He hadn’t been able to carry his gun on the plane, but he was prepared to use whatever force was needed. He should have picked up something, and silently cursed himself for not thinking of it sooner.
“Thank-you Gary,” she was saying. “I really can’t thank you enough.” Her voice was as sweet as syrup.
He heard Gary laugh in a way that sickened him. “I know a way you can thank me baby,” he teased, breathing hard. They were just starting to come into view. Nikko’s hands curled into fists. The hell she will, he thought.
“And thanks for leaving your four wheeler, and walking my bike in,” she added. “It sucks that you’ll have to go back out and get it later.”
“I didn’t want to risk leaving yours, someone finding it, and then running the plates. It’ll be fine for tonight,” he grunted again pushing her bike the last thirty yards. “Plus, you can thank me personally in about ten minutes.” He laughed again.