Precarious(21)
I know there’s something going down here, something even bigger than me. I need to know what that is. I need to understand because I’m curious. But I also need to keep myself safe.
“Krypt, tell her everything she needs to know on the way. We’ll be around in the next few days; she can give us information then,” Maddox says, turning away from me.
“Where are we going?” I ask Krypt.
He points towards the mountains. “Up there.”
“Up?” I mutter.
“Up.”
“On a . . . bike?”
He chuckles. “No babe, on the transport God gave us.”
My eyes widen. “You want me to climb a fucking mountain?”
He grins at me. “It’s a day’s journey, if that, and yeah, I want you to climb a fuckin’ mountain.”
I point to my ribs. “Mountain plus climbing equals a world of pain.”
“You’ll be fine. It isn’t steep.”
“It’s a mountain!”
He snorts. “Quit your whinin’. If the cops check out here and you’re found, we’ll all go to shit.”
“That’ll serve you right for kidnapping me, and shooting up a car full of guards.”
He ignores me and reaches down to sling a bag over his shoulder. “Let’s go.”
“I don’t have hiking shoes.”
He snorts a laugh. “Fuck, you’re a weird chick.”
He drops his pack from his shoulder and pulls out a pair of sneakers. He hands them to me, and I put them on without argument. They’re a size to big, but I’d rather take them then go without. He tosses a thick jacket at me. It’s thick and warm. I push my arms through the sleeves and then we’re off.
I follow him as he walks out of the yard, all leather jacket and fine ass. Damn his fine ass. Damn it. He moves like a tiger, sleek and powerful.
I hate that I’m going to be stuck with him in the mountains for a few days alone. It freaks me out. He’s the kind of man that is hard to turn away from—let alone be stuck in a cabin alone with.
Fuck.
We head out to a path that leads into the thick trees. It’s clear to me these guys have thought this out. They’ve picked a location for their cabin/clubhouse that is without a doubt in a tricky area. It’s not in a public place, it’s out and it’s hidden. For police to get down here without being noticed, they’d have to come on foot. You’d be able to hear anything with that gravelly dirt road.
“Keep up,” Krypt barks, jerking me from my thoughts.
Evening will fall in about three hours, and that’s a little concerning for me. I pick up my pace, staying close behind him. “What are we supposed to do when it gets dark?” I ask him.
“We find somewhere and we sleep.”
“Out here?” I say, eyes wide.
“Yeah, out here.”
“You said there are cats. Big ones . . . that eat people.”
He nods, trekking forward. “There are.”
“And you want to sleep here?”
“Don’t have a fuckin’ choice. Besides, I got a gun.”
“That makes me feel so much better,” I say, staring around, my eyes scanning the trees. Well shit, now I’m freaked out.
My legs and ribs are aching by the time we’re an hour in, and I desperately want to stop. I’m sore all over and my arm is throbbing. Not to mention I have somewhat of a pounding head from the alcohol I consumed. “Do you have aspirin?” I ask.
Krypt stops, turning around to stare at me. He’s got a fine layer of sweat coating his skin, and God, does he look good. “You hurtin’?”
“Yeah.”
He drops the pack and rummages through it, pulling out a couple of pills. He hands them to me with a bottle of water. I take them gratefully and swallow them down.
“Sit. We’ll eat, and then we’ll keep walkin’ until we find somewhere to pull up.”
I find a large rock and perch on it, watching as he pulls out a couple of granola bars. He hands one to me and I graciously accept it. I’m starving. We eat in silence, and nothing but the sounds of the wilderness can be heard for miles.
“This cabin, is it like your escape house?” I ask him once I’m finished chewing.
He nods, kneeling down and using the water bottle to wash his hands. “The only way in and out is to walk, so it ain’t easy for any cops to find. None have found it yet. Besides, I’d hear them well before they reached us. It’s in a good position.”
“You want to tell me why we’re going there yet?”
“You know why we’re goin’ there. The cops are all over my escape and your disappearance. They’ll raid that clubhouse as soon as they locate it. We can’t be there.”