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Gabriel, Adrian, and I sneaked off while the others still had their heads stuck together. My pulse ticked away in my throat as I gripped my hands, almost as if I intended to pray. I still had that burner phone in my bag. If anything, I could’ve called that number to tell them we were on our way. For some reason, though, I just felt like showing up unannounced would’ve given us some sort of advantage. Gabriel and Adrian agreed with me.
“How will we find them?” Adrian asked as he drove us through the Mojave Desert landscape.
“I know where they are,” I said. I’d always known. During my time with True North, I’d been one of the few allowed to see the place for myself.
“So? Where is it?” Gabriel asked.
“The boss—the guy in charge of running things in Vegas—has a private villa in Henderson. It’s on an acre lot with a security gate and everything. It’s perfect for stashing someone, and the driveway has plenty of parking for as many Harleys as he wants.” I gave Gabriel a knowing look.
“Great,” Adrian said. “So what? We just drive up and ring the doorbell?”
“No,” Gabriel said. “We need to think things through first.”
“But you have a plan, right?” I said.
Gabriel was silent for a moment. I recalled the moment from earlier. It might be a stupid one, but I do have a rough plan. Something tightened in my stomach. How stupid was stupid, exactly?
“Let’s stop at that diner so we can talk,” Gabriel suddenly said, pointing at a passing billboard.
* * *
“This is fine. You can drop us off here,” I said.
The cab driver pulled over at a stop sign. Other than a dirt road disappearing over the crest of a hill and the villa estate beyond, it would be the last sign of civilization for miles. Gabriel paid the driver and we got out.
“It’s that way,” I said, beginning our trek up the hill.
Gabriel hesitated before I heard the crush of gravel under his boots. I deliberately shortened my steps so he could catch up, but it took him an unusually long time before he did. I wondered if he was trying to avoid me by any means possible. The thought made me nervous, and any time I got nervous, I laughed.
“What’s so funny?” Gabriel asked flatly, more out of obligation than curiosity.
“It’s just...it’s like we keep trying to shake each other off, but the situation only gets worse, and we’re forced to spend even more time together.”
“Oh.” He said it in a you-have-a-good-point sort of tone. He began chuckling along with me.
“So, I’m sorry if I dragged you into this mess.”
“Hey, no worries. It’s my mess, too. My brother and everything.”
“Right.”
“Right.”
We trudged along, the silence punctuated only by our steps and the chirping of a few crickets. I bit my lip, struggling to find something to say before the awkwardness killed me. But Gabriel broke the silence first.
“I feel like you never gave me the full story.”
I froze. “What do you mean?”
“There’s gotta be something else going on here. What does the top gangbanger of Las Vegas want with a...no offence...with a former hooker?”
“Oh.” Well, there was a perfectly good explanation for that. I just wasn’t sure how to tell him. If he felt indifferent toward Anna before, the truth was definitely going to make him loathe her. “It all has to do with why I left.”
Gabriel gestured to the stretch of desert ahead of us. “Well, I got time. Why don’t you explain it to me?”
“Anna was my only friend in True North,” I began, dread already souring my stomach. “But she was really popular with everyone else. She and a small group hatched up this crazy plan to get out of True North while setting themselves with a nest egg at the same time.”
“Don’t tell me they stole from the gang.”
“They did,” I admitted. I waited a few more beats before elaborating. “They stole an SUV full of cocaine.”
“What?”
“It was an incoming shipment. One of the guys was part of the team that cut and weighed the drugs, and he intercepted the SUV before it got to the drop house. The plan was to split up the cargo, liquidate it on the street, and disappear with all the cash. But I guess Anna never got that far.”
“So...that explains why the boss would want Anna,” Gabriel said, “but not why he wants you specifically.”
“Well, it’s pretty simple, isn’t it? I was Anna’s best friend in the gang, so they assumed I was in on it, too. They don’t exactly take the time to investigate a possible betrayal. It’s more of a ‘shoot now, ask later’ kind of deal.”
“Fuck.”
I shook my head. “After that, I knew I was under some heat. There was one night where I was supposed to be turning tricks on a corner, but I managed to catch a cab to the bus station instead. I went back home. But I guess that sealed my guilt in their eyes. It was the worst thing I could’ve done.”
“No,” Gabriel said suddenly. His hand closed over my shoulder. “It’s the best thing.”
“Uh-huh,” I said, only humoring him.
“No, listen.” Gabriel grabbed me and spun me around to face him. “Do you think you’d still be alive if you’d never left? Do you think they would’ve shown you mercy? You said it yourself, didn’t you? Shoot now, ask later?”
“I traded guaranteed death for a lifetime of looking over my shoulder. Does that seem like a consolation to you?”
Gabriel’s fingers gripped my arms tight. His lips trembled. “Not a lifetime,” he finally said. “Not after tonight.”
“I hope you’re right,” I whispered.
We stood there, swaying in the breeze and staring at each other. I couldn’t help but think about the drunken kisses we’d shared, that one night in the hotel room. I let myself indulge in the fantasy of having a boyfriend like him someday. No club politics, no gang on my trail. Just a regular life as a twenty-year-old with a badass, biker boyfriend.
“Lisbeth,” Gabriel began, “I know that I’ve been acting kind of weird lately, and I’m sorry about that. It’s just that—”
Suddenly, a light flicked on in the distance, and I turned my head. We’d gotten to the top of the hill as I’d recounted my past without even realizing it, and now we faced the valley on the other side. My eyes sought out the source of the light immediately. The boss’s compound. It was right there.
And it was now or never.