Page 19 of Maverick

Gomez laughed and gripped the woman’s hair, shoving her away from him as if she didn’t mean shit to him. “Here I am.”

Diesel raised his gun.

Gomez raised his.

They stared at each other, both men stock still as they waited to see who would act first.

Gomez released his safety, a loud click in the quiet warehouse.

Diesel squeezed his trigger twice, one hole in his head and the other in his chest. “They always talk so fucking much.” He spun in a circle. “Find any cash you can and then let’s torch this place.”

Holy shit. “Seriously?”

He gave one sharp nod. “Deadly fucking serious.”

I set about doing what I was ordered to do, scooping up bricks upon bricks of cash, so many that I started to move slower and slower.

“Need some help?” Rebel asked.

I nodded and we worked in silence, loading up until there wasn’t one fucking dollar remaining. Then we booked it out of the building before it went up in flames.

Overall, the night was a success, and I should have been exhausted. I was dog fucking tired, but on a whim, I drove past Mabel’s house. All but one of the lights in the house were off. Ruby, I was sure.

Instead of throwing a fucking rock at her window like a teenage boy, I went home and texted her instead.

Chapter 8

Grace

My cell phone buzzed on the nightstand, interrupting a steamy romance novel I was getting lost in since I couldn’t sleep, and my heart leapt up into my throat. Everything around me stopped, froze completely, and the only thing I could hear was the sound of my racing heart.

Trent.

It couldn’t be Trent, of course. It had been more than six months since I left, and he didn’t have this number. He didn’t know my new name. I scoured the online news in Ohio, and he hadn’t even filed a missing person’s report, which meant he was searching on his own.

“It’s not him,” I said aloud just to firm it up in my mind before I reached for the phone, slowly like it might reach out and hurt me, and looked at the screen.

Hey, the message read. From Maverick.

The smile came instantly even though I tried to will it away.

Hey back, I replied, still smiling.

Instead of texting anything else, he called me. “Why are you still awake?”

“Why are you?” I shot back.

“Long day at the office. You?”

I could lie, but this was an easy truth to tell without giving away anything. “This is my time just for me. I was reading.”

“A smart chick,” he replied.

“That’s debatable, just looking for an entertaining escape, and this one won’t wake Sophie and Mabel. So, what’s it like being a biker?”

“I like it and it’s all I’ve known since leaving the USMC.”

He’d lived a full life, and I was envious of that. Curious too. “Is being a biker like it is on TV, with constant shoot outs and wars?” It was a silly question, but like I always told Sophie, if you don’t ask questions, you won’t have the answers.

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