Page 230 of Moon's Promise

What had him even more worried was the mountain they were driving on was winding and dangerous. Lumber trucks constantly traveled the road, as well as coal trucks. Parts of the mountain had closed mine shafts which could be used to ditch the car, providing Charles and Gundy a hideout. They could walk out through some of the old trails, and Gundy would never be seen again. Charles could make it back to Lexington and buy enough witnesses to swear he had been there the whole time, unless they lucked out enough to get him on tape.

Moon heard Viper tell the less experienced riders to slow down and ride at their own pace.

Moon let himself take a brief glance to the side, and then wished he hadn’t. They weren’t halfway up the mountain, and he saw the tops of pine trees far below them. What made it worse and what had Viper concerned was there was no guard rails. The only way he would feel safe riding across this mountain was if he were wearing a fucking parachute strapped onto his motorcycle.

He checked his rearview mirror; flashes of blue and red drew his attention. Farther back, lower down the mountain, Greer’s patrol car was following behind The Last Riders.

Somehow, he felt better that Greer had come along instead of staying in town.

Tightening his hands on his handlebars, he had to fight the urge to increase his speed, imagining how terrified Larissa must be, and his son being at the mercy of two men who had nothing to lose.

As he neared a sharp curve, he didn’t adjust his speed, sure he could easily take the curve at the rate he was going.

Slow down! a voice in his head yelled at him.

He gestured to Viper then his speed gage, and Viper adjusted his speed as well.

When he rounded the curve, he only had a second to react at seeing Reaper’s motorcycle lying in the lane they were on.

Breaking with squealing tires, they saw burned tire marks on the road, leading into the dirt where Reaper was standing, looking down.

Getting off his motorcycle so fast the motorcycle fell onto the road, he ran to where Reaper was standing.

“No!” he screamed at what he saw.

Gundy’s Camaro was wedged between two thin pine trees.

CHAPTER EIGHTY-ONE

Moon started to climb down.

“Wait, Moon.” Viper caught his arm. “Let Greer call for help.” Viper pointed to one of the trees that was wobbling as Charles tried to climb out of one of the windows.

“Charles, stay still!” Viper shouted down. “You’re going to knock the car loose!”

Charles didn’t listen, continuing to try to shimmy out of the car.

Moon’s mind was already made up. Charles panicking only cemented his decision. He crouched down, readying himself to go over the mountain.

“Moon …” Viper started, taking off his vest.

“I’m going—”

“I’m not going to stop you. I’m coming, too.”

“No.” Reaper crouched down, sliding his legs over the edge. “I am.”

“Charles, stop!” Moon yelled, sliding over the lip of the cliff, his heart catching in terror at Charles’ frantic movements. “You’re going to kill everyone!” Holding on to a tree sapling hanging off the side of the mountain, he was able to scale down a couple more inches.

With his body halfway out, Charles grabbed the tree trunk to pull his lower limbs the rest way out of the car.

“If you don’t move, I swear I’ll get you out first!” Moon promised, willing to make a deal with the devil to save Larissa and Jace. “We’ll let you walk away. Please, stop!” His voice cracked at hearing Jace cry. His son was alive! Blinking back tears, he climbed another couple of inches, Reaper keeping abreast of him.

With the way Charles’ frantic movements were making the car rock, they were going too slow. He tried to go faster and nearly lost his grip. If not for Reaper throwing him back against the face of the mountain, he would have plunged right off the cliff.

Finding another handhold, Moon maneuvered himself downward, drawing closer to the car. He was within touching distance of the vehicle when Charles, seeing him so close, tried more frantically to shake his leg loose from inside of the car.

From the cracking sound the tree made, Moon knew another hard movement like Charles had just made, the stupid fucker, and the car would plunge down the mountainside.

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