Page 16 of Raider Unleashed

Denlo was on his cell but whoever he was calling wasn’t answering. “Fuck. I don’t know. We need to be close. Let me think.”

“Are there other motels?” Baker asked.

“Yes, moron but they’re all in the zone. We’d have to go well outside of Hilo to be outside of the zone and now they’re saying the lava might cut off the highway. We need to stay close.”

Piper glanced in the mirror and met Raider’s gaze. The pure clusterfuck factor was getting worse by the minute. She regretted pulling him into this. She should’ve toughed it out on her own. If anything happened to him—It didn’t bear thinking about. She tried to apologize to him with her eyes. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to get the words out later.

Raider broke off the eye contact. “We could go stay in one of the developments that are in the earlier evacuation zones. Those houses are all empty. No one will be looking there. The cops have already swept through. They won’t be going back. Everyone who would leave has already gone. As long as we avoid anyone who stayed we should be fine.”

Denlo glanced back at Raider for a minute but then nodded. “Yeah. That works.” He glanced at his phone screen and started giving directions. Twenty minutes later they weredriving through a deserted neighborhood. The houses all looked abandoned. They did pass one that had a dog outside on the front porch but that was the only sign of life.

Denlo directed her to go further up the hill. “Stop,” he said a few minutes later. They were at the mouth of a road. It was narrow but there was a mailbox so she assumed it was a driveway, but she couldn’t see the house. “Turn here.” He indicated the driveway.

She made the right turn and started up. The driveway curved to the right and then the house appeared. It was a ranch-style house, all on one level but it was large. Tropical plants and flowers in neat beds added a riot of colors. The house had large windows and was painted a soft gray with white trim. A two-car attached garage was on the right side of the house.

“Stop here.” Denlo got out and went to the front door. He rang the bell and waited. No one answered. He knocked but again no one answered. He rattled the knob but the big red door was locked. He looked in the side windows. Suddenly, he pulled out his gun and used the butt to break the glass. He made a hole large enough to put his hand through and a second later he opened the door, then disappeared inside.

Piper fought the urge to throw the van in reverse and get the hell out of there. She reached for the gear shift when the garage door suddenly started up. Denlo must have realized his mistake because he was squatting down with the gun pointed directly at her. So much for that plan. She should’ve been faster.

She pulled the van into the garage, and they all piled out as the garage door rolled closed. They trooped into the house through a mud room and into the kitchen. It was weird breaking into someone’s home. Piper sent up a mental note of apology and then walked from the kitchen into the great room area.

A massive pool took up a good amount of space in the backyard, along with a barbeque area. Neat and tidy landscapingwas pleasing to look at, and it was clear whoever lived here was house proud. They also had money. White cabinets, light wood floors, and white stone countertops created a designer look in the kitchen. The appliances were stainless steel. There was even a TV on the wall opposite the great room so someone could watch it while making dinner. She walked back in and opened the fridge. Whoever lived here had left in a hurry because the fridge was fully stocked. Her stomach rumbled.

“You”—Denlo said as he came from a hallway across the great room, pointing the gun at Raider—“come with me.” He swung the gun toward Piper. “You too.”

Piper glanced at Raider but did as she was told. Her heart slammed against her ribcage and she shoved her hands in her pockets to hide the tremor. They went down a hallway into a large bedroom. It had to be the primary one for the house. The floor was covered by a cream carpet and the bed had a cream duvet with lots of accent pillows in reds and yellows and blues. A bathroom was off to the left and a set of sliding glass doors led to a deck on the right.

“In here,” Denlo said. He pointed towards the closet.

Piper glanced at him as she went by but he just glared at her. The walk-in closet was huge by closet standards, with clothes all along the perimeter and a large island in the middle with a stone surface that matched the kitchen’s. There were some clothes on it along with a towel. No windows in the walls to provide light, just a skylight above the island. She turned towards Denlo. “What the hell is going on?”

Raider was standing in the closet off to her left.

“Me, Baker, and Wells are going to get the equipment for tonight. You two are going to stay here. I’m locking you in. Don’t do anything stupid.” With that, Denlo closed the door and then there were muffled sounds from outside. She went over and tried the knob. It turned but she couldn’t budge the door.

“It’s not a regular closet.” Raider was leaning against the only bit of exposed wall.

“What do you mean?” Piper put her shoulder to the door and shoved again, but all she got for her effort was a sharp stinging pain.

“I think this is a redo of something else. Maybe it was a garage bay at one point, I don’t know but the floor is concrete, and the door opens out. He’s got us trapped. I assume he moved some kind of furniture or something in front of the door. We’re in here for the duration.”

Piper stifled the scream surging up her throat. The closet might be big by closet standards, but she did not want to be in there with Raider. “Shit. Is there any way out?”

Raider shook his head. He slid down the wall until he was sitting on the floor with his legs stretched out in front of him. He crossed them at the ankles. “Might as well get comfortable. We’ll be here a while. Good time to get some sleep.” He closed his eyes and tilted his head back against the wall.

Piper stared at him. She couldn’t decide if she wanted to strangle him or jump his bones. Heat bloomed in her lady parts answering that question, so she looked up at the skylight. It wasn’t that high. Shoving an old towel aside, she climbed up onto the island and stood up. The skylight was on an angle so she could actually see out. “Holy shit!”

Raider was on his feet in an instant. “What is it?” he asked as he scrambled up beside her.

They both stared out of the skylight at the glowing river of lava. It was flowing down the mountain in the distance. It wasn’t coming towards them but running on a parallel route. “Raider, this is crazy.”

“Yeah,” he agreed. “We should get out of here. The hell with the bank job and catching Snake.”

He turned toward her. She blinked. She wanted to agree but…Marta’s death still haunted her. She bit her lip. This was as close to the Snake as she’d ever come.

“Forget I said that.” Raider jumped down. “But I’m telling you right now, if the lava gets closer, we’re out of here, Snake or no Snake.” He settled back down on the carpet.

Piper stared out the skylight. He was right. This was stupid. She was risking both their lives and there was no guarantee she was going to meet the Snake. She bit back a sigh and started to hop off the island. She slipped on the towel and went sailing off backward. Arms clamped around her and the two of them hit the closet floor, Piper on top of Raider.

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