Page 77 of The Oath We Take

We meander to the river, and I find comfort being out in the sun, nude. “I’m not wearing sunscreen, so I can’t be out here too long.”

“Understood, ma’am. Just enough to freshen up.”

I fix my hair elastic as I walk, from a ponytail to a bun. There is no way I’m attempting to wash it in what I know is a very shallow river.

When I slip off my sneakers, the river rocks are hot beneath my feet. But a first step into the water tells me it’s still a lot cooler.

“Here,” Atom says, after he’s placed the towels on a large boulder and stripped off his shoes. He takes my hand and leads me to three large flat stones that sit in the flow of the river.

“Ahh,” I gasp as I sit, the water cold against my heated skin.

The water was halfway up my thighs as I walked in it, but seated on the stones, it just covers my breasts.

Atom sits down next to me with a charmingly old-fashioned soap-on-a-rope around his wrist. It bobs and tugs in the direction of the flow as he sits.

The view is spectacular. Yellow-headed crops flourish in fields in the distance. I’m no farmer, so I have no idea if they are canola, sweet-clover, or one of the many wildflowers we get, like Golden Banner. The mountains look craggy, and the edge of Atom’s property is marked by an old wooden fence.

“This might be the best bathtub view I ever had,” I say.

Atom puts his hands on the rocks and leans back. “Yeah. It’s pretty spectacular, isn’t it? I sit out here every day I can. Even challenge myself to do it well into fall and even winter.”

“It’s like a less pretentious ice-bath challenge.”

Atom laughs. “Yeah. Zero investment. Energy efficient because it’s always cool due to the runoff from the mountains.”

We sit in silence for a good long minute. The flow of the water pummels my back like a massage, and I feel myself growing sleepy.

“It’s never felt this perfect before, though,” Atom says.

“Yeah?”

He smiles softly as if I didn’t get some joke. “Yeah.”

24

ATOM

Later that afternoon, I sit on the small porch, drinking an ice-cold beer, and check my phone.

Butcher:The bar’s gonna be closed for at least a week. But she can go back to her apartment. No structural damage. Don’t know if I want her to.

I feel the same. Here, there’s a sacred kind of peace. No one ever has reason to come out here. Beyond putting her on a plane and sending her to Nowheresville Arizona, there is nowhere safer for her than right here.

Me:Did you find anything out?

Butcher:Nothing apart from the obvious. Confirmation of accelerant. Charmer and Haynes were murdered. Nothing that helps us.

The Bratva chose to make her the example. It’s a clear message.

Me:They knew the message it would deliver. If the daughter of the local motorcycle club president isn’t safe from us, then you won’t be either.

They kill two birds with one stone: terrorize the town and get one over on the club. It’s actually a brilliant strategy.

Butcher:Pissed we don’t know shit. There’s got to be a reason.

Me:Can’t be a coincidence that there was an extortion request, then a fire and two murders when she refused to pay. They’re sending a clever lesson to you, the club, and the town. Maybe that’s as simple as it gets.

I look into the house, where I can see Ember at work on her laptop. She’s been making phone calls and dealing with the insurance company since we got back from the river. Her voice shook as she spoke to Jada and then the other staff.

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