Page 47 of Devil's Own: Roughneck

“Thatidiot,” she seethes. “I’ve told him time and again not to keep me out of shit going down with the club when it involves us too.”

“So what’s the plan?” Dusty asks.

“Well, we have to sneak off the property somehow. We need to get to the nearest airport and then we need to hop a flight to Miami. Any suggestions on how we do that?”

“We can get off the property if we walk to the backfield behind the houses. It’s all fenced in, but since it’s wooded, there aren’t any guards that I know of,” Dusty says.

“I have a friend, Gillian, she lives in Middlesboro,” Danni puts in. “We go to school together. Let me contact her. See if she can pick us up at the next property down the mountain.”

“Once we hit the road, that’s like a mile walk. You two okay with that?” I ask.

“I’m good,” Dusty replies.

“Me too,” Danni agrees. Then she pulls her phone out from her back pocket and presses a contact. After a couple of long seconds, Gillian must answer because Danny says, “Gill, I need a huge favor—” She pauses in her conversation to ask me and Dusty, “What time are we doing this?”

“After dark,” I reply. “Maybe ten?”

She nods.

“You know where the compound is?” she asks her friend. “I need you to pick me and a couple of my friends up at a property down the road from the compound at about eleven. Can you do that?” She pauses again. “Thanks. I so owe you Emperor’s Garden for this.” She laughs at something her friend says, then says, “Later.”

Phew.One thing apparently down.

“She’s heard me bitch about Green’s overprotectiveness a time or twelve. It’s not the first time I’ve roped her into an escape.”

I throw my hand over my mouth to cover my laugh. Then once I have myself under control, I tell them, “Pack a bag. I suggest a backpack if you have one. Flashlight—don’t forget phone chargers. We’ll stagger outside one at a time to not get noticed. Danni, you go out at about 9:50. Dusty, 9:55, and I’ll meet you guys at ten.”

“It’s a date,” Danni says, turning to leave.

“I’m gonna have his balls,” Dusty grumbles, then she winks at me before leaving, too. I search for a bag. Rough didn’t pack one. I know this because his backpack is on the floor in the closet. Once I finish packing, I sit on the bed waiting and fretting until it’s time for me to leave. I tuck my purse in the backpack but carry it down by my side rather than on my back. Then I go over my checklist one more time. Phone. Purse. Wallet in purse. Phone charger. Flashlight. I got lucky with that one. Rough keeps a Maglite in the top drawer with a package of batteries for it. I packed the batteries, too.

My phone flips to 9:58. I walk out, locking the door before quietly heading down the hallway. The main common room has people settling down for the night. I pivot to walk behind the bar. There’s a back door off the kitchen. I slip out there rather than out the front door and walk around the building to meet the women, reaching them at ten on the dot.

“We doing this, girls?” I ask, knowing that I still had plans to go even if they both backed out.

“What do you think?” Dusty asks.

“Green’s normally a smart man,” Danni says. “He knows I can make his life supremely miserable if he pisses me off… plus, I’m a better shot than him. Did you know that?”

I shake my head.

“Well, I am. And he better hope I don’t shoot his fine ass for not talking to me. Actually, the only thing that might save him is that his ass is so fine. I’d hate to scar it.”

While I cover my mouth to keep anyone from hearing me laugh, I know for a fact we’re doing this. The three of us set off through a bumpy field in the dark. We don’t turn the flashlights on until we reach the treeline because we don’t want to draw attention. All our trips and stumbles might’ve been comical if we weren’t on a tight schedule.

It’s smoother going once we hit the woods and flick on the flashlights. We head toward the road and hope we don’t run into any animals that might want to eat us.

The next hurdle we hit is a fence we have to climb. For someone pregnant with twins, Dusty scales that thing like an athlete. Danni climbs it with no problem, hefting herself over and leaping to the soft ground below. Then it’s my turn. I struggle a little. My sneakers slip the first few times, but I manage to get myself up and over.

Then we start the trek down the mountain to the next property. It’s unnerving to be on the road at night, given we have angry bikers wanting to kill us. Insects buzzing and the wind rustling the leaves on the trees are the only sounds besides our shoes hitting the pavement. So I calm my mind knowing that if any rogue bikers are out here waiting to ambush us, they’d have to be mindreaders. Needless to say, we make it to the property safely, waiting at the mouth of the long, dirt driveway, off the road so as not to be seen unless we want to be.

Headlights move our way and a car begins to slow, like the driver is looking for the property numbers. A red Kia Soul stops at the drive and Danni steps into view which means this has to be her friend.

“Hey, girl,” Danni says after opening the front passenger door. “Get in,” she says to me and Dusty.

We climb in the back, buckling in. While the woman, Gillian, turns into the drive to back out and head back down the mountain, Danni introduces us. “This”—she points to Dusty, who’s seated behind the driver—“is Dusty.” Dusty leans over to be seen and say hi. “And this”—she points to me—“is Gia.”

I smile broadly and give my hello. Gillian is pretty. She wears her dark hair piled on top of her head, no doubt because of the hour, but looking at her, I can tell it’s long and lush. And she has the most stunning blue eyes.

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