Page 133 of Severed Rivalry
“I’m almost to the mousetrap.” I can’t watch the app and keep all the tires on the ground with these one-lane exits. When I’m on US 6, I see the dots slow near the golf course. “They’re slowing. What’s near a golf course?”
“Nothing. Just an— Fuck. There’s a private airstrip there. Mostly used for the guys with old money who want to joyride. They look the other way when the hang gliders aren’t everywhere.”
“I’m following. Call Christian. See if anyone he knows can get us info on anything that’s there. Types, styles. Fuck. I don’t speak aircraft. Out.”
I rip north off of 6, well above the legal speed limit. Like arrested-level above the speed limit and tear down the side street trying to close in on my dots.
On my family.
A shitty old little plane buzzes over as the dots blink and fizzle, dying right above my truck.
38
slide away
Sariah
“Tail C25G88, you’re cleared for take-off.”
With those words, my heart plummets to my toes, and it’s not because of lift off. My mom, my daughter and I, along with an unsuspecting friend who was along for a birthday Mexican food celebration are crammed onto the floor of a dumpy plane that doesn’t sound like it has the guts to get off the tarmac.
And below us, our lives slide away.
My home. My love. My safety. My protection.
And those for my daughter are a thing of the past.
Because I saw his face.
I saw the evil glint in his eyes when he found me.
I saw the glee when we turned the corner and Renée called “Mom.”
I saw the moment he knew. At that moment, I knew too. I vomited on my shoes for all to see and screamed through tears for her to run. I served her up to her father, unknowingly and unwittingly, on a silver platter.
For a split second, she froze. That hint of indecision when she wanted to save me and save herself and couldn’t decide which.
That moment I’d spent my life protecting her from…
And failed.
39
catch up
Cian
Slamming the car to a skidding halt, I jump out, staring up at the red and green lights blinking on the wings of the plane above me.
My heart is on that plane. My life is on that plane.
I let it end once. I didn’t know how to fight, didn’t have the skills or the resources to find her.
I’m not that same man anymore. I will comb the fucking earth to bring her home. Starting now…
Back in my truck, I take off for the airfield, throwing rocks from my tires as I go. No doubt I left tire tread on the road in my rush to get answers.
To my shock, there’s a lone guy, mostly out of it, in the office. He reeks of the tang of cheap liquor and stench of body odor.
