Page 117 of Banshee
“There wasn’t time. He was heading north so I followed. When we got out on I-80, I sped up and got next to him. The fucker winked at me, then ran me off the road.”
“Did you recognize him?” Jingles asked.
“Is he working with the Death Dogs?” Colt asked.
“Yes, I recognized him, but I don’t think he’s working with the Death Dogs.”
“Who the fuck was it?” Kronos snapped.
I turned to Aspen. “Baby girl, you need to tell King—”
“I told him about the money, Banshee. I told him everything.”
“You need to tell him what happened that first night at the cabin.”
Aspen’s face paled. She shook her head—no. “I promised I wouldn’t.”
“If it’s who I think it was, King needs to know.”
“Someone was at the cabin?” King shouted. “And you didn’t fucking tell me?”
Aspen shrank back at King’s angry tone, and Diesel whined at her feet. She took a deep breath.
“The first night at the cabin, I’d planned to run. I waited until Banshee was asleep, and I closed Diesel in my room.” Her hands twisted together in her lap. “When I went outside, someone was there. He told me I had to stay; that you would protect me.”
“Who?” King snarled.
I kept my eyes locked on King as Aspen confirmed, “Chasm.”
King leaned back quickly as though someone had pushed him. “That’s not possible. Chasm is dead.”
“He’s not, King. Chasm was the man in the truck.”
“I watched that warehouse blow up. He was inside the fucking building.” King slammed his hand on the table, and Diesel ran over to him. He put his paws on the arm of King’s chair and barked.
King turned his head so he was eye to eye with Aspen’s dog and stared at him. “Down,” he said, his voice low and deep. Diesel quickly licked King’s face and set his paws back on the floor. But instead of coming back to Aspen, he sat by King. I was beginning to think maybe he should always be in church. He had a way of cooling tempers quickly.
“If Chasm is alive, where the fuck has he been?” King asked, causing Diesel to bark again. King glared at the dog. “Enough. Go!”
Diesel whined, and when King raised an eyebrow at him, he tucked his tail between his legs and slinked back over to sit by Aspen.
“I don’t know. But he is definitely alive.”
The room was silent as King stewed over the information I’d given him. He and Chasm had been tight. We all knew, including Cash, that had he survived, he would have been King’s VP.
“What happened next?” Cash asked, moving the meeting along.
“I tipped my bike up, and that’s when the Death Dogs showed up.”
“And you don’t think Chasm set that up?” Gunner asked, winning a glare from King.
“I don’t,” I answered.
“What happened next?” Zeus asked.
“I sent the text to Mimic and dropped my phone. I knew they wouldn’t let me keep it knowing Nav could track it. And I planned on leaving at least one body.” I squeezed Aspen’s hip as I said the last part.
“You left two,” Jack said with a grin.
