Page 47 of Gemini
He stopped at a red light at one intersection and tapped on the map then pointed up, signing, “Watch”.
Less than a minute later, the light changed to green and so did the map, too, the dots going from red to green.
“How?” I gasped.
Dom answered at the next stoplight with his phone. “A friend of a friend is in military tech. Smart guy. Built it with a small group. The app is banned from public use.”
“Yeah, no shit.” I stared at the screen. “Any chance you can hook this up in my car?”
Dom grinned. As the next light turned green, he floored it. He got on the freeway already getting up to eighty. I looked behind us and saw the others were close behind.
We flew as we made our way north, weaving around cars and accelerating as we cut across the city. Eventually we left the freeway and moved onto one of the main roads adjacent to the river. I could see the deep blue of the water, the late afternoon sun shimmering off the tiny waves. Unable to resist, I opened the window, letting in the rush of a warm breeze. As it caught in my hair, I couldn’t help smiling and laughing, my pulse vibrating with the car as it sped down the road, giving me almost the same thrill as a roller coaster, butterflies fluttering in my stomach.
After driving several miles outside the city, Dom started to slow. He turned down a road leading away from the river. Wepassed a small town with little more than a gas station, a few small shops, and an ice cream stand. A little further, he pulled into a large gravel lot beside a black and gray building with an outdoor patio. On one side of the building, in large green letters, it said “Jax’s” and underneath said “punk bar”.
Parking near the center of the lot, Dom turned off the car. My body was still tingling even as I took off the seat belt. The others halted beside us, kicking up dust. As Dom got out, he moved swiftly over to my side, opening the door. He offered me my crutch, but I told him I wanted to try to walk without it. Pulling me up, he kept a firm hold on my arm, making sure I was able to walk without issue. As the dust settled from the other cars, I peered toward the bar which, beside the lot, was surrounded by forest. The patio had all sorts of strange metal art hanging along the sides including old traffic signs.
“Come here often?” I said as Dom carefully led me across the lot.
He nodded, then typed, “The bar is owned by our member Jake and his brother.”
“You mean the big guy who walked in on us in the bathroom?”
He gave me a tight smile and nodded.
“So this is a Gemini hangout.”
“More or less.”
My hand tightened on his arm. “You are sure I should be here? What if one of the Serpents come looking…”
Dom slowed as he typed. Viking Leo made me jump as he yelled at someone. The others slipped around us to enter the bar.
“I’ve got this place under surveillance. And we’re all packing.”
“Even you?”
“Yes. They wouldn’t be stupid enough to try something now.”
My gaze flickered down him, wondering where he could be hiding a gun. My heart raced a little, still coming down from the adrenaline of the ride, but also from being nervous about the idea of being caught in a gang fight. Thankfully, Dom looked and sounded confident enough that I tried to put my own mind at ease.
The bar was a dive. As Dom led me inside, I caught the smell of whiskey immediately. The place was covered in old license plates, strange art, and neon signs. There was a pool table and a couple arcade games. The bar stretched along the left side, its back wall covered in bad stickers. At one corner of the bar was a taxidermized rabbit with deer antlers. The place was chaotic but had an odd sort of charm to it.
The bartender dipped his head over to Dom as the group took two tables and pushed them together. As we sat down, a waitress came over and took our order. Once she was gone, a couple of guys got up to play pool while the rest lingered. Dom finally introduced me to the group. I already knew of Leo, but there was Miranda the redhead, Joey, Mark, Xavier, Cole, Damian, and Ricardo to name a few.
“So what do you do?” Miranda asked me. Looking closer, I realized she was a bit older than she had initially appeared, with the side of her head buzzed. She looked tough as nails, but she also had an almost motherly feel to her, or maybe like a big sister.
“I work at the coroner’s office, as a head assistant.”
The group perked up at that.
“Damn, girl, you deal with dead bodies?” Leo said.
I smirked. “Sure do.”
He whistled. “You gotta cut ’em up and everything?”
“And everything.” I went into some gnarly details that seemed to grab the group’s interest.
