Page 31 of Skid Spiral

Beside me, Rafael let out a soft grunt, reminding me that I wasn’t exactly in that positionnow. We had a mission to carry out, one that’d been my idea.

“Everything looks kind of eerie at night, doesn’t it?” I murmured, hefting the two large water jugs I had tucked under my arms, which were burning with a familiar ache from today’s training session. The straps of a backpack that held a few more jugs dug into my shoulders. “Even in a peaceful town like this. Maybe more here.”

Rafael let out the mildest of sighs as we tramped on down the street, dodging the dim pools of lamplight, toward the edge of town. “Well, it is three in the morning.”

“Always the voice of reason,” I teased, grinning over at him. My legs were sore too, but the thought of the mischief I’d planned kept me light on my feet. “Had to make sure our targets would be asleep.”

My bodyguard adjusted the jugs cradled against his bulging arms and shot me a skeptical look. “Are you really sure this is necessary? You’re sticking your nose into places it doesn’t need to be.”

I grimaced at him. “It’s my town now. It’s totally my business. It helps me and everyone else here—except the jerks who deserve a little hurt.”

“If they realize you vandalized their property…”

“They’re not going to find out. I know what I’m doing. And it probably isn’ttheirproperty anyway. I bet they stole most of the vehicles they’re driving.”

“That doesn’t make them worth bothering with.”

I stopped and spun toward him. “If you don’t like the plan, you can go home, and I’ll do it all myself.”

Rafael’s mouth set in a tight line. “Let’s go,” he said gruffly, like I’d figured he would.

He might argue sometimes, but he never backed down from what he considered his duty. Although I didn’t totally understand why he’d decided it was still his duty to protect me when no one was paying him to do that job anymore.

Not that I was complaining.

Sometimes he made good points. But tonight we were doing things my way.

Those goons were going to get a taste of their own medicine, and I was the wicked doctor doling out doses.

As we came up on the last few houses before the final road that separated the town proper from the nearby sprawl of storage buildings and warehouses, Rafael gave it one more try. “I thought you wanted to get away from the criminal side of your old life.”

“I will when I have the option,” I said. “I can’t just ignore these goons. But that doesn’t mean I have to use the kind of tactics Mom would either. This is all Lou, all the way.”

Mom would have sent her men in with guns blazing and mowed the two-bit gang down. I was simply going to show them that sticking around this town was more hassle than it was worth.

No bloodshed, no scarring the good people of Hobb Creek. Just a little old-fashioned vehicular sabotage.

Even if I wanted to protect my new neighbors, that didn’t mean I had to deal out the kind of carnage the Deadly Rose was known for. I wasn’t her heir anymore.

I peered across the road and the wide parking lot. A few security lamps cast a yellow light around the front and sides of the big white building the gang operated out of. In the shadows that blanketed the rest of the lot, I made out the shapes of several cars, a couple of pickup trucks, a van, and a jeep.

As I scanned the scene, the front door to the storage building swung open. A couple of men sauntered out, swaying a little, and got into the nearest car. The thumps of the car doors shutting rang through the night.

After they drove off, the whole area was totally silent.

“No guards,” I whispered to Rafael. “Could they be more amateur?”

When he looked at me, I thought I saw a hint of a smile curling his lips despite his previous protests. “They’ve never had to deal with anyone like you around here before.”

I smirked back at him. “And it’s about time they did. Masks on.”

I figured we could sneak onto and off the lot without getting caught, but it was always wise to cover one’s ass just in case. Rafael and I set down our jugs and dug our ski masks—black to coordinate with our long-sleeved tees and sweats—out of our pockets.

The cloth felt uncomfortably warm against my forehead and cheeks, but it was a small price to pay to ensure no one who caught sight of us could ID us.

Jugs held tight, we glanced up and down the road and then loped across. I motioned for Rafael to start on the cars to the left of the lot while I swerved right.

At the closest car, I knelt by the fuel door and took out the flathead screwdriver I’d brought for this job. I fit the head into the gap between the door and the rest of the car.

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