Page 41 of Dark OZ

Danny snorted and dropped the face visor. His fingers flexed against the hand grips. “I don’t do slow.”

The engine roared, and in a blur, the world around us disappeared. I screamed a gut-wrenching sound as my stomach bottomed out. Squeezing my eyes shut, I plastered my body to his like I could crawl into the safety of his frame. The sound of Danny’s laughter carried over the speakers in the helmet. We turned a corner, dipping low and nearly laying completely out before returning upright.

I was going to die. Or vomit. Or vomit, then die.

Within minutes, we were bursting out of the tunnel into the dark night. The compound was nowhere to be seen, just miles of dark woods on either side of a long, straight road. Danny leaned back, more relaxed now that we were away from the threat. My heart was still racing in my throat, but at least now I felt like I could keep my eyes open.

“What’s the matter, Dorothy?” He tapped the back of my hand where it was locked in a death grip on the front of his leather jacket. “Did you finally run out of things to say?”

I swallowed my panic, the bile that had risen sinking back down into my gut. After a few minutes, my heart rate slowed, allowing my voice to be steady. “Why don’t you care about people breaking into the house? What if they get the emerald?”

“Who says they’ll get in?”

He swiped at the screen in the center of his console, pressing a red button that said ‘Lockdown.’

“Even without power, nobody is getting into the house without permission. The worst we’ll have to do is some body disposal. That’s more tedious than anything.”

I shivered at his nonchalance. He might as well have been discussing emptying a trash can for how casually he discussed disposing of a person.

“It doesn’t matter though. I have the emerald.”

“Wait,youhavemyemerald?” Boiling outrage quickly overpowered my fear. I pawed at his chest, sliding my fingers along each pocket to find where the gem was hiding. I tried to ignore just how tight the jacket was. Slipping beneath the hem, I smoothed my palms over his shirt. No necklace. Just lots of cut muscle.

“Myemerald isn’t there, but by all means keep searching. Maybe you should check lower, just to be certain.”

I’d check lower, alright. I’d check by punching him right in the dick.

“You had no right taking it.”

“Technically,Ididn’t take it. Crowe did.”

I smacked his back but was afraid to fight back more than that. I was already terrified that we’d crash. “Wait!” I gripped onto his shoulder, pulling back in alarm. The bike swerved, making me scream, and Danny let out a laugh. “There’s a tracker in the necklace!”

Danny caressed the thigh pressed against his, still laughing.

“Why are you laughing?” I knocked his hand off of my leg. “Won’t Westin be able to find us?”

“I’m counting on it.”

“That makes zero sense.”

“Sometimes you have to throw a bit of chaos into the mix.” Danny tapped the screen again, bringing up a map and zooming in on a construction yard. “Nick pinged me his location. Looks like they’re held up near Gorba’s. It’s no coincidence the guys were intercepted at the same time the compound was attacked. They used Crowe’s phone to get past the perimeter defenses.”

“Crowe’s phone?” A stone flipped over in my stomach as my too-slow mind processed the information. “Then they would have to—”

“Have Crowe? Yeah. Hence, not having time to mess with the amateur attack team.”

“But he...” My voice trailed off, choked by a foreign and nervous worry. Did I care about him? When and how did that happen?

“Don’t worry, Firecracker. He’ll be fine. Crowe’s tougher than he looks.”

“How far away are we?”

“About forty minutes.”

I massaged my already sore thighs. The cuts at my back stretched taut, making them throb too. I rested my head against Danny’s back and did my best to relax. His hand dropped to my leg and moved in slow, long strokes. It was almost like he cared.

Almost.

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