Total pages in book: 137
Estimated words: 127213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 127213 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 636(@200wpm)___ 509(@250wpm)___ 424(@300wpm)
Mom had been right. Trust was a mistake. Always.
A gunshot roared behind Ezra, making him stumble, but whether he didn’t feel pain due to adrenaline, or because the shooter missed didn’t matter. A voice sounding deceptively like Frank’s found its way into Ezra’s ears, but safety was his only focus, and he headed for the crack between two columns of truck tyres, in hope they’d lead him to shelter.
Ezra reached toward them, ready to change position and move sideways when the ground opened under him as if it was made of cardboard. Frantic, he attempted to grab something, but moments later, he slammed into a bed of rocks and the world rumbled in warning. Numbness spread in his arm as he looked up toward the dimming moon just in time to see a massive shape follow him past the edge of the hole.
When metal hit his head, making it explode with pain, he didn’t have the self-control left to bite his tongue, and screamed. Pure terror sank into his bones when blood filled his mouth.
Chapter 22
Frank
This was outrageous.
“For the last time, I did not authorize Dex to give you guys a discount,” Frank said, eyeing Lion from the crate he’d settled on. The president of the Demon Brethren MC lifted his chin, and a bit of the ash at the tip of his cigarette crumbled, settling in his thick beard. Frank didn’t bother telling him.
“He is a member, though. You could say he’s doing his thing pro bono,” Lion said.
Frank exhaled but wasn’t about to back down despite the other bikers gathered around them like seagulls around a child eating French fries. “But he also works for me, and this is my property, my business, and when he does his thing here, it’s on my clock.”
“Hammer is helping out too, and you don’t have him on staff.”
Frank laughed. “The last time I saw him, he was sitting on his ass and reading Dex one of his fucked-up short stories.”
A tall, dark silhouette emerged from the shadows behind Lion’s back, and the man’s red glass eye shone in the glow coming from the wood heater nearby, as if he were the next Terminator. “I propose a compromise. We are frequent fliers. Maybe every tenth time should be free?”
Frank threw his hands in the air. “You guys are ridiculous. This is not Costco. I’m not giving out coupons! Do you know how much risk I’m taking doing this? Pennsylvania has the death penalty!”
The one-eyed fucker pursed his lips and crossed his arms on his chest. “There is the moratorium…”
Frank growled, feeling like he was losing his mind. “I don’t care.”
Lion sighed, as if it was him losing out on this deal. “Cyclops is right though, and there’s bigger risk to you than cops. Could we not settle on—”
A scream tore through the air, clear in the silent night, even if distant.
Frank’s blood went cold, because it sounded like Ezra, and Dex’s stupidity, or body disposal coupons no longer mattered.
He spun around and dashed toward the voice in time to see Hammer emerge from the container with his favorite weapon in hand. Dex was close behind, shouting, “Hey, stop!”
With his blood turning into mercury, Frank joined them in time to see Ezra stumble and speed away from the light as if he’d seen a ghost. Or two dead bodies.
Fuck.
A gun fired so close the discharge made Frank’s ears ring, and he looked back to see one of the bikers pointing his firearm into the sky. Lion pushed past Cyclops, his fangs revealed by a scowl. “A witness?”
“Ezra! Stop! Don’t go there!” Frank yelled, because Ezra’s safety came first, but then he turned to Lion. “Anyone puts a finger on him, and they’re fucking dead, understand me?” He ran after Ezra as soon as the warning left his mouth, because the area around the containers was filled with Jag’s fucking traps, and he was heading straight for that invisible perimeter.
He had no idea why Ezra had chosen to break the rules and follow him here, but that was a matter they could discuss later, because right now, Frank was racing Ezra to the hidden trenches. “Stop! Traps! Ezra!” he roared, but his voice broke when his lover disappeared from sight, sinking underground. A split second later, the large old Jeep perched close by fell forward as if pushed by an invisible hand.
Every bit of Frank felt the impact of it rolling into the trap after Ezra.
It could have as well smashed into his heart. Frank had just confessed his feelings to this most precious person in his life, and now he could lose him in the most horrific way. Would he have to handle Ezra’s cold, dead body as if it were some degenerate criminal’s disposable sack of flesh?
Frank was no sprinter, but when Ezra cried out like an injured animal, his feet barely touched the ground.