Page 48 of Bowser (Dragon Riders MC 2)
“Are they drawing their weapons?”
I paused. “No. They aren’t.”
“Then, don’t intervene. We’re supposed to take our cue from them. If they’re not moving to shoot, neither do we. Got it?”
Sly scooted forward. “Are those…?”
My eyes bulged. “Link, they aren’t loading up on more drugs.”
“What are they loading up?” he asked.
I cursed beneath my breath. “Fucking hell, they’re loading up more guns.”
Sly took the radio from me. “They’ve got sniper rifles, ammunition out the ying-yang, and I’m pretty sure there’s an entire barrel of grenades back there, too.”
Link hissed over the radio. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
I leaned over. “What I don’t get is why they’re loading that shit in the back of the van with the girls.”
Sly sighed. “Unless we’ve been double-crossed.”
Everyone fell silent at those words as I slowly sat back up. Was it possible? Were the Red Pythons somehow working with the Golden Jags?
But why?
Link’s voice pierced my trance. “We’re going to need reinforcements with that kind of ammunition. And if we have been burned somehow in all of this, we’re only going to be able to rely on a few girls I know damn good and well wouldn't have done shit like that.”
Sly grumbled. “What do you want us to do?”
“Keep tailing the van. Follow the original plan. Because if the girls are double-crossing us, that’s the only thing we’ve got playing to our advantage. The fact that they don’t know we know.”
I shook my head. “I know something’s wrong with Hope now.”
“And Knuckles is updating me every step of the way. He just crossed into Hillridge Springs city limits. Once he knows something, you’ll know.”
I took the radio away from Sly. “Hey, Link?”
“Yep?”
“I know you don’t approve, but Hope means a hell of a lot to me.”
He paused. “I know she does.”
“I promised her I’d take care of her.”
“And we’re going to help you fulfill that promise.”
“I—”
I looked over at Sly and he nodded his head. But Link beat me to the punch.
“I know you do, Bowser. And we can talk about all of this later, all right? Right now, though, Hope needs you to stay fluid with this plan. She needs you to see this through until we can figure out where the fuck Skeleton is.”
“I know where he is.”
“Don’t go there just yet, okay?”
I sighed. “That woman has been this man’s goal from the start. If he’s got—”
“Knuckles is calling me. Gotta go. I’ll update you in a second.”
I tossed the radio into Sly’s lap just as the men in front of us closed the van doors.
“Ready to do this?” I asked.
I looked over at Sly and he planted his rifle on the dashboard of the car.
“Ready when you are,” he said.
When the van inched back onto the road, I counted beneath my breath. One Mississippi. Two Mississippi. I counted all the way to five seconds before I pulled onto the road, doing my best to keep a safe distance away from this van. The problem was that I didn't recognize where we were. And neither did Sly. We weren’t on our home turf, so neither of us felt safe enough to take backroads to try and cover our tracks. So, it was a matter of staying far enough behind them to not raise suspicions while still keeping a tail on them.
“This is fucked,” Sly whispered.
And as much as I hated to admit it, he was right. This entire plan had been fucked from the beginning.
But something told me it was only going to get worse.18HopeI felt the van pull to a stop before the doors were thrown open. The guys in the back with me all hopped out while they talked and grumbled amongst themselves. I laid there on my side, feeling my right arm fall numb. And when Skeleton hopped out, they turned to face me with the most sickening smile on his face.
“Try not to go anywhere, hot stuff. I might just break you in tonight.”
The contents of my empty stomach curdled as he closed the doors.
I scooted over to the doors to try and hear what they were saying. I needed to know what was going on. I needed to know what the plan was. I saw the smallest beam of light streaming between the van doors and I held my breath. Could it be? Had Skeleton been that reckless?
I searched for the latch before I found it caught just in front of the keyhole.
Holy shit. The van’s still unlocked.
I rolled over onto my left arm and tried to peer around the metal wall in front of me. It didn’t feel like anyone was in here with me. I heard Skeleton yelling for someone, and when the driver’s side door opened, I knew this was my chance. I was alone in this van with the back doors still unlocked.
Just gotta get out of these binds.
