Page 36 of Ash (Dragon Riders MC 3)
He chuckled. “You can beat yourself up later.”
An idea occurred to me. “Link?”
“Yeah?”
“How long have we been back in town?”
He clicked his tongue. “Three or so weeks. Why?”
I skidded to a stop in the middle of the road as cars honked and swerved around us.
“What the fuck!?” Link exclaimed.
“If David’s been in town that long, it stands to reason that he’s been watching Hannah, right?”
“Possibly.”
“And me, right?”
He paused. “Where are you going with this?”
I looked over at Link. “If he’s been stalking both Hannah and myself, then that means he’s probably familiar with the route I take personally to and from the Iron Horse.”
Link flipped up his visor. “Lead the way. I’ve always trusted your gut, Ash.”
It was only a hunch, but if I was right? I knew exactly what happened to Hannah. I turned my bike around and sped down the road, weaving my ass in and out of traffic. I got back out to the main road that cut right through downtown and took a right, soaring into what seemed like the heart of our city.
Then, I took a sharp left and started down a series of one-way roads.
I kept my eyes straight ahead as I shaved time off turns by cutting them a bit too close. I pissed drivers off and heard them honking and cursing as I cut in front of them just to make a yellow light. I didn’t have any more time to waste. I had to get to Hannah, and now.
And I prayed my hunch was correct.
“Want to tell me what’s going on now?” Link asked.
I gripped my handlebars. “One more turn, and I might have an answer for you.”
“What’s your working theory?”
I swallowed hard. “Car accident.”
“What?”
“Hannah left here in my car. And unless she’s stupid, which she isn’t, she wouldn’t have stopped until she got back to my place. So, in order for David to get her out of her car or even get to her—”
“He would’ve had to get her out of the car first.”
I turned the last corner. “He’s going to die when I get to him, Link. You need to know that.”
There was a long pause as my eyes traveled the sides of the road.
“Link?” I asked.
“I think you found what you’re looking for, Ash.”
And when I saw Link point off to the right, my eyes panned to where he pointed.
Before my gaze landed on my mangled, rust-bucket of a car tipped onto its side at the curb.14HannahThe first thing I felt was the searing pain working its way down my spine. It felt like fire washing through my spinal cord, and it made my stomach turn over onto itself. The second thing I felt, however, was the pain in my heart. Deep, deep down in the pit of my soul. My good eye slowly fluttered open and I found myself staring up at the ceiling of a car that wasn’t Ash’s, and then everything came crashing back to me.
David.
Footsteps pitter-pattered around the car and I eased myself off the floor. I didn’t feel the need to vomit any longer, but the taste in my mouth made me nauseous all the same. I looked around for something to swish. Some water or a flat soda. Anything to get rid of the taste of bile at the back of my throat. I didn’t find anything, though.
The only thing I found was David pacing quickly around the outside of the car.
I took a chance and peeked out the window, just to see where we were. And it looked like we were at some sort of abandoned rest stop. Everything was taped off with caution tape and not a soul was around us. I turned around and peeked out the back windshield, gazing between the trees as I watched cars pass by on the highway.
And I noticed some crushed traffic cones over near the entrance to this place.
Good. Maybe someone will notice us.
I eased myself back down onto my ass and looked out the front windshield. And when I did, I yelped. David, with his hands on the hood of the car, glared at me through the cracked piece of glass. The look in his eye shivered me to my core. He looked positively wild. But it was very clear to me he didn’t have a plan of any sort.
He hadn’t thought about the next step after he got me into his car.
Maybe I can use that to my advantage.
Even though my head throbbed with pain, I still tried to think my way out of the situation. David went back to pacing around the car, though I noticed he peered in to look at me a bit more than usual. I didn’t like that, him keeping track of me. Because the first plan that popped into my head was making a dash for the woods behind this rest stop.
