Page 104 of Lay Me Down
“Oh, okay…” I run my hand through my hair and then drag it down my face. I don’t know how to say this lightly, and I wish I had more to tell him, but I just don’t. “I found his bike, man.” I clear my throat and shake my head, forcing the burning behind my eyes to stop.
“What?! Where is it?” he says loudly, but then hushes towards the end after he realizes how harsh he sounds.
“Off the southside of Route 311—about halfway up.”
He audibly sighs.
“Damn…you didn’t findhim,did you?” he asks cautiously, and I shake my head to myself.
“No, his body isn’t here, thank fuck. I don’t know what to do from here, man. His bike ismessedup, and there’s no other signs out here. Now I’m worried that he might be in worse shape than we were hoping…” We’re both silent for a moment, and I force myself to calm down. This isn’t the end of the road. Just because it’s another clue, doesn’t mean we’re anywhere closer to finding him. I need to keep my head straight and follow whatever signs I can. Alex clears his throat, and then I hear him shuffle a little, like he’s moving to a different spot.
“Zeke… Carter and Kade talked to me and Ash…” He pauses, and I might just punch him in the throat if he doesn’t get to it. “There was a bomb infused to her car’s engine…” My heart flies out of my chest, and shock explodes in its place.
“A bomb?!”
“Kade thinks it was one of theirs. He said that the structure and the stability of it is too similar not to be.”
My vision turns red. I fucking knew it. He didn’t say Satori’s name, but that’s where my mind immediately goes. No one else has any reason to hurt Ashia, and while I’m not quite sure why he would, my finger immediately points tohim.
“So, he thinkssomeonefrom Sahara wants to kill Ash?” I’m sure to put that little emphasis in there, just to make sure he knows exactly who I’m thinking of.
“We don’t know. He said that from the way the chemicals seeped into the material, that it had to have been there for at least twenty-four hours.”
“That doesn’t make any sense, Alex. If someone wanted to kill her, they had plenty of time to blow it.”
“Not without her in a deadly range of it. She was either in it, close to it, or it was in the garage at the house the past two days,” Alex explains.
“So, they wanted to wait until she was out of the car and close, but not close enough to hurt her?”
“That’s what Kade thinks,” he says unsurely. This entire situation is just one big cluster-fuck, and I’m not sure any of us know what to make of it.
“Then why did her car blow up?”
“The crash. The bomb was stable, but notthatstable,” he says in that smartass tone of his, and I find myself starting to pace in the leaves. I don’t like not being there. I hate that Kade is near them, and it bothers me that Alex isn’t even in the room with her right now, but Ihaveto do this. Ihaveto bring D home. Once again, he would know all of the answers. He would know how to fix this whole mess.
“Do not leave her fucking side, Alex. I mean it.” I walk back out to the street and look up and down it to look for more evidence. There’s nothing else here. When they took him, they must have been extremely thorough, and that only attests to who we’re dealing with. The only thing in sight is the same graveldriveway that’s been up this mountain my entire life. I walk up to it anyway, just to be sure there’s nothing lying under the rocks. The last I heard, some old hermit lived up here, and he barely ever came to town. He has a gate that blocks any vehicle from getting through, but apart from that, and a fuck-ton of no trespassing signs, there’s nothing really over here.
As I turn back around, an owl perched up on one of the high branches catches my eye. It’s looking directly at me, and while I normally love a good animal companion, I’m not in the mood to play ‘Cinderella.’
“Caw, bitch!” I try to scare it off, just for shits and chuckles, but it doesn’t move an inch. Do owls sleep with their eyes open? Wait, they’re nocturnal, right?What the fuck is it doing?I pick up a rock and toss it a little lower than it’s sitting, because I don’t want to hit it, and itstilldoesn’t move. After walking a few steps closer, and I see a faint red light coming from one of its eyes, excitement fills my chest again.
“What are the chances that it’s our lucky day?” I ask Alex, almost forgetting I still had him on the phone.
“Have you met us?”
“That’s a good point. I take it back. I’ll call you again in a few minutes.” I hang up and pocket my phone as I jog back to the car. It was funny as hell to see Tony’s reaction when he asked whose car this is. I just told him not to worry about it, and that it would be back where it belongs soon. My best friend is worth getting some jail time for. I doubt that Tony would actually lock me up. Then again, he might just do it because he can.
I make sure there’s enough ammo in my pistol, and go to walk back across the street, when a heavy revving sound draws my attention. Grease pulls up fairly quickly, and I instinctively rest my hand on the gun handle. My body tenses with curiosity, and a little bit of paranoia. I’ve never noticed him out this way. What are the chances he’s just out for an afternoon ride? It’s not likely.He parks his bike behind the car and steps off of it as he rips his helmet away from his head.
“What are you doing, Grease?”
“One of my guys saw you standing outside of the bank and overheard you talking to the cop. When he saw you pull off this way, he called, and I was already out. So, I figured I’d offer my help.”
I know Ash and D trust him, but I'm not sure I do. Our groups have been cool with each other for a while now, but I’m not ready to trust anyone until they prove they’re worthy of it.
“Do you know who lives here?” I ask him cautiously.
“No. Why?”
