Page 15 of Hiding In the Dark (The Righteous 4)
“Fly on wings of fire.”
For just a moment, he wasn’t in a desert. He wasn’t about to go on a mission that was the most dangerous he’d ever attempted. For just a moment, he wasn’t the pretty boy that was born with a silver spoon in his mouth and insurmountably high expectations. For a moment, he was just a guy singing around a fire with his friends, and he never wanted the feeling to end.
“When they call me home.”
Ringo’s voice trailed off, sounding so much like Warren Zeiders that he would have sworn it was him singing. As the last note faded into the night, so too did the rumbling and flashes in the distance, blanketing them in an eerie calm.
Kes woke to a dark tent and sweat dripping off his brow. Using the back of his hand, he wiped away the tears that were sliding down his cheeks.
“When they call me home,” he whispered into the darkness.
Seven days and six nights—that was how long it had been since Ashley’s crazy chance encounter with Kes Reynolds. She tripped over what she should call him. Her bully, her crush, her nemesis, her lost love…there were too many choices. She didn’t really know what he was to her. What did you call the person that tormented you all through high school only to confess that they loved you, then showed their true colors when they disappeared from your life without warning? He certainly wasn’t a friend. He’d never been a lover for longer than a couple of kisses. It didn’t matter what he was or wasn’t, at this point. In fact, the entire moment seemed like a dream, something her mind had concocted. That was certainly possible these days.
“Here you go. I hope you raise enough money. It would be sad to see this old church go, even if it is used for street folk and delinquents.” Ashley started to smile and then stopped. She opened her mouth to tell this woman where to go, but she was holding out a hundred-dollar bill. Far more than the ten they were asking for the car wash. Saving the church was more important than what this one woman thought. In her own ignorant way, she was still helping these ‘street folk.’
Nodding, she took the green bill, hating herself a little for caving in on her beliefs for cash. Straightening, she rubbed at her lower back and sides, the uncomfortable squeezing feeling getting a little worse despite the fancy new medication. She had an appointment coming up, and not only was the idea of sitting in a chair with a drip attached to her arm for hours on end terrifying, but the cost was insane. Her insurance through work would cover the bulk for now, but what would happen when she could no longer work? Would she end up on the streets slowly dying alone, or would she have to swallow her pride and go home to her parents so they could look after her when they should be enjoying their retirement?
She shivered despite the hot sun beating down from a cloudless sky. Nope, she wasn’t going to go there. She would enjoy the day. Stuffing the money in the small pouch she had strapped around her waist, she waved over the next car in line.
“Hey, baby.” Ashley leaned down to look in the car and was even more tempted to hit this guy than the previous woman. “Ten dollars is a bit expensive for no skin.” He not-so-subtly leaned over enough to look her over like she’d just offered him a sexual service instead of a car wash.
“It’s a church fundraiser, sir. If you want that kind of a show, may I suggest the Golden Rail, which is just down the road?” She smiled while the thought of leaping through his window and choking the shit out of him ran through her mind.
“Aww, come on, don’t be like that.” He revved the engine of the fancy car she had no name for—she lifted a brow at the guy as he blatantly stared at her chest. “You know you want to go for a ride. I’ll make it worth your while.”
“Do you want a car wash, sir? If not, you’re going to need to move along.” She took a step back from the car and crossed her arms over her chest. Her skin was crawling just being near this creep.
“I can pay a lot more than ten dollars for the right kind of buff job.”
Was this scumbag for real? Ashley dropped her arms and clenched her fists, ready to give him a piece of her mind, when a voice that rooted her to the spot beat her to the punch line.
“The lady said she’s not interested. Move along before I make you.”
“Fuck this. I can find hotter ass for far less hassle.” Slamming the car into gear, he sped out of the parking lot, almost hitting a car parked on the street as he did so.
Ashley swallowed hard as she debated whether she should turn around or pretend she didn’t know who Kes was or that he was standing right behind her. Ignoring him was the cheap way out, but she was in a cheap mood.
“Thanks, but I can handle myself,” she said waving over the next car in line.
“A thank you would suffice.”
She could feel that arrogant smile burning a hole into her back, and she was so tempted to turn around and punch him in the face. She’d certainly had that fantasy more than once. She felt her fingers clench into a tight fist.
“Do it,” he said softly. Her eyes flicked up to the reflection in the window of the car that had just pulled up. His hooded figure stood looming behind her like the Grim Reaper had come to take her early. She couldn’t see Kes’s eyes, and yet, she could feel them staring back at her from the shadow of the hood. “You know you want to hit me, so do it.”
Heat flushed through her body with those softly spoken words that did all the right things to her body even though she fought it. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t even know who you are.” Bending over, she leaned on the car door and smiled at the little old lady.
“Give ‘er a good scrubbin’, dear, and I’ll give ya a twenty.”
“Will do.” She smiled at the feisty woman and straightened up to retrieve her hose, but she backed up into a wall of heat and muscle. Swallowing hard, her mind screamed at her to run while her body ceased to remember how to work at all.
“Don’t lie to me, Ashley. I hate it when people lie.”
“Shocking, considering it comes so second nature to you.” She glared over her shoulder, her pulse ratcheting up with just that glance. “I have a car to wash, so you can either help or move along, but I’m not having this conversation with you. Not now, not ever. You had your chance.”
“You do recognize me.”
Ashley bit her lip, the anger simmering to a dangerous level that brimmed with a darker desire. She had no intention of giving him the satisfaction of upsetting her again. “Of course I do, you tend to remember assholes, but I can’t say I’m happy about it,” she whispered harshly.
