Page 69 of Hiding In the Dark (The Righteous 4)
A hand landed on his leg and made him jerk, his head swinging to the right to look at Maeve. She was leaning across the center console, her eyes were suddenly full of lust and were trained on his crotch like she wanted to take a bite. “What are you doing?”
“You’re really sexy, and I’ve been locked up for months. How about we make a detour on our way?”
He grabbed her hand before she could finish sliding it up his leg towards his dick and held her arm away from him. “Taken, and my girlfriend doesn’t like to share,” he bit out. “Don’t touch me again.”
“And what will happen if I try?” she said and laughed as her other hand found his leg.
Kes slammed on the breaks, thankful that no one was on the road. Maeve, who’d yet to put on her seatbelt, slammed into the dash, her head bumping into the glass. “You’ll get out and fucking walk.”
The Hummer rumbled steadily, but there was no other sound as the two of them stared at one another. “Wow, I’m impressed. Most men aren’t that loyal. They’d happily take me up on a quickie in the back on a dark road where no one would ever know.”
He cocked a brow at her as she rubbed at the spot that was certainly going to have a bump. “Then you’re obviously fucking the wrong men. Are we going to continue to have an issue?”
“No, I’m good. Still horny, but good. Whoever your girlfriend is, she’s one lucky woman.”
Kes wasn’t sure Ashley would agree with Maeve on that one. Releasing the brake, he floored the truck, the engine revving to life. He picked up his phone and stared at the screen for what felt like the millionth time, but there were still no messages. His heart sank. Maybe it really was going to be too much for her.
Shit, he was fucking tired. It had been a long-ass time since he’d had to stay awake that long, and at one point, it used to be second nature. Kes rubbed his eyes. Everything was blurry as he pulled back into Los Angeles, and he had to smack himself a few times to stay awake. A freaking five-hour drive with the chatterbox from hell. Maeve was fine once she settled in and stopped staring at him like he might change his mind and fuck her. He thought for sure they were going to have to have another chat about it when they stopped for gas, and mentioned he needed to take a piss and change out of the black fatigues. For all his trouble, he ended up with an energy drink, a bag of chips, and a day-by-day account of what it was like in prison and who she had to watch out for—it was official, he was getting old.
By the time he arrived back home, he was too tired to park Baby Doll in her normal spot and instead pulled up outside the fence closest to his tented home. The sun was already bright in the sky, but he didn’t care as he stepped out and yawned. He planned on sleeping until it was dark again. Kes could see Momma G pacing in front of the chain link fence, her uneven gait exaggerated with the short, fast strides. She randomly waved her hands in the air as her mouth moved, but if she was saying something, he couldn’t hear it.
He was tempted to turn around before she noticed him and sleep in the truck instead. When Momma G was in a fit, she could rant for hours or ignore you completely, and it was a coin flip as to which this was. Before he could make a great escape, Momma G’s eyes lifted from the line she was pacing. As soon as she saw him, she shuffled in his direction like she was trying to run. He stopped walking and glanced around, looking for any impending threat, his body instantly awake.
Momma G grabbed the front of his sweater in her fists. “You go. You help. You go, now, go, go, go.” Kes had no idea what she was talking about—he gripped her arms, trying to steady her as she trembled like she was about to fall over.
“Momma G, slow down, I don’t understand. Go where?”
Tears trickled down her weathered and dirty features, causing his body to shiver in response. He’d never known Momma G to cry. Despite all her pain and her head injury, the insulting comments from the Dwellers, she remained unaffected with emotions like sadness. To see her cry had his pulse pounding in his veins like the hoofbeats of a thousand horses thundering under his skin.
“They took her. She gone. You go!” Momma G yelled frantically and pushed him in the chest, pointing for him to leave.
“Who took who?”
Momma G reached into her long coat and pulled out the knife he’d left in his tent. His heart hammered as she held it out, the end stained with dried blood. “Zumi. They took her.”
Kes took the knife from her hands and wrapped his arms around Momma G as she began to sink to her knees. “Who took Zumi?” he asked, trying to decipher her cryptic mind.
“Men came. Took dem both.”
He assumed ‘them’ was both Chelsea and Zumi. “Did the men have guns?” Momma G nodded. “Did they drive a fancy car?” She nodded again. “Did Chelsea seem to know the men?” Momma G’s eyes went wide as she nodded furiously this time.
“Go, you go help.”
Kes jumped to his feet and ran for the Hummer, the weariness forgotten. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he pulled the Hummer out onto the street and pressed his foot to the floor. He didn’t need to change the lights to green. He knew every back alley and shortcut in this city to get where he needed to go faster than any digital tricks Baby Doll could accomplish. He was particularly familiar with the routes leading to the lairs of those that controlled the darker side of the city. There was only one person Chelsea could’ve pissed off enough to send people with guns to collect her, and that was her pimp.
“What the hell have you done now?” he wondered aloud.
Kes swerved around a series of dumpsters like he was doing a fucking obstacle course and had multiple horns blow at him as he flew across a street, narrowly avoiding getting hit. Baby Doll’s wheels screeched, smoke rising into the air as he braked and drifted around the next corner onto a side street of Dead Man’s Lane. It was the nickname among all those that lived in and worked the streets because the strip held one illegal business after another.
The bar he was after had a back entrance for the clients that were not just there to purchase a drink. The front would be closed, but he knew for a fact that the dick that held Chelsea’s leash lived above the bar. He tucked the Hummer off to the side of the street and hopped out with his hoodie up. Opening the back door, he grabbed his throwing knives and made sure the one on his back moved freely in its sheath. He grabbed two hand guns and put one in the waist of his jeans at his back and the other in the front. There was no time to do a fancy gear up.
“Baby Doll, lock down all cameras in the vicinity,” he said as he closed the door and marched for his destination. Kes slipped one of the small throwing knives from the sheath on his chest, carrying it in his hand with the blade pointing up his wrist.
The guard leaning against the wall having a smoke stood up straight, his hand slipping into his jacket. As Kes closed in, he wasn’t wasting time, he had no idea when Chelsea and Zumi had been taken, but every minute they were in the fucker’s grasp was a minute too long.
One thing that you can always count on is human stupidity. He turned to look down the alley and nodded as if he was saying ‘hi.’ The guard instantly turned his head to look in the same direction.
That mistake cost him his life. With a quick flick of his wrist, he turned the blade around and took aim, letting the lightweight weapon fly. The blade glistened in the morning light as it spun, finding its target. Kes’s aim was perfection as the blade sank home in the man’s temple. There was a moment of shock that registered on his face before everything went slack and he fell sideways, his body hitting a few empty beer cases that had been set out for collection. Without missing a beat, he grabbed the knife and pulled it free from the man’s leaking temple as he drew his gun and shot the lock. The muffled sound was camouflaged by the noise of the nearby main street. Lifting his leg, he kicked out with all his strength, his boot finding the middle of the door a second after the shot.
