Hannah fade into the horizon. My heart ached with pain. My body begged me to turn around. I kept a strong head, though. I resisted all of those urges as I tore through town, speeding my way toward the bar as quickly as I could.
And when I slid into formation beside Sly, Link’s hand rose into the air.
Before he twirled his finger around, signaling for us to take off.
“You good?” Sly asked.
His voice came over the Bluetooth headset in my helmet that automatically linked up whenever we were in formation.
“Yeah, I’m good,” I said.
He pushed off. “You don’t sound good.”
I pushed off beside him. “Just hate leaving Hannah when she still has to take pain meds. That shit knocks her out cold at night.”
“Scottie agreed to check in on her though, right?”
I nodded. “Yep.”
“Well, then she’s in good hands.”
I really hope so. “You know Scottie finally graduated from medical school this year, right?”
He snickered. “About damn time that boy finally finished up. What took him so long?”
“Ah, well. Getting married and having a kid with cancer will put a damper on things sometimes.”
“Shit, that’s right. How’s Little Brady, anyway?”
I smiled. “In remission as of a few months ago. Hence why he got to finish up his medical residency.”
“Well, good for him. I’m glad things are falling into place in his life.”
“Me, too.”
“But I want to talk about you.”
I eased onto the highway. “What about me?”
Sly chuckled in my ear. “What gives with you and Hannah? I’ve never seen you fall over yourself like this for a chick.”
“I mean, what can I say? She’s a good woman.”
“Do you love her?”
I didn’t hesitate. “With everything I am.”
“I never thought I’d see the day.”
“What?”
He scoffed. “The day that you assholes got soft on me and decided to bunk up with women. You know, lead that traditional life.”
I barked with laughter. “This is far from traditional.”
“Hey, Link’s got his woman living with him and I hear him talking about kids sometimes with Bowser.”
“Well, fuck that nonsense. I don’t want kids. I just want me and Hannah living in that meadow for the rest of our days.”
“You gonna marry her?”
I considered the question. “One day, yes.”
“That’s about as traditional as it gets, then, bud.”
My smile fell to a grin. “I want to make her a permanent part of my life. She’s important to me, Sly. And if that means marrying her? I’d gladly do it to make her happy.”
“So, you don’t want to get married.”
“I don’t hate the idea. But it’s not like I dreamt about it as a kid or anything. I’m not that much of a bitch.”
He chuckled. “Could’ve fooled me.”
“Hey, you just wait until you finally fall in love.”
“Yeah, that’s never happening.”
“That’s what I always told myself. But one day it’ll happen. You’ll meet a gal that changes everything. And when you do? I’m gonna be right there to give you shit.”
“I’m not gonna lie, it’s nice that you actually talk right now.”
I barked with laughter. “At least no one’s telling me to shut up.”
“Yeah, well. I’m sure the moment’s coming. But until then? Keep your head in the game. Hannah’s gonna be fine with your brother checking up on her, so focus on the task at hand.”
I locked my eyes forward. “You don’t have to worry about that, either.”
The task was simple: keep Skeleton from gaining any more power or money in our area. And in order to do that, we had to track our movements. While the Steel Cobras thought they could ambush a man like this, I knew better. Hunting was a passion of mine—something I did many mornings with Scottie at my side—and in order to hunt big game like Skeleton, we had to stalk before we ambushed. We had to plot his movements before stalking out his favorite places.
And thankfully, Link understood that, too.
Tracking his movements wasn’t easy, but we did it. After paying off a couple of ice cream parlors and a gas station attendant, we figured out where the Jags gassed up, where they had their meetings, and when they’d been spotted the last time in that part of town. That kind of information was invaluable to hunters like us, and we quickly put the puzzle pieces together to create a coherent picture of Skeleton’s movements around the east part of town.
Then, we came upon something that seemed odd.
“You see that?” Sly asked.
“You mean, that abandoned parking lot full of beat-up cars that Link seems to be cruising by?”
“Yep. That’s the one.”
I pointed. “I think