a cop car with its hazards on. It was now completely dark out, but the flashing of lights from the ambulance and cop cars brightened the area. However, she still couldn’t see the accident site from where they were.
She reached for the door handle as soon as Ink pulled the truck to a stop.
“Don’t even think about it,” Ink barked.
“But my boys are out there! They could be hurt!” She was barely holding it together. It wouldn’t take much to shatter her composure.
“Which is exactly why you’re staying in here while I check what is going on.”
“Ink,” she wailed.
“No,” he snapped, this was the firmest he’d ever been with her. “Let me check it first, brown eyes,” he relented. “Let me do this. I’ll come straight back to you.”
He hadn’t wanted her to come. But she’d insisted and he’d given in reluctantly.
So she nodded her assent. Reaching over, he grabbed hold of her chin, turning her to face him. “You stay in the truck. With the doors locked. Do not move, understand? Leave this truck and I welt your ass.”
“Yes.”
He gave her a hard kiss. “Reyes, Spike and Razor will be here soon.” He’d called Reyes as they were driving here. “I’ll be back soon.”
She locked the doors behind him. He left the key fob behind.
She watched him leave, trying desperately to see something. Anything.
Where were the boys? Finally, she saw movement. The paramedic who had been standing by the ambulance suddenly took off running.
Holy shit. Had they been found? Ignoring Ink’s threat, she unlocked the door and climbed out. She needed to see them. To ensure they weren’t hurt.
Barely three feet from the front of the truck, an arm wrapped around her from behind. A large hand covered her mouth and a sickly smell assaulted her. She didn’t even manage to scream before she slipped off into blackness.
29
When she came to, she was lying with her head on someone’s lap. Where was she? What was going on?
Suddenly, she nearly went flying and a voice cursed as hands grabbed her, pinning her back against the seat.
“Watch where you’re going, numbskull! You almost tossed her off the seat!”
“You should have belted her in!”
“Maybe I would have if there had been time. But we had to get the fuck out of there before that big beast got back.”
The driver took another corner too fast. Swear words spilled from his lips and she sat up.
“Royal Maston Harrison! Who the hell taught you those words!”
Royal turned to gape at her.
“And keep your eyes on the road!”
“Yeah, bro, you’re gonna ‘cause another fucking accident.”
She turned to the boy sitting next to her. “And you watch your language too, Baron.”
“Sure we did, Ma,” Royal told her. “We just didn’t swear in front of you.”
“You were meant to be sleeping. Didn’t you give her a big enough dose, bro?” Baron asked.
“Didn’t want to. She’s tiny. Didn’t want her to sleep for a fucking week.”
She gasped as she remembered what had happened. “You little ratbags! You drugged me! You terrified me half to death.” She looked around. “Wait, are we in Ink’s truck? You stole Ink’s truck?”
“Idiot left his key fob in here. What else were we meant to do?” Baron asked in a reasonable voice.
“What else? What else? Baron, the two of you stole Ink’s truck. You drugged me! Not to mention Matthieu’s car, which you crashed. Are you both okay? Are you injured?”
“We’re fine, Ma,” Royal soothed. “It wasn’t that bad a crash.”
“Someone took a corner too fast.” Baron threw his brother under the bus.
“What were the two of you thinking? You could have been killed! God, how am I going to afford to replace his car?” She wiped her hand over her face. “Does insurance cover it when two teenagers take it for a joy ride? This is a mess.”
“We intended to give it back, Ma,” Baron told her. “But then Royal crashed it.”
“I didn’t mean to! Piece of crap took corners like a fridge on wheels.”
“Oh God. Oh God. Ink is going to freak! One of you, give me a phone.”
“We don’t have any phones,” Royal told her. “They got taken from us when Forrest had us locked up in that prison.”
“P-prison? I thought you were at school.”
“It was a prison masquerading as a school,” Baron said bitterly. “Beatings disguised as discipline.”
“And we didn’t learn a fucking thing,” Royal added. “We were smarter than the teachers.”