awake. Thank God he wasn’t going to find out I left until I was out the door and hopefully far enough out of his reach to bring me back home.
It was half-past seven and there was still about an hour left of daylight. I pulled my shoes on and tiptoed to the door. I glanced back over my shoulder to make sure Sledge was still sleeping.
I was going to have to deal with his wrath later, but I didn’t care. I opened the front door and pulled it closed gently behind me.
I had to find Gunner.
*
Sledge
I smacked the phone to my ear and answered the phone. “‘ello?”
“Answer the door,” Quinn called.
A loud knock sounded on the door. “That you?”
“No, it’s the fucking milkman,” Quinn growled. “Yes, it’s me.”
I dropped the phone on the couch and stood groggily.
Quinn pounded on the door again.
“I’m fucking coming,” I called. I didn’t need him waking up Queenie with slamming his fist on the fucking door. I dragged open the door and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. “What the hell do you want?”
Kimber popped out from behind Quinn. “We brought pizza.” She held up three pizza boxes and smiled. “Pizza, pizza.”
“Is she drunk?” I asked.
Quinn planted a hand on my shoulder and pushed me to the side. “No, she’s just fucking perky.”
“Hey,” Kimber laughed, “you liked my perky a couple of hours ago.”
Ugh. “I just woke up. You think you two can keep this lovey shit to yourselves?” I rolled my shoulders and cracked my neck. I was right about the couch being shit.
“Where is she?” Kimber asked.
I pointed down the hallway. “She’s sleeping. She was shot three times, Kimber.”
Kimber rolled her eyes and headed to the kitchen table. “I see you were sleeping, Sledge, but I think you might need a couple of more hours. You’re a grumpy butt nugget.”
“Butt nugget?” Quinn laughed.
Kimber smiled. “Yup.”
I glanced at the clock on the stove. It was almost eight o’clock. Queenie and I had been sleeping for almost seven hours. “I’ll check and see if she’s hungry.” I doubt I was going to be able to get her to budge, but she was going to have to at least try to eat something. Plus, she was overdue for her pain meds.
“I’ll make her a plate.”
I wasn’t too sure how fond Queenie would be of Kimber making herself at home, but she would have to take that up with Kimber, not me.
I knocked lightly on the door, waited five seconds, and slowly pushed it open. “Queenie?” I called softly. I didn’t want to scare the shit out of her or something. I flicked on the light and stared at an empty bed with a rumbled blanket on top.
“Sledge!” Quinn shouted.
“What the fuck?” I growled. Maybe she was in the bathroom and I didn’t hear her moving around. That had to be.
“She’s fucking gone, Sledge,” Quinn called.
I twisted back around and stomped back into the kitchen. “What the hell do you mean she is gone?” I demanded. How did he know where she was when he just fucking got here?
He held up a piece of paper. “She took off and left you this note.”
I snatched it out of his hand and my blood boiled as I read the words.
Went to look for Gunner. Don’t come looking for me.
XOXO Queenie
I crumpled up the note in my hand and tossed it on the floor. “What the fuck does it mean she went to look for Gunner?”
Did she not think that we were looking for him? We were at a fucking dead end. Even the police were coming up with nothing. The van had no fucking plates and the shooter and the person who grabbed Gunner had their faces covered. All they had was a description of the vehicle, but there were quite a few black minivans driving around.
Quinn folded his arms over his chest. “You didn’t hear her leave?”
Obviously fucking not since I thought she had been sleeping in her fucking bed. “Yeah, I heard her and held the fucking door open for her.”
Kimber stepped between Quinn and me. “Just calm down. I’m sure she’s somewhere close.” She pulled out her phone. “Just let me activate the bat phone.”
“Now is not the fucking time for whatever the hell it is you’re doing, Kimber,” I growled.
Kimber swiped a few times on her phone and then held it to her ear. “I’m calling Petra. The first thing we need to do is call Queenie, and I don’t think you have her