and why. It’s shitty that I’m leaving it up to him to tell the other two I’ve left when they turn up for breakfast, but if I talk to them now, they will convince me to come home, and I can’t. Not yet, at least.
I text my dad next and give him the full story. He deserves to know why his daughter snuck out of the house in the middle of the night, and I refuse to lie to him. Plus, I throw in some begging, asking him to stay with one of my brothers for the time being because if my stalker doesn’t notice I’ve left yet, he might turn up at my dad’s again tomorrow. I switch off the phone before anyone can reply and toss it back on the nightstand. Yup, definitely a coward.
Closing my eyes, I shut everything out and concentrate on the next part of the plan. I’ll need to stop for some suitable clothing, but apart from that, it won’t take me long to get to the Kings of Carnage clubhouse, thanks to the GPS coordinates Derek sent me earlier. I checked out where I needed to go and wrote the address down on a random receipt in the car before tossing the phone. I just hope I don’t get lost because neither the burners nor the old crap heap of a car has GPS. I sigh. There’s no sense borrowing trouble. I can always go old school and find a paper map if necessary.
Trying to turn off my busy mind to get some rest, I end up questioning why I’m not more nervous about heading to a biker compound. Fuck, I’m sure most women would be terrified about the prospect of walking into the unknown. But then I guess nothing seems as scary when you’ve already woken up to find out someone had been standing over you and taking photographs while you slept. Having some crazy nut job that close to me while I was at my most vulnerable, not once, but twice, makes everything else pale in comparison. The tug of sleep pulls at me so I let myself drift off, giving in to the sweet oblivion that only sleep can bring.
Four hours later, I wake in the same position with a newfound determination. Climbing off the bed, I stumble to the bathroom, where I take care of business before dragging on my clothes and whipping my hair up into a crazy messy bun.
I collect my stuff and remove the SIM card from the phone before walking out into the warm sunshine. I toss both the SIM and phone in the dumpster at the edge of the parking lot, not wanting to risk keeping the phone even without the SIM in case it’s been traced after I sent the texts.
I head to the car before climbing in and going in search of coffee. It’s time to begin the next leg of my journey, a journey that hopefully will keep my family and me safe.
Chapter Twelve
Reign
It took me twenty-four hours to get to Vegas. Not because I drive like my eighty-year-old grandmother but because I needed time to prepare.
Stepping out of the beat-up car in skintight black leather pants and a slouchy white off-the-shoulder T-shirt, I take a moment to draw in a deep breath and center myself. I’m wearing knee-high biker boots that lace up the front and I’ve had my hair chopped to my shoulders, so it now has a sexy tousled beachy vibe going on.
I feel like I’m wearing some kind of armor, and with it, I can face anything.
I’ve been raised by and surrounded by men my whole life, so the prospect of being inside Carnage doesn’t scare me as perhaps it should. No, what worries me is the thought of them sending me away.
Garrett has the resources and the tenacity to hunt the country for me if he really wants to, and it’s clear my brothers and father are not enough of a deterrent. I’m hoping that having the mother chapter of Carnage at my back might make him back off once and for all. Not that I’m going to advertise where I am to him, just that when he finds me, and I’m realistic enough to know it will happen eventually, he’ll realize I’m not worth the hassle.
I check the quiet road before crossing, only then realizing I’m probably too far off the beaten path to have to worry too much about traffic in these parts. I