Coil was the fastest. His bike pulled up alongside my driver's window. He raised a heavy steel wrench, swinging it backward to smash my glass.
I swerved hard to the left, clipping his front tire. His bike wobbled violently, forcing him to hit the brakes, swearing loudly. I burst through the open security gate, hitting the main road at seventy miles an hour.
I didn't stop. I took every sharp turn, every dark alley, every backroad I could find, pushing the dying Honda until the engine temp gauge pinned to the red. I lost them somewhere in the industrial district.
I pulled the steaming car into the dark parking lot of a closed down grocery store and killed the engine. I sat in the terrifying silence, gasping for air, clutching the steering wheel until my hands cramped.
I had the ledger. I had the leverage. But I couldn't go to the police. The ledger showed Brick was paying off the local sheriff. I was completely alone.
There was only one person David had ever truly trusted. His oldest friend, the man who had been the best man at our wedding. Leo.
I grabbed the burner phone and dialed Leo's number from memory. He answered on the second ring.
"Sarah? Jesus, where are you? I've been calling your regular phone all night."
"Leo, I need help," I choked out, tears finally breaking free. "They found us. The Wraiths. David had a ledger, and they're trying to kill us for it."
"Where are you?" Leo's voice was sharp, instantly alert. "Don't go to the cops. I'm coming to get you right now. Tell me where you are."
I gave him the address of a 24-hour diner two blocks away. I abandoned the smoking Honda, carrying Mia and the duffel bag through the cold night air.
Ten minutes later, Leo’s black pickup truck pulled into the diner parking lot.
Relief washed over me so strongly my knees nearly buckled. I ran to the truck, opening the passenger door. Leo reached over, grabbing the duffel bag to help me.
"Get in, get in, you're safe now," he said, his voice warm and steady.
As he leaned across the console, his jacket sleeve pulled back slightly.
My heart stopped.
There, etched deeply into the skin of his forearm—a tattoo he had always carefully kept hidden beneath long sleeves—was a grim reaper logo and the words IRON WRAITHS.
I froze, one foot in the truck. My eyes slowly tracked from his arm, out the windshield, and down to the front bumper of his truck. The heavy steel grill was crumpled on the right side, the metal twisted and coated in a fresh spray of glossy black paint.
And bolted right beneath it was the license plate: TX 4F9-R.
CHAPTER 3
The cold night air rushed into the open cab of the truck, but it was nothing compared to the absolute ice flooding my veins.
"Sarah? Come on, get in," Leo urged, looking at me with genuine concern plastered across his face.
I couldn't breathe. My lungs felt like they had turned to stone. The greasy shop towel in my pocket felt like a brick. The license plate David had written down in his dying moments wasn't a customer's car. It was Leo’s truck. Leo was the hit-and-run driver. Leo had put my husband in a coma.
And I had just called him for help.
Mia was already climbing into the back seat, shivering and pulling her dinosaur blanket over her head. I couldn't run. If I grabbed her now, he would know I saw the tattoo. He would know I saw the bumper. We wouldn't make it five steps across the parking lot.
I forced a trembling breath through my nose, plastered a look of exhausted relief onto my face, and climbed into the passenger seat. I pulled the heavy door shut, trapping us inside a steel cage with the man who tried to murder my husband.
"Thank God you're here," I whispered, the lie tasting like ash in my mouth.
"I've got you," Leo said smoothly, putting the truck in gear and pulling out of the diner parking lot. "I can't believe Brick tracked you down. David should have told you how deep he was. He was a fool to keep secrets from you."
"Yeah," I mumbled, staring out the window at the passing streetlights. My mind was racing, tearing through the ledger pages in my memory. He’s stealing from Brick. If I don't make it, give this to the club.