It wasn't David who was stealing from the Iron Wraiths. It was Leo. Leo was skimming the drug runs. David had found out, and he took the ledger to expose Leo to Brick. That's why Leo ran him off the road. He was trying to get the ledger back before David could show it to the club president.
"Where are we going?" I asked, trying to keep my voice steady.
"My hunting cabin up by Lake Miller," Leo said, checking the rearview mirror. "It's off the grid. No cell service, no neighbors. Brick will never find you there. We'll figure out what to do with the ledger in the morning."
He glanced at my duffel bag resting on the floorboards between my feet. "You have it with you, right? The ledger?"
"No," I lied smoothly, my maternal instincts overriding my terror. "I hid it at the storage unit. I just grabbed clothes."
Leo’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. The leather wrapped around it squeaked slightly under the pressure. "You left it? Sarah, that book is our only leverage. If Brick finds it, we're all dead."
"I hid it well," I said. "I can get it tomorrow. I just needed to get Mia to safety."
Leo didn't say anything else. The silence in the truck stretched out, thick and suffocating. I watched the city lights fade away, replaced by the dark, towering pines of the rural highway. We were driving miles away from any help, straight into the woods.
Forty minutes later, the truck tires crunched over a gravel driveway. The headlights illuminated a small, isolated log cabin surrounded by dense, black forest.
"Go on inside," Leo said, turning off the engine. "I'll grab the bags."
I unbuckled Mia, holding her tightly against my chest, and walked up the wooden steps. The cabin was freezing. Leo unlocked the heavy wooden door and flipped on a generator switch. A few weak yellow lamps flickered on, casting long, menacing shadows across the raw timber walls.
"Mia, baby, go to the bathroom and wash your face," I whispered, kneeling down. I looked her dead in the eyes. "Lock the door. Do not come out until I tell you to. Understand?"
She nodded, sensing the absolute severity in my voice. She slipped down the short hallway and I heard the solid click of the bathroom door locking.
Leo walked in, dropping the duffel bag heavily onto the floor. He walked over to the small kitchenette and began filling a kettle with water.
"I'll make some tea," he said casually, keeping his back to me. "We all need to calm down."
"Thank you," I said. I stood near the front door, calculating the distance between myself, the doorknob, and Leo. If I ran, I would have to leave Mia. That was impossible.
"So," Leo said, turning around slowly. He leaned against the counter, crossing his arms over his chest. The facade of the caring friend was slipping. His eyes were cold, calculating. "David really didn't tell you anything? He just left you to take the fall?"
"He didn't tell me anything."
"That's funny," Leo mused, walking slowly toward me. "Because I searched his car after the crash. I tore that sedan apart before the cops got there. The ledger wasn't in it. And I know he took it from Brick's safe. Which means he hid it for you to find."
"I told you, it's in the storage unit."
Leo stopped three feet away from me. He looked down at the canvas duffel bag on the floor. Without warning, he kicked the bag violently. It tipped over, the zipper sliding open.
Spilling out onto the wooden floorboards alongside Mia's clothes was the heavy, black leather-bound ledger.
The silence in the cabin became absolute.
Leo looked at the book, then slowly raised his eyes to meet mine. The mask was completely gone.
"You always were a terrible liar, Sarah."
I lunged for the door. I threw my hand around the brass knob, yanking it backward, but Leo was faster. He slammed his heavy shoulder into my back, driving me hard into the timber wall. The impact knocked the wind out of my lungs.
Before I could recover, he grabbed me by the hair, throwing me backward into a heavy oak dining chair.
"Stay down!" he roared, pointing a thick finger in my face.
I gasped for air, clutching my ribs. "You hit him," I choked out, tears of rage and pain welling in my eyes. "You ran him off the road."