“I can’t believe it was you all this time,” I muttered with a shake of my head. “You always hate on the Scorpions.”

He shrugged, focusing on the road with a lot more sobriety than I’d taken him for. “Gotta find a way to remove all suspicions, right?”

“Why are you helping him?”

He hesitated. “I got my reasons. I’m not impulsive like you, dumb one.”

“Dumb one? Look at what I just did!”

“What you did was dumb.”

“What about you? You drugged Barge, planted the gun in front of everyone, pretended to be drunk and asleep–”

“And no one’s going to know a thing because I’m awesome like that. Now what you did on the other hand took massive balls. I’m talking meteorite balls. People are going to get paid trying to kill you for this kind of stunt. You showed your face, showed your cards, showed the world of the Jackals that you’re a snake and a liar. There isn’t anything worse than that. You did it all for the price of a man.”

Well, shit, when he put it that way… I went quiet. Wow. Did I really just do that? Me, Sara Nolan?

What.
The.
Fuck.

Talk about risking it all.

“So where are you taking me?” I asked, determinedly steering the conversation away from my apparent stupidity.

“Jaxon didn’t tell me. Didn’t want the information in the wrong hands. He said to meet him ‘in the grass.’ Whatever the fuck that means. Said you’d know.”

I looked perplexedly out of the window. In the grass. Well, might as well turn this car back around because I had absolutely no clue. Biting my nail, I searched through the recesses of my mind, digging up any grass references.

“You have no fucking clue, huh?”

I didn’t answer him. I concentrated on our every encounter. Why would Jaxon give me such a vague clue? He couldn’t be referencing a vague memory. This had to be central to a time–

My eyes widened and my cheeks went crimson in realization. I knew exactly where to go.

*****

The car stopped in the emergency lane, head lights still on. I stepped out and looked around the deserted road. The cool wind swept my hair back and a chill ran down my spine.  Clearly unprepared but in too much haste to care, I’d left in only a plain white shirt and jeans.

I waded into the knee length grass, staring fondly at the vineyard beyond. Interesting choice of destination for Jaxon, bringing me back to our horny days. I stopped in the spot we made love and looked back at the nearby road. I cringed remembering the honks and the men that bellowed their appreciation for what they’d obviously witnessed in vivid detail.

Fritz stepped out of the car and rested against the door, crossing his arms. I continued looking around, waiting expectantly for the face I’d been longing for. I mean, this was the place he meant, right? In the grass. Had to be. Yet everywhere I turned, I couldn’t see him. Shouldn’t he have been here waiting?

Panic swarmed my chest. What if something went wrong on his end? What if he was unable to make it? What then? I knew I shouldn’t jump to the worst conclusions just yet. Besides, Fritz looked calm. Surely he’d be pacing restlessly like I was doing right now if there was something to worry about.

The sound of an engine in the air drawing nearer pulled me away from my thoughts. It was a motorcycle. Now I was really panicking. What if it was Remy catching me in the act? Fuck. Fuck. I stood my ground and waited until I made out the headlight of the black bike coming at us. It slowed down just beside the truck. To my relief, it was not Remy’s bike.

When the bike went off, so did the helmet. My heart leaped at the sight of Jaxon jumping off of his bike, donning a black leather jacket and jeans. Always the same apparel from this one.

I watched him approach Fritz.

“Where is she?” he asked cautiously.

Fritz cocked his head in my direction and Jaxon followed. When his eyes landed on me, he gave Fritz a stern nod. I’d expected him to be happy seeing me, but he looked… blank.

“So there were no problems?”

Fritz shook his head. “No. She did a damn good job. If I were you, I’d get the hell out of here ten minutes ago. Place will be crawling come morning. Every inch of Gosnells will be in the hands of the Jackals.”

“Yeah.” Jaxon stood still for a moment, thoughts passing through him at lightning speed. “Anyway, thanks, man. I’ll keep in touch with you, Dean.” Dean?

“Send me some alcohol as thanks,” Fritz mumbled. He walked through the grass and stopped right in front of me. He regarded me sweetly. “What I said in the car–”

“About me being dumb?”

“Yeah, I still think you’re dumb.” He smirked at my frown and added, “But… I admire what you did. If I had a heart, I’d cry. Maybe even write you a fuckin’ sonnet. Keep yourself hidden. I’d hate for you to be in the hands of Remy after this.” His demeanour switched to discomfort. “He’s a ruthless fucker when it comes to enemies. You’ve just made yourself one.”

I gulped hard. “Yeah.”

“Take care, Sara.”

“You too.”

He walked back to the car and, while climbing in, nodded one last time at Jaxon. Seconds later he was gone, driving back in the direction we’d come from, his engine fading in the distance.

Shrouded in the darkness of night, I waited for Jaxon to signal me over. He stood still, his face turned away from me with his hands in his pockets. The air was thick with tension, the kind that stiffened me with anxiety. I slowly made my way over to him and stopped when I was four feet away. Maybe he needed some distance.

Did he hate me? Did he regret doing this? Why was he so damn hard to read?

“Come on,” he finally said.

I followed him to his bike and watched him open the top box. He withdrew a helmet and turned to me.

“Come here.” When I did, he placed the helmet over my head and buckled it. Then he took his jacket off. “Put this on. It’s going to be cold.”

I put it on and zipped it up and looked back at him for more directions. He eyed the jacket, then my helmet and then turned to the bike, securing his own helmet back over his head.

“Where are we going?” I asked him as he climbed over his bike.

“Far, far away,” he answered. “Climb on.”