Malone's Fate (Haven, Texas Book 14)

Chapter 10

By the time she got back to the RV, Lilac was sweaty and trembling. Her heart was racing, her head thumping, and she didn’t feel good.

“Really should have taken that bottle of water.”

Yep. She’d had that thought a lot on her trek home. Walking into town hadn’t felt so bad in the early morning with an empty backpack. But walking back in the midday heat with a backpack full of coolant and diapers.

Yep. Not good at all.

So, when she stepped into the park and saw a deputy sheriff’s car sitting next to the RV, Lilac considered turning around and running.

But she couldn’t.

Put your big girl panties on.

Taking a deep breath, she headed to the RV, alarm filling her as she heard Opal talking.

Oh God. Why was Ryleigh letting Opal do the talking?

“Hello!” she called out.

A nice-looking man turned toward her, eyeing her as she moved closer.

Damn. Were all the people in this town good-looking? The deputy sheriff had a fit build and dark hair. He looked like he was in his midthirties.

“Hey, doll,” Opal called out. She was dressed conservatively today. At least for her. Her jeans were skin-tight with rhinestones up the sides, paired with a short-sleeved tight top that was low-cut. “This is deputy Linc. He just wanted to check we were okay. I told him we’d be fucking peachy once you got back.”

“Yep. And I’m back.” She gave Linc a big smile.

He didn’t look convinced. Awesome.

“I’m Lilac.”

“Lilac.” He held out his hand and shook hers. Nice handshake. Not sweaty and clammy, but not too hard either.

Stefan used to shake hands with people like he was trying to break them.

Mind you, he often did go on to break them.

“I was just telling your friend here that we can’t let you park here overnight, I’m afraid.”

“Oh, we won’t be. We just had a bit of engine trouble last night, but I just got some stuff to fix it. So, we’ll be moving on.”

Nothing to see here.

Everything is fine.

Please don’t put our names in the system.

They all had fake last names. But she was worried their identities wouldn’t hold up if someone looked into them.

“Again, I’m really sorry. We’ll move on as soon as we can,” she said. “I just got a job at Dirty Delights, but we don’t have to stay if you’d rather. We can go to another town.”

She didn’t know why but she felt like she was on the cusp of breaking down, of just giving in and crying. She was aware of Opal giving her a shocked look as she shook her head, trying to tell her to stop talking.

Right. They weren’t leaving. Because this was their last option.

“Hey,” Linc said, holding his hands up. “No one is going to hurt you, okay?”

Why would he think she was worried about that? She hadn’t mentioned anything about anyone hurting her.

“Lilac? You okay? Nobody gave you trouble, did they?” Opal demanded, striding over to her. “I’ll fucking kill them.”

“She didn’t mean that,” Lilac told the deputy quickly.

He gave her a faint smile that didn’t dispel the worry in his gaze. “I didn’t think she did.”

If only he knew what Opal was capable of . . . he probably wouldn’t say that.

“Did anyone give you trouble in town?” he asked.

He really looked like he actually cared.

“No, everyone was nice. I’m just a bit stressed out because of the van breaking down.”

Linc gave the old RV a doubtful look. “Did you say you got something to fix it?”

“Uh-huh. Coolant.”

“Did you get Matt at Haven Mechanical to come look at it?” Linc asked. “Why didn’t he bring out the coolant? Did you walk all the way into town on your own?”

She blinked at him. That was a lot of questions.

“Oh, no, I know what to do,” she reassured him. “Don’t worry. And I didn’t need to bother anyone. It wasn’t that far to walk into town.”

Linc gave her a doubting look, then glanced around the park. “You stayed here last night?”

“Um, yes. I’m really sorry. Is there . . . is there a fine or something? It was late and we didn’t want to drive it any farther so we thought this would be all right?”

Please don’t fine us.

“No fine,” Linc told her. “It’s just not a safe place for two women.”

“I know.” Lilac nodded. “Which is why we’ll be moving to a camping ground as soon as I get old Sugar going.”

“Sugar?”

“The RV,” Opal said. “I named her. It suits her, huh?”

“Um, yeah, sure.” Linc looked doubtful. “So, if you got a job at Dirty Delights, I’m guessing you’re planning on staying.”

“We were, yes,” she said.

“Thing is . . . there’s no camping ground here in Haven.”

What?

Fuck. Why hadn’t they looked that up? She’d just assumed . . .

“Oh,” she said, trying to hide her disappointment. “Right. I guess we can find somewhere else to go.”

“You’re living in this full-time?” he asked them.

Crap. He had so many questions.

“No, honey,” Opal said, laying on her charm. “We’re doing some sightseeing, but we need to earn money along the way. Especially with Sugar here acting up.”

“Right. Well, I guess the first thing to do is to get Sugar working again,” the deputy said.

“We’ll do that now. Thanks for checking on us.” Lilac smiled up at him.

Linc eyed her for a long moment. “Why don’t I help you?”

“I don’t want to get you dirty,” she told him. “And this could take a while.”

“I’ve got time.”

Just awesome. Now he was going to see that she had no idea what she was doing. She needed to watch the video first to follow the instructions. At least she had more data on her phone now.

Suddenly, his radio crackled, and he moved to his car. “Excuse me a moment.”

She turned to Opal. “Ryleigh and Kye?”

“Thought it was better to hide them.” They tried not to make it obvious that there were three women traveling together. And people always remembered a baby.

Although it was usually better for Opal to say hidden since she was the most memorable of the three.

“Do you think he’s really gonna stay while you try to fix poor Sugar?” Opal asked.

“I hope not,” Lilac said. “Since I have no clue what I’m doing.”

Opal shot her a warning look as the deputy walked back over. “Sorry, I have to go. I’m going to come back and check on you after, though. If you need help, I want you to call me.” He handed Lilac his card. “And if you’re planning on staying for any length of time, you’re going to need to talk to Jake, the sheriff.”

“We haven’t done anything wrong,” Opal protested.

“Not saying that,” Linc said soothingly. “Around here we take care of our women. If you’re staying for any length of time, you’ll need a guardian. Just someone who watches out for your best interests, and Jake often acts in that capacity for women on their own. I know it sounds odd, but it’s for your safety. I’ll be back soon. Be safe.”

When he left, Lilac slumped down onto the ground, unable to keep herself up.

Ouch.

“Lilac? Fuck, Lilac! Ryleigh,” Opal yelled.

“What is it? Oh God, Lilac! What happened?” Ryleigh asked frantically.

Then Kye started crying.

Shit. She had to get herself together before they all lost it.

“I’m okay. I’m fine.” Close to passing out . . . burned out, exhausted and thirsty.

But. Yeah. Fine.

“Water,” Opal said. “She needs some water.”

Someone pressed a bottle of water into her hand and guided it to her mouth. She sucked it down. God, she’d been so thirsty.

Idiot.

“Lilac, are you sure you’re all right? Do we need to call an ambulance?” Ryleigh asked.

“No! No ambulance.” She managed to stand with Opal’s help. They couldn’t afford an ambulance. She had to get herself together. “I just got a bit dehydrated, is all.”

“Not to mention you haven’t fucking eaten in six months,” Opal said. “Surprised you haven’t fainted before now.”

“Opal,” Ryleigh said softly as she swayed back and forth with Kye pressed to her chest.

“Got to be said, you don’t fucking eat soon, and we will be calling an ambulance for you.”

“Yeah, well, I think we have more important things to worry about right now,” Lilac replied. “Like getting Sugar up and running before he comes back.”

“Where are we gonna fucking go?” Opal asked, pacing back and forth. “We can’t stay here, not if we have to meet with the fucking sheriff.”

“What?” Ryleigh asked.

Lilac filled her in on her conversation.

“So that’s it? We have to leave?” Fear and sadness filled Ryleigh’s face.

Opal and Lilac shared a look.

“No, we don’t have to leave. But we also can’t have the sheriff looking into us,” Lilac said. “I told Devon, the guy that owns Dirty Delights, that my brother was trying to force me to do something I didn’t want to, but that I wasn’t in immediate danger.”

Opal snorted. “Sort of true.”

“I’ll just convince the sheriff not to look into us.” Somehow. Fuck.

“But where will we stay if there’s no camp ground?” Ryleigh asked.

That part was more complicated. “We’ll move around. You guys can drop me off close to town when I have to work, and I’ll walk the rest of the way. Then you can go further out to park.”

“Or . . .” Ryleigh let her voice drop off as she chewed at her lower lip.

“Or what?” Opal asked.

“We go straight to the Malones. Ask for their help,” Ryleigh said.

Part of her desperately wanted to see Tanner again.

And an even bigger part of her was dreading it.

But that wasn’t even her biggest worry over going to the Malones. What if she’d gotten it wrong and they weren’t good people? What if they didn’t want to help? Hell. She couldn’t even blame them . . . they were in such a mess that no ordinary people would choose to help.

But if they turned them away . . . there was no other plan other than her shaky one. And to do that, she had to ensure that Ryleigh, Kye, and Opal were safe first.

And then there was Ryleigh . . . she was counting on them. She believed in them. What if they let her down?

“Are you . . . is that what you want to do?” Lilac asked.

Because it was up to Ryleigh.

“I don’t know. I don’t . . . I’m scared. If we go there and they reject us, then we’ve got nothing.” Ryleigh looked so terrified. Lilac hated it.

“We haven’t got nothing,” Opal said, wrapping her arm around Ryleigh. “We got the three of us. Who needs anyone else? Not me.”

“The A team,” Ryleigh said.

“Right,” Lilac said. “The three of us can handle anything.”

“I just think maybe we should . . . we should get the lay of the land first, you know?” Ryleigh bit her lip. “I mean, I know you said that Tanner and Raid were good guys, and I’m sure you’re right. But . . .”

“But that doesn’t mean the others are,” Lilac finished. “So, we try to find out what we can about them. Then we come up with a plan. First, Sugar. Second, we drive out of this park. Third, find somewhere to park until tomorrow night when I can go earn us some money.”

Even if she didn’t get the job, at least she’d get some tips tomorrow night. That should buy them some more food and time.

Optimism filled her.

They had this.