Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Ramsey
"Well that's fucked," Frost remarked.
He stood beside the SUV, arms crossed over his chest, surveying what was left of his cottage. "I was fond of that place too."
"It could have been worse." Storm matched his pose. "We could have been inside."
Frost nodded. "Yes we could. That would have been much more fucked."
"We got lucky," I said. "If we were any closer to that, it would have taken us out."
I leaned against the side of the SUV, away from the still roaring blaze.
It was already starting to die down, and so far hadn't spread beyond the cottage. We were also lucky it wasn’t the middle of summer, because if the area was dry, it would ignite like the perfect kindling.
The whole forest would go up so fast we'd be lucky to get out in time.
"I would have been pissed off if that happened," Frost said. "I'd haunt Jones for the rest of his life."
"Ghosts aren't real," Storm said.
"They would be if I died. Otherwise I wouldn't be able to throw things at him and scare the shit out of him." Frost said with a shrug. "We should go."
"Yeah, we should," I agreed. "Sooner or later, they'll come back to check if they finished us off or not."
"I'm starting to take this personally," Max said, his expression grim.
"Funny, I was thinking the same thing." Frost opened the front passenger door and climbed inside. "I think they wanted all of us dead."
"It's going to take a lot more than an explosive device to kill me," Storm declared.
If he was inside the cottage, he'd be very much dead, but I didn’t bother to correct him. There was nothing wrong with being relieved at not being blown to kingdom come.
We got lucky, and luckier still the SUV was in one piece. The side closest to the cottage was dented from a couple of boards that struck there, thrown by the force of the blast. Other than that, it survived.
Just as well. I wouldn't have minded the jog to the highway, but it would have taken up too much precious time. So would calling someone to come and get us.
I slid into the back beside Max and pulled out my phone to send off a couple of messages. I didn't need to see Ice's expression to know how pissed off he was going to be when he read the one I sent him.
Storm half turned to look back at me. "Where are we going? We don't know where they've taken her. Unless they got a flat tyre, they'll be long gone by the time we reach the highway."
He seethed with anger and regret. So did I, but I kept myself tightly under control. Losing our shit wouldn't help Chelsea. We needed to be calmer and more focused now than when we were on the rugby field. So much more was at stake.
Before I could answer, a message popped up on my phone.
I glanced down at the screen. Ice responded with an address. That was all. No rants, no angry face emojis. No mention of what he'd to to Carlos Jones, or Atlas and Jay.
In spite of that, I could almost feel his fury from here. Between us, we were going to destroy anyone who dared to lay a hand on Chelsea.
"Where are we going?" Max asked. He looked as though he'd prefer to be anywhere but here. To be honest, so would I.
" We're going," I corrected. "We'll drop you off somewhere. You’ve been involved enough. I know a place. You'll be safe until we deal with this."
He looked like he wanted to argue, but finally nodded. "Right. I think that's a good idea. Whatever this is, it's…" He swallowed visibly.
"It's bullshit, is what it is," Storm said. "You shouldn't have been involved in the first fucking place. We should have killed King and Skinner before everything went too far. None of us would be here now if we had."
"No, you'd probably be dead," I agreed.
Max shifted in his seat, clearly uncomfortable at this topic of conversation.
I had to respect a man who could admit when he was in over his head.
He was definitely in over his. He was a football coach, not a mobster.
Not for now at least. What happened after this— That was up to him.
Once the shock was over, he might decide he was in it for the adrenaline, or to protect the team. Stranger things had happened.
"Drive out to the highway," I said to Storm. "There's a road about two kilometres down. We'll leave Coach there before we keep going."
"Can we trust him to keep his mouth closed?" Frost looked back at him, as though he'd offer to kill him if necessary.
Max raised his hands. "No one will hear the word about this from me. Who'd believe it anyway?"
"You’d be surprised," I said dryly. "You won't have to say anything to anyone. My aunt Clarissa will make sure of that. No one will find you there with her."
"Are you sure of that?" Frost asked.
"One hundred percent," I said. "There's nowhere safer in Dusk Bay than Aunt Clarissa's.
" No one could get in, and Max couldn't get out.
She'd see to it. She'd been a certified badass since before I was born.
She also managed to keep such a low profile most people didn't even know she existed.
I grew up wanting to be like her, but football got me first.
We drove in silence for a few minutes before I directed Storm to turn down a side road.
The ‘road’ looked like nothing more than a forestry track, which was the point. In reality, it was private property, so forestry workers didn't come here. The public didn't either. A ‘no through road’ sign made sure of that.
Not to mention a gate that only opened with a code I sent from my phone.
The gate itself was the kind forestry placed on tracks where they didn't want people driving.
Heavy forest to either side prevented anyone from going around it.
The whole setup was subtle but effective.
Exactly what you'd expect from a forest track.
A huge iron gate would raise too much suspicion.
That came another kilometre down the track, before we reached a small house nestled in the forest.
"Nice shack," Storm remarked, clearly unimpressed.
"Don't let the outside fool you." I pushed out the door and jerked my head to the side to indicate that Max should follow.
The other three were right behind me as I approached the front of the house.
The door swung open. Aunt Clarissa greeted us with a warm smile. Almost as tall as me, she was broad everywhere, including her shoulders. She had that look about her, like she could take all three of us out with a single punch and gone back inside to finish a cup of tea.
"Ferris! What are you doing here?" She enveloped me in a hug so tight I struggled to breathe.
"Just leaving our coach with you for safekeeping." I managed to survive the hug, barely, and stepped back to indicate Max.
She looked him up and down. "Nice. It's been a while since I've had company out here."
He was actually blushing while I explained the situation in as few words as possible.
Her smile faded and was replaced with anger on our behalf.
"What can I do?" She placed her hands on her wide hips. "I haven't been to town much since I sold my vegan grocery store, but I still know people."
That was an understatement and we both knew it. She regularly ate dinner with Daisy Lasalle and Mina DiMarco. She was as tight with them as anyone could be.
"Just keep Coach safe," I told her. "We'll be back for him." I knew she'd arm herself and ride with us if necessary, but we needed her here. When the dust finally settled, the team would need its head coach back. He couldn't be in better hands here. If I wasn't mistaken, he didn't mind a bit.
"No offence, but this place doesn't look very secure." Storm stood with his head tilted, frowning at the shack, as he referred to it.
"None taken," Clarissa said dryly. "That's the idea. This part looks like nothing special. The three stories underground are something else." She smiled at his surprise. "Gets 'em every time. Next time Ferris brings you by, I might show you around."
Storm didn't look like he quite believed her, but he shrugged and straightened his head. "Sure, I'd be down for that. After we get Chelsea away from that asshole."
"If you need anything, you know where to find me." Clarissa beckoned Max to step inside and gave me another hug before she followed him in and closed the door.
"Fifty bucks says they get together by the end of the month," Frost said.
"Hundred bucks says end of the week." Storm jangled his keys in his hand as we headed back to the SUV.
They both looked at me. I shrugged. "I don't want to think about my aunt's sex life. Except to say, he could do a lot worse than her."
She'd been alone for a long time. She deserved to have someone looking out for her. So did Coach Stanley. He was a good man. They'd be nice together. But that wasn't my concern at that moment. All I could think about was getting to Chelsea and hoping like hell we were there in time.
I gave Storm the address, climbed back into the SUV and sat with my hands by my side, feeling every second tick by.