1. Lola #2
"I know enough."
"That's the problem."
I should ask what he means, but he's already moving around me toward the door, heading for his bike. Actually leaving.
"Cross."
He stops and looks back.
For one stupid second, I expect him to ask me something. Maybe tell me to come with him, which is insane. Still, disappointment catches me when all he says is, "Don't tell him until I'm gone."
"Fuck you. You seriously think I'm going to cover for you?"
"No. But I'm going to ask you anyway."
That should make me feel better, but it doesn't. I follow him outside.
Cross swings onto his bike and starts the engine, the sound cutting across the yard.
He looks at me once before riding toward the gate.
I could shout. I could run inside and tell Cyrus before Cross reaches the road.
Instead, I stand there while the gate opens and watch his taillight disappear into the dark.
I count slowly to sixty before I go back inside.
My father is still near the bar when I return. His eyes go past me immediately, searching for Cross. "Well?"
I don't know what I'm going to say until the words are already out. "Couldn't find him."
Raze looks at me, only once and then he looks away. My father swears and reaches for his phone. Less than five minutes later, one of the brothers from outside comes in and says Cross's bike is gone and his patches are in the garage.
After that, the clubhouse finally falls silent for real.
My pulse beats hard enough to feel in my throat as my father heads down the hallway with Raze and three other men behind him.
They find the stripped patches quickly. I know the exact moment because Cyrus roars Cross's name loudly enough to carry through the whole yard.
When he comes back, he's gripping the Perdition patch in one fist.
"Raze. Get men on the road. Bring him back."
Raze straightens carefully. "He's got a head start."
"Then ride faster."
"And when we get him?"
My father looks down at the patch before lifting his eyes. "Just bring him back."
Nobody asks what happens after that. They don't need to.
Cross won't survive being brought back. The knowledge settles cold inside me while Raze starts calling names.
Men move because Cyrus gave an order, but there's none of the usual energy before trouble.
Nobody grins or argues. They grab helmets and head outside.
Raze pauses in front of me. "Which way?"
"What?"
"You were outside. Which way did he go?"
He knows I'm about to lie. I see it immediately in his face. "North," I say. "Toward the county line."
Raze holds my gaze for a long moment before nodding. "North road."
He sends the men out and I don't move until the first engines start outside. Raze is the last one through the door, and he doesn't look back or tell my father what I've done.
I have no idea why, and I also have no intention of waiting around to find out. I pull out my phone and walk toward the hallway before calling Cross. He answers on the fourth ring with a curt, "Yes?"
I nearly hang up purely because of his tone and then there's a beat of silence. "Lola?"
"Raze has men heading north. Cyrus ordered them to bring you back."
"I figured he would."
"Where are you?"
"Not telling you. Better you don't know."
"Fine. Stay off Route Thirty-Two. They'll cover it as soon as they realize I sent them the wrong way."
The silence on the other end changes.
"You did what?"
"Don't make me repeat myself. Take the river road south."
He knows the route. Everybody around here does. He also knows exactly what I've just risked for him.
"Why, Lola?"
I close my eyes. "I don't know."
It's the first completely honest thing I've said all night.
He says my name again, quieter this time, but I don't want to hear whatever comes next. "I have to go."
"Wait."
He ends the call. My hand shakes as I shove the phone into my pocket.
I hate Cross for putting me in this position and my father for making the consequences of leaving so obvious.
Mostly, I hate that nobody forced me to do anything.
I knew what my father intended and made my decision before I had time to dress it up as something else.
When I turn around, Raze is standing at the far end of the hallway.
Cold moves through me. He's supposed to be gone, but he's leaning against the wall, careful of his damaged ribs, watching me with an expression I can't read.
He heard enough or maybe all of it. I can't tell.
Neither of us speaks for several seconds before he reaches into his pocket and takes out his keys. "You weren't here when I came back."
I stare at him. "What?"
"That's what I'll tell Cyrus if he asks."
Before I can decide whether to question him, he walks past me and heads outside.
No threat. No explanation. Nothing, and I can't work out why he's covering for me.
The clubhouse suddenly feels smaller. I go to my room and grab a bag, throwing in clothes, a charger and whatever else my hands land on.
I don't know whether I have five minutes or half an hour.
Cyrus is my father. Perdition is my home.
Being his daughter has protected me inside these gates all my life.
But I've just helped a patched brother defect, lied to the president and deliberately sent his VP in the wrong direction. I'm not willing to bet my life on blood protecting me from the consequences. My car is parked beside the fence. I make it there before I stop and look back at the clubhouse.
I've spent most of my life inside these gates.
Birthdays, funerals, parties and fights.
Men coming home bloody and men not coming home at all.
I learned to ride a bicycle in this yard and later to drive in an old truck while a Perdition brother swore every time I ground the gears.
I know every inch of this place, but what I don't know is when it stopped feeling safe.
Maybe tonight, or maybe it was a long time ago.
I throw my bag into the passenger seat and get behind the wheel. There aren't many places in Missouri where my father can't reach me. There's only one close enough to get to before he knows I'm gone.
So I start the engine and drive toward Kingdom Come, the exact same place Cross has gone. I'm heading toward the man I've spent years believing hates me, and the only gates in Ransom my father can't simply walk through.