8. Mandy
MANDY
Ipolish off the apple fritter I got for the road as enter the Iron Ridge town limits.
Iron Ridge is a barely a town, with its handful of old brick storefronts and weathered buildings rooted between ranchland and mountains. Everything about it looks permanent, which might be why my first instinct is to keep driving.
My sister lives here now, on a ranch with her badass boyfriend and his equally badass special forces buddies.
It's been a over month since the raid on Turner's house.
Over a month since I've seen her face-to-face.
As I drive through town with my hands steady on the wheel, my mind runs through what I'll say to her if I see her.
I need to see her. I need to know she's okay, that the nightmares have faded, that she's actually healing instead of just pretending.
The vet clinic sits on the edge of town, a small brick building with a gravel lot and a hand-painted sign. Lily's sanctuary—the place where she saves animals and pretends the world isn't full of predators. I slow as I drive by it.
But I don’t stop. How can I? There’s essentially a contract on my head and a relentless bounty hunter charged with bringing me in. I’m not going to show up on her doorstep with that kind of baggage, not when she has a chance to finally close the door on the past.
“No regrets,” I remind myself, turning up the stereo to blot out my thoughts. Things are the way they are, but tomorrow they’ll be different. Life moves on.
Humming along to a song about strawberry lips, I focus on Hendricks hunting me.
Chuckling, I shake my head. We’ll see who catches who first.