Stone Cold - Ashby Crime Family

“I didn’t want that on you.”

“I’m a grown man, you know. It’s not like I’ve never killed anyone.”

Virgil nodded and fell in line between a long row of cars taking the scenic drive through the Canyon, his gaze scanning the distance for anything that would point us to Bonnie.

“I know. And I didn’t want that on you either. But it is what it is.”

“Is it wrong that I wanted to kill that piece of shit?”

Virgil arched his brows. “You saw what I did after they took Maisie. I’m not the best person to ask.”

I disagreed. “You’re the exact person to ask. Did it make you feel better?”

“It did,” he said on a bitter laugh. “Until some smart little shit convinced me Brendan Rhymer might still be alive.”

“You believe me?”

He shrugged. “Between what Savannah said and you, yeah. I’m starting to and it fucking pisses me off.”

Yeah, me too. “Maybe I’ll kill him for you.”

Virgil laughed. “Maybe I’ll let you.”

We shared a smile and it felt good, feeling as if I belonged with my brothers. Like I was one of them. Just the same. “Virg, over there!” It was nothing more than a flash of color but it was more than I’d seen in the past half hour. “Hurry, Virgil!”

I jumped out before the car came to a stop and ran toward the flash of red on the ground, heart stuck in my throat. Bonnie lie there underneath the scorching desert sun, not moving.

We were too late. I wanted to scream to the heavens. She was dead. Shit. Oh, shit. “Bonnie!”

I ran full speed until I was at her side, on my knees and cradling her head in my hand.

“Bonnie, wake up. For the love of fuck, please wake up!”

Her eyes were closed, her skin bright red with sunburn, her lips cracked like the deep lines of the hard desert dirt. I felt for a pulse, shoulders sagging in relief when I found it.

“She’s alive,” I yelled at Virgil. “Barely, but she’s fucking alive!”

I had never felt such a sense of relief wash over me as I did in that moment. With Bonnie in my arms, the faintest breaths keeping her alive, everything suddenly felt right.

Almost perfect.

Virgil squatted down and picked her up easily in his arms. “Come on, little bro. You’ve got the girl, now let’s see if you can hang on to her.”

His laugh brought a smile to my face. “Smart ass.”

“Mighty big talk from a guy who said, ‘she’s cool’ and that he ‘liked her’.”

I flipped him the bird because sometimes, that was all I could do with family. “Shut up and drive.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Bonnie

I was stuck in this space between wakefulness and sleep, not asleep but unconscious. It was a strange kind of twilight sleep where I couldn’t tell what was real and what was in my foggy mind.

That was when I woke up, or sort of woke up in a room that looked and sounded a lot like a hospital, only quieter.

Much, much quieter.

How I got here was my first question, but my mouth was so dry, my tongue stuck to the roof of my mouth. I couldn’t part my lips, no matter how many times tried. What in the hell had happened to me?

I blinked once, surprised to see a pale green ceiling staring back at me. To the left was a window, at least I assumed the vertical blinds weren’t just for show, and a ledge with two small plants and a glass pitcher filled with cucumber water. To the right, someone had connected a series of monitors to…me. The back of my hand, the crook of my arm and even my chest and finger had lines that that buzzed or beeped or hissed.

“Shouldn’t she be awake by now?” The voice came through the thin slice of open door muffled, but it was Calvin, no doubt about it. Which meant that somehow, he had found me.

“Yes, but we don’t know what else she’s been through, what her mind is protecting her from.” The voice belonged to a female. She sounded calm and sure of herself. And exasperated with Calvin. “I can’t speak with you about this until Ms. Byrne gives me permission, Mr. Ashby.”

“This is bullshit. Just tell me she’ll be fine. Tell me what those fuckers did to her,” he practically screamed. But when he spoke next, I had to strain to hear him. “I saw her torn clothes. The stains.”

“Then you know exactly why I can’t talk to you about this.”

Stains? I tried to think really hard about what I remembered last. Praying for God to kill me. What a fucking joke. A bitter grunt escaped since it was the only sound I could manage with a bone-dry throat and limbs that didn’t seem to respond to my commands.

“Hello,” I called to my empty room. The word came out on a whisper that no one could hear.