"I can hear them," Nix said before lifting his gun and aiming at the road. "You sure these guns work? They look like they haven't been used in a decade."
"Yeah, well, available artillery in Australia is hard to come by. Just get ready," John snapped.
I felt my entire body tense as a cloud of dust kicked up in the distance. I could hear the roar of a motorcycle speeding toward us.
Grace and Kaydence climbed the hill and fully came into view. I breathed a sigh of relief when I didn't see anyone behind them. They looked wild and fierce, spinning the tires and closing the distance between us.
"I knew she had it handled," John said in awe. “Damn, she looks hot on that bike.”
The moment they parked, the three of us swarmed the motorcycle. Kaydence was laughing her ass off. "I wish I could have seen your face when we jumped off the cliff," she cackled while fixing her hair.
"I nearly pissed myself," Grace snorted. "You wouldn't have been laughing then. Also I'm pretty sure you bruised my vagina."
Their playful conversation did nothing to ease my worries.
I grabbed Grace and physically picked her up off the motorcycle and clutched her to my chest. "Holy shit. What happened?" I asked while holding her tight. My hands roamed her shaking back, checking for injuries. Fuck was that a cut on her cheek?
"Unmarked car showed up. Kaydence went full James Bond and lost them in a high speed motorcycle chase. Who the fuck are you even?" Grace asked Kaydence while pulling away. She gave John's wife an incredulous look.
"I used to do motocross," Kaydence replied with a shrug before turning to her husband and smiling at him. "I lost them over at that cliff where we used to hook up when we were first dating, but I'm sure they'll find us soon. Wanna take a road trip? I'm in the mood for a nice vacation."
“I’ve always loved that hookup spot,” John replied dreamily before slapping Kaydence’s ass. “You’re such a badass. A vacation sounds nice.”
How they were possibly remaining calm was a mystery to me.
I was about to invite them both to come with us when Nix stole Grace from my arms and slammed his lips to hers. Grace melted on impact, and I watched with hungry fascination. I didn't want to kiss my best friend, but I understood his need to make sure she was really here—really safe. I had half a mind to strip her down and make sure she had no further injuries. I hated this. The Ringleaders were too fucking close. Nix's distance was starting to make sense.
Nix grabbed her ass as they kissed, making her wince. "What?" he asked while pulling away.
"I didn't stick the landing," Grace mumbled before rubbing at her tailbone. “I’m pretty sure my ass is going to be bruised for the next week.”
“Shame,” Nix mumbled.
"Sorry about that," Kaydence added with a chuckle. “I knew if I warned you, you would have screamed.”
“I screamed anyway,” Grace argued with wide eyes.
“Yeah, but you didn’t scream, Oh god, please no. Don’t do it!” Kaydence looked at her husband and smirked.
“One time. I have one tiny freak out, and you hold it over me for all of eternity,” John grumbled.
As much as I was loving this reunion, I wanted to get going. I didn't like sitting in an open field just waiting for the Ringleaders to find us. This organization felt like a faceless enemy, but I felt their presence everywhere. “When will your sister be here?”
"Any minute," John replied. "And fair warning, her plane doesn't look like much, but it'll get you where you need to go—most of the time."
“Most of the time?” Nix asked.
“About eighty-five percent of the time,” Kaydence answered, her voice dry and annoyed. I wondered if she was on the plane for the other fifteen percent.
“Still a passing grade,” John added enthusiastically.
Yeah. This was exactly what we needed right now. I frowned.
"Great," Grace replied sarcastically. "When all this is said and done, I'm never flying again. Or riding motorcycles." Nix started massaging her shoulders. I wanted to hold her hand. I hated this for her. The only way to survive was to keep moving. She looked like she needed time to process, though. Soon, I thought.
Nix took a step away from her and stared at the ground with his shoulders slumped in defeat. I noticed the shift in his body language. Based on Grace’s scowl, she did too.
“You wouldn’t have to run if you’d just left me alone,” he said under his breath, though we all heard it.
Grace closed her eyes and shook her head. “Not an option, Nix,” she replied.
John wasn't kidding about his sister's airplane. It looked like it was bought in the eighties and shook so much I was certain one good gust of wind would knock it clear out of the sky. I also doubted it had the fuel capacity to get us where we needed to go.
"Coober Pedy is just about thirty minutes away. I'm going to drop you in a secluded area, then leave to get gas in Port Augusta," Tate, John's sister, said. She was a sassy, capable redhead with a nonchalant attitude about it all, as if flying people willing to drop a hundred thousand dollars for secrecy was nothing. She wore a designer pantsuit and had long pink nails that danced along the dashboard of the plane. Most of the instruments didn’t look like they worked at all. I tried not to think about it too much.
"I'll try to make sure you land somewhere within walking distance of civilization without drawing too much attention," Tate added. Good. I didn't want to be in the middle of nowhere, without a cell phone and no way to call for help. We had a map, a compass, and a prayer. That was pretty much it. Oh. And a briefcase full of money and one of John's
