Reaper's Salvation: A Last Riders Trilogy Jamie Begley (fb2 epub reader .txt) 📖

a cigarette. The tip of the cigarette flared each time he took a puff, giving him insight into the identity of one of the guards.

Agent Clark was the only one he had seen smoking during their stay. From the height of the other guard, it had to be Agent Flores.

“Can you hear what they’re saying?” he asked Silas.

“Yes. They’re talking about Agent Collins missing their briefing.”

Holding his cup poised at his lips, Reaper rubbed his thumb along the underside of his jaw. “Whatever is going to happen, his men aren’t a part of it.”

The gust of wind blew in through the window. “Agree. Ginny’s afraid.”

“I know. Me, too. I want to get the fuck out of here.”

Aware there could be a listening device he hadn’t spotted, he kept his voice to a mutter, but at the same time unconcerned if he was being watched. It would look as if he was talking to himself, if they could even make out any of his words.

Another rush of wind slipped under the window. “Go to sleep. I’ll wake you if anyone tries to come in.”

Nodding, Reaper set his cup on the table. Then laying down on the couch, he placed one of the decorative pillows under his head.

“How many of you had to keep track of Ginny when she was younger?”

“All of us. It was a never-ending battle to keep her safe.”

“She keeps me on my toes, and she’s a grown woman. I can’t imagine trying to keep up with her at four.”

The window blew so hard it rattled the shutters as if in laughter. “You have no idea.”

“Brother, I’m getting there.” Reaper gave an exasperated grunt, rolling to his side. “She won’t be happy we’re talking about her behind her back.”

“It took all eight of us to keep an eye on her. You don’t stand a chance without my help.”

Tiredly, he laid his head back on the arm cushion. The shutters rattled again. “Sleep. I’ll keep watch.”

Lowering his lids, Reaper felt the air in the room go still, the eerie stillness returning. His mind’s eye replayed the flying jump that Ginny had taken off the side of the waterfall; it scared him shitless. He could still see the exhilarated joy on her face. It was the same expression he’d seen on his fair share of thrill seekers that he’d encountered—and almost every one of the fuckers ended up in a hospital or the morgue.

Moon was one of the worst. The brother had broken more bones than he hadn’t. The worst time was when they’d all gotten shit-faced and he had the bright idea to jump his bike over a road that was heavily trafficked with speeding semis. The road was flanked with low-lying hills on each side.

The brothers were still in awe that Moon had successfully made the jump. He would have walked away unscathed, too, if his tire hadn’t hit a rail tie in the grass. Needless to the say, the brother had ended up staying in Ohio longer than he anticipated.

“Brother, I told you not to make the jump until one of us went to check out the other side of the hill,” he’d told Moon while him in the hospital.

Moon had looked up from with a gaping smile, exposing a top tooth missing. “Pfft. Fuck off.”

Reaper still remembered laughing at him, with his leg lifted high in a contraction, displaying his gory-looking knee with the metal pins sticking out.

“Going to do it again when I get these pins out,” he bragged.

Reaper had shaken his head at him. “You’re not that stupid.”

“Brother, you know why a cat will always cross a fucking road, even if it knows there’s a chance it’ll be roadkill?”

“Can’t say I do.”

Moon had given him a shit-eating grin. “Because there’s nothing sweeter than when you make it to the other side.”

Chapter Twenty-Five

Reaper watched the morning sunrise from the patio door. He had managed to grab a couple of hours sleep during the night before. Looking at the clock on the wall, he quietly went into the bedroom, intending to wake Ginny, only to find her awake. His eyes met hers from across the room.

“What time is it?”

“Seven. What do you want for breakfast?”

“Nothing. I couldn’t eat if I had to.” Sliding out of bed, Ginny went to the dresser to take out a pair of jeans, then went to the closet to take out a long-sleeved grey top with tiny flowers.

Walking across the room, Reaper took out his own change of clothes, putting them on while Ginny went into the bathroom to dress. He took one of her hair bands to tie his hair back in a ponytail, then braided it before taking another band to loop off the end. With the mirror covered, he wasn’t able to see the lopsided braid. Uncaring what the end result might look like, Reaper went back into the front room to make breakfast.

Placing two slices of bread in the toaster, he heated some water before taking out a box of tea. Removing two of the breakfast meals, he heated them in the microwave. By the time Ginny came out the bedroom, he had taken several bites of the meal and was making Ginny a cup of hot tea.

Seeing he set a place for her at the table, she made a face at him. “I told you I’m not hungry.”

“At least eat the French toast.” Setting the hot tea down in front of her when she sat down, he took the other chair to finish his French toast and sausage.

Staring at him eating from over the cup of tea, her face went pale.

“Take a bite of the toast. It’ll settle your stomach.”

Giving in, she lifted one of the slices to her mouth. “I need to get back to Treepoint so I can get some real food. All this microwaved food smells artificial.”

“That’s because it is.” Getting up to pour himself more coffee, he was happy to see she had eaten the first slice of toast