Ashby Holler (24 page)

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Ellen

Ellen picked up the phone on the clubhouse wall, staring at the keypad. She had dialed every number, talked to all her contacts, and still no word of Dante. An hour ago, she would’ve let him burn this compound to the ground, but a baby. That changed everything. Leave it to Sasha to fuck up one’s strength of mind. That girl would be the death of her or salvation. A loud beep streamed through the phone’s receiver, and Ellen crashed it down on the hook.

“You need to relax,” Otis said, leaning over the pool table and sinking a ball into the corner pocket.

“I need to find Dante. I have no idea what he’s gonna do.”

“He’s one man with no crew or trucks.” Otis shrugged, lining up his next shoot. “What could Dante really do?”

“A lot.” Ellen turned, glaring out the window as Kev and two younger carbon copies of him strolled toward the clubhouse. “What the fuck is this shit?”

Otis laid the pool cue on the table, stepping beside Ellen. “Our new prospects. Remember, Kev’s cousins?”

“Shit. Great timing. This place could use a little sprucing.” Ellen swung her leg, and glass bottles clinked as they rolled across the floor. “Look at ‘em. It’s like they were all plucked from the same cabbage patch.”

“Yeah.” Otis chuckled. “Right down to that same dumb-ass grin. Let’s hope they got all the brains in the family, ‘cause if they’re any dumber than Kev, they’re going right back to the farm.”

Kev stepped inside, motioning for the two men to stay behind. “What’s up?” he said, walking to the other side of Ellen to join in on the ogle of the two nervous men on the porch. “So what’d you think?”

“They got names?” Ellen asked, glancing at Kev. “Or should I just call them one and two?”

“Cash and Cory.”

Ellen snickered, crossing her arms. “Really?”

“They’re twins,” Kev said with a shrug. “Not the sharpest nails, but they know when to keep the lip shut and how to take orders.”

“Good. Have ‘em whip this place into shape, then send ‘em out to restock the bar.” Ellen looked at Otis as she backed away. “I’m going out for a few. Look for our friend.”

If a stare could freeze a person in time, his would have, but it didn’t, so she walked out the front door. “Tweedledee, Tweedledum,” Ellen said as she glanced at the near-identical men while heading off the porch. Right on cue, Vinny pulled her Chevelle from the garage and parked beside her. The motor’s rumble cut through her body, knocking loose a grin.

Vinny jumped out, holding the door open. “All gassed up and ready to go.”

“Thanks, kid. Listen,” Ellen grabbed onto Vinny’s arm, looking him dead in the eyes. “I want you to stay on the compound while I’m gone and…be ready.”

“Is there something I should be ready for?”

“Yeah.” Ellen slid into the cool leather seat of the Chevelle, shutting the door. “Everything.”

In a purr of finely tuned engine, she sped down the lot and out the open gate. Tires squealed once hitting pavement, the rear end fishtailing. Ellen punched the gas, taking off down the mountain.

***

Sasha

Sasha ran down her stairs as the roar of a Chevelle faded into the hillside. “Where the fuck is she going?”

Vinny stepped in front of Sasha, blocking her view of round taillights. “Your bandana is crooked.”

“God,” she said in a long drawl. Vinny stared down at her, like a robot waiting for the proper command before he could continue. A series of muffed obscenities flowed from her lips. Sasha twisted the fabric that covered the top of her head, tugged at the ends of her jacket, and shifted the belt of her pants. “Am I pretty enough now?”

“You’re always pretty, but that’ll probably change after you get fat.”

“Asshole!” Sasha lifted her fist, and Vinny ducked down. He chuckled, until the back of her hand whacked his gut. Then he groaned.

“Where did my mother go?”

“I don’t know,” Vinny said, rubbing his stomach. “She didn’t say.”

“Is Dez back?” Her eyes screamed
desperate girl,
at least she thought they did. Just in case, she cast them down.

“No, not yet. He’s coming back.”

It was too late to hide the stench of despair, so Sasha rolled with it. “You don’t know that. Your dad took off.”

“My dad was a loser alcoholic. Dez is the complete opposite of that scumbag. He’d never just roll. He wants this. You should’ve seen his face.”

“I wish I could have.” Sasha glared, forcing Vinny back a few steps. “Come on,” she said, walking past him. “I need a drink.”

“You can’t drink,” he said, following her toward the clubhouse.

“Not liquor. Coffee.”

“I don’t think you’re supposed to have that either.”

“Jesus Christ.” Her pace quickened, but she couldn’t shake Vinny or his list of don’ts. She popped a cigarette in her mouth and lit it. Before she could get in a full drag, Vinny yanked the butt from her lips.

“You definitely don’t wanna smoke these.” He puffed on the cigarette before flicking it to the gravel.

“Come on, man.” Sasha stopped at the foot of the steps, her arms out.

Vinny turned Sasha toward the clubhouse, ushering her up the stairs. “Let’s get you a soda pop.”

“Jesus fucking Christ.”

She got maybe a foot into the door when some dude blocked her path.

“Hey, Sasha.”

“Who the fuck are you?” she asked, leaning back to better hurl a glare.

“I’m Cory, that’s Cash.” The dude pointed to a near-identical guy behind the bar working a mop. “We’re your prospects.”

“What the…?” Sasha squinted, eyes bouncing between the pair. “Kev, what the fuck is this shit?”

Kev hurried from the pool table, stick in hand. “What? What’d he do?”

“How am I gonna tell them apart?” Sasha asked, crossing her arms. “They look exactly alike.”

“Nah,” Kev said, waving his hand. “Cory over there is taller, wider.”

“That’s Cash,” Cory said, looking down.

“Ah shit,” Kev cried out, banging his pool stick on the wood-planked floor.

“Make ‘em wear signs or something.” Sasha headed to the nearest stool, slapping her palm atop the freshly wiped bar. “Hey, tall, wide one. Get me a Coke, on ice.”

The guy sprang into action, fumbling with the ice chest, as Vinny sat beside Sasha. She leaned toward him, shielding her smirk. “Prospects are awesome.”

“You better watch it. You sounded like your mother for a second. It was scary.”

“Blasphemy!” Sasha’s grin spread into a full-blown smile. “You deserve a slappin’ for that one.”

A glass of ice-cold cola landed in front of Sasha. She nodded to the man whose name she couldn’t remember and spun in her seat, watching Otis spank Kev at a game of nine ball. Over Kev’s whine, a pickup truck revved. Sasha jolted upright, her fingers twisting together. A knot pulled at her chest, squeezing her airways when the sound of a truck door slamming shut echoed through the open door.

Vinny nudged Sasha’s arm, popping the invisible bubble that suffocated her and letting the oxygen-filled room flood in.

“Told you he’d be back.”

Sasha hurled a sharp leer Vinny’s way then grabbed her glass, taking a sip. When Dez walked in and smiled at her, she lowered her gaze. Almost by instinct, she shoved a cigarette in her mouth. Her zippo flipped open, and Vinny plucked the cigarette away.

“S’up,” Dez said, leaning against the bar.

“Where you been, man?” Vinny asked.

“Umm.” Dez glanced around the room before turning his stare to Sasha. “Can I get a hit of this?” He snatched the glass from her hand, took a long gulp, then cringed. “It’s just soda.”

“Yeah. Tell me about it.”

“Oh. Right.” Dez put the drink down, sliding it away. His hand fell to Sasha’s thigh, and he squeezed. “You wanna go outside, have a smoke?”

“I would love to have a smoke,” Sasha said, rolling her head toward Vinny.

Dez took Sasha’s hand, and she stole back her cigarette while hopping off the stool. It wasn’t until they hit the porch that she noticed how tense Dez’s shoulder were and the sweat on his palm. She jerked her hand away, and his flustered eyes shot to her.

“You’re pissed, right?” Sasha leaned against the wooden rail of the porch, staring at her feet. “I was gonna tell you. Fucking Vinny.”

“Sasha,” Dez said, his voice cracking. He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket, pulling out a small felt box.

The world took a quick spin before crashing down on Sasha. Air grew thick, like cement, she couldn’t breathe. Then, as if to push the limits of her sanity, the lid flipped open and Dez dropped to one knee.

“Sasha Ashby.”

Sounds, light, her breath all vanished under a high-pitched buzz. She closed her eyes then opened them, but Dez was still down there.

“Will you marry me?”

A huge diamond sparkled in the sun’s rays, casting a rainbow of light and bewitching Sasha’s mind. “Get up,” she muttered, tearing her gaze from the ring and Dez’s hopeful face.

“Not until you answer me.”

“Hey, Sasha.” Otis walked onto the porch, took one look at Dez on bended knee, and dashed back the way he came. “Never mind.”

“Oh my God, get up.” Sasha latched onto Dez’s jacket, pulling him to his feet. “Just, no.”

“What?”

Sasha snapped the lid to the ring box closed, pushing Dez’s hand away. “We don’t need a shotgun wedding. I’m not gonna keep you from your baby.”

“That’s not…” His jaw clenched, head rolling back. “Why do you have to make everything so fucking difficult? Here.” Dez shoved the tiny box in Sasha’s hand, inching so close she could almost feel his heart pound. “I love you, you loopy bitch. If you love me, you’ll marry me.”

Sasha stood, paralyzed, as Dez walked away.

“No hurry,” he called out from the clubhouse door. “But you might not fit into a hot dress in a few months.”

“Dress?” Sasha muttered. Finally, the grip over her body released, and she looked at the clubhouse door, but Dez was gone, except he hadn’t left her alone. The smooth box that pressed into her palm successfully smothered her in his absence. Amazing, how something so small could carry with it the weight to make her hand tremble.

The floorboards shifted beneath Sasha, footsteps drew near, but the damn box bound her to a state of shock. A zippo clinked from what sounded like a mile away, and smoke wafted by in a thick, gray cloud. It’s smell and the promise of nicotine called to her, and still, she couldn’t move a muscle.

“Hey, kiddo,” Otis said softly.

Sasha flinched, breaking the chains of whatever spell had ensnared her. She could hug Otis for freeing her from the trance Dez and his stupid ring put her into.

“Crazy day, huh?” Otis said, plopping onto the bench.

“You could say that.” Sasha shoved the ring in her pocket and sat beside Otis, taking the cigarette from his hand.

“I hate to add to your bucket of shit,” Otis said in a completely unregretful tone, “but I have some questions that can’t wait.”

She’d been waiting for this. The interrogation, followed by the
I’m so disappointed
speech.

“Okay,” Sasha said, keeping her stare on the faded wood of the porch’s railing.

“This woman, where’d you pick her up at?”

“A rest stop, about twenty miles outside the city.”

“Was she already there, or did she show up after you?”

“I don’t know.” Sasha took a long drag of her cigarette, replaying that day in her head. “I had to take a hose to the trailer, the cargo…excreted, so I was there for a little bit before I saw her. She just walked up to me, spouted out some cute shit, and the next thing I know she’s riding shotgun.”

Otis sat back, the bench squeaking under his shifting weight. “Did you see her make any phone calls?”

“No. This morning was the only time she left my sight, except for last night at the party. But she was with Candy, so I don’t think she could’ve made any calls. I followed the road protocols, checked for tails the whole way home, switched up routes midway. I wasn’t shadowed.”

“What I don’t understand,” Otis said, turning his glare to Sasha, “is how can you be so smart and so stupid? What did you think was gonna happen here?”

“I don’t know.” Sasha flicked the cigarette over the railing and leaned forward. “I was just gonna give her a ride, but she was so full of spirit, carefree.” Misty’s easy flowing smiles, the woman’s laid-back attitude. It was everything Sasha could never become. “I wanted to be her,” she said, the words barely making a sound as they trickled out her mouth.

“It was just an act, Sasha.”

“I know.” She sat back, straining to force the images of golden braids and soft blue eyes from her mind. “People like that don’t exist in real life.”