The silence seemed to stretch for miles between them. Just as it had since they’d left the farmhouse hours before. Hannah glanced sideways, taking in Finn’s shadowed jaw, the darkness that dimmed his gray eyed gaze, in fact, everything about him seemed dark. Shrouded somehow in a way that she didn’t think she could ever break through.
Why would you want to? He’s ruthless criminal. A killer. Not to mention the tiny little fact that he kidnapped you thinking you were your sister and now has god knows what sort of nefarious plans in store for you.
Hannah nodded her head, acknowledging the truth of her thoughts. But that didn’t change the fact that Finn Walker was a puzzle, and figuring out puzzles was more than a hobby for her. It was an obsession.
Ever since her mother had given her that very first book of riddles, the one that she’d read until the binding had started to crumble, Hannah had been in love with them. Answers to problems that others couldn’t solve had always come easy to her. Except for now. Except for him.
She could still see that little girls terrified expression when Finn had pulled his gun and aimed it at them. She could the see the cold ruthlessness glittering in his gray eyes. Hannah glanced down, catching sight of the sandals that he’d found for her. She remembered the almost gentle way he’d bandaged her wrists after rubbing them raw on the rope that had held her bound.
His actions and words were such a juxtaposition, one minute hard and mean and ruthless and then next…Hannah blushed as she remembered the kiss. That was a memory that would be seared into her brain forever.
Sure, she’d had a boyfriend throughout high school but the few awkward fumbling’s in the back of Tyler’s truck had certainly not prepared her for the intense reaction to Finn. Logically, Hannah reasoned that her heightened sense of awareness had probably been due to the adrenaline pumping through her system but that didn’t make the affect any less potent.
She shivered as she remembered the way his lips felt, the pressure of his body, so much bigger and harder than her own, pressed against her in the dark. The sweet smell of the forest surrounding her. Hannah inhaled and immediately wrinkled her nose.
After nearly two full days of hiking across the Texas countryside her own smell was more on the pungent side. Hannah glanced over at Finn again, wondering if she should ask him when they would stop. Maybe they could find some sort of pond or stream that she could wash off in.
The thought of stripping anywhere in Finn’s vicinity had her cheeks blushing bright red and she was glad his own gaze was locked on the path ahead of them. As they continued to walk, the hot sun baking her with every step, Hannah’s thoughts began to waver.
She imagined her sister, and her baby daughter. What they were doing. Whether or not they knew Hannah was missing yet. She hated knowing that it would cause Rachael worry when all she should be focused on was her sweet newborn.
Hannah imagined her mother. She was just a vague memory now, with the same dark hair and laughing eyes. Hannah wondered what her life would have been like if she’d stuck around. How different would she be? Would she be more trusting? Would she still put the world in tiny, logical boxes that she could dissect? Would she be able to feel?
Hannah shook her head at the thought, swiping at the sweat beading on her forehead. She could feel. She did feel. Deeply. Sure, perhaps she preferred that things made sense, but didn’t everyone?
As her mind churned, her feet grew heavier and heavier with every step. The stress and wear of the last two days were finally starting to catch up to her and Hannah could feel it in every screaming, aching muscle.
As morning wore on into afternoon, the pain faded to numbness. Distantly, Hannah wondered why she wasn’t more afraid. She knew any rational person would be terrified, but she wasn’t.
Maybe I’m too exhausted to be frightened, Hannah thought to herself, lord knows I’m plenty tired. And hot. God, why is it so damned hot?
Hannah stumbled on a dip in the path, tried to regain her balance but the world seemed to suddenly shift around her. Almost like everything had turned to liquid and was ripping out in dizzying waves.
“Finn…” Hannah opened her mouth, barely able to get out the word but somehow, he heard. She tripped again, falling into him as she reached out a steadying hand just in time to see Finn’s eyes narrow in concern on her face.
“Hey, princess,” Finn said, turning towards her now, “You alright?”
She tried to tell him she was fine. She tried to tell him anything but she couldn’t make a sound. It was like her mouth had forgotten how to work. Hannah had just grabbed weakly onto the fabric of his shirt when her legs went out from under her. A second later, everything went black.
***
Finn swore he heard Hannah whisper his name and then he felt the contact ricochet through his own body as she stumbled against him. He turned to her in surprise.
“Hey, princess, you alright?” He asked, but he could already see the answer written all over her face. She was pale as a ghost and he was just in time to see her eyes roll back in her head a moment before he reached for her.
Finn caught her before she could hit the ground and quickly checked her pulse. It was beating fast but not fast enough to cause him to panic. He’d seen that familiar look of fatigue before that he’d just seen in her face.
For a long moment, he knelt there with her surprisingly slight weight supported in his arms as he looked down at her. Finn wiped some of the damp sweat from her pale forehead and for the first time, he let himself truly think about what he was doing.
He’d kidnapped her believing she was Rachael, believe she was Jackrabbit’s woman and that he’d be able to use her as part of his plan to get his revenge. But even after discovering that he’d made a major fuck up and kidnapped the wrong sister, he’d still refused to let her go. He’d continued to tell himself that he could use her to his own ends.
For the first time in as long as he could remember, Finn was conflicted. Part of him, a small part of him but there nonetheless, was telling him that Hannah was an innocent in all of this.
But another part, the louder part, the part that had helped him survive all these years with no one to rely on but himself, knew that he could still use her to get to Jackrabbit. Could use her to make him pay. To make them all pay for what they did. It was the least that they deserved. It wasn’t as if they’d never hurt an innocent.
Finn gently swept stray tendrils of dark auburn hair away from her face as he looked down at her but the tender gesture was at odds with the violent images that filled his mind. Memories of what had happened between them, memories of how Jackrabbit and Hatchet had betrayed him.
Mad Dog had been the old leader of the Roadburners and Finn had never met a meaner bastard in his life. After he returned from his second tour of duty, his life had been in shambles. He’d had no home. No family. No job. And a hell of a problem with authority.
The Roadburners crew had welcomed him in with open arms and he’d thought he’d finally found his real family there. Fuck, had he been wrong. It had been great at first. He’d even helped to enlist Hatchet and Jackrabbit into the crew. Military men who knew how to follow orders, and didn’t like to play by the rules. Just like him.
For a while, he’d been happy. Or at least had fooled himself into thinking that he could be. That he deserved to be happy. Fool, was right. Everyone in the crew knew that Mad Dog was rabid animal. He had no conscious and would do or sell anything if it brought in more profit.
He’d started to get suspicious of some of what Mad Dog was dealing in and had started digging. Finn had dug up a hell of a lot more than he’d expected to find. Like the fact that Mad Dog had been trafficking in underage girls. Selling them off to the black market like livestock led to the slaughter.
He’d confronted Mad Dog about it but no one had believed me. All most of the crew ever did was steal cattle or a few supplies every now and then, and usually from the big corporate ranches in the area that wouldn’t miss a few head of cows.
Mad Dog had threatened him then, threatened to destroy every single thing he cared about if Finn didn’t quit, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t quit. He couldn’t stop. His conscious was okay with a lot of fucked up things, but that wasn’t one of them. He’d had to draw the line somewhere or risk losing himself completely.
He’d tried to get Jackrabbit and Hatchet to rally with him but he couldn’t tell them what he knew. He didn’t want to fuck things up for them as well. But they wouldn’t trust him. They sided with Mad Dog and the Roadburners and Finn had been cast off, alone, betrayed by the only people he thought he could trust in the whole world. They’d cut him off from the only real family he’d ever had.
After that, he’d spent years tracking down the girls Mad Dog had sold off, all of those that he could find anyway. He’d formed his own crew as well, the M60’s. Not that they were exactly angels.
Finn snorted at the thought. Far from it. The M60’s crew was a group of the toughest, meanest men he knew. They stole what they needn’t to get by and they weren’t afraid to use firepower if they needed to, either.
But still, the memory of their betrayal raged inside him. He’d been planning for years to build up a crew of his own and return to break the Roadburners apart piece by piece. He couldn’t let doubt stop him, not now. Not when his vengeance was finally within reach. And not when he’d already lost so much to get his revenge.
That shootout at the Roadburner’s clubhouse had cost him dearly. Another mark against Jackrabbit and his crew. Another reason to make them pay. With that thought echoing in his head like a mantra, he lifted Hannah’s unconscious weight in his arms. He forced his guilt aside as he continued his trek to the M60’s hideout.
Finn knew that Hannah wouldn’t understand, but he also knew that it didn’t matter. This was his war to win, and he would, or he would go down trying. He was done letting the Roadburner’s control his life. He was going to take it back no matter what it took. No matter what the cost.
He glanced down at Hannah as he neared the hideout, his expression serious and intent. He didn’t have a choice. He’d been fighting this war for as long as he could remember. It had to be that way. Finn forced his anger to the surface, amplifying it until it drowned out any other emotion. It really was the only way.
There was no indication that he’d reached the hideout at first. Just another endless field of rolling grassy hills dotted with trees but as he topped the biggest hill, he saw it. An old, abandoned mine.
At first glance, it looked like a ghost town. No sound. No movement. The whole operation had been abandoned decades ago, and it had made the perfect place for the M60’s to hide away while they laid their plans to take out the Roadburners.
Finn didn’t stop walking, still carrying Hannah cradled in his arms. He kept going until he reached what looked to be a solid wall made up of crumbling wooden beams. It took a little adjusting but a second later he was knocking on the door. A set of four knock, and then another four, in a rhythm that only a few men would recognize.
Finn stood there, waiting in silence as one minute melted into two. Finally, the wall cracked open to reveal a door hidden in by mud and cleverly placed boards. A large, gruff man with a massive beard peered out at him from the shadows. The man’s eyes widened with recognition a moment later and then his fierce countenance split into an infectious grin.
“Finn? Fuck, man, we’ve been getting worried. Well not me. I never worry about you. Not me. But some of the other guys, you know. After what happened and all.”
“Killian, maybe we can do this inside?” Finn said shortly, interrupting the giant of a man with a pointed look at the woman still held in his arms.
Killian gave her an odd look, noticing Hannah for the first time and without thought Finn held her closer, shielding her with his own body. Finn might not have noticed, but his second in command definitely did and Killian’s grin widened impossibly further.
“Yeah, of course, boss.” Killian stepped back but before Finn walked through the door he pinned the other man with a serious look.
“How bad is it, really?”
Finn watched as Killian’s expression fell, his gaze growing hard once more.
“Why don’t you come in and see for yourself.” He said, his faint Irish accent growing uncharacteristically somber as he nodded inside.
His words filled Finn with a sense of dread, but he knew he had a responsibility to his crew. As their leader. As their president. He took a deep breath and then walked in, Killian shutting the door behind them and hiding them once more.