“Fuck!” Chance yelled at the top of his lungs as she headed off down the road. He kicked at a rock and sent it flying into a nearby parked car, denting it heavily but the cops in front of him didn’t seem to care.
Kat rushed forward. “We need to go after her.”
“How?” Chance demanded. “She just took off to God-knows-where.”
“How does she know where to go?” Link asked the police as calmly as he could.
“Part of the stipulation was that he would send her directions as she went. Our guess is she’s calling him and he’s tracking her via GPS,” she said.
“So still no fucking way to follow her,” Chance growled.
“Maybe it’s not quite what it seems,” Link said stepping forward.
Hannah followed his gaze and saw what he saw: a red trail on the ground. At first, Hannah thought the worst. She feared Scout had somehow hurt herself and not told anyone and was now bleeding out on the road, headed to face off against Ben incredibly wounded. But the color red on the pavement was too bright to be blood and a little too thick. Link took a swipe at with his thumb and brought it up to his nose, sniffing it.
“Paint,” he said. “She’s got paint on her.”
“And she’s using it as a breadcrumb trail,” Moose said, stepping forward. “She wants us to follow the paint trail.”
“Where the hell did she get the paint from?” Chance asked.
“There was some sitting in the corner of the lobby at the motel. That’s some foresight on her part.”
Maybe Scout really was as smart as she thought she had become thanks to her heartbreak and days spent in isolation. Hannah had to hand this one to her, she’d outdid herself there. She thought back to the tough, mean faced teen brat she met the first time she walked into the house. This woman was someone else entirely and, for all the danger and the devious parts of this plan, Hannah was proud.
“So, we follow her right?” Moose asked. “We go out and follow her right?”
“Damn right we do,” Chance said.
They clapped hands and headed over to their rides. There was no time for a second goodbye and there really was no room for one either. Though Hannah might have liked another go at saying goodbye to him, she didn’t blame him for heading off. She just hoped he was careful.
***
Chance and Link took the streets on their bikes before anyone could say any different. For a brief moment, it felt like it always had, the wind in their faces and just the two of them. Link was Chance’s born right hand, his body guard, his mentor and closest ally. And now they were riding off together to deal with the issue of Ben Andrews and the plague he’d brought into their homes and their families.
Behind them, Moose and Cindy followed in the car. They were like the Spanish Armada headed for the shores of England but they’d end their battle with much better results. He’d kick Ben’s ass and kill him if he had to, fuck any sort of deal they had with the police, this was about family and the politics of the street. Ben had disrespected him and endangered the people he loved most, he wasn’t going to get away with it.
Link was calling into the station to let them know plans had changed. It was better this way. They didn’t have to worry about sneaking around or keeping the element of surprise. They’d just take Ben on head first. Chance was always better at things like that anyway and Ben didn’t do well when he wasn’t able to slither about.
They followed the trail of red for some time before Link held of the signal to stop. Chance almost ignored it. But Link gave him a dangerous look and he killed the engine on his bike. Behind them the car stopped too. Moose and Cindy got out in a hurry, rushing over.
“Everyone okay, what’s going on?” Moose asked.
“Another change of plans,” Link said, looking at his phone. “Scout knows where Ben is leading her. She wants us to ditch the bikes and follow in the car. She said the bikes are too loud.”
“I thought we were over this trickery, sneaking around crap,” Chance said.
“We’re going to do what we need to make sure he doesn’t hurt my daughter,” Link said dangerously and Chance backed down like an overzealous puppy who had just been schooled by the pack’s alpha. “From here we go quietly. Got it?”
“Got it.”
They all got into the car and slowly followed the trail of read. Chance hoped to God it wasn’t an omen of what they’d find when they got there.