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30. Montana

30

Montana

I sit on a wooden chest in Skye’s stall while Gunner washes her face. “I’m gonna miss her.”

Her honey blonde coat is shiny and healthy, and her mane is long and beautiful.

Gunner kisses her nose. “I know. I should’ve never let Colt have her. She belongs with me. With us.”

With us. I can’t believe tomorrow will be one week since Gunner and I have met. He almost shot me, spanked me several times, and after he told me he loved me before bed last night, we spent the next three hours fucking like rabbits. Despite how unusual our story is, it’s one I love, and it’s not even the most bizarre thing I’ve ever faced.

I stand up and rub her neck. “We should just take her with us.”

Gunner laughs, finishing up his task. “We should.”

After we get everything cleaned up, I sit in the car while Gunner gets our luggage in it. Today’s the day we go to Nevada to face my father. Today’s the day we hopefully end his life.

Gunner comes out of the house with his black hat on that matches his black tee, and he hops into the driver’s side beside me. “Don’t be scared, Montana. We’re ending this. That’s what this is all about. Finding that lowlife and bringing him to his end.”

We’re going to find Mason Barnes and bring him to his end. I repeat Gunner’s words in my head over and over like a mantra, trying to get myself to believe they’re true.

We ride with the windows down in the Camero on the way to Nevada. Images of our first road trip play in my mind. I feel like we’re going in circles. I lean back in my seat, attempting to relax before the unknown. “What are we gonna do when we get there?”

Gunner taps his finger on the wheel. “We’ll call him. He sent for us, so he’s who we should talk to.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea, Gunner.”

“Why not?”

Calling my father sounds logical, but it’s too easy. It’s not a part of his game. “My father doesn’t want us to call him. If he did, he would’ve called us when we showed up at the house yesterday. If we call, he’ll just make things harder on us. We need to find him ourselves. Or find his next clue.”

Gunner sighs and rotates his wrists back and forth while he grips the wheel. “So he’s not gonna make this easy.”

“Nothing with Mason is easy. Everything with him is a challenge. A taxing, grueling war until you feel like you have nothing left.”

Gunner pauses and rolls up the windows. “Are you saying you don’t think he’ll be there?”

I want to tell Gunner yes, of course my father will be there, because I know that’ll make him happy. But my gut tells me it’s not true. “I don’t think he’ll be there. I think something will be there, but not him. I don’t know. I feel like things are just getting started.”

My cowboy loosens his grip on the wheel. “We’ll find him. It might not be today. Might not be tomorrow. But we will. He can’t run forever. He’ll get tired, and if I need to get Colt and Dallas involved, I know they’ll drop everything to help us.”

The fact that Gunner has friends that are so loyal to him makes me happier than I can express. It makes me think of Charlotte and how she would’ve done anything for me .

But I lost Charlotte by putting her in harm’s way. I won’t do the same to Gunner’s friends. “Let’s see if we can do this without them. I’d hate for anyone to get hurt because of me.”

Gunner pulls my hand in his lap, lacing his fingers through mine. “They wouldn’t get hurt because of you. It would be because of me. You are a part of me now, Montana. And my boys would die for you just like I would.”

When we’re an hour away from the casino, we stop at a little diner off the road for a late lunch. Gunner keeps his hand on mine when we go inside, and when we’re seated, he sits on the same side of the booth as me.

I rest my head on his shoulder, peering at his menu. “Can I ask you something personal?”

Gunner kisses my head while he flips through the laminated, leather-bound pages. “Anything, baby.”

I open my mouth, but my question gets lodged in the back of my throat like a stuck piece of food. I shouldn’t ask him this. It’s rude. Maybe not rude, but it’s very personal. And I don’t want him to think I’m prying. There’s also probably a better time to ask him than right now .

He reaches under the table, squeezing my knee through my black skinny jeans. “Are you going to ask me today or tomorrow, little fox?”

I squeeze my eyes shut and blurt it out in a hushed voice. “Why did you get a vasectomy?”

Gunner’s menu falls out of his hands, and he looks down at me. “I’m sorry?”

My neck heats, and I lift my head off of him. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked.”

Gunner pops my leg under the table. “Quit saying sorry all the fucking time. I just didn’t know if I heard you correctly. I, uh—I got one shortly after Margaret died.”

I remember the story Gunner told me about his baby, and my heart breaks again. “I’m so—I understand. It’s okay to not want kids.”

He picks his menu back up. “I never said I didn’t want kids.”

I wait for him to explain, but when he doesn’t, I pick up my own menu and sit in our comfortable silence.

Once Gunner gets back on the road, I feel myself starting to drift. I wanted to be awake when we got to Vegas, but some rest would probably do me good. We can kill my father, and then I can do normal things again like get a cell phone and a driver’s license.

My eyelids start to close on their own, and by the time I open them, we’re pulling up to the casino. We get out quickly, leaving our car somewhere out of the way. It’s not comfortable traveling with so much cash, but this is hopefully only temporary.

Gunner keeps his hand on my low back, holding me close to him. He’s not supposed to bring any weapons in here, but he refused to come in empty-handed, so he’s wearing one of his guns under his denim jacket.

He slides his hand around me, casually wrapping it around my waist when we get in near a crowd of people. “Have you ever been here before?”

I start to get anxious from the loud chatter and noises from the equipment. “My father brought me here once. I was his date for the grand opening.”

It was ten years ago. Not too long after I turned eighteen. “We should try and go to his office.”

Gunner squeezes my hip. “Are you okay with the fact that you might see him in a minute?”

I blink my eyes and can almost see his piercing blue eyes and blonde hair as if he’s standing right before me. When I escaped the hell he kept me in, I’d prayed that I’d never have to see him again. As terrified as I am, I know the last time that I see him will be the very last, and that brings me the slightest bit of peace. “I’ll be alright.”

Gunner gives me a squeeze. “I know you will. You’re a fighter, Montana. Strong, brave, and powerful.”

I imbibe his words while I lead the way with him glued to my side.

My father’s casino is one of the most popular ones in the city. On average, this place brings in fifteen million dollars per day. Mason’s office is at the very top of the building, secluded away with glass doors. I lead Gunner past the bathrooms through the maintenance hall into a door that leads to the private elevator in the building.

Gunner grabs my wrist before I press the button to go up. “We’re not going to get stuck in that thing, are we?”

I tilt my head to the side, trying to inspect it. My father is clever with his traps, but not this clever. “I don’t think so. We can climb twelve flights of stairs, or we can risk it.”

His jaw tightens, and he presses the button. “Let’s risk it.”

The door opens slowly, and I squeeze his right hand tightly when we step into the enclosure. Gunner breaks away from my grip for a split second to check his gun and his spare bullets. I look down at my black boots, making sure they’re still laced. My black tee is still tucked, and my hair is still in my braids, but I remove my ribbons and tuck them into my pockets, not wanting them to get caught on anything.

The box starts to slow when we approach the top level, and I hold my breath when we get out, entering the floor. I point to our left when we get out. “It’s right down that hall, at the end.”

Gunner pushes me behind him, leading the way down the marble floors. My palms start to sweat, and I feel like I need to pee. I almost get myself to chill out when Gunner freezes at what he sees when he turns the corner.

There are ten men in black suits standing in front of the doors to Mason’s office. One of them holds his finger up to his earpiece. “They’re here, sir.”

Someone grips my wrist, and when I turn my head around, they’re lifting a bag to put over my head.

Gunner’s attention turns to me before they can, and I hear him punch the assailant followed by the sound of bones crunching. I get a quick glance at the perpetrator who’s another guard in a black suit, face down while blood pours out of his head. Gunner pushes me into the corner on the floor when bullets start flying, and I peek up, seeing him roll toward the guards, bringing the first shooter to his knees .

Not a second passes before Gunner puts a bullet in his head, and when guys two, three, and four point their weapons at him, he snaps guy number two’s arm, pointing his gun at his own head and taking him out. He ducks between guys three and four, and they shoot each other, their blood splattering on the walls and their suits.

Guy number five pulls out a knife that Gunner uses to drive into guy number six’s eye, and guy seven gets his head smashed together with guy eight, sending them both to the ground. Guy nine points his gun at me, but Gunner fires first at the same time guy ten points his gun at my hero. I pick up someone’s gun off the ground and shoot the man over Gunner, leaving us in the empty hall standing over a pile of bodies.

I drop the gun, shaking, when Gunner comes up to me and grips my arms while he looks over my body quickly. “Are you alright?”

I let out quick and shallow breaths, realizing I’m still standing here. “I’m okay.”

Gunner picks up the earpiece of the guy who spoke first and holds it up to his head. “Did you hear that? Everyone’s dead, Mason.”

We wait for a response, but there isn’t one. Then there’s static. Gunner’s eyes widen. “He’s here. ”

I look around, trying to decide if we should check the other offices or look for him in the casino. “If he’s here, he’s leaving.” It’s just a hunch, but my father likes to run from his problems.

Gunner glances through the glass doors of the office and below to the ground. “Three black cars are pulling off. We’ll follow them.”

I nearly trip, stumbling over the bodies while we run down the hall, taking the elevator back downstairs.

“We won’t catch him, Gunner.”

“We will. We have a fast car, he’s probably in that SUV. He’s not getting away.”

The doors open, and we run through the building back outside to our car, hopping in. Gunner takes off before we get our seatbelts on, and I hang on tight while he blows through the parking lot, nearly running over an old lady.

I watch fearfully while he whips around the back of the building, following the direction my father went. When we get down to the end of the lot to the main road, I see tiny specks moving in the distance to the right. “That’s them. That way.”

He pulls onto the road, flooring it, and we speed down, running red lights until we’re on the interstate. I glance at the gas tank and see we’re almost empty. “We’re gonna run out, Gunner. ”

He presses on the gas harder. “I’m not stopping this car, Montana.” We get a little closer where the three cars are in view, but not enough to catch them.

I try to reason with him, not wanting to lose our targets either. “This car is not going to do us any good if it doesn’t drive. We need to fill up.”

He grits his teeth. “And then how the hell are we going to find them from there?”

I know my father better than anyone on this planet. I know his patterns. And I know he has a home in L.A. “He’s probably going to go to his home in L.A. It’s the closest place he has to here. We’ll meet him there.”

Gunner huffs. “And how many people are going to be waiting there for us when we arrive, Montana?”

“I don’t know. But our best move is to fill up and head there. If he sees that we’ve stopped following him, he may not be expecting us, and we can surprise him. But if we can get more guns on the way, that would be a good idea.”

Gunner glances at me and then slows down, getting off the nearest exit. “Alright. We’ll give it a try.”

By the time we get to my father’s house in California, it’s after ten p.m. and I’m wishing I was in bed with my man. We made a stop by some “business” in an abandoned building that Gunner took us to to get some backup weapons. I have two guns that I barely know how to use, and he has his shotgun as well as two guns on his waist.

Gunner kisses my lips before we go up to the door. “Don’t you dare leave my side, Montana. Do you hear me?”

I rub his back. “I won’t. I’m right here.”

He walks ahead of me, a hand on his gun and the other around my wrist while we walk up the front steps.

I feel discouraged as soon as we go up to the door. It’s too quiet. All the lights are off, and I don’t see any other cars besides ours. Gunner peers in the window, and he looks down at me with a shocked expression on his face. “The house is empty, Montana.”

I type my birthday into the keypad. Mason uses it as his passcode for everything. “No one’s in there?” I open the door quickly, and when he steps in next to me, I panic.

The entire house is empty. Wiped clean. It looks like no one ever lived here. It’s like Charlotte’s apartment was. No refrigerator. No microwave. But even more dead inside.

“How, Gunner? How—why—where is he?!” I scream into the empty house, feeling bamboozled and tricked .

Gunner takes a look around cautiously and enters the kitchen. “I don’t know, baby. But he’s gone, and it doesn’t look like he’ll be back anytime soon.”

I get so upset that I almost start crying, but I hold my tears back, not wanting to shed another one ever again on that sorry excuse for a man. I’m seconds away from telling him we should leave when I spot a white notecard laying flat on the white marble countertop. “He left this here. He knew we’d find it.”

Gunner nods his head for me to take a look, and I flip the card over in my hands, taking in the words quickly.

If you thought I was going to lead you right to me, you’re not the daughter I raised. You’re an idiot. Just like Mr. Shit for Brains who’s tucked you under his wing. You can run after me until you’re out of breath, but you’ll never catch me. I’m gone. And I’m never coming back.

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