23. Logan

23

LOGAN

I turn up to the town bus terminal ready to fracture skulls. Ozzie wanders behind me, something of a chaperone to ensure I don't do anything too homicidal. Mace's idea after I found out that Teysha never made it home.

I announced I was headed to the source. The bus terminal that saw her off.

The fucking place where I'd spoken to a clerk who claimed she bought a ticket to Boulder and boarded the bus.

A pimply-faced college kid sits in boredom behind the plexiglass. He's flipping through a comic book, his situational awareness zero. Otherwise he'd see me striding toward him. I slip my arm through the cutout in the glass and grab the front of his polo shirt. A hard tug later, his face smashes into the see-through barrier between us.

"Ugh… hey man, wha…"

"You told me you sold a ticket to Teysha Baxter for Boulder yesterday."

"So what?"

"So you gave me wrong fucking info. Which means you better start giving the right fucking info or I'm gonna break your face."

"She did buy a… a ticket… lemme go!"

"To Boulder?!"

"Yes… and no."

"You better be fucking kidding!"

"Ghost!" Ozzie yells.

I slam his head into the plexiglass hard enough to shatter his nose. Blood spurts out as he grunts in pain. The two other travelers in the terminal scream and run off. I couldn't give less of a shit who does and doesn't see. Or how much blood I draw from this asshole.

"Where did she buy a ticket to?"

"She did buy a ticket to Boulder!" he screams, blood spewing from his nostrils. "S-she was waiting for it at first… but then she got on a different bus."

"TO WHERE?!"

"I think it was… it-it must've been Jefferson!"

"You fucking shithead! You better pray I find her in one piece!"

I beat his head several more times 'til he's unconscious and his blood decorates the plexiglass. Ozzie nudges me away, throwing glances over his left and right shoulder.

"You trying to catch a case? Let's get the fuck out of here."

We mount our bikes, already on the same wavelength about where we're headed. No questions necessary.

If Teysha went to Jefferson, then that's where I'll be.

Jefferson exists as an even smaller blip on the state map than shitholes like Portales and Wheaton. It's a single stoplight sorta town with one of everything and dust storms as entertainment. From Pulsboro, it's an almost four hour bike ride.

We hit up the likely places. The motels in town. The diner on the edge of town. Jefferson's bus terminal that's more like a garage housing the occasional bus that passes through.

Teysha's nowhere to be found.

Dusk fades along the horizon, the sky purpling. It'll be dark in another hour.

"Where the fuck is she?"

The words husk out of me in a throaty growl. They're underpinned by frustration and rage. Tension knots every muscle I have, putting me on edge.

Right on the cusp of losing my shit.

I peer down the dim road as the streetlights blink on. Ozzie sighs from my side, sitting back on the seat of his sleek Softail Deluxe. He's been patient through our search, though he's growing frustrated too.

"Ghost, brother, it's time to admit the obvious."

"Don't fucking say it," I snap. "Don't fucking think for one second I'm giving up."

"You kidding? Fuck that. We're not leaving without her. But I mean… the obvious place she must be."

"What the hell are you talking about!?"

"We've checked everywhere in town. Motels, diners, stores. The dang bus terminal."

"And?"

"You forget what else is in Jefferson?"

Recognition narrows my eyes, my chest clenching. "You mean the Zapote bar?"

"Where else could she be? If she's still in town."

"That's the Barrera's spot."

"I'm aware. Cash and me met up there for a deal months ago. It's a shithole but has lots of stragglers. Perfect place to get lost in."

What the fuck would ever drive Teysha to go to a bar that's associated with the local cartel? What could ever fucking possess her to put herself in such a dangerous environment?

A fresh wave of rage surges through me.

I rev my engine, then take off down the dusty road. Ozzie's not far behind.

Jefferson's such a little stain on the map that we're arriving within five minutes. We pull up to the deafening sounds of Spanish music blasting at full volume. The establishment looks more like an outhouse than a legit bar.

A nasty enough wind could blow right through and knock it to pieces.

Ozzie and I park our bikes in the dirt parking lot and approach the door. We earn stares the entire walk up. Our leather Steel King rockers give us away.

But it doesn't fucking matter. We're here for one purpose and one purpose only.

The inside of the bar's tinted blue, a haze of smoke thick in the air.

My eyes scan the space. I've stopped breathing without realizing it. I've stopped thinking 'til I find her.

Nothing else in the world holds any significance 'til I do.

Ozzie elbows me in the rib. "Ghost, the far corner."

It's the moment I've been waiting for. The moment I see her again.

I'm supposed to be relieved.

But instead, it's the opposite—ice-cold dread fills my veins. I come face to face with a scene that rocks through me like no other .

Teysha's slumped over a table, barely sitting up, nursing an empty shot glass. She's seated with two men I've never seen before, both leaned toward her like vultures ready to feed.

I don't think. I act.

"Teysha? Teysha!" I yell.

I charge forward, shoving aside anybody in my way. Me calling her name barely seems to register with her. She glances up with heavy-lidded eyes, a slack expression on her face.

It's been twenty-four hours and she hasn't changed—she's still in the dress she was wearing yesterday, the left strap halfway down her shoulder, her hair messier than she usually likes it.

A man I've only seen before in passing steps in front of me. Average height and build, with dark, wavy hair, he's dressed like he's about to attend a business meeting not hang around some crumby dive bar.

Miguel Barrera has done business with the Steel Kings throughout the years. From what Ozzie's been telling me, the partnership was going well until recent times where it's started to sour.

He smiles wide, his polite air nothing but a smokescreen. "I'm surprised to see some Steel Kings in our midst. Can I help you gentlemen?"

"I'm here for my wife."

"Wife?" Miguel chuckles, glancing over either shoulder. "I don't see a wife here. Maybe you're confused, primo . How about some drinks?"

"That's my wife right there—TEYSHA!"

She perks up as if zapped by electricity. Her gaze pans across the bar 'til she spots me and recognition dawns on her face. "Logan? "

"If you insist on causing a disruption, then I'm going to have to ask you to leave," Miguel says.

"I'm here to pick up my wife and take her home." I move to go around him, but he steps to the side to block me. "Move the fuck out of my way before I drop you."

"That's not going to happen. We have an agreement with your club that you show up to our territory by invite only. Unless you are here at the behest of the Barreras, then you do not belong here," he explains in his fake polite tone. He gestures to the door. "I was willing to offer you a complimentary beverage since your club is a business partner, but I can't let you interfere in the festivities."

"My wife won't be partaking in those festivities, dipshit!"

"I'm afraid the lady is here of her own free will. She has opted to stay with my men. As have the other women being initiated here tonight."

"You fucking prick!"

I knot my fist in the front of his button-up shirt and wrench him toward me. Several men seated around the bar leap to their feet and reach for their weapons. Ozzie throws himself between me and Miguel to play mediator.

"Whoa, fellas, turn the heat down!" He tries to break my hold on the Barreras leader to no luck. "Ghost, let him go, man. Now's not the time."

"Teysha leaves with me."

"Teysha will be enjoying herself in our company." The smile slides off Miguel's face. The courteous tone he's been putting up vanishes for his deeper native tongue. " Soldados vienen a eliminar esta molestia de nuestro club. él está acquí para causar problemas ."

"You touch me, I'm breaking it!" I roar.

His men have closed in on us, pointing guns and grappling to get hold of us. Ozzie groans in regret while I push back and swing on two of them.

Things quickly spiral into a brawl.

Miguel's men attack us. Guns are pointed at our heads, and we're jostled toward the door. The few bystanders in the place crane their necks to watch the commotion. The two guys crowded around Teysha get up and lead her to the back of the bar.

I scream her name some more. I throw another fist. A couple of my punches hit the mark, but it's no use when we're two against twenty. We're tossed through the front door, into the dirt lot that's reserved for parking.

The music blasting from the bar grows even louder, like they've turned it up in celebration.

Ozzie spits out blood from the right hook he took. "That escalated fast. Maybe next time don't start a bar fight?"

"I'm going back in."

"Do you got a death wish? That was a warning. We go back in there?—"

"They've got Teysha."

"So we leave and come back with backup?—"

"You heard what's going down tonight! Right fucking now. An initiation? There's no time!"

"Ghost, you go back in there and they will shoot your ass?—"

"I'VE GOT NO CHOICE!"

The words ring out across the dusty lot, echoing in the night.

My stride starts off strong and domineering, then thaws into fitful steps the harder it becomes to breathe. A familiar feeling latches onto me, taking control of all movement. Within seconds, it's like my lungs are collapsing as they sputter for air, and my knees give out. I crash to the dirt, rocked by violent tremors from the inside.

Not again…

Memories crash down. Flashbacks I've fought against.

Everything uproots itself. The past blurs with the present.

I'm on my hands and knees, in the middle of losing my mind. I'm drowning in horror, sick to my stomach at what's happening. I go from the dusty lot behind the dive bar to the rooms filling the big house that was my hell for years. The rocks and grainy dirt digging into my knees morph into carpet burning my skin. The music blasting fades for the squeal of mattress springs. Wounded cries pitted against groans of pleasure.

It's happening again. All over again.

And I can't do anything about it.

Anguish spills out of me in more desperate, rabid breaths. A sense of helplessness that's its own form of torture.

I can't fucking breathe no matter how hard I try.

"Ghost... Ghost… can you hear me!?"

The voice sounds distant 'til it's not. 'Til I blink and look up to find Ozzie kneeling at my side, his face twisted in deep concern.

"Bro, you've got to calm the fuck down. I think you're having a panic attack." He reaches for my arm to help me up, but I smack it away. "You've got to get it together. We've got to get the hell out of here."

Ozzie's interrupted by a woman's bone-chilling scream. The terrified sound pierces the night air louder than the music.

Teysha .