Chapter 2

CHAPTER TWO

Dani knew the second she was given permission to make one phone call that her life was about to change. She just didn't realize how much until now.

Gage hadn't forgotten. He hadn't used their time apart to move on. She hadn't thought it was possible for him to be even angrier now than he had been the day she left, but that sure appeared to be the case.

"I'll find someone else to be responsible for me," she sighed.

It was a lie. There was no one else. That was why the decision to call him came so easily. She had no one left in her life, but for the first time, she felt like she had her shit together.

Or at least she thought she did. Until a routine traffic stop turned into them finding a warrant out for her arrest.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

Dani knew she never should've come back. This town held nothing but bad memories.

"We both know that's not true," Gage snapped. "You never would've called me if you had other options. You're not that stupid."

Ouch. That stung. It was the truth though. If there was one thing she always knew about Gage, when he said something, he meant it. All those years ago he said he never wanted to hear from her again. That one sentence was what stopped her every time she picked up the phone to reach out.

This time the choice was taken from her.

"Then just drop me off at a hotel. I promise to show up for my court date."

Gage scoffed at her declaration and who could blame him. He probably thought he was dealing with sixteen-year-old Dani.

"Look, I get it." She was going to have to convince him that she wasn't that same naive girl. "I know you have no reason to believe me but I'm not the same woman you used to know. I'm more responsible these days."

She didn't miss the disbelief on his face or the way he squinted his eyes. But it was the hand that he tossed toward the jail that sealed how he really felt.

Okay, maybe not the best place to convince him I’ve matured.

It was her turn to roll her eyes. "The warrant they arrested me on was from a different time in my life. I was irresponsible back then, but in my defense, I never thought I would be back here, so I never gave the warrant much thought."

"The fact that there was a warrant out for you at all is telling enough."

Okay, that was it. She was tired of his judgement. Spending the night in county jail wasn't exactly her idea of a fun time. She had barely slept. She was irritable and all she wanted was a nice hot shower. Was that too much to ask?

"I'm sorry that not all of us are perfect and have been since high school. Not every sixteen-year-old has their life planned out. Some of us need time to figure our shit out!" she yelled back at him.

"Get in the fucking SUV before I decide that leaving your ass is my best bet. I'm two seconds away from saying screw that piece of paper because unlike you, I will never be coming to this godforsaken town again."

Gage stalked over to the driver's side door and practically ripped it off its hinges to get away from her. This time she didn't argue and slid in. She did her best to be as non-intrusive as possible. It was clear she had pushed her limit for the day.

And that bar was already set extremely low.

The drive to the hotel was quiet. She assumed that was where Gage was taking her. He was leaving the city limits but there were plenty of hotels minutes from town that were better options anyway. The one place she was sure he wasn't taking her was back to their old stomping grounds. Gage might not have kept tabs on her, but she did on him. His parents no longer lived in the area or even the state for that matter. They were quick to leave after their son shipped out.

She didn't blame them. This town held bad memories for all of them. Well, except her parents. The only good thing to happen to them was that their drug habit finally won out. They could no longer be a drain on society and that was best for everyone.

When they didn't get off the exit that most of the hotels were located, she finally spoke up. "Where are we going?"

"My boss has a house we can stay at."

Nothing more. Nothing less. Dani could tell already getting Gage to talk to her was going to be like pulling teeth.

"I thought you didn't plan to stay?"

The exaggerated sigh was indication enough that Gage didn't want her to keep asking questions, but that was too bad. She no longer allowed people to make decisions for her. She saw where that got her.

"I didn't, but when he dropped me off, he gave me the address just in case."

"How far away is it?"

"Not far."

This was going to be worse than pulling teeth. It would seem Gage had only gotten more stubborn over the years.

"Can you be more specific? I get it, the paperwork said you're in charge of me but I didn't agree to that. I prefer to make my own decisions these days."

"You should've thought of that before you called me to help you."

Arrogant asshole. She didn't remember him being like this when they were younger.

Confident? Sure.

Arrogant? Not so much.

She wasn't a fan of the new and improved Gage. At this rate she was likely to smother him in his sleep long before she made her court date.

"I wish like hell that I hadn't," she mumbled under her breath.

With her arms crossed over her chest, she scooted farther down into the seat. It was a little juvenile and she likely looked like a petulant child, but she didn't care. Nothing about her trip back to Pennsylvania was going according to plan.

Dani kept her gaze firmly planted on the highway speeding by. Not a whole lot had changed in the years since she had last traveled the same route. Only back then, she’d made some questionable choices. Ones she was currently paying heavily for.

The tension in the SUV was so thick she was sure someone could cut it with a knife. Dani squirmed the longer they sat in silence; patience was never one of her virtues. As teenagers, she always caved first during the few arguments they had. Gage was the king of the silent treatment and holding grudges. She, on the other hand, was a people pleaser. Just knowing someone was mad at her had her apologizing, so she wasn't forced to suffer through the silence or bickering.

"Look, I know . . ." Dani stopped talking when she turned in Gage's direction and found him white-knuckling the steering wheel. His jaw clenched and she was pretty sure his eyes were bouncing from mirror to mirror. This wasn't about him being pissed at her. Something was wrong.

Of course that meant she had to ask the obvious. "What's going on?"

At first she didn't think he was going to answer and maybe he wouldn't have if the car behind them didn't tap their bumper.

"Son of a bitch," Gage hissed. "That car has been following us since we got on the highway. I thought it might be a coincidence. Now not so much. Hang on."

That was the only warning she received before Gage gunned the engine and swiftly changed lanes, effectively cutting off the car to the left of him and earning a blaring horn for his efforts. The highway they were on was only two lanes and a nuisance on a good day. Today wasn't one of the good ones.

Traffic was slow going and even stop-and-go at some points. It didn't prevent Gage from cutting two more people off. Thankfully, neither vehicle laid on their horn like the first had.

"Why would someone be following us?"

She could no longer see the car that rammed into them, so maybe it was just a coincidence after all. It was probably just some teenager who hadn't been paying attention and it wasn't like the exit they got on at was for some small town. It was a major city. Dozens of cars entered the highway along with them.

"I could ask you that same question," Gage snapped.

It took her a second to realize what he was referring to. It was on the tip of her tongue to respond to his snappy tone with her own sarcastic reply, but his next command cut her off.

"Get your head down." Gage didn't give her the opportunity to follow the directive. With a rough hand, he pushed her head down between her legs.

Not even two seconds later she understood his reason. The loud roar of a motorcycle engine almost drowned out the soft pings that bounced off the exterior of the vehicle.

"Are those . . ." She didn't have time to finish the question. The back window shattered and glass swept around the inside of the SUV from the force of the air now flowing through.

"Motherfucker," Gage hissed. "Move your head some. I need to get my gun from the glove compartment."

This couldn't be happening. Being shot at on a major highway only occurred in movies, not real life. And yet, the continued ping of bullets hitting metal proved her wrong.

Dani shifted her body so that Gage could pull his gun out. She tried not to think about why he had one in the first place. As much as she had been able to keep tabs on his parents, she was never able to get information on him or what he did after he got out of the Army. For all she had known, he had fallen off the face of the earth.

Obviously that wasn't the case. He was flesh and blood sitting right next to her but that didn't explain the gun. Gage mentioned his boss dropping him off and yet somehow he had a vehicle to use. One that didn't have Pennsylvania plates. So many things weren't adding up but now wasn't the time for her to ask questions.

Gage had yet to fire back. When she got up enough courage to glance in his direction, the gun was sitting casually on his lap and the only indication something was off was the tic in his jaw. Otherwise, he looked the epitome of calm. No one would know that she was minutes away from puking all over the floorboards from the constant jerking of the vehicle based on his reactions.

She had no idea how long they drove like that or when exactly the gunshots stopped but eventually Gage spoke again.

"We lost them. I'm going to drive around a few more times just to be sure before we arrive at the house, but it's safe for you to sit up again."

Dani didn't immediately sit up. Instead, she slowly inched her way up, prepared to throw her head down again if she heard even the slightest sound. The only noise filling the space was the wind moving through the vehicle due to the broken windows.

"What the hell was that?" She wished she could say the question came out confident but it would be a lie. The words were shaky at best and they matched the tremble in her hands.

"That's what I would like to know. I think it's time you told me what landed your ass in jail."

Dani gulped in trepidation. Gage wasn't going to like her answer.