“Just don’t do anything stupid. Please talk to me or Cavers before you do?”

He sent me a restrained grin. “Gus count?”

I grinned. “Maybe.”

He chuckled, but it was strained.

We got to the rest stop, parking on one side of the building.

Jake started to reach for Gus’ leash, but I got there first. “I’ll walk him. You guys go ahead.”

Cavers shot me a frown, but headed inside right away.

Jake was looking around. “Single woman looking like you out here isn’t a good idea.”

“Go. I’ll be fine.”

Jake had no clue what Gus was capable of. I did.

He nodded, his hand massaging the back of his neck as he went after Cavers.

I took Gus to a patch of grass, set up on a small hill so I could see who was coming in and out.

It wasn’t long before I saw Raize was heading toward me from the opposite side of the hill. I hadn’t noticed them parking.

Abram and a girl I was assuming was Raize’s sister were walking for the rest stop. Abram had his arm around her, tucked into his side.

I watched them, seeing how her head rested against his chest a second and his hand dipped, rubbing a spot on her back.

That was… interesting.

“Guys inside?” Raize got to me, and bent down, brushing a kiss over my lips before straightening, Gus’ leash now in his hand.

I nodded and went back to watching Abram and Raize’s sister.

She was tiny. Petite. Long black hair. She was in a dress and sandals.

I wouldn’t expect those kinds of clothes if she’d been planning on running.

Raize looked where I was looking, and guessed accurately what I was thinking. “You got extra clothes she could borrow?”

I had to laugh at that, too. “Yeah.”

“Why’s that funny?”

“Because not long ago, I was the girl you had to take shopping when I had nothing.”

“Oh. Yeah.”

I gave him an appraisal. He sounded tired, and he looked tired, but there was more. “What is it?”

He focused on me again, blinking a few times. “What?”

“Something extra is going on with you. What is it?”

He didn’t answer right away, his eyes trailing ahead even though Abram and his sister were inside by now. Cavers had come out, and he was heading our way.

“Just… we didn't have time to talk. We got her and took off right away. There was the car ride, but she was sobbing the whole time. And she wouldn’t let me comfort her so Abram held her while I drove. I have no clue how to handle her.”

Oh.

I reached for his hand, giving it a squeeze as Gus squatted to poop.

I ran my thumb over the back of his hand. “She’s not thinking clear. That’s all.”

He tried to smile back, but it was taking effort from him. He ran his thumb over the back of my hand instead, and our hands fell apart as Cavers got to us.

“Boss. Nice to see you alive.” He gestured to Gus. “Want me to take him?”

Raize handed over the leash. “We’ll be a bit.”

“Got it.”

I didn’t know if I should mention Jake, but then it didn’t matter. Jake was coming out of the restrooms. Seeing us, he headed right for us. He skimmed over Raize, then looked for his truck.

“Boss,” he greeted with a small upward chin lift.

Raize’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Give us a second.”

“Okay.”

That was the exchange, but I looked back, noting Jake’s tension. His shoulders were rigid. When I turned back, Raize had been watching me. “You want to fill me in?”

I opened my mouth, but then Abram was coming our way.

I shut it, just as he got to us, looking toward the women’s restroom.

“Hey,” he breezed, then did a slight twitch as he realized who I was. His eyebrows dipped in. “You look different.”

“Different hair.”

“Ah.” His eyes lit up with comprehension. “No offense, but I liked the blonde.”

I grinned. “Me, too. I’m going back.”

Raize gave me a soft grin, before losing it. He asked Abram, “How is she?”

Abram gave him a wary and tired look, a very tired look. “It was bad for her at times.”

“What do you mean?”

Abram was eyeing the women’s door. “Let’s talk later, yeah? Get to safety and then start debriefing all this shit because bruh, it’s a lot of shit we gotta digest.”

Raize grunted, then nodded to me. “Check on her, but don’t approach.”

“Got it.”

He went his way and I went mine, and when I went in, I almost walked into the wall.

The girl standing at the mirror, staring at herself, was Raize’s twin. Or the female version of him.

She was smaller, which I already knew. Her hair was dark and it hung limply down to the middle of her back, but her eyes were dead. Her cheekbones were gaunt. She had beautiful brown eyes, the same full lips as her brother, but her face was a little more rounded than Raize. His was hard with a firm and square jawline, but with the eyes, the mouth, the cheekbones, she was Raize’s blood.

The guys would figure it out the second they saw her. All hell would break loose after.

I suppressed a shiver, not wanting to get ahead of myself with those fireworks.

I forced myself to keep going, into a stall and sat, but I didn’t pee. I didn’t know why I was waiting, but she hadn’t moved when I went past her. She choked out a sob before the water turned on, but when she turned it off, she didn’t let out another sound. She washed her hands, grabbed a towel, and slipped outside. All quiet-like, or as quiet as she could be.

I thought back.

I had stopped and stared at her. She hadn’t noticed. Those eyes weren’t even seeing herself, I didn’t think.

Was the dead staring thing a family trait?

I was thinking it wasn’t.

55

Ash

No fireworks happened after I came out of the restroom.

Cavers, Gus, and Jake were in our truck.

Abram and Raize’s sister were in theirs.

Raize was waiting for me, studying both trucks. His attention moved to me as I came to his side and he touched under my chin. “You want to explain Jake’s attitude toward me?”

I sucked in my breath. “I thought you’d wait.”

His eyes barely flickered. “What's up?”

“I don’t know. You said ‘we’ when you were referencing that you got your sister out and Jake asked me who was with you.”

“Did you tell him?”

I shook my head. “He knows I know who was with you, but nothing else.”

“You told him about Abram?”

“No, just that I thought I knew who the person was that was with you. That’s it, literally. I didn’t know, you know, but Abram made sense.”

He started to step back, but I caught his shirt, holding him in place.

My chest tightened. I didn’t like what I was about to do, but… Raize had to know.

“He hasn’t cut off his woman.”