Sophie Oak - Found in Bliss

Holly put a foot down on the brake. She’d lived in the mountains long enough to know not to shove her foot to the floor or the brakes could overheat. She also knew not to ride them, keeping her foot on the brake over a long period of time though instinct always told her to do so. A strategic application of pressure would drop her speed and then she would allow it to build back up.

Nothing. They didn’t respond at all. Now she was up to ninety and a curve was coming up. She took a deep breath as she passed Mel’s cabin at a breakneck speed.

She tried again. Maybe the truck worked a bit differently than her car, and it required more pressure.

Her foot went all the way to the floor, the pedal flopping back with all the strength of an overcooked noodle.

Panic started to set in. The Harper Ranch came and went. The speedometer kept climbing. How fast could the truck go?

She tried again, though she realized there was nothing she could do. The brakes were gone.

Forcing herself to stay calm, she thought about the road. Two more turns and she would be off the mountain and into the valley, where the road was flat and she could see for miles. She could figure out something to do then.

Or she could put the car in a lower gear now. It risked ruining the engine, but it might slow the truck down so she could take the curves.

But it was Caleb’s truck. And Caleb would rather have her safe than have his truck. He might not be willing to risk a relationship with her, but she wasn’t so foolish that she believed he cared about his truck more than her life.

She would just have to find a way to make it up to him.

Wincing at what she was about to do, she forced the gear shift into the slot labeled 1. The whole truck shook, and it took everything she had to control it. The S curve was coming up. She couldn’t possibly manage it at almost a hundred miles an hour. No way. She would go right off the road, and there was no guardrail. She would either hit the side of the mountain or she would roll off it.

Finally the truck started to slow, but only to seventy. Gravity was still at work. She had no idea what the incline was this low on the mountain, but it was still steep. And she couldn’t see around the curve.

Her heart drummed inside her chest. Her brain played through a million scenarios. She could die right here on the mountain, and she would regret so fucking much. She would regret not trying. She would regret all the years she let slip by because it was easier than fighting and losing. As the curve barreled toward her, all she knew was that nothing, nothing was more important than the fight. The outcome didn’t matter. She could lose everything, and it would have been worth it to fight for what she needed.

Why did she only figure that out when death was staring her down?

And why the fuck was she giving up again?

The emergency brake. It was a long shot. She would probably still lose control, but it was all she had.

She pushed the brake in. Just like its sister, it went straight to the floor.

And then she saw the sign for the TER. Truck escape ramp. She tightened her hands on the steering wheel. She just had to hold on. The TER had only been in place for a few months, and it was meant to slow down eighteen wheelers that were out of control, but maybe it would work for her, too. The long offshoot of gravel would surely slow her down some. It had to.

At least it gave her a place to go before she hit that curve.

She hit the TER going almost eighty. Between the thick gravel and the level ground of the ramp, she immediately felt the truck begin to ease down.

By the time she’d reached half the distance of the TER, she’d slowed the truck to the point that she was sure she would survive. She rolled gently along until she hit the rail with a thud.

She put her head in her hands and finally cried, happy to be alive and to have another shot at just about everything.

Alexei took the only seat available in the small office off the garage. The whole place smelled of motor oil, but that didn’t bother Alexei. He liked the cozy little work space. But the chair needed some work. It hadn’t been made for a large man. He wiggled a little, testing the sturdiness. It didn’t feel like it would fall apart.

Roger, who was indeed bald, had pictures of himself and his wife, Liz Two, that showed off his formerly long, flowing hair. He took the seat behind the desk. “So you’re that fellow who nearly blew up Bliss?”

His reputation was not exactly sterling. And thanks to the news reports, everyone knew his story. “Oh, no, no blowing up. I did not set a single charge while in Bliss. I merely shot many peoples.”

Long-Haired Roger’s eyes went wide, and he leaned forward. “Many?”

And he wasn’t helping his reputation along at all. “Well, not too many. Four or five, perhaps. And all of them were very bad peoples. They took over sheriff’s department and were going to kill women. I could not allow them to kill women.”

In all his time in the mob, he’d never hurt a woman. He’d never struck one in anger or in anything but an erotic fashion. He’d met several women who enjoyed spanking, and he liked it, too, but he’d never treated a single woman with any less respect than he would demand for himself. It had hurt him in his rise in the organization, but there had been things even he could not do for revenge. In the end, his inability to harm a woman had cost him his revenge and helped him regain his soul.

“I had heard that you saved a bunch of women. And Logan Green, too, though I doubt he thanks you for it.”

The deputy was one of the men he owed in this town. Logan Green had taken a beating that almost killed him, and Alexei had been forced to allow it in order to save them all. He’d been outnumbered and outgunned and he’d hated it, but he would sacrifice the young man again if it meant saving Holly and Jennifer. He was going to have to find a way to deal with Logan if he was going to live in this town.

“I am very deeply sorry for what happen to deputy. I could not help him without giving myself away, and then we would all be dead.” It was a lame excuse. Sometimes at night he came up with a hundred scenarios in which he spared Logan Green from his fate, but at the time he’d gone with the safest course of action.

“That would have been much worse. I don’t know what poor Teeny would do without her boy. She and Marie dote on him. He’ll be fine. He’s got two mommas to look after him. You know, everyone in these parts talked about how you let yourself get all shot up to save Holly. Holly’s a sweet girl, and she’s just about the best waitress in the county. The sheriff speaks very highly of you, too,” Long-Haired Roger said. “I really like Nate Wright even though he’s a cranky son of a bitch. He says you saved Callie and Jen, so you’re all right with me.”

Alexei tried to relax. Maybe this would go better than he’d expected. He was surprised to find himself so nervous. He hadn’t been thinking about finding a legitimate job all those years before when he’d thrown away the majority of his youth to pursue revenge. Now he had to pay for all the years he should have been in college or starting a career. He had to find a way to make a living in the legitimate world.

“Gene tell me you are looking for good worker.” Perhaps once he got settled in, he would find some training school and learn a trade that went beyond racketeering.

Long-Haired Roger’s bald head nodded. “Yep. I need a new mechanic because my last guy ran off to join the pro-wrestling circuit. I don’t think that’s going to work out for him, but he wouldn’t listen to me. You don’t happen to watch wrestling, do you?”

He asked the question with a serious look on his face, as though the answer to the question would affect Alexei’s ability to be hired. Alexei decided to go with honesty. “No.”