Somehow, Josh doesn’t look convinced. “How about…” He hesitates, clearing his throat. “How about your mom? Is she still, uhm, around? Do you have brothers and sisters?”
“I’m not going to talk about the rest of my family,” I hiss out. “This isn’tthatkind of road trip.”
“Oh. Right. Right.”
There’s an uncomfortable silence that I break at last with, “I’m an only child. And Mom abandoned me when I was six. She’d better hope I never see her again, or I’ll kill her, and I’ll hesitate a lot less than I did with Dad. At leasthedidn’t leave.”
Another silence, this time sad rather than uncomfortable.Then Josh murmurs, “Sorry, man.”
_
I’m getting very antsy by the time we reach the airport. It’s a small, private one, in the middle of nowhere, and I had begun to wonder if Josh had gotten the address wrong before we finally laid eyes on it.
I park the car hurriedly in front and scramble out, followed closely by Josh. A small airplane is waiting for us.
“Devil sure knows how to hook us up,” comments Josh, as we’re immediately taken up the short flight of steps into the private plane.
“Logan,” I correct him. “Logan knows. Damien Wells wants to kill Piper.”
“Right.” He sighs. “Well, Logan feels pretty beat up about Seraphina being gone, but he also said in a way it’s a blessing in disguise. Damien quit Devil, and even though Logan isn’t sure it’s permanent, at least his friend is so focused on hunting Seraphina that he’s got no clue what’s happening. Damien found out she’s alive, so—”
“Josh,” I interrupt him. “I don’t care.”
“Right,” he says again, before settling himself into one of the cushioned seats.
“So where are we heading?” I ask as the plane takes off. “Idaho’s a big state, isn’t it? So how the hell are we supposed to…”
“Well, Logan says he has a general idea. Vincent has narrowed it down to the eastern part of the state. Near Yellowstone.”
“Yellowstone,” I repeat thoughtfully, wondering how the hell we’re supposed to find Piper in a national park. It feels likesearching for a needle in a haystack. “You still texting Logan?”
Josh’s eyes are glued to the screen, and I can’t tell if the frequent buzzes are reassuring me or making me nervous.
“What’s he saying now? I want to talk to him.”
“Let me do it,” says Josh in a placating voice. “No offense, but you might fly off the handle and… Logan’s still a Devil, you know. If you piss him off, he could… well, you know. Those guys are dangerous.”
I sigh, leaning back in my seat. “I just want him to tell us where Piper is,” I say in a broken voice.
“I know, man. Me too. He’s working on it.”
I spend the rest of the flight watching him as he texts. He’s focused and even though I want to ask him to repeat every message he receives, I bite down on the temptation. I shouldn’t distract him. He needs to remain concentrated. He’ll tell me later.
And so, sinking back into my old helpless feeling, I remain on the outskirts as Josh and Logan decide how to save my girl.
The plane is just beginning its descent in what looks like the middle of nowhere, surrounded by dense trees and the distant sound of a waterfall, when Josh looks up.
“Okay, so, Logan has the location.”
My heart skips a beat. “Piper’s here?”
“No.”
I stare at him in shock. “So then… what the fuck?”
“They’re still driving, remember? Logan has positive confirmation they never took a plane.”
“So where is she? Where’s the car right now? What the fuck are we doing in fucking Idaho if Piper isn’t even here? Let’s fucking go, man!”