Burn: Outlaw Romance (Hotter Than Hell Book 3) by Holly S. Roberts Read Free Book Online

street and jump in my car. I pull out of the parking lot and head to the nearest gas station to fill up. My money’s running short and if I were staying in a hotel tonight, I wouldn’t have enough. I jump on the highway and drive toward my destiny.
    Daddy, here I come.
    I turn off the radio and clear my head so it’s as barren as the landscape and search for peace that won’t come. Actual tumbleweeds roll beneath the tires as my car eats up the miles. I hit Phoenix a little after noon and stop for the restroom and more fuel.
    I was right; my stomach can’t handle food right now. I’m not nervous, but the closer I get, the more anticipatory adrenaline pumps through my veins. It’s similar to how I feel before a fight. My phone rings after I finish filling the tank.
    “Hey, lady,” I say to Lorene in a bullshit, upbeat voice. I don’t want anything to tip her off. I’ve figured out the general location of the clubhouse from talking to her through the years. I’m hoping she’ll give me a heads up if Frank isn’t there today. I just need to get the info in a roundabout way.
    “That baby girl is safe and the shit’s really hit the fan,” she says. I won’t deny it’s a relief. I planned to call the cops before descending on the clubhouse and give them the information about the child they’re holding. This makes things neater. “I have good news for you,” Lorene continues. “You shouldn’t tell someone over the phone that their father is dead, but I didn’t think you’d mind hearing it. Dagger, one of the club members, is the new president. He killed the son of a bitch yesterday. He also got the baby to a safe place. There are some big changes coming.”
    “Dagger?” I say in shock. My heart is doing double-time and a knot is growing in the pit of my stomach.
    “Yeh, he’s about the nicest piece of man meat in these parts. Makes a woman stupid just lookin’ at all those hot muscles. I’ve had my eye on him for a while now. Killed the man who killed his wife, stabbed him to death. Did his time and has been running with the Crows since. He didn’t like the bullshit your daddy did with the club. That was sure as shit just from lookin’ in his eyes. That man carries a lot of anger, reminds me of you sometimes. I’m telling ya, the club can only go up with him as prez.” She gives a throaty laugh. “I need to go. I just wanted you to know that your old man is no longer breathin’ air. Days like today are made for celebrating. Have a cold one for me.”
    She clicks off and I listen to dead air for a moment without pulling my phone away from my ear. My fingers tremble when I finally toss it in the seat next to me and grip the steering wheel. My vision goes dark around the edges. I breathe in and out and before I know it, I’m hyperventilating. The rage builds. It hasn’t been this bad in a long time. “No,” I scream into the car. This can’t be happening. All these years of planning and my revenge is gone in one phone call. Gone when I’m finally within an hour of fulfilling my dream to destroy the man who caused so much pain.
    I don’t remember pulling out of the gas station and I’m barely aware of my surroundings. My phone gives directions and I mindlessly follow. Before I realize it, I’m heading out of Phoenix on Highway 87. I’m on autopilot and I need someone to suffer. Why? No one has a right to kill my father except me. No one!
    Dagger… why the hell would he ruin my plans now? My rage carries me through the desert. I finally see the sign for Peach City. The name is a joke. The area is practically barren with only small shrubs and hills in the background. “Fucking Dagger,” I murmur out loud.
    I see the burned out property I’ve been looking for on the east side of the road. Lorene mentioned in one of her phone calls that it was a nostalgic junkyard of motorcycles and bicycles until it burned to the ground a few years ago. I turn onto the road directly past the blackened lot