No Mercy by Cheyenne McCray Read Free Book Online

disappear.
    When he turned back to the group, each of them had their gazes on him, as if waiting for him to
    tell them what to do next.
    “Let’s go to the Den.” He tugged down the brim of his Stetson. “And have garbage pizza in Nate’s
    honor.”
    Every one of them smiled, as if in memory of the times they’d gone to the Den as a group.
    “Let’s get going.” Leon put his hand to his stomach. “I’m starving.”
    Marta shook her head as they all turned back toward the vehicles. “You were always starving.”
    He grinned. “Playing footbal was hard work.”
    She looked amused. “What’s your excuse now?”
    His grin broadened. “Dril ing water wells is hard work.”
    “Uh-huh.” Their shoulders brushed as they neared the cars. “You just like to eat.”
    Dylan listened to the banter between Marta and Leon, as well as talk between Tom and Christie.
    Dylan was used to being aware of everything around him, including more than one conversation at
    a time.
    Belle, however, was quiet and clearly doing her best not to meet his gaze.
    Seeing her again, holding her again, had thrown him off balance. She was the only female who’d
    ever tied him in knots. She’d been doing that since she was a girl, and had continued to do so as
    she matured into a young woman. His throat tightened as he realized it was happening all over again.
    He’d thought he’d gotten over her. He’d been so damned wrong.
    They each climbed into their separate vehicles, and one-by-one took the winding dirt road down
    the side of the mountain. Dylan steered his truck over the rocky road as he followed Belle, who drove
    a red Prius. She went behind Tom, who was in a black Honda CR-V SUV. Dylan wondered if Belle
    would try to disappear again and never show up at the Den.
    An ache gripped his chest as he remembered how they’d waited for her at the pizza place one
    night and she’d never shown up.
    They’d never seen her again.
    God, how he’d searched for her. Everyone in the CoS had been devastated by her
    disappearance.
    27

    ***
Her ass of a stepfather had been worthless, but the police had put out alerts and had looked for
    Belle for weeks. Dylan had been so afraid she’d been kidnapped or murdered.
    That was until he’d gone to their place on the Divide. He’d avoided it because he’d felt it would
    be too painful to go there. When he final y did, he found the letter along with the silver bracelet he’d
    given her for her sixteenth birthday. They were hidden in a pile of boulders where they used to sit
    and watch the stars. He’d seen a glint of metal from the bracelet in the moonlight and that was how
    he had found it and the note.
    “I’m so sorry, Dylan,” the note had read. “Please understand I had to leave and don’t look for
    me. Let the CoS know I’m okay, but don’t tell anyone else. I wil always love you, Belle.”
    Al hope had left him that night as he’d gripped the note and the bracelet. He’d been grateful
    that she hadn’t been kidnapped, but he’d known his shattered heart could never be put back together
    again.
    Today he didn’t intend to let that little red car out of his sight.
    The five vehicles were a small funeral procession as they made their way around what had been
    known to locals as the traffic circle, but signs now referred to it as a roundabout. They continued on
    until they reached the Puma Den in the San Jose subdivision.
    When they’d parked and exited their vehicles, Dylan realized it had stopped raining. He
    shrugged out of his leather jacket and hung it up in the back of his king cab. His T-shirt, as well as
    the overshirt he wore to cover his Browning 9mm, were dry, but his jeans were damp from the rain.
    Prickles traveled the length of Dylan’s spine. He cut his gaze in the direction of the highway. An
    older white Buick crept along the highway, in front of the pizza place. The car was headed west and
    Dylan stood on the north side of the road. Past the empty passenger side,