The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Axle’s roller skating bride from Loonyville stops in front of me. She gives one look over my shoulder, darts a gaze to my bag, and skates out of my way without saying a word.
Just as I emerge to the outside, she’s suddenly there again, skating down the newly paved sidewalk, and I do a double take, wondering how she did that so fast.
“Go to the tat shop across the street. You don’t have long enough to get away, but Drake is a master of deception,” she tells me, gesturing over her shoulder to the rough looking ink shop.
I give her a nod, hoping I’m not an idiot for trusting her. Rush seems indifferent toward everyone, aside from Sledge, from what I’ve observed.
Still…I hesitate…
This is my one shot at escaping—
“Drex just came out, and he looks pissed. The others won’t be far behind, and their moods will likely match his,” she tells me in a cool tone.
I barely glimpse my brother through the crack she’s made in the door. It’s all the motivation I need to get over my trust issues and dive toward the tattoo shop.
The lone tattoo artist looks up from his ass-cheek tat and frowns at me.
“I don’t have any room to work in unscheduled appointments, and my lazy apprentice is taking her safety a little more serious these days, due to recent events. However, if you’ll give me a moment—”
“Maya said I could hide in here,” I tell him, interrupting his little monologue.
He gives me a dead look. “These fucking women are determined to get me killed. Whose girl are you?”
I glance at ass-cheek-tat guy and hear him snoring, so I decide it’s safe to spill some beans.
“I’m Drex’s sister, and I know that’s probably a scary thing. But I swear I’m not—”
“Oh,” he says with a semi-concerning grin. “In that case, head on back to the room on the far end. I’ll come chat with you between clients and we can get to know each other better.”
He waggles his eyebrows at me, but…he seems harmless enough. I take my chances, but pause when I spot a framed cocksucker daisy. It looks just like the tattoo I heard people whispering about.
The one my brother had covered up…
I dart a look back over my shoulder to find the suicidal tattoo artist happily whistling as he enthusiastically works on the butterfly tattoo for the fella passed out on the reclined chair.
Alrighty then.
I find an excellent hidey hole inside a closet with a false panel, and I tuck myself and my bag into it. Then I quickly pull the false panel back into place, and I casually glance through the phone I swiped off the table on my way through so that I wouldn’t be bored while waiting this out.
I’ll wait until a convenient time to escape to somewhere farther from the clubhouse, and I’ll—
I hear the jingle of a door chime, and my breath stills as I wait to see who has just come in.
“If you want ink, you’ll have to schedule it like everyone else. I’m getting a little tired of the club thinking they can just prance in here—”
Drake’s words cut out, and I listen intently as something drops to the floor.
The next thing I know, I hear a wheeze of sound before there’s a loud crash, and a groan accompanies that.
“What the fucking hell?” Drake snaps.
The sound of heavy footfalls come down the hallway, and my breaths get steadily heavier as they near. I actually end up holding my loud breath in the otherwise silent compartment when I hear the door to the room open.
“Fuck’s sake, Rush, what the hell is going on?” Drake snaps. “Why did you just fucking throw me across my own damn ink shop?”
The footsteps move through the room, and I chance replacing the old breath with a new one.
“Where is she, Drake? I’ll only ask this once, so choose your answer carefully. I’m not Drex. I’m not Axle. I don’t really give a shit about you at all.”
“That sort of hurts. I’ve done half your ink—” His words cut out and he makes a nervous sound of laughter. “You really are fucking insane. I don’t know, man. I told her to come back here, but the window’s open. Maybe she went out that way.”
My curious nature begs me to look out and see what’s going on, but I’m not a slave to my curious nature. I keep my ass silent and still.
“This window has been open for half the day. She came in, and she hasn’t left. Where is she?”
How does he know I came in here? How does he know I haven’t left?
Those little cameras spring to mind, and I half wonder if he hasn’t rigged the whole damn block with them to counteract any of my escape plans…