Sinners Never Sleep | Stikolson *COMPLETED*

Chapter Eighteen

RYAN

I didn't waste any time in getting my bag ready for my short trip to Colorado. I intended to be in and out with Ricky by my side and Ghost buried six feet under before anyone could so much as bat an eyelash. My bag was very simple; it held a gun and a knife because I was going to Colorado to kill instead of sightseeing.

I must have broken several speed limits but finally seeing Ricky after all this time was worth it. I hadn't meant to take this long in tracking him down, but Ghost was notoriously good at hiding under the radar.

I knew I'd arrived on the outskirts of the small town when I drove past the generic 'welcome to town' sign which had half the name scratched out. I guessed not many people came here after the fire burnt down most if not all of the campgrounds.

I pull my truck into the car park of the only bar in town ready to get information from the locals. Across from the bar was a small store which shared the same car park as the bar, it didn't look like there was a living soul inside.

For a small town I didn't get any odd looks off the regulars, then again the majority of the regulars were already drunk. I take a stool at the bar keeping a tight grip on my bag as the bartender walks over to me.

"You new in town, I've never seen you around here before. What can I get you?"

"I'm passing through. Can I get a beer and maybe some information?"

The bartender quirks an eyebrow in my direction at the mention of information, sighing I pull a twenty out of my wallet and slide it across the bar along with another five for the beer.

"Here's your beer. What do you want to know about this place? I mean there isn't much around here."

I shrug my shoulders and bring the beer to my lips. I cringe at how bad and cheap it tastes, I expected the beer to be bad but not this bad.

"There was a fire that ravaged the woods right? Are there any cabins left up there?"

"Almost all of them were destroyed but," he puts down the glass he was cleaning before leaning across the bar, "there are rumours of a ghost that haunts one of the few remaining cabins so no one dares go near."

Internally I roll my eyes at the mention of a ghost haunting the woods. If only the townspeople knew that their ghost was, in fact, a deranged killer who happened to go by the nickname Ghost.

"That sucks; this town could be really nice if the woods were still active campgrounds."

"Business would be better. I can understand why you're passing through."

I was thankful the bartender didn't push me any further, he'd obviously seen enough movies to know it was better to not ask questions when strangers came into town. I finish the beer quickly, it was more watery than I would have liked so I knew the next thing I'd order would be something nicer.

RICKY

Ghost and I were doing our weekly shopping trip. Ghost had to run back to the store to grab some grapes, I'd recently become obsessed with grapes and we always ran out so Ghost bought enough grapes to satisfy my cravings. He joked I was acting like a pregnant lady with my cravings for grapes.

Because of the trust between us, Ghost let me put the shopping in the car unsupervised while he ran back inside. As much as I was missing Ryan and would give anything to see him again, Ghost was slowly winning me over to his side. I hated myself for slowly falling in love with my captor but maybe in a couple more months, I could convince Ghost to give up killing for good like Ryan was going to do for me.

After putting the shopping bags in the car I push the trolley over to the trolley bank walking past a truck I'd never seen in town before. It was black and all the windows were tinted which put it out of place amongst all the run down and peeled paint cars in the car park.

Leaning against the car waiting for Ghost, the door of the bar swings open drawing my attention. I expected a drunk regular to stumble out, but the last person I expected to see in this small town. Ryan froze as he made eye contact with me across the car park. It had been weeks since we'd last seen each other but damn he still looked sexy as hell.

Ryan goes to run across the car park towards me but in the corner of my eye, I see Ghost walking across the road and shake my head violently in Ryan's direction making him stop in his tracks.

"Kitten, why are you shaking your head?"

Ghost appears by my side and is about to glance over towards Ryan but I couldn't let him see Ryan, so I pull him into a hug and rest my head on his shoulder so that I can still see Ryan over his shoulder.

"There was some stupid fly. Did you get my grapes?"

"You're very affectionate tonight kitten, and yes I got your grapes." Ghost chuckles and holds up the shopping bag containing the grapes.

Hurt flashes across Ryan's face but I mouth "I love you Ryan" which relaxes his face.

Ryan smiles and mouths back "where are you hiding?"

I release Ghost and watch him walk over to the driver's side before getting into the car. I cast one last glance at Ryan before mouthing "a cabin in the woods". Ryan nods and I get into the car holding the bag of grapes.

Ryan being in town was a good thing; it meant he was here to rescue me.

"Why so happy tonight kitten?"

Ghost puts his hand on my knee across the console while keeping one hand on the steering wheel.

"Everything's fitting into place Ghost, and I wouldn't change any of this for the world."

"You're an adorable kitten."

If only Ghost knew that we weren't going to be together much longer.