Under an Endless Moon (Moonlit Ridge Book 2)

Otto stuffed the thick wad of cash into his pocket and waltzed down the destitute, indigent street. The sidewalks were littered with garbage and the buildings were covered in graffiti. Sirens wailed as three police cruisers flew by, though Otto kept his cool and his head held high as he strolled along, like he didn’t have a care in the world when the weight of it would forever be on his shoulders.

Acting like he wasn’t every bit as guilty as whoever those cruisers were gunning for.

He took the right down the narrow, dingy alley between the backside of two crummy apartment buildings. He ignored everything around him—the handful of kids who were running amok in the back parking lot on the other side of a chain-link fence, arguing as they played with a flat basketball, the blare of music as a car whizzed by, some dickbag shouting at his wife from one of the apartment balconies.

None of it was his concern.

You didn’t survive this place by putting your nose somewhere it didn’t belong. It was a surefire way to get yourself dead.

He took a long drag of his cigarette as he ambled past the apartment complexes. Though his gaze was furtive, peeking around to make sure no one was paying him any mind as he approached the rotted wooden fence on his right. When he was sure it was clear, he ducked through a hole in one of the planks and pushed through to the other side.

He kept his footsteps quiet as he slunk along the side of the abandoned building that was three stories high and basically as decayed and shoddy as the fence he’d come through. He crept to the broken back door, peering around before he opened it, slipped through, then quickly shut it behind him.

It might have been shitty, but at least it had walls and a roof.

Inside, rays of sunlight managed to break through the grease and dirt-caked windows, casting hazy spikes of light through the rambling room.

His attention rushed to take in the scene. A brand-new dose of adrenaline pounded through him when he found a ton of shit out of place considering only his crew should be in there.

Kane, Theo, and Cash.

They were the three people in this world he could trust. Their survival staked on each other.

Except they weren’t alone.

Some guy who wasn’t more than a kid was standing all kinds of antsy where the three of them surrounded him.

Otto started in that direction, and it was Theo who heard him. The tall, lanky motherfucker turning around and cutting him off midway as Otto aggressively crossed the floor.

“The fuck is going on here?” Otto demanded below his breath.

Theo roughed a hand through his black hair, his voice just as low. “Don’t freak out, man. Dude is in trouble. He’s got his little sister with him. Both of them are hungry and clearly without a clue how to handle themselves on the street. Couldn’t turn an eye.”

“Fuck,” Otto spat.

He wanted to be a dick. Tell Theo to get them the fuck out of there before things went bad. Instead, he met the eye of the kid across the room. Probably fifteen or sixteen.

Hopelessness radiated from him, the kind of desperation Otto had seen a million times on these streets. But it was undercut in ferocity. In a severity that promised this guy was going to do whatever it took to make it.

But what really got him was when his attention traveled, and he caught sight of the little girl who was sitting on one of the dingy mattresses in the corner.

Wrapped in a blanket and rocking.

Scared as all fuck.

Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.

Otto scrubbed a palm over his face. None of them could afford to get sentimental or soft. But God, had he devolved so far that he’d become a monster? Gone so depraved that he’d been stricken of his humanity?

What if it was his little sister sitting over there?

His chest fisted, and he supposed that was when Theo felt the shift because he reached out and squeezed his shoulder. “Somethin’ tells me we can trust this guy.”

Otto gave him the slightest nod before he followed Theo over to the group. Otto sized up the kid who was wearing expensive clothes that were dirty as shit.

Instantly, he pegged him as a runaway.

“Name’s Otto,” he said, still gauging.

The kid lifted his chin. “I’m River.”

“And what are you doing here, River?” He wasn’t pressing him to be an asshole. He just needed him to be straight.

River’s throat bobbed as he peeked at his sister. “I’m making sure her piece of shit father never gets to her again. Whatever it takes.”

Otto’s stomach bottomed out, sickness pulsing. It was easier to ignore those around you when you kept walking right on by. Their business none of your concern. Not so easy when it was right in your face.

Otto blew the strain from his nose as he looked at his crew. “We need to vote.”

Otto slowly edged up to the little girl who still rocked in the corner, curled into the blanket with her face completely concealed. He could feel the fear roll through her when he got close.

Bile prowled his throat, rage rolling through him at the truth that someone could hurt a child this way. The things that River had told them, the horrors he’d confessed.

Vote had been unanimous.

“Hey there.” He kept his voice as soft as he could as he carefully knelt in front of her.

She flinched, still keeping her face hidden.

“I’m Otto.”

“I’m Raven.” Her voice was tiny and tremulous.

“It’s nice to meet you, Raven. It sounds like you’re going to be staying here for a bit if that’s all right with you?”

“Okay,” she whispered.

“I have a little sister who is about your age.”

“Really?” She perked up, lifting her head and peeking out at him. There was no missing the fear that lingered in her dark eyes, but there was a light in them he was surprised to see there.

“Yeah, her name is Haddie. She’s ten.” Affection pulsed through him. He loved that little girl like mad. Worried about her ceaselessly. She wasn’t living the best life, either, since his mom was a pathetic piece of shit junkie.

Nah, he didn’t like much that Haddie lived with their mother, but he paid the bills and kept the refrigerator stocked and chased off any creeps his mom thought she was gonna drag home.

He saw to it that no one touched her. That she was safe.

“I’m only nine,” Raven said with a puff of disappointment.

“Well, that’s still pretty close.”

“Do you think she’d like me?”

Well, fuck.

“I bet she would. Maybe you can meet her sometime.”

“That would be nice.”

“Yeah, it would.”

A little dent furrowed her brow as she looked at him, timid again. “You’re really big like a bear.”

Soft amusement huffed from his nose, though in his words was a promise. “Might be as big as a bear, but that’s just so I can make sure no one can get in here. So, I can make sure it’s safe. And I promise you, no one will ever hurt you here. You don’t have to be afraid anymore.”

He stuck out his pinky finger, and she wavered for one second before she hooked hers with his, and he murmured, “Promise.”