Page 55 of Midnight Racers

I had often wondered what the other job was that the guys were involved in. Never in my wildest dreams did I envisage this sort of occupation. I didn’t want to query how this came to be a career choice.

“Thanks, guys,” Flynn said. “I appreciate you coming out tonight.”

“No worries. What else would you be doing at three in the morning?” Joshua called from the hall. “Were they anywhere else?”

“No,” Flynn said. “Everything was contained to this room.” I knew he didn’t want the guys upstairs as some of his clothes were up there.

“You got Charlie sorted for tonight?” Joshua asked.

“Yeah, I’m going to take her to her mum’s house.” Maybe Flynn had decided I wasn’t worth the hassle. My heart sunk.

“We’ll see you in the morning,” Joshua said and both he and Declan waved as they left.

I waited until the tyres crunched out of the driveway and there was darkness outside. Then I wandered upstairs and packed a bag to go and stay with Mum. She would be in bed, and I debated checking into a hotel for the night until I remembered Pixie was coming with me.

I tended to travel light, and had a suitcase I kept half ready for when the racing circuit commenced. I added my bag with items from the bathroom, shampoo, shower gel, deodorant, and make-up. By the time Flynn joined me, I was nearly finished as I was used to packing regularly.

“I brought Pixie’s carrycase in from the garage,” Flynn said. “What else do you need packed for her?”

“Um.” I swallowed the pain of him leaving me when I needed him. “Some of her dry food and cat milk. She tends to only eat and drink from certain dishes, so they need to go as well.”

He set her pet carrier on the floor, and she eyed it disdainfully from the bed. Flynn disappeared from the room, and I continued to pack, throwing my Kindle and phone charger in the case. In the end I had my case and a holdall with what would do me for a week or so in it.

I lifted Pixie and sat on the bed with her. “Looks like we’re going for an adventure,” I said against her neck, hugging her. The darkness that I’d been trying to avoid started to coalesce around me, and I struggled to breathe.

What if they came after Mum as well as me?

Maybe I should just stay here and brave it out?

Flynn reappeared in my bedroom. “I have all Pixie’s stuff in my car, including the cushion she likes to sit on in the conservatory.” I stared up at him and he glanced away as if embarrassed. “I took her treats out of the fridge as well and put them with her stuff. Do you need anything else?”

I shook my head, another tear breaking free to roll down my cheek.

Flynn stepped forward to wipe it away with his thumb. “I won’t let them harm you,” he said in a gentle voice that soothed my frazzled nerves. “These people rule through fear and intimidation. Never let them see that they’ve accomplished that.”

“One of them was up here,” I replied.

“Yeah, there were drawers open in your office. I closed them all before the guys arrived. They were obviously searching for your work.”

“I don’t keep anything, even on my laptop,” I replied. “Everything is on a secure cloud.”

“But they don’t know that.” Flynn held his hand out to me. “Let’s get going. When they don’t report in, someone’s going to come looking for them.”

I let him pull me up. Flynn took my bags while I settled Pixie in her pet carrier. Fingers of light were creeping across the sky when I walked outside and handed her to Flynn. He secured her in a seatbelt on the backseat.

“I’ll turn the lights off,” he said and made his way back inside the house.

Numbness crept over me and I stood with my ass against the front door of the car, my handbag dangling from my hand. I had zoned out of the world for a few moments, jolting when Flynn’s hand closed around my arm.

“You doing okay?” he asked.

“There were dead men in my kitchen,” I replied. “Three of them.”

His face softened. “They aren’t there anymore,” he said. “No one will ever find any trace of them.”

“But I’ll know they were there.” I swallowed. “I killed a man.”

His fingers lifted my chin up as he stared fearlessly into my eyes. “This sounds like terrible advice, but believe me when I say time tends to eradicate most things from your mind. It’s a protection mechanism. Those men will never hurt anyone ever again. You’re safe.”

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