Page 29 of Night Blind

Sirens echoed as looky-loos gathered, coming out of other buildings to see what was happening at the shady nightclub. The amount of ease it took to lower herself from the tree surprised her, and she gave a silent bit of thanks to Slow for making her chop the wood. Whether she’d built muscle or not, she’d built confidence and had completed an assignment as a Technician. She wasn’t an official member. She’d only started her training in the Unicorn Academy. However, the assignment was done.

She milled in with the oncoming crowd, walking through the throng of arrivals and making her way down the street to Cherry’s shop. She didn’t use the remote to unlock it but opted to open the truck by hand. Once she placed Melody on the floor of the truck in the secret compartment, she started the shop. Instead of driving through the throng of people, she backed up, going around the fray to meet Mustang at the car rental.

Her only thoughts were to get to Mustang.

Her focus was to get to Mustang.

“Drive Helen; get to Mustang,” she repeated over and over until she arrived at the preset meeting place.

He was coming out of the office when she pulled up. She slowed and unlocked the doors of the truck as he slung his overnight bag onto the back seat and climbed inside.

“Head up I-74 to Joliet where we will stay the night before heading to the second stop,” he told her.

“We are staying the night?”

“Helen, it’s after midnight, we are both tired, and rest is required,” he said, leaning the bulk of him into the seat. He plotted the address in the GPS of the truck. “Head there for the night.”

“Okay, nothing else to say?”

“Did you send the confirmation image to the preset one in the phone?”

“Oh, let me do that now,” she said, looking at the phone, finding the image, and clicking send. Thinking better of it, she sent the second image as well. “Done. Onward.”

She was calm. Driving would keep her focused on the task of getting them to the hotel. If she focused on the task of driving the truck, she wouldn’t want to talk.

“Good, because I don’t feel like it anyway,” he said aloud.

“Excuse me, are you talking to me?”

“Only to myself, Helen,” he said, leaning into the seat and closing his eyes.

It took an entire six hours to get from Evansville to Joliet, and by the time they arrived, she was wiped out. Not only was she wiped out but the emotions of what she’d done grabbed her by the leg, yanking hard. The distance in her eyes concerned him as he requested one suite in the hotel.

“A suite?”

“Yeah, close by, yet enough space to not make it weird,” Mustang said. “I don’t like weird.”

“As if anything about this is normal,” she said, following behind him to the elevator.

The hotel room was nothing fancy. The suite had a separate bedroom with a closing door, a water closet, and a pull-out couch. Mustang immediately announced he wasn’t taking the couch after having slept on one last night at Slow’s place.

“Shower, rinse some of it off, and try to catch some kip,” he said, taking his bag to the bedroom.

Helen didn’t argue; she was tired. In the bathroom, she closed the door, locked it, and started the shower. She gave extra attention to her shoulder, which felt sore from the kick of Melody, the sniper rifle, but overall, she’d done well. Her mind remained focused on the task of cleaning her body and putting on a pair of loose-fitted pjs. She exited the bathroom to find him not in the bedroom but up front setting up her pull-out bed.

“Good night,” he said, allowing her to pass.

“Night,” she said, taking a seat on the made-up bed.

She could hear the shower starting in the other room, and she snuggled down under the covers. Helen closed her eyes and to her shock, she saw the splash of red from where her bullet had made contact with Karlton’s head. Her eyes popped open. Blood from the second man flashed in her mind, and the realization of what she’d done hit her in the chest like a blow. Suddenly she couldn’t breathe. She looked up, and Mustang was beside the couch on one knee. He was talking to her, talking her down, bringing her out of the darkness.

“That’s it, good, breathe. Slowly inhale, hold for four, exhale for four, hold for four, inhale for four,” he said, walking her through until the breathing evened out. “Good. Very good. Slowly. There ya go.”

“What happened?”

“Reality is a kick in the chest,” he said, “so try to rest and breathe through it. We have a lot to do in 48 hours unless you want to go home.”

“No, I need to get this done,” she said.

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