Page 55 of Instinct & New Identity

As we finalized our plan and walked out the door, an uneasy feeling crept in—a quiet reminder that even the best-laid plans could unravel when you weren’t careful.

22

CAT

The drive toVince’scabin was relatively quiet.Vincedidn’t seem to mind, or maybe he was doing the same thingIwas, which was thinking about what had happened, the plan going forward, and everything else in between.

When we pulled off the exit and began driving through winding mountain roads it finally occurred to meIknew nothing about where we were going.Mightas well spend this time in the car setting my expectations right on where we would be spending the next few days.

“Where is the cabin?Isit far from where your parents live now?”Iprobed, hoping he would share a few details.

“It’s in northernGeorgia, up in theBlueRidgeMountains, which in the summertime is great because it can be a good ten to fifteen degrees cooler than it is in the rest of the state, especiallyAtlanta,”Vincedivulged. “Thecabin is just outside of a place calledHimmelberg.It’saBavarian-themed town, so it can get very touristy throughout the year.”

I smiled, thinking of how quaint the little town must be.Mybrain, however, brought me back toArcher’scomment about the cabin we would be staying at.

“So,Archersaid this place is a rustic cabin in the woods,”Ibegan. “Isit fair to assume this place has indoor plumbing, or is this cabin of yours a little bit more basic and doIneed bear spray every timeIneed to go to the bathroom?”

“You know what they say about people who assume,”Vinceteased me with a grin on his face.

“Touché,”Ichuckled.

“Archer said that because he likes to give me shit,”Vinceshared. “Thecabin is actually a sixteen-hundred-square-footA-frame house.Itsits on three and a half acres of wooded property, and has two bedrooms and two bathrooms—plumbing included.”

He emphasized the last part, andIfelt like an idiot for even thinking that it wouldn’t have that.

“Did your parents have this when you were kids?”

“Yeah, they bought the property right after they got married and then had the house built right after my sister was born.”

“Did you come up here a lot, or just for holidays or something special?”

Unlike all the other questionsIhad asked where he answered very quickly, this time he paused, and in a way where he seemed to be weighing the correct way to answer.Ididn’t get the impression he didn’t want to tell me, but rather, he was trying to find the right way to explain, soIwaited to let him answer on his own time.

“When my dad was a cop, he would sometimes get threats from the people he would arrest.Whenthat happens, the police department will provide increased security and may even monitor the communications of the person who made the threat to see if it’s actually a credible one or just someone saying things when they are pissed off.”

That made sense, andIimagined that happened more frequently than people thought.

“When my dad left the force and went into bounty hunting and private investigations, he still got the threats from a lot of the skips he captured, but no longer being a cop meant he didn’t get as much additional protections or insights.”

My heart sank, wondering if something terrible had happened to his dad.

“My dad was always concerned for my mom and us kids.Mostoften, the reason a person skips their court appointment in the first place is because they know there is a lot of evidence of their guilt, and they know they are going to prison, so they run.Whenmy dad, orI, or any bounty hunter, catches them and arrests them, they are usually pissed because we’ve erased their get-out-of-jail-free card.Theycan, and sometimes do, retaliate.Evenif it isn’t them directly, but an associate, friend, or fellow gang member doing the retaliation.”

I knew what that was like, having someone retaliate.WhenIwas shot, it wasn’t from the men at the robbery but loyal friends who wanted to protect them.

“That’s where the cabin came in,”Vincecontinued. “Itwas private, away from prying eyes, and the ownership of the property was technically registered under a trust for my sister and me, so if someone was looking for my dad, it would make it very hard to find us.”

I was impressed with the amount of thought that went into the privacy of their home, but having spent the last seven years trying to hide out,Iunderstood and appreciated whatVince’sdad had done.

“So, to answer your question, yes, we mostly came up here for holidays or summer, but we also came up here any time my father thought there might be a threat to us.”

“And why you felt comfortable bringing me up here,”Isurmised.

“Yeah.Mydad also installed a bunch of cameras around the exterior of the home, motion sensor lights, perimeter fencing, and trip wires around the property, so we can see if someone is coming.”

Holy crap.Hisdad had really taken the security seriously.Anormal person might be nervous that there was that much done to the property, but given my history, plus the current threat,Iwas actually happy this place had that level of security.

We pulled off the main road and came up to a large gate.Vincetyped some numbers onto the keypad, and the gate opened to a narrow drive with large pine trees on either side.

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