* * *
We madeit out of Raleigh. Shawn and I were in the first black Ford Explorer, all three matching with blacked-out windows. Jaxon stayed several cars behind us, often switching into alternating lanes. I barely took my eyes off the rearview mirror until he broke off and gave Shawn the all-clear text. Then, at Greensboro, the Explorer carrying Mason and Cort split off from us, and after we made it through the city, Briggs and Lincoln broke off.
We’d done it. As far as we knew, and I trusted these men, we hadn’t been followed. For now, I was safe again, and after an hour in the car, I finally felt like I could breathe.
Country music played on the radio, and while Shawn tried to make conversation, there wasn’t much to say. The tension was palpable, and I figured it would last the rest of the drive.
His phone vibrated in the stand, popping up with Mason’s name.All good here, it read.
Same.That came from Briggs.
“Want me to text them back?” I asked Shawn when he glanced at the screen as messages came in.
“Go for it.” I grabbed his phone and glanced at him. “Three six two five.”
I entered the code and typed out a text to the rest of the guys.Good here, too.
We were still hours away, the home almost four hours from where we started. How in the heck I was supposed to sit still in this car was a mystery, and I was currently failing at it. I couldn’t stop fidgeting, tapping my feet, flicking my fingernails against my thumbs.
Shawn’s hand settled on my thigh and squeezed. “You keep bouncing that leg and you’ll bounce us right off the road.”
“I’m anxious.”
“And I can tell.” He squeezed my leg again but kept his hand there. “You want to talk? About your dad?”
His voice softened into that caring tone of his I usually liked so much, and for once I wished it was his doom-and-gloom voice.
“I don’t even know what to think about it.”
“I’m here, you know, if you change your mind.”
I knew that. I placed my hand on his, and he flipped his hand over. Our palms met and warmth spread up my arm from the contact, straight to my heart, which Shawn might as well have held in the palm of his hand instead of mine.
He brought our hands to his mouth and kissed the back of mine. “You should get some rest, honey. You haven’t been sleeping well.”
I shook my head, settling it on the headrest, and smiled at him. “There’s no way that’s happening.”
“You’re okay and you’re safe, and hopefully soon this will be over. Close your eyes, Addi, and at least try to relax.”
I didn’t think it’d happen, not with my mind racing, stress tightening every muscle in my body, and fear racing like a racer through my head, but somehow, with Shawn holding my hand, the quiet rumble of the highway beneath the car, and the cloudy skies above, at some point my eyes closed, and when I woke up, it was to the car making a sharp right turn on a gravel road headed downhill and the roof of a house beneath us, almost looking like it was cut into the side of a mountain.
“We’re here,” Shawn said, and he continued down the long gravel drive until we pulled up to a two-car garage and stopped the car. “You slept.”
I grinned and brushed hair out of my face, taking in the house in front of us as I wiped sleep from eyes. It was amazing that I’d slept. More incredible was I actually felt rested. “Yeah. How long was I out?”
“Couple hours.”
Wow.I must have needed it. As my sleepy brain continued to wake up, I turned to Shawn. “The other guys?”
“Briggs and Lincoln are already inside. They’re parked at the top of the hill. Cort and Mason will be here later. They’re stopping in town to make sure we’re stocked on food and to ensure we didn’t have a tail at all.”
God, I would never curse being bored again after all of this. A day without murder, tails, shell games with cars and hiding from men involved in the mafia and drugs and women sounded like the most exciting adventure I could ever go on.
A quick glance out the window told me I wasn’t exactly wrong about the house looking like it’d been carved from the side of the mountain. To the left of the gravel drive, jutting out over the tree tops, was a deck that appeared to wrap around the back of the house. In the distance were rolling hills and peaks and trees that went as far as the horizon, the afternoon sun now shining bright, breaking through soft wisps of clouds that streaked across the sky.
“It’s beautiful here,” I whispered.
“It is. Let’s go see our home for the next while.”