Page 116 of Red Retaliation
Being in this car doesn’t make me feel any more comfortable either.
I nervously glance around the interior of the large motor - the blacked-out windows obscuring me from anyone outside. I know it’s bulletproof glass because I heard what Red demanded.
And that underlines I’m a target. The Bristonis are gunning for me. Quite literally.
I wonder if that’s therealreason Red gave me a traceable phone?
Nausea rises.
What if this car gets hijacked by the Bristonis?
I raise my eyes to the stranger sitting on the backward-facing seat in front of me. I’ve never seen him before, and he hasn’t said a word. His head is too large for his body, and he’s got horrible beady eyes, which make my skin crawl with ants. I don’t like him, and I don’t know why.
Is it Cal Bennett? Or is Cal Bennett the one driving this thing?
I don’t even know what Cal looks like, but even if I did, it wouldn’t matter because the front of this car is blanked off from the back by a thick sliding piece of black glass. The strange thing about it is I can’t see throughto the front. It’s like the one-way glass has been installed the wrong way around.
Sensing the man opposite staring at me, I retrieve my mobile from my bag. Although I’m sure Del has informed Red I’ve already left, I’ll text him anyway to put his mind at rest. I know he didn’t want me to leave.
That this apartment I’m heading to is one Red lived with Lorna no longer bothers me either. Things are different now.
Or I hope there will be achancefor them to be different.
Pushing away the dread that a bomb is in a building where the man I now know I’m meant to be with is currently inside, is the best way of getting through this. I can only pray that the device is found and diffused.
The other option is not something I can think about.
Red will do it. He’ll find the bomb, make it safe and then...
My phone suddenly “dings” with a notification, and I glance up, seeing a flash of irritation aimed in my direction from the scary-looking man opposite.
It must be a text from Red!
My heart thunders. Maybe he’s found the explosive? Perhaps I don’t have to go to this apartment after all?
Scrambling to open the message, I stare at the words, my veins running cold.
[Unknown number]
17 Nov - 07:06
4292
It’s Cal. The car is ready. Back entrance.
Perspiration breaks over my face as I check the phone’s clock. That text was sent seven minutes ago, yet I’ve only just received it.
My mind swims. Is it a duplicate?
I fumble to open the call log and compare the phone numbers.
Shit! They’re different...
Heart hammering, my eyes dart to the brick-headed man who is still watching me. He isn’t Cal Bennett. Cal Bennett is not in this car.
And if Cal Bennett is not in this car, then whois?
Bristoni men?
