Page 191 of Keeping Kasey
He’ll be happy, and I can live with that.
The driver pulls onto the road.
“The airport, please,” I say, and the words come out scratchy.
I guess I’ve been crying more than I realized.
“I’ve got something better in mind,” the driver says, and I meet his eyes in the rearview mirror.
“Mark?” I practically shout his name. “What are you—how did you find me?”
“Hey, Katie,” he says with a smile full of relief. “You have no idea how great it is to see you.”
“It’sKasey. How did you find me?”
“It’s okay,” he assures me. “You’re safe now. The Consolis aren’t going to find you, but you do need to toss your phone.”
“I was—” I take a deep breath, sorting through my thoughts as quickly as I can.
Mark is here. He found me. He didn’t take my warning last night seriously. He thinks he’s saving me.
“How did you find me?” I repeat, threading urgency into each word.
“I’m not supposed to tell you that,” he says. “But they said they’ll explain everything when we get there.”
“Get where? Who is helping you? Mark, you have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself into.”
Thick fear curdles in my stomach, and I realize that, once again, I’ve condemned Mark to suffer for my sake.
“I can’t tell you that either, but they’re the good guys. I promise. They came and found me after every MC in Phoenix refused to hear me out. They said they knew the Consolis, and they knew how to save you.”
“I wasn’t being heroic when I told you to drop this, Mark. I’m not a damsel in distress; I’m one of the monsters. You have no idea who these guys are.”
Mark flashes me a reassuring glance. “I know they’re in the mafia, Kasey. I’m not as clueless as you think. And you said all of that under duress. I know they made you call me and threatened my life, but they can’t touch me now.”
“Pull this car over,” I snap. “Right now.”
Mark’s brow furrows.
This is clearly not the response he was expecting.
“I didn’t believe them,” he whispers. “Youarebrainwashed. What did they do to you?”
“Pull. This. Car. Over.”
He shakes his head, and his face steels with a resolve that terrifies me.
“I’m not going to do that. I’m going to get you to safety whether you like it or not.”
“The people you’re working with, they aren’t the good guys here, Mark. There are no good guys. You’re just putting yourself in danger, and you don’t need to. I’m safe. I promise I’ve been safe.”
“They said you’d say that,” he mutters.
I pull my phone out and dial Logan’s number, but the call won’t go through.
Mark sighs. “They also warned me that you might call for backup.” He lifts a small black device, the size of a deck of cards.
A cell phone jammer.
