Page 38 of Night of the Living Manny
Liam glanced at him briefly. “I will explain. I swear. We just have to keep going.”
“It’s okay, Daddy,” Susanna said. “Just drive.”
“I’m on it, honey. I love you all, okay? All of you.” Liam’s voice was shaking all the sudden.
Ridiculous as it was, Brenden thought Liam meant him too.
Maybe not, but somehow it soothed him. He hoped it was true.
He sat back in his seat after smiling at Britt and Peter. Peter put in headphones, and Brittany buried her face in Moose’s fur. Moose just sat and panted. He liked the car but preferred the front seat if no window was open.
Liam reached over and squeezed his hand, comforting him.
He squeezed back, feeling the tension in Liam’s body through the contact. He had to trust that fear, if nothing else. Liam truly believed that they were in serious danger.
“Do you think the cabin will be far enough, Daddy?” Susanna asked.
“For now. It’ll be fine, sweetie.”
“Okay.” Susanna watched through the back window, holding that gun in her hands. That was a totally different girl than he was used to. She wasn’t arguing or whining; she was just solid as a rock.
It wasn’t right. This wasn’t right. She was too young.
This whole thing had a nightmarish quality to it. What the hell was going on?
FUCK.
Fuck.
All the years that Diana and he had worried about this eventuality, the careful planning, the back story that they’d worked on so long that they believed it, and all it took for everything to unravel was one greedy, stupid assistant who stole the virus and tried to sell it to the highest bidder. Epic fail.
Christ, Greg. What have you done, asshole?
He blinked at the road, the whole world starting to get a little blurry. They were so close. It was only a two-and-a-half-hour drive, but he was so fucking tired from all the goddamn drama and trying to damage control the situation and working all night….
Brenden touched his arm. “I can take over if you want.”
“I’ve got it.” He’d been trained for this, hadn’t he? And he’d trained his little girl, because her mom was gone. “Just burning through my adrenaline.”
“I hear you. Here.” Brenden reached into a knapsack at his feet. “Chocolate. It’s good for shock.”
“Oh, you’re a trouper. Thanks.” The caffeine and sugar was just what he needed.
“No problem.” Brenden glanced back at the kids. “Susanna is on guard.”
“She is. She’s a good kid, and she’s trained. I didn’t mean for this to happen.” He’d fought for this to not occur for a lot of years.
“How much farther do we have to go?”
“Half an hour.” He glanced over. “Britt and Peter are asleep, but if you need to stop….”
“No, I can make it. So can Moose.”
The cabin was in the middle of nowhere, a series of electronic fences standing before the stone wall built around the structure. The place had reinforced windows and doors, and it had a panic room built as a basement. They could survive there for weeks.
Months if they had to.
He didn’t want that to happen, but the antidote was still unfinished. That had been his job, not this spy vs. spy shit, but he had lost Diana and he’d had babies to raise, and until the last few weeks, nothing had seemed urgent….
