Page 85 of Constantly Cotton
Then he pocketed the key for the damned military transpo because making shit easy for Talbot was not on his list of things to do.
The next ten minutes were incredibly nerve-wracking, mostly because they were so silent. In a deadly serious game of follow-the-leader, George took them behind the parking garage, back toward the hospital. At one point in time, they really did have to crouch, bending over so they could pass unnoticed in front of the windows, because Talbot could be heard on the other side, bullying staff members about how could they miss a bus full of kids.
Jason knew he’d lost a few years of his life before they’d all managed to pass that wall and make it back to the barbwire fenced-in area that marked hospital transport. George had the key for the gate, and past that, he led them to a red shuttle bus that had seen better days. He unlocked it, and then he and Jason ushered the children—all of whom were clutching their apples and sandwiches and water and milk for dear life—back up into the new bus.
Jason breathed a sigh of relief, and George pressed the keys into his hand. “Hurry—but not too fast,” he said. And then he grinned. “And if you see Jai, tell him I’m fine and no regrets, okay? The guy’s awesome, but he worries too much.”
Jason nodded. “I will. And if you get into trouble, tell them I lied and told you this was a legit op, okay?”
George shook his head. “Negatory. Amal and I will tell them we don’t turn our back on kids. Now go. Be safe.” George turned toward the children, who were now back in their seats and dutifully buckling their seat belts. “Be good for Lieutenant Colonel Constance, okay?”
“They’ll probably court-martial me,” Jason said. “Maybe just have them call me Jason.”
“Nope,” George said, and then he gave a very passable salute. “They’re going to know that someone with honor worked super hard to get them home.”
And with that, Jai’s very un-average, veryveryimpressive boyfriend hopped off the bus and ran back toward where Jason had abandoned the military transport.
Driving very mildly, and praying to be invisible, Jason made it out of the hospital parking lot and back onto the road.
“Mr. Constance?” Sophie said from the seat behind him. “Are we going to keep driving, or are we going to stop sometime tonight?”
Jason looked at his watch and saw that it was barely nine. If he was going to rest, he should do it in the darkest part of the night—sleeping in the bus in the middle of the day was no good, and he was pretty sure he couldn’t make it to Sacramento, not now, when he had to cut through LA traffic and then probably drive up toward Lancaster to stay off military radar.
“We’ll stop in a couple of hours,” he promised her. Then he smiled slightly. “Hey, Sophie, do you see what that little cubicle is in the back of the bus?”
Sophie’s entire face lit up in smiles. They’d been able to make one stop between Victoriana and LA, and the kids had been miserable, and it hadn’t been enough.
“Oh, Mr. Constance! You’re so wonderful! You got us a bus with abathroom!”
Jason had to chuckle. He was being chased by his own military, and, very probably, by local mobsters, all of whom wanted their hands on these children. But this girl had managed to find a silver lining.
“You’re a hero!” Sophie told him, eyes wide, and he winked at her and told her to tell the others they could only use it one at a time, and everybody had to buckle their seat belt when they weren’t going to use the facilities.
A little part of him whispered that it had been a long time since he felt like his job made him a hero.
It felt pretty good.
Part 3—Kaboom
THEY’D STOPPEDat the garage to fix the RV, but what Ace really wanted to do was take a sandblaster to it and erase it from the earth. The interior was squalid and filthy and smelled like the piss of a thousand sweaty cats, and thinking of them as cats and not terrified children was the only way Ace could even stand to look at it.
He’d texted Ernie quietly and had him get Sonny out of the way so he and Jai could get in there, tune the fucker up, buy a shit-ton of ice to shovel in the back to keep them cold, and then drive off. Ernie texted him right before Ace and Jai were ready to get back on the road, telling him to relax, Sonny had stayed for dinner, and since they had Duke with them, he might just stay with Ernie until the next morning, when they went back to the garage.
Ace was so relieved he could have cried.
“What?” Jai asked as Ace started the thing up. Yup, ran better. Ace still wanted it dead. “You have never heard of sleeping on a friend’s couch? Yours almost had my ass print on it, before George started coming to my apartment.”
“As far as I know, Sonny ain’t never had a friend he could have a sleepover with,” Ace said shortly. “It’s like a part of his childhood he might get back. Sue me if I am excited about this.”
Jai grunted. “That is entirely fair.” Then his face fell. “Even I had friends as a child,” he said. “What do you know of Sonny’s life—”
Ace swallowed and shook his head. “I… I can’t. Not when we’re cruising down the road in this… this fucking abomination, okay?”
Jai’s silence was hard to read, and Ace snuck a look at him. He was gazing out the passenger window. “I carried such a torch for Sonny for so long,” he said wistfully. “But every so often I get a glimpse that shows me you are the better man for him.”
Ace grunted. “Well, I may be the better man forhim, but I am definitely not the better man.” He gave Jai an assessing look and tried to decide if he could crack a joke. “Besides, you’ve got a pretty nurse who has broken the law a couple of times, just for you, and you know that’s sort of a fantasy.”
Jai grunted in return, but Ace could tell he was pleased.
