Page 19 of Wraith
They continued like this for a while, her buying small things, cheap things, things that wouldn’t draw much attention or cause her to use too much cash. The only thing she really splurged on was a Guess bag to carry it all in. When they were finally standing close to the food court, Amelia took a chance and stood in front of him.
“Did you want to get anything?” she asked him.
Wraith looked up from his cell and shook his head. “No. I have everything I need.”
“Okay…”
They made their way back through the crowd and Amelia wondered if no one worked for a living anymore. It was barely eleven in the morning and already the place was crawling with bodies. When they exited, Amelia slipped her glasses on. As she was about to step off the curb to head in the direction they’d parked, Wraith grabbed her arm.
“What…” She didn’t finish her question. There were a couple of guys, walking around the Jeep, peering in through the back windows and then glancing over their shoulders. Wraith pulled Amelia behind a wall and she noticed the way his shoulders rose and fell. “How’d they know we were here?”
“When we get a chance, we’ll ask them,” Wraith said, irritation evident in his voice. He handed her the bags then peeked out from their hiding spot.
Amelia wanted to kick him in the throat.
“Hold on to the keys,” he said to her. “If I don’t come back you get in and you drive.”
“But…”
Wraith turned to look at her and Amelia nodded.
Without saying a word, Wraith dipped out the other side. Amelia took a few breaths, trying to build up the courage to look out and see what he was doing. It wasn’t like she could remain there forever. Wraith expected her to look. How else would she know if she should run or not?
Chewing on her bottom lip, Amelia slowly poked her head out. It was in time to see Wraith send a high kick to one of the guy’s head. His action stunned her—how could a man his size kick so high?
The two kept fighting as the other man was slowly picking himself up off the ground. Amelia ran from where she was to smack the punk in the back with her bags before shoving him as hard as she could. He hit the ground face-first and she stepped back to brace herself. When he didn’t move, she kicked him repeatedly in the ribs. The anger she’d been feeling came rushing forward again, replacing her fear and she kept sending her foot into the unconscious man’s ribs until someone grabbed her from behind.
“Lemme go!” She shouted, still trying to get to the thug. “Put me down!”
“Amelia, you’re causing a scene,” Wraith’s voice was gruff in her ears, his body hard against her. “We have to go before someone calls the cops.”
But he didn’t put her down. He carried her to the Rubicon and all but tossed her into the back seat. She dropped the bags on the floor just as he closed the door. Instead of arguing, she put on her seatbelt and Wraith drove from the parking lot and turned in the wrong direction away from Lili’s place.
“Where are you going? The house is back the other way.”
“We can’t go back right now. If they found us at the mall, it’s only a matter of time before they get to the house. I can’t put her in danger.”
“Of course not.” Amelia picked at her index finger. She could feel Wraith’s gaze on her through the mirror.
“What the hell is your issue?” Wraith snarled.
Amelia didn’t speak. She hadn’t meant to say anything. She hadn’t meant to be bitter about it. But her damn mouth didn’t seem to want to do what she wanted.
Wraith said nothing else, he merely sped up on the snow slicked road.
“I never asked for this, you know?” Amelia spoke. “I was perfectly happy with my life. But my father is who he is, he did what he did and now I’m supposed to suffer for it. I can’t even go to the mall without it turning into an episode of the Blindspot.”
Wraith didn’t speak. He simply pulled over and eased from the front seat with the motor still running.
Amelia eyed him. It was as if he hadn’t heard her. Sure, she didn’t expect any grand wisdom from the bone-head but a grunt of acknowledgement would have been nice. She watched him as he inspected the vehicle intently. He then slid to his stomach and peered underneath. He rooted about there before standing and stared with a frown at a silver button in his hand. Then, he glanced both ways, hurried across the street and attached it to a parked car. When he returned, he resumed on as if nothing had happened.
It wasn’t a life Amelia wanted. She didn’t want to have to stop every time she was going into her car to see if there was a tracking device on it, or worse, a bomb.
The thought made her trembled.
“I didn’t even get to say goodbye to Doc.”
“I thought you weren’t a fan.”
