Page 11 of DOG Part 2
5
Kane
Ididn’t breatheuntil I saw the dark form of the Jeep, parked underneath the tree and covered in the branches that I’d spent an hour positioning over it. It wasn’t the best cover up job in the world, and in broad daylight any fool would have been able to tell there was a vehicle beneath the leafy foliage, but it did the trick at night.
Shouts and yells were coming from the ranch house, as well as a few gunshots, and I didn’t take the chance of turning around and seeing what was happening. Instead I knocked down the large branch in front of the driver’s door and yanked it open before ushering Kim into the vehicle. I climbed in after her, glad that I had been wise enough to keep the keys zipped up in my vest pocket.
I had also planned the Jeep’s escape route earlier in the day, making sure there was a clear path that led from underneath the tree and across the yard. I put the car in drive and went for it, tearing through the yard and hitting the driveway with a force so hard that the whole vehicle bumped.
The road’s asphalt was a sweet blessing, and a quick look in the rear view mirror showed me that the three or four cars parked near the end of the drive were all motionless. No one was coming after us. If we were lucky it would be at least a few minutes before they realized we weren’t even on the property anymore.
“Are you all right?” I asked, sneaking a glance at Kim.
Her hands were clutching the sides of her forehead, and her arms were shaking. “We have to go to the police,” she said in a flat voice.
“What? Kim, you don’t understand.”
“Understand what exactly?” she seethed, turning an icy gaze on me. I hit the gas and passed the one other car on the road, a minivan with a mounted TV playing cartoons in the back seat.
“If we go to the police we’re all done for.”
“We’re already done for,” she shrieked. “We both almost got killed. How long are we going to keep doing this for, Kane? Until the day they finally get us? Because that’s going to happen, and you know it. You’re amazing, but you’re not Superman.”
Her spiel finished, she drew her knees up onto the seat and let her head drop. I wanted to reach out to her, comfort her, but I was too busy focusing on tearing Hell out of the countryside. The truth was that she was right. There was no way we would be able to return back to our normal lives. We were in the middle of a gang war that could go on for years.
There was only one thing to do.
“We’re going to come out of hiding,” I said.
“What?” She lifted her face, showing tear-streaked cheeks.
“I’m not going to put you through this anymore. We’re going to come out of hiding.”
“So you’re going to the police?”
“I’m going to the Arroyos Bandidos, and we’re going to strike a deal.”
“What kind of deal?” she asked slowly.
“That I don’t know.”
She gave a pitiful laugh.
“Please believe me, Kim,” I begged, the words feeling so heavy that I could hardly get them out. “If anything were to happen to you...”
I choked, memories from years ago, ones I had worked so hard to kill, coming back.
She reached out and stroked my arm. “It’syouI’m worried about. Something is going to happen to you if this continues.”
I nodded. She was likely right, but it wasn’t me I was worried about. I couldn’t give less of a shit about myself. It had been a long time since I’d done anything good for the world, and taking care of Kim was the good deed of the century.
“I want you to know that I would die for you,” I said, stealing another glance at her face.
She gave me a sad smile. “I don’t want you to have to do that.”
“I know. I also know that you’re not safe as long as you’re with me.”
“What are you talking about?”
