“I never doubted it for a minute,” Gage answered, his eyes straying to the passenger side of the car. He saw the phone at her ear, knew she’d called somebody. Before he could do more than wonder who she was talking with, Sparks crawled from beneath the car.
“I going to take a wild guess and say somebody smacked into the back end of your car.”
Gage nodded. “Exactly what happened.”
“Looks like you were hit more than once.” When Gage started to talk, Sparks raised his hand. “Ain’t my business why or what happened, other than to tell you I’ve got some bad news for ya. You’ve got a ruptured brake line, bent rotor and most likely a cracked axle. Would be able to tell you more if I had a lift where I could get a better look underneath, but I don’t have the equipment here. Mostly sell and change tires and do the occasional oil change. You’re gonna have to get her towed to a mechanic.” Sparks wiped his hands on a dirty rag and shoved it in his pocket. “I can recommend a couple of good ones around here, if you don’t want to haul her too far.”
“Appreciate it. We’ve got folks coming to pick us up, and I’d like to have the car situation taken care of before they get here, if I can.”
“You want to come with me to the office, I’ll give you those names. Jimmie has his own tow truck, too, if you wanna use him. He’s good, I’ve seen his work, and he’ll give you a fair price.”
“Sounds good.” Gage turned toward Bas. “Would you keep an eye on Suzanna, see if there’s anything she needs while I handle this?”
“Sure thing, boss.”
“Keep your eyes open. I’m not sure how long it’ll take the boys in the SUV to catch up to us. It won’t be too hard to figure we’ve had to pull off to look at the damage.”
Bas’ eyes scanned the road before nodding. Gage knew he was leaving Suzanna in good hands, but he still hated walking away, leaving her vulnerable and exposed. He wasn’t sure how far behind their assailants were, because of the two flats, but it wouldn’t take them long to call backup. Their aggression and skill denoted professionals. Somehow the simple favor he’d owed Brandon had morphed and twisted into risking his life to protect the woman who’d asked for a single favor.
Right now he wished he was back at the Big House. Suzanna needed to be coddled by Ms. Patti. Somehow, he had the feeling nobody had ever shown a whole lot of attention or affection to her. Yet she was turning out to be a surprise. One he wasn’t sure what to make of, except she confused and bewildered him. And he wasn’t sure what he was going to do about the feelings stirring deep in his chest.
Glancing over his shoulder, he watched a smile touch her lips as she talked on the phone, the way her head rested against the car’s headrest. He had to admire the way she hadn’t screamed or complained about anything, not while they’d been in the middle of being attacked nor afterward, instead seeming more concerned about him and Bas than herself.
“Here you go, young fella. Jimmie will get you fixed right up. He’s a whiz with these newer model cars. Me, not so much. All those newfangled computer gizmos make my head hurt. Give me good carburetor or a solenoid and I can fix you right up. Though, I don’t get a lot of call for repairs any. Most folks mainly stop here for gas and then hop back on the interstate.”
“Appreciate your help. I’ll give Jimmie a call now, see about getting my car out of your way.” Gage nodded to Sparks and pulled out his cellphone. After the brief call, Jimmie agreed to head right over with his tow truck. He’d give his insurance company a call after they headed back to Shiloh Springs.
It took about half an hour for Jimmie to show up, get the car hooked up and towed back to his shop. Which meant they still had a couple of hours wait until Shiloh and Ridge would be there. Bas had given them directions and instructions on how to get there, but they still needed to kill a couple hours. Luckily, there was a twenty-four hour breakfast joint less than a block from Sparks’ gas station, and an easy walk.
Settling into one of the booths toward the back, Gage sat with his back toward the wall, leaving him with a good view ofthe front door. Suzanna and Bas sat across from him, and Gage watched the other man surveilling the lone door by the kitchen that led to the back. Probably an alleyway behind the restaurant, but an egress just the same. So far, he’d been impressed with Bas’ training, his ability to react to dangerous situations on the fly, and his willingness to take orders and follow through. Add in the fact he was a Boudreau, albeit the Cajun branch, but he would gladly have him guard his back anytime.
“Are we going to talk about how fast those guys found us after we left Blackthorn’s place?” Bas showed a french fry into his mouth after asking the question.
“I wondered if I was the only one who thought it strange we were being followed. Do you thing they’ve been following us since we left the police station, or did Donald sic hired guns on us?” Suzanna reached over to Bas’ plate and snagged a fry.
“Hey!”
She smiled and swirled it in her milkshake before popping it into her mouth. “Mmm, good.”
“That’s…yuck. Milkshakes are for drinking, not…that. Fries get ketchup, not strawberry ice cream.” Bas hunched over his plate when she reached for another one. “Get your own.”
“French fries always taste better off somebody else’s plate, didn’t you know that?”
Gage smiled at the interplay between Suzanna and Bas. She was more relaxed now, thanks to Bas and his silliness. “Children, can we talk the tail we picked up after leaving Dallas? You know, the one that tried to turn our car into a flying missile?”
“I didn’t spot anybody when we left the DPD, and I was watching. Unless somebody put a tracker on the car while it was parked in the lot. It’s a possibility, but I didn’t see one when I was looking at the damage back at the gas station. I didn’t get a chance to check the front of the car, so there still exists that possibility. Also have to consider Blackstone wasn’t exactly themost forthcoming dude, and he’s high on my suspect list. He could have called people to follow us from his place. Though they’d have had to be right on the spot or close by to find us after we left his mansion, so I’d say the like scenario is option A.” Bas swatted at Suzanna’s hand, but she was quicker, grabbing another fry, holding it up like a trophy with a huge smile on her face.
“Suzanna, did you believe Blackthorn’s story about your husband pulling the plug on using Sandoval Enterprises because of a glitch with the microchips?”
Suzanna laid the fry on the side of her plate, and rested her chin on her hands. “I don’t know. I can tell you there was something off about his answers. Yes, Steven’s company was working on an advanced microchip, I was aware of that much, because Steven had talked about it a few times, and I heard Steven and Donald discussing it. I hadn’t heard anything about a glitch or a problem. If what Donald said is true, if they really have mastered particle light data transfer, Steven would have told me. That’s something he would have been over the moon about, because of the ramifications of how it would change technology forever.”
“But you felt something off?”
“I don’t know, he seemed—overenthusiastic—about the particle light capability. You have to understand, Donald is not normally someone who shows a lot of emotion. I rarely saw him smile, but today it was almost seemed he was putting on a performance, like his answers were rehearsed. He was ready for us, almost like he knew I’d be showing up eventually, asking about Steven’s last days at the company.” Her eyes met his, steady and without guile. “Can I ask you something?”
“Of course.”
“What do you have against Sandoval Enterprises? And don’t say nothing. Every time their name is mentioned you get all rigidand there’s a look in your eyes I can’t describe. Have you had run-ins with Gustavo Sandoval in the past?”
