“How did you get this number?” I asked him, too curious., knowing he would give me some convoluted, hacky answer I wouldn’t understand anyway.
“You weren’t hard to keep track of,” he told me. “You need to do better. I saw the footage in New York, and I tracked you from there. An apartment block, then out of the city. Too easy if you know how.”
Panic heated my gut, and I stood up straighter, tension creeping in. “Are we—”
“You’re safe,” Christian interrupted. “But you were spotted when you drove through TOWN yesterday. Keep out of anything larger than the most rural of areas and you should be fine. But don’t go backwards. As far as I can tell, it’s only me hot on your tail.”
“Why, Chris?” I asked, unable to restrain myself. “Why kee—”
“Don’t, buddy,” Christian said. “We’re friends. That’s enough.”
I sighed, struggling with that. Why would he help unless he had to? But I trusted the man, if he was hiding something from me, it wasn’t going to hurt us. “We were thinking of coming to Chicago,” I admitted. Well, I had been. I had contacts there, like Christian, and I knew the area. We could hide out and recuperate with all my shit, with the roads I know and the people I could fight. Home turf, kind of. Not as homely as the UK, but a flight was risky, an airport too much like a train station. Chicago seemed the right call.
Christian sighed. “I’ve kept an eye on your place. It’s being watched. Everywhere is. I’ve had someone tailing me, too. I don’t know who they are yet, though. Cops or family. But… it’s not safe here. Any city. Until I can figure out just how far-reaching this whole thing is, this church, best stay tucked away.”
“I’m sorry, mate,” I responded, my chest squeezing at the thought of having fucked something up so massively for my friend. He was the only real mate I had, and even now that I’d ruined this for him, his safety, he was still thinking of me.
“No.” He was blunt, and it made me smirk. “No, Theo. We get her out. We get her safe. Then we think of how to clean up the mess.”
“Right.” I nodded, though he couldn’t see me. I think. “Of course.”
“I was just phoning to give you a route to take. There’s a cabin you can stay in, off-grid, owned by my family a million times removed. I can keep an eye on it for you. There’s loads of security. It’s yours, if you want it.”
I paused. “Why are you doing this?” I asked again. “Why such a limb?”
Christian didn’t reply for a while, but I heard him breathing down the phone. I watched the trees, looking for any wildlife to distract me, or a hoard of criminals come to murder and pillage the motel…
“I hate what they’ve done, Theo. Isn’t that enough?” he said at last. I let it go. The extra he wanted to say but failed to find the words for.
“Okay,” I said, unconvinced. “That’s enough.” I paused. “You are the biggest gem on the planet; you’re fucking star, you know that?” And I really was so grateful. I wanted to get Violet somewhere good to rejuvenate. It needed to be more than physical, it was mental, too. We were going to get each and every one of those bastards, but without that foundation rebuilt beforehand, I was worried she would shatter before she had the chance to get started.
She almost did when that prick went in front of the train.
“I’ll text you the way. No one has this number for now, but learn the directions and smash the thing up, anyway.”
“Sure,” I said, that paranoia creeping back in. My eyes darted around the motel, but there was still nothing even remotely suspicious. Still, I wanted to return to Vi. I wanted to touch her and curl up under those warm sheets with her. Block the door and the world. “Thank you.”
“Anytime.”
“But—”
“Yeah, big owe.”
“Love you, mate,” I said and hung up, unwilling to hear his response. But the three hearts I got along with the map images made me chuckle. I looked at the map for just a moment, resolving to study it better inside.
I needed Violet.
Six
Violet
Dirttracks,backroadsand winding paths took us through the countryside. I moved in and out of consciousness, my body still in healing mode, and each time I stirred, the landscape looked different; the sun was higher, then lower in the sky. Theo never admonished me for how bad my company was, only got me fed and watered before I drifted back off again, stroking my skin while keeping one hand on the wheel until I was out. I roused to his smile, his hand popping on my knee, and his fingertips drifting over my skin until sleep dragged me under again - he didn’t seem concerned about my fatigue, so I decided not to worry too.
I needed to heal. However my body chose.
Theo woke me when it was pitch black, telling me we’d driven for twelve hours and that his friend’s cabin was getting close. He had bags under his eyes, but otherwise, they glowed, wide and awake despite sending half a day behind the wheel. How had he managed it? With piles of energy drinks and junk food from the vending machine and a tenacity I lacked.
Twenty minutes from the cabin, we reached a high gate, a fence disappearing into the trees lining the road. Theo stopped, leaning out and typing in a code. The gate cranked and swung open, and we edged our way in, both of us holding our breath.
