“I try,” Aimee admitted with a shy smile. “Now follow me.”
They rushed along the top of the wall to a walkway that cut past the main house to the large garage nearby. Aimee quickly punched in the security code and they slipped inside. The lights flicked on to reveal a bank of sports cars, a limousine, and a collection of motorcycles.
“You pick,” Aimee said.
Cassandra stared at the pegboard where all the keys dangled. She snagged a set with a Harley logo on it.
“I had a feeling you’d pick that,” Aimee said, her laughter a balm to Cassandra’s anxious mind.
Aimee activated the garage door while Cassandra found the correct motorcycle and climbed onboard the gleaming red and chrome beauty. Aimee ran back and slid onto the seat behind Cassandra. Her lean arms wrapped around Cassandra’s waist and her body pressed lightly against the dhamphir’s back.
Cassandra gunned the engine and kicked up the stand. The big bike rumbling under her, she rode it out of the garage and along the long drive. She didn’t bother with the lights, but rode straight toward the gated entrance using her keen vision to guide her. Aimee leaned into her so she could reach around and hit the button on a small device attached to the handlebars. The gates opened smoothly onto the road beyond.
Maintaining a tight hold on Cassandra, Aimee rested her chin on the dhamphir’s shoulder. “Are we going to the rental car?” Aimee asked in her ear.
“No, we can’t trust it,” Cassa
ndra answered.
“So where are we going?”
“How do you like Prada?” Cassandra asked, tilting her head so she could catch a glimpse of Aimee’s face.
Their attention was drawn away by the sound of Frank’s helicopter lifting off from the helipad at the far end of the estate. Its lights shone like small white and red stars against the desert sky.
“He escaped,” Aimee sighed.
“So did you.”
“Yeah,” Aimee answered, her voice filled with wonder. “I did.”
Cassandra pressed on the gas and the two women fled into the night.
Chapter 18:
Free to Decide
In the early morning hours, the desert was at its coldest and Aimee shivered in Cassandra’s denim jacket. She watched Cassandra fuss with her messenger bag. It was the only thing she had grabbed from their very quick stop at the motel. It had been a gamble to recover Cassandra’s personal belongings, but with Frank’s men knocked out until dawn they had decided to risk it. Cassandra had worried that her broker, Scott, may have sent another team after her, but they had not encountered anyone.
Clad in jeans, boots, and a form-fitting Superman t-shirt, Cassandra looked beautiful with her hair falling gently around her chin. Straddling the motorcycle as she riffled through her personal belongings, she looked nervous. “Found it!” She yanked out a cellphone. “This is my personal one, so it should be safe.”
Cassandra had left everything her broker had given her for the job in a heap on the hotel room floor. She didn’t want to risk him tracking her through the items. She had explained to Aimee that she had always kept her exact location a secret from Scott and never told him the false name she lived her normal life under.
Aimee smiled. “I told you that you had it.”
“I was about to fucking freak out if I left it in the rental car,” Cassandra grunted. She began typing away on the screen.
The cold wind didn’t seem to affect the dhamphir, but it had Aimee shivering. They were miles out of Marfa and hiding behind the fake Prada Store that had been erected as an art display. The ivory facade was beginning to show wear and tear from the elements, but it was still in reasonable shape. There was no way to get into the building without tripping the alarm, and it wasn’t an actual store anyway. The shoes on display really were Prada, but there was only one shoe of each style. As far as Aimee knew, no one ever changed the shoes to the latest Prada collection.
“Fucking A!” Cassandra grinned. “My backup plan is in effect, so no worries.”
“Backup plan?” Aimee cocked her head. “You had a backup plan?”
“Well, yeah. I knew I was coming to save you and not get that damn relic, so I started to get nervous. It’s one thing for me to put my ass on the line, but I didn’t want to risk yours more than I had to.” Cassandra shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe I was starting to doubt Scott, but I did contact an old friend of mine who is part of an organization that fights the big bad monsters of the world. I asked for him to send someone to pick us up. I didn’t want us to leave with the rental car and take the route I took coming in. I just got word that they’re almost to the rendezvous point. Which is here.”
Aimee shifted on her feet, adjusting her tapestry bag, the beads dangling from the bottom jingling. It felt so strange to be far away from Frank and the cocoon he had trapped her in. The world felt vast and a little frightening. “And then what?”
Cassandra shrugged her shoulders. “We go to El Paso, grab some food, then head to Dallas. We can get you a flight out of DFW to any place you want to go. I have some extra money squirreled away. It’s on me.”