“It’s not.”
Bane jogged through a door at the far end that led to a larger garage. Another black SUV that looked like it was hyped up on steroids sat shining.
“Get in.”
Without hesitation, I got in the car, feeling like I was going to be sick at any moment. I fumbled nervously with the buckle as Bane cranked the car after throwing the bags in the back seat. The garage came open and we rapidly left. Casually, Bane drove, but scanned the area. I felt cold as I kept glancing out the window, waiting for someone to chase us again. Two blocks turned into five, which turned into eight. I wanted Bane to drive fast, but he kept with the speed limit. I hugged myself to keep from shaking.
Glancing back in the rearview mirror, Bane thundered, “Fuck!”
I jumped at the tone of his voice, feeling ice flood my veins. Daring a glance back to see what type of scene unfolded, the building was surrounded in black vehicles as men got out wearing what looked like bullet-proof vests. We’d been traced through my purse. The mysterious black truck pulled up. I glanced to Bane, whose knuckles were gripping the steering wheel to the point where one or the other was going to snap.
“Will you get my new cell out of the bag I grabbed from the desk?”
“Yes.”
We were going within the speed limit. Leaning over the console I unzipped the bag with shaky fingers. It was hard controlling the fear. Bane obviously had years of practice with his overall ability to internalize his feelings. Within the bag, electronics and money were neatly stored. I took the cell and came upright into my seat.
I handed him the black phone. “Here you go.”
Bane took it. “Thanks.” With one hand, he hit a few buttons.
Re-fastening my seatbelt, I was ready to be somewhere safe. “What are you doing?”
“Burning the place down.” Those ominous words spoken, without an ounce of emotion, were dreadful. I sunk back into my chair.
Knowing death and destruction were bound to happen at some point, I still hated the fact of anyone losing a loved one. “Do you think there were any men in there?”
He shrugged. “Maren, this isn’t a negotiation with them. If they found us, I’d be dead and who knows what the hell they would have done to you. I’m not letting anything happen to you. If that makes me a sadistic bastard for not caring about if someone died back there, so be it. They knew what they were coming against when they came on the mission to get me.”
Merging onto the interstate, Bane sped up to the limit. “What made you think to check my purse?”
The blinker sounded as he maneuvered around a vehicle going under the limit. “Things were timed too perfectly when we arrived back at the hotel. They had to have a tracker on us. It would be too risky to put one on me. If I took you with me anywhere, your purse would be the one thing you’d grab.”
All of this made my head hurt. It was like conspiracy theory times one-hundred. The constant calculating, planning, plotting was exhausting. “Where are we going?”
“To the train station. I’ll book us tickets after a bit. We’ll be able to get you on without showing an ID since I haven’t had time to make you a false identity. They’ll be monitoring all ticket purchases made within the first two hours. The first initial reaction for anyone is to flee.”
I massaged the temples at my head. The one thing I knew was that I was safest with Bane. “Won’t whoever is after us think the same thing?”
“They may. I’m not leaving from a station. We’re going to North Carolina. Plus, running isn’t my normal mode of operation.”
“What is?”
“Bringing the fight to them.” The sun set as the orange rays cast magnificently across the sky. I turned on the seat heater to chase away the chill that resided bone deep. Bane touched my leg. “Maren, I’m sorry I got you involved in whatever this is. I will keep you safe.”
There was no mistaking the vow in his words. “I know. I feel safe with you.”
I looked back out as the day turned into night. Weariness invaded my body and I let it take me under.
The lights from a parking garage woke me. Groggily, I tried to figure out where we were. Then, I remembered … Frankie … the chase … the people w
ho were after us and I shot up in my seat erect.
Bane touched the side of my face and I leaned into him. “It’s okay, Maren. We’re in North Carolina at a parking garage outside of town. A cab is meeting us out front.”
The soothing voice helped ground me, but I still felt out of sorts. The terror was ready to take seize of me if I let it. However, I knew that wouldn’t help matters. All I wanted to do was forget temporarily. Sleeping in the car gave me that. I got out of the car and stretched, then became leery if someone was here watching me and leaned against the vehicle.
Bane came over to me, invading my space. “We’re safe. If I thought there was a chance anyone would be here, we’d keep going. I made sure we weren’t followed and there aren’t any more bugs.” Tears pricked my eyes, but I held back from losing it. “Let’s get to the station, angel.”