That’s bad.
I am relieved that I’m not the only one feeling stressed today, and I pat the holster under my arm. It’s reassuring. I know that Blake and I can handle whatever this trip brings, but I can’t shake the uneasy feeling. Not when we pull into the empty parking space at Ana’s dingy little duplex.
When I cut the engine, Faye scrambles over the seat to settle comfortably in the back seat with a blanket and pillow she grabbed before we left. She smiles happily as she sips coffee from my travel mug. I push the button to lock the door as Blake and I approach the front door leaving he
r safely inside. Just in case. If there is going to be a problem, this is where we would expect it to be, and I don’t want her anywhere near it.
The lights are on inside the unit and Ana’s shadow is moving around inside, so we know that she is here and awake. Blake raps on the door as I step into the darkness that still obscures the rickety stoop. Soft footsteps approach the door. There is only a brief hesitation before the door swings open and Ana invites him inside. Nothing feels off about her actions.
Stepping out of the darkness as he enters the dwelling, my Glock 10mm still in easy reach, I follow them inside. Blake takes point and clears the duplex while Analise watches us.
“Is something going on that I should know about?” she asks, her forehead scrunched with confusion.
“Nah,” Blake answers as he re-enters the room slipping his own Glock back into its holster. “All clear, Trav,” he tells me. He still looks worried.
I’m totally not liking this.
“You ready?” I ask Analise.
She bobs her head in an affirmative and picks up a box off the couch. Blake moves to take it from her and she smiles at him. “It's light. Just a few baby things I've picked up.”
There are a couple other boxes by the door so we both take one as she closes and locks the it behind us. Blake and I stow her belongings in the back of the truck while Faye opens the back door and Ana climbs in beside her.
I see them hugging each other and the heaviness I’ve been carrying this morning lifts a little. Blake has a small smile on his face watching them carry on like it’s been weeks and not just a couple of days since they last saw each other.
The trip starts off well enough with the girls talking and laughing in the back seat. I still can't shake my bad feeling, and from the tight set of his jaw, I can tell Blake is feeling the same way. This has happened to us before, and not for the first time, I think about turning around and taking everyone home. I could always call Xavier and have him come for him wife.
There is trouble coming.
I just have to figure out where it's coming from and how the hell to stay ahead of it. I have no doubt that, once we get to Cerelli, whatever danger is tailing us will be mitigated. He may be on the straight and narrow, but the guy is still a mafia boss. He will be able to protect his wife.
Chapter Twenty
Travis
It’s a long drive to Vegas. We have been on the road all day, but we should be there in a couple more hours. We skipped stopping at restaurants like we had planned for breakfast and lunch, opting instead for sandwiches from a mini-mart when we stopped for gas.
Changing our plans felt like the right idea to both Blake and I. Not stopping has put us a little ahead of schedule, so I’m cautiously hopeful that if there was danger waiting for us we will avoid it by being early. No one has even said anything about stopping for dinner yet, even though the sun is getting low in the sky.
Blake has been quiet, spending a lot of time on his laptop. I know that he’s trying to stay one step ahead and figure out what might be going on. The trouble is that there shouldn’t be anyone interested in us taking Ana home. Not that we have been able to find any knowledge of, anyway. It doesn’t make any sense, but we know better than to discount the way that we have been feeling.
The mood is so somber that even the girls have stopped their quiet chatter in the backseat. We hadn’t been on the road long before they picked up on the tension radiating off of Blake and I. Now everyone is focused on the road ahead, scanning for trouble that we can't see.
It’s unpleasant, like feeling eyes on you while you walk down a dark street in an unfamiliar place.
The closer we get to our destination the more I try to convince myself that I’m just overreacting. Having found Faye, I’m just letting my fears of losing her again run amok. All of this worry has to be my imagination. Blake has known me for so long that it would be easy for him to pick up on my stress, and then we would both be worried. Most likely for nothing. At least that is what I keep telling myself as the miles continue to roll by.
We are in the middle of nowhere and I’m about to suggest stopping for food and a bathroom break in the next town when an armored truck comes screeching out of the darkness and onto the highway toward us.
“What the fuck?” Blake shouts. The sound of alarmed feminine voices ring in my ears as I rapidly access my options. Unfortunately there aren’t many.
The lights on the big truck are off making it a dark shadow in the dimming light. It’s straddling the yellow lines in the middle taking up most of the two lane road. I yank the wheel to the right, trying to give myself room to get by it, but suddenly the lights come on. I’m blinded by the bright beams of the LED headlights. Fuck I hate those things under any circumstances, but now the brilliant blue light is almost incapacitating. The gravel shoulder pulls at my tires. I struggle to hold the wheel steady. White spots cloud my vision and I blink rapidly hoping to clear them away as I step harder on the gas pedal. If I can’t get past them it’s guaranteed that there will be some kind of confrontation. It’s a classic maneuver. They will force us off the road and then Blake and I will be forced to protect the girls any way we can. Blake’s knee still being fucked up will make that harder than it usually would be.
Faye is crying in the back seat.
“Get your heads down,” I yell at them, unable to tell if they heard me or not. The big vehicle clips the front bumper spinning my truck to the side. My seatbelt jerks me back as the airbags deploy, stunning me with the impact.
Vaguely I hear the girls’ voices in the back and Blake yelling something at me. I shake my head and put the truck in reverse, trying to move away from the vehicle blocking our path.