96. Cal Walker
Alexa, play: The Sound of Silence - Disturbed
W e met Theo and Naomi in the parking lot. They had already packed the hearse full of furniture and were working on filling up the G-Wagon by the time we arrived.
Naomi had purchased a massive stuffed gnome that was nearly as big as she was, and she was buckling him into the back seat of my car.
“Do you mind if I ride with you, Cal? There’s no room for Mr. Grumble in the hearse.”
“Mr. Grumble?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.
What a dope name for a gnome.
“Yeah. He reminds me of Vox. Look at his white hair poking out under his hat. He needed a grumpy name.”
I couldn’t help it, I cackled. Vox would hate that. Which made it even better.
I fist-bumped Naomi while Ryan slid our new cum soaked mirror into the hearse. The tips of his ears turned red, despite the fact the mirror was in a box, and there was no way Theo or Naomi could know it was covered in his cum.
“That’s fine, gnomes. You go with Cal. Theo and I can take the hearse.” Ryan said, clearly trying to deflect everyone’s attention from our mirror of shame. Lolz.
I grabbed a fistful of Ryan’s T-shirt before he slipped into the driver’s seat and planted a kiss on his lips.
He let out a surprised mmphhh! But the way his lips curled into a smile made my toes tingle.
Fuck I loved this man so much.
“See you at home, angel,” he whispered, giving me one more quick kiss before smiling up at me.
See you at home.
Fuck why did that make me so giddy!
I grinned back, ruffling his hair affectionately.
“Make sure you put that mirror somewhere… strategic,” I purred, and he gave me a mock scowl as I made my way back to the G-Wagon.
I slammed the door shut and put on a Taylor Swift playlist while Naomi finished fussing with Mr. Grumble. Ryan and Theo pulled out of the parking lot and were already out of sight by the time she finally crawled into the passenger seat.
“Buckle up, Gnomes,” I ordered before putting the car in gear. She did as she was told, then we were off.
We listened to Taylor sing about heartache in amicable silence for a few moments before she spoke.
“I’m really happy for you, Cal,” she said, and I glanced at her, grinning.
“Oh yeah?”
“Yeah. Ryan’s the best. I’m so glad you found him and that you work with him at Fairview now. It’s a way better fit for you.”
My heart swelled with emotion. At first, I was worried about inserting myself into Ryan’s business. What did I know about the death industry?
However, I had always been a quick study. You had to learn fast if you were a mercenary because if you didn’t, you died.
So, I picked up on the ins and outs quickly. Also, anticipating Ryan’s needs came naturally to me. I had always been programmed to take care of the people that I loved, and Ryan was no exception. Making him happy made me happy, so I personally felt like I was doing a good job, but it was really nice to have Naomi validate that.
“You really think so?” I asked, and she nodded, shooting me a gentle smile as we pulled up to a red light.
“Yeah, Cal. I do. You’re really good at connecting with people and helping them manage their grief. It’s kind of incredible.”
I was about to reply when a black Escalade pulled up annoyingly close behind me. I frowned in the rearview.
That fucker Kenny better not be riding my damn ass…
The windshield was tinted enough that I couldn’t see the driver, which was a bit of a red flag. Though, I wouldn’t put it past someone like Kenny to murder out his douchey SUV because he thought it made him seem cool or something.
“Yeah. As much as I was down to help you kill all those pedos, I never liked you working for that dude. What does Cass call him?”
“The twat waffle.”
“Yeah! That twat waffle.”
The light turned green, and I rolled through the intersection, keeping an eye on the Escalade as I drove.
“Anyway… you think you’re gonna marry him?” Naomi asked.
“Huh?” I replied, somewhat distracted by the asshole that was now straight-up tailgating me.
“Ryan? You think you’re gonna marry him?”
I glanced at Naomi as we approached another intersection. The on-ramp to the highway was to the right, but I wanted to test my theory that the Escalade was following us, so I pulled into the left-hand turn lane.
This road led us away from Silent Hollow and into the boonies. It was less likely that many cars would turn this way after a trip to IKEA.
Sure enough, the car followed me.
My hand instinctively dropped to my hip, reaching for a gun that wasn’t there.
Fuck!
I knew I shouldn’t have let Ryan talk me out of leaving it at home.
“Cal?”
“Gnomes… I need you to text Vox our location,” I said, handing her my phone.
“What, why?”
“Just do it, Naomi. And hold the fuck on. I think we’re being followed, and I’m going to try to lose this prick.”
“Holy shit!” she cried, her face going white. “Okay, I’m on it.” She took my phone, and I hit the gas.
The G-Wagon was a beast. It lurched forward, and in seconds, we were shooting down the country road at Mach 5.
The Escalade immediately matched my pace, and any hopes that I had about being an overly paranoid psycho flew out the window.
That car was following us. This was a chase, and it was fucking on.
“Get down!” I shouted at Naomi. “Get as low as you fucking can!”
The Escalade was trying to pull up beside us, and panic rolled through me at the thought of whoever it was potentially having a gun. If they shot through the passenger side and Naomi got hit, I didn’t know what the fuck I would do. Fucking Christ, I wanted my gun.
Why the fuck had I left my shit at home!?
We were coming up to a four-way stop, and my heart skipped a beat when I clocked two more black Escalades waiting for us.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!
They were stationed on either side of the intersection, and as I approached, they rolled forward to block the road.
Naomi was slumped low in the seat, but I instinctively threw my arm across her chest as I gunned it, hoping to make it through the intersection before the SUVs could block us.
“You’re not gonna make it!” Naomi screamed.
“I’m going to fucking make it!” I snarled, trying to push the pedal down further despite the fact that it was already on the floor.
We both ended up being kind of right. We made it there before they could fully block us, but I clipped one of the cars as I went by, causing the wagon to fishtail.
“FUCK!” I snarled, fighting the steering wheel as it tried to rip out of my grip. Tires squealed, and there was a slow-motion moment where I was pretty sure the car caught air.
And then…
We were rolling.
Scrrrrrrreeeechhhhh!
CRUNCH, POP, CRASH!
Glass rained down around me like a thousand tiny bullets, and I felt my collarbone break as my seat belt snapped across my chest. Both airbags exploded, and I regretted telling Naomi to get low as it slammed directly into her face.
Her screams were abruptly cut off as the car rolled, and fear like I had never experienced before exploded through me.
“NAOMI!” I could barely hear my voice as I screamed her name, though the car didn’t seem to be moving anymore. Taylor Swift’s ‘Shake It Off’ was blaring through the speakers, and it felt like a cruel taunt.
There was a ringing in my ears that told me my body was going into shock.
I couldn’t go into shock. I needed to get to fucking Naomi.
The car had landed on the passenger side door, and I couldn’t see her. The airbags deflated, and she was obscured by the white material.
I tried to move the airbag, but pain screamed up my arm, reminding me of the snap I’d felt earlier.
Fuck, this was bad. This was so fucking bad.
“Naomi!” I was screaming. Every time I screamed her name and she didn’t answer, I grew more and more panicked.
I fumbled to release my seatbelt with the hand that still worked, half hoping I could get free, half worried that I would crush my sister if I released the belt and fell.
Suddenly, the driver’s side door opened, and a man in full SWAT gear appeared. He was wearing a ballistic helmet, tactical goggles, and a balaclava. There was no way I could identify him.
I was trapped with only one working arm, still fighting against the shock, when he stuck a needle into my neck and injected me with some shit that burned.
“You fucking bitch!” I snarled, knowing the game was already over.
My vision quickly started to go blurry, and all I could do was pray that Naomi had successfully dropped a pin to Vox.
Though, even if he found the car, I had a feeling we would be long gone by the time he got here.
“He’s with the girl! Help me pull him out; we’ll need to extract her next.”
Fuck.
Whatever the man had injected me with was working fast. I knew I only had a few seconds left before I was passed out.
Would they kill me?
At least if they did, I now knew Ryan could see dead people… Could I find him as a ghost and tell him where they were keeping Naomi?
Wait.
Ryan’s words from earlier rang through my mind.
‘You have a whole gaggle of ghouls that follow you around. If I ever lost you in a crowd, all you would need to do is drop your talisman, and I would be able to find you just from their yowling screams.’
Carefully, with the arm that still worked, I forced my fingers into the front pocket of my jeans. It was nearly an impossible task to pull out the talisman with whatever drugs were in my system, but I managed it.
The last thing I did before my vision went black was drop the talisman, hoping like hell that it would be enough for Vox and Ryan to find us.