Chapter 7
Chapter Seven
With the passport in hand, Cree and Kennedy had thanked Roughstock and headed out.
Six hours later, they hit Sioux Falls and stopped for gas.
Kennedy ran inside to take a piss and grab any last-minute snacks she wanted while he filled the tank.
His goal was to make Rochester before the weather hit.
That was another four hours, if she could make it that long.
Leaning against the bike, he shoved the gas nozzle into the tank and took out his phone. He wanted to check in with Alice back in Hill City. Something in his gut told him to make the call. After his time up at the Stronghold Table, he wasn’t ignoring that feeling.
“Ann’s” came the familiar feminine voice.
“Alice, it’s Cree.”
“Cree, thank God you called.
The tone of her voice had his gut knotting up. “What’s happened?”
“Not an hour after you left, two men came in looking for Kennedy. When they left, we caught them digging in the trash cans. They found her bloody clothes.”
“Fuck.” Shoving off the bike, he looked around the parking lot.
“I called the sheriff, and he detained them for a good while before he escorted them out of town.”
Clicking off the gas pump, he closed the cap as he listened. It was not what he wanted to hear. Something had changed for them. “Thanks, Alice, and thanks for everything.”
“I hope you two come back to see us.”
“Count on it.” Cree hung up and put his phone away. Looking up, he saw Kennedy walking out the store staring at her phone.
“Hey, when did you turn your phone back on?” he asked, curious about it.
Kennedy was caught off-guard at the question.
“I charged it at the cabin for about ten minutes. It came back on about the time you asked if I was ready. This is the first time I’ve looked at it since tossing it in the backpack.
” She didn’t know why she felt the need to explain herself.
It was the way he looked at her, it made her nervous.
“Can your boss track your phone?”
Kennedy stopped eating the candy bar and almost choked on it. Her boss had purchased the phone. “It was part of my signing contract.” She quickly opened the Find My iPhone app and saw her boss’s location and the locations of two other phones.
Cree saw the second she realized it wasn’t her credit card being tracked but the phone. It makes sense. They didn’t track her down in Hill City until today because her phone had been dead.
He knew if the men hunting her left an hour, maybe an hour and a half, after them, they would be closing in. A car didn’t have to make as many gas stops, which gave their pursuers a leg up.
Kennedy handed him the phone, looking as if she might throw up.
Cree cursed as he looked at the screen. They had been tracking them since the cabin.
Turning off the phone, he pulled the SIM card out and tossed it and the phone in two different trash cans.
Without knowing the exact whereabouts of the two men, Cree needed a new plan, a new direction off the straight path to Montreal.
He looked at Kennedy, taking in her complexion and her hair in two braids, and he had an idea. It was a crazy plan, but it just might be the one they needed. Taking his phone back out, he made another call. His eyes stayed on Kennedy as the phone rang.
“Hello?”
“Hey, cousin, it’s Cree. I need a place to lay low.”
“Just you?” his cousin asked him.
“Me and my woman.”
“We have an empty house you can use. When should I expect you?”
“We’re in Sioux Falls heading that way. Probably late tonight. If that changes, I’ll call.”
“You’re gonna hit some weather. Be careful on the roads, cousin.”
“See ya when I see ya.” Cree hung up. Staring at Kennedy, he told her about the phone call to Alice and saw her pale at hearing about the two men.
“We’re changing directions, heading into Minnesota. Up to Red Lake Reservation.” If they stayed on the lake and not in town, they might not be looked at too closely. If they laid low and blended in, there was a great chance it could work.
“How far?” She saw the look and knew it would be another long run.
“More than seven hours,” he said, and she closed her eyes.
“Kennedy, we can’t stop yet.” He watched her, concerned she was mentally spent and physically exhausted. Being on a bike could be gruelling for seasoned riders. For someone who had never ridden, it was overtaxing. “I know I’m asking a lot, but can you keep going?”
“I’ll manage.” Everything hurt from her head to her toes. She had barely been able to squat on the toilet to pee much less walk in and out of the store. She wanted to lie down and not move. “I swear, I’m good.”
Squaring her shoulders, she stood and picked up the heavy full-faced helmet Cree had gotten her. “Standing here isn’t getting us there any faster. Can I have my jacket? It’s getting colder.”
“You should’ve told me you were cold.” Opening the saddle bag, he drug both their jackets out. He could see lighting dancing across the sky off in the distance. The last thing they needed was to get caught in the rain with the temperature already dropping.
“I didn’t want to make you stop. I knew we were getting close to needing gas.”
Cree climbed onto the bike, listening to Kennedy. “How did you know that?” he asked with a chuckle.
“I was watching the gas gauge,” she told him as she pulled the helmet on and shut the blacked-out face shield.
Nodding, he thought, smart girl. He felt her hand grip his shoulder as she threw her leg over the bike and slid behind him. When she tapped him on the shoulder, he fired up the bike and rolled back onto the highway just as a dark sedan pulled into the station.
Cree felt Kennedy tighten her hands in his shirt, a sign she recognized the car.
Keeping his cool, he took his time shifting through the gears as they followed the flow of traffic.
Checking his mirrors, he saw the car had pulled up to a pump and both men had exited.
Not wanting to take any chances, he went past his on-ramp and took the next one.
Even though he would have to make a loop, it was better than drawing attention to themselves.
Once on the freeway, he kicked the bike into high gear and blasted down the road, wanting to put as much distance between them and Sioux Falls as he could.