Chapter Twenty Four
Victoria
I was curled against Joey, teetering on the edge of oblivion, so blissed out that I'd barely registered Craig leaving the room to get everyone water. Joey trailed his fingers up and down my spine, driving me closer to sleep when pounding on the door jolted me back to reality.
"We have to go, now!" Az barked, throwing the door open wide.
I let out a squeak of alarm, tugging the blankets up to cover myself as I sat upright. Joey released his hold on me and narrowed his eyes at Az.
"What the fuck man?" He asked.
"We've been found. We have to go." Az replied. "Get dressed, don't bother grabbing anything. There's not time."
"Fuck," Joey muttered, running a hand through his hair as he scrambled from the bed and pulled his pants on.
He dressed with one hand, using the other to hand me my clothes from the floor. I dressed quickly, wondering why we were on the run… again. Leighton's family cabin was in such an isolated area it didn't make any sense to me that someone could have found us. I'd barely tugged my shoes on before Joey was pulling me into the chaos outside of Craig and Leighton's room. Craig barreled past us without a second glance, heading straight for the computer set up on his desk. I didn't have to ask to know that he was either planning to take it or destroy it so whatever work he'd done while we'd been in the cabin couldn't be found.
"How did your sister know we've been found?" Rich demanded, standing in the center of the open space and staring Leighton down.
"It's Lacey." Leighton shrugged. "She has people everywhere. You really didn't think my family held onto their power and status through legal means only, did you?"
"How do we know she's not the reason we've been found?" The words left my lips unbidden.
Leighton turned his head to look at me. "Lacey is a massive bitch, but she wouldn't endanger me. Being a Laurent means something to her."
"If it was her or one of her men, we'd have been found already." Rich added. "The only person it could be is Phil."
Leighton's head snapped back toward Rich; his eyes narrowed. "Don't you put that on Phil. He may be Joey's guy, but he's fucking loyal. And the closest any of us has to a second in command."
A coat draped over my shoulders, and I looked up to find Az behind me. "Can we table this for now? We don't have time to argue over who may or may not have betrayed us. Since we don't have a vehicle, we're on foot until we can steal something, and I'd rather not get caught up in another shootout."
Craig chose that moment to emerge from his room. There was a hint of sadness in his expression that made me wonder if it was aimed toward the lack of computer equipment, he'd brought with him. Before I could stop myself, I let out a barking laugh at the fact that my guys were, indeed, nerds with guns. They all shot me puzzled looks before springing back into action.
"There's a bag with snacks and bottled water by the door. I loaded it up since it's gonna be awhile before we make it to town."
"Didn't Leighton make the trip there and back in a day?" I frowned as I was shuffled toward the cabin door.
"I took the roads, ma petit. That's not an option this time. We need to stick to the forest, so we don't risk running across any Jackals. At least until we can get our hands on a car."
I murmured a soft ‘oh' and let the guys lead me from the cabin into the thicket of trees just beyond the gravel driveway. Leighton took point, leading us deeper into the forest, while Craig and Joey each walked beside me. Az and Rich flanked us from behind. We walked in silence as night fell. The darkening forest gave me the chills, my mind providing unpleasant images of wild animals or even monsters from horror films popping out to eat us alive. I'd been so caught up in my wild imaginings that I hadn't noticed I'd slowed down until Az's hands landed on my shoulders from behind.
"Leighton, hold up a minute." He called out softly, causing Leighton to double back toward us. "Victoria needs a break."
"No, I'm good. We can keep going." I protested even though my feet were screaming for me to stop. I shuddered at the thought of stopping on my account and getting caught by something or someone hunting us through the forest.
"It's not just for you, Sweetheart." Joey offered. "L is about the only one of us used to this kind of hiking since he grew up doing it. And Rich is still injured."
"I'm fine." Rich's gruff voice piped in, close enough to make me jump.
"Well, I'm not." Craig huffed. "The three of us didn't get a chance to hydrate and refuel before we were out the door. Why do you think I brought snacks?" I could barely see the duffle bag as he lifted it off his shoulders and dropped it to the ground.
Rich muttered something about thinking with dicks under his breath as he brushed past me and found an overturned log to settle onto. Az gave me a gentle nudge in the same direction as Joey moved to help Craig distribute water bottles and bags of goldfish crackers. I'd barely settled onto the other end of the log when Leighton plopped down beside me, making it bounce, and threw an arm around my shoulder.
"We should probably come up with a new plan instead of hoofing it into town like this." He spoke. "At this rate we won't have a car until midday tomorrow and I don't think it's a good idea for us to be out here traipsing through the woods with the vermin on the hunt."
"Vermin?" I asked, lifting my feet from the ground like a mouse would run over them at any moment.
"He means the Jackals, Bunny." Craig replied, settling on the ground and taking a long pull from his water bottle.
"What did you have in mind?" Rich asked.
"We're not too far from the highway, two miles at best. I say we catch a ride."
"The only people who might be on the road this time of night are the same people we're trying to avoid, L." Az spoke.
Leighton moved his arm from around my shoulder and pressed a button on the watch he was wearing, illuminating the area. "Nah, if we move fast, we can catch the second shifters going home for the day."
"I highly doubt anyone is going to stop for the six of us." Joey interjected.
"No shit, that's why I'm suggesting we have la petit démone do the stopping for us." Leighton grinned just as the light from his watch went out.
"I'm-"
"All you gotta do is flag someone down, we'll do the rest." Leighton cut me off. "We can assume any cars going southbound are safe since we're a day's drive north of Sacona. The Jackals don't exactly have any reach this far, so they'll be coming from home."
"This is a horrible idea." Rich muttered, causing me to scowl at him in the dark.
"We're not hurting anyone, right? Just catching a ride?" I asked.
"Leighton wants to use you to carjack someone." Az said bluntly. "But other than leaving them stranded on the highway, no, we won't be hurting anyone unless absolutely necessary."
I sucked my bottom lip into my mouth and worried it between my teeth as the others finished their snack and bottled waters. The idea of leaving some stranger stranded on the mountain highway as we drove off toward safety in their car didn't sit right with me. Neither did the possibility of the Jackals finding us and doing whatever it was they planned to do with us.
"I'll do it," I said softly as Craig gathered all the trash into his duffle bag. "Under one condition."
"Name it." Joey said.
"We call the person we carjack a ride home."
Leighton chuckled and clapped his hands like a gleeful child. "Perfect. We should get moving though. Don't want to miss our chance."
We picked our way quietly through the forest, trusting Leighton to lead us in the right direction. I nearly laughed out loud when he insisted we all hold hands so nobody got separated, but he had a point. Even traipsing through the dark forest for hours wasn't enough for our eyes to fully adjust to the overwhelming darkness that swallowed us up. I didn't realize how tense I was until soft light from the highway started filtering through the trees.
"Ok, so, we're gonna hang back out of sight, ma petit. " Leighton said, drawing to a stop just inside the tree line. "You go down and flag down the first car you see coming from that direction." My eyes followed his hand as he pointed to the left. "Keep them talking long enough for us to get to the car and then we'll take things from there."
"Got it," I replied with a quick nod before moving to pick my way to the edge of the road.
I stopped just at the edge of the road under a streetlamp and waited. There wasn't a car or headlights in sight in either direction, or I began to wring my hands together in front of me, wondering if we'd have been better off sticking to the original plan. Just as I was about to give up and beg the guys to just keep hiking through the forest toward town, a pair of headlights appeared in the direction Leighton had told me we needed.
Nervous energy coiled through my gut, and my hands began to shake, but I waved them in the air anyway. As the lights drew closer, I took a step out onto the road, desperate to get them to stop. Even though they were coming from the right direction, the one Leighton had been confident would be safe, I felt too exposed. I gasped in relief as a tan minivan slowed to a stop beside me.
"You okay, honey?" A woman's voice called out as the passenger side window rolled down.
"I..."
"Are you lost?" she asked as I stepped closer to the vehicle.
"Uh, yeah. I was out walking, and it got dark and I have no idea where I am." I managed to get out.
"Do you know where you came from? I can call for someone if you need me too." the woman frowned as I moved close enough to grip the door where the window was rolled completely down.
"If you could take me into town that would actually be great." I replied, hoping like hell the woman wouldn't take off and leave me standing in the middle of the road.
I could feel her eyes roaming over my face for a moment before the sound of the automatic door locks echoed in the night. My hand reached for the door handle just as the driver-side door jerked open, and Leighton was illuminated by the interior light coming on. The woman and I had both been so focused on each other that neither of us had noticed him moving from the trees and behind her van.
"Get out of the car." He barked; a gun pointed at the woman's face.
I clamped down on the urge to make him lower his weapon. The sliding door beside me slid open, drawing my attention to the others. Joey snagged my hand from the passenger door and pulled me beside him, ushering me into the back. A gasp slipped free as I registered the car seat buckled into the middle of the second-row seat.
"Oh, God. She has a baby," I hissed.
Az climbed in after me, looking over my body at the infant seat. "Empty. Kid's not with her."
"Get out of the fucking van," Leighton ordered, his voice harder than I'd ever heard it.
"Please, I'll do what you want. Just don't hurt me." The woman blubbered, the sounds of her struggling with her seatbelt filling the vehicle.
My eyes shot to Leighton as the others climbed into the van. The terrifying look on his face was enough to make me wonder if he truly intended to hurt the woman after promising me he wouldn't. Sobs racked her thin shoulders as she clambered out of the driver's seat onto the empty highway. As if on cue, Rich climbed into the front passenger seat, pulling a gun from his waistband and pointing it toward the woman while Leighton took her place behind the wheel.
"Call a ride," Leighton said coolly, tossing a brick phone at her through the window before slamming his foot on the accelerator and tearing off down the highway.
My stomach twisted violently, and I swallowed hard, tamping down the urge to vomit. Joey's hand rubbed my back in a soothing motion as he made soft shushing noises.
"It had to be done, Love." Az spoke from the back row of seats. "We'll find her information and make sure she has a new car seat and gets her vehicle back or replaced if we have to ditch it."
"It had to be done, Bunny." Craig murmured from behind me, his hands tangling through my hair as his fingers gently massaged my scalp.
"I told you she wasn't cut out for this shit." Rich huffed in the front passenger seat, causing any guilt I'd been feeling to turn to irritation at his presence.
"Yeah, yeah." Leighton retorted, waving his hand as if to erase what Rich had said. "Where we heading now?"
"Home." Rich said. "We hid out and nursed our wounds, now I think it's high time we remind the Jackals we aren't to be fucked with."