• Nine •
· Nine ·
With all this caffeine and sugar, I might just make it to Tampa tonight.
Briar
I couldn’t reach the basket filled with the food Maeme had given us. I really wanted another muffin. But I also needed coffee.
Dovie was sound asleep in the passenger seat of the Honda Accord I’d traded in my Jeep for back in Jacksonville. That was painful. I’d been wanting a Jeep for years, and when I bought that eight months ago, it had made me giddy. But driving around in a candy-apple-red Jeep stood out, and I needed to blend in. So, gray Honda Accord it was.
At the last minute, I’d decided against going north and headed south instead. But not the real South. The Florida south. I figured we could keep driving all the way to Key West. Find a little bungalow or house boat to rent. I’d be able to find a singing gig easy enough there. Or perhaps Miami would be better. It was bigger and easier for us to get lost in. Right now, I just needed to get some more miles between us and Atlanta before I felt safe enough to stop and get rest. A few more coffees, maybe two muffins, and I’d be good to go for at least six more hours.
I’d turned off the audiobook we’d been listening to when Dovie fell asleep. I didn’t want her to miss any of it, but it had helped keep me awake. Maybe if I stopped for coffee and got another muffin out of the basket, I could load another audiobook and start it instead. A good story might keep me going for eight hours. I wasn’t big into reading like Dovie, but there was something to be said for an audiobook. I liked it. Dovie had told me I would. She knew the real reason I wasn’t a big reader was because I struggled with the words. Labeling myself as dyslexic had always felt off because when it came to music, I could write it all day. Something about the notes and the melody made sense to me. But reading words on paper, nope.
My phone began to ring, and I reached for it, seeing a number I didn’t recognize. I stared at it, unsure if I should answer or not, but seeing as it wasn’t Jameson’s number or even one with that area code, I decided to see who it was. If it was him, I’d hang up before he could track me. If that was even a thing with cell phones. I wasn’t sure. I’d need to get a new one when we got to wherever we were going. But for now, I had to use what I had.
“Hello?” I said, not talking too loud. I didn’t want to wake Dovie.
“Where are you?” Storm’s voice came over the line.
My head was in battle with the rest of my body. While my brain knew to be annoyed with this rude, intrusive man, my body began to warm up and come alive from his deep, husky voice. Stupid body.
“Uh, I don’t see how this is your business.”
When he’d left my former dressing room, hadn’t he made it very clear that I should leave town and he no longer cared what I did?
“Maybe not, but King is pissed. The tracker on your vehicle is in Jacksonville, Florida, at a dealership.”
What?!
“Tracker?!” I caught myself before shouting and ended up hissing the word instead.
“You knew he was keeping tabs on you,” Storm sounded as if this made sense.
“I’m sorry. A man I do not know had a tracker on my Jeep. I have the right to be angry.”
Storm sighed. “He’s going to find you, and you can make this easy or hard. I’m just warning you that you don’t want an angry King. He’s got a temper.”
Gripping the phone tightly, I glared at the road ahead of me. “I am getting out of town, like you suggested. I was unaware I had to check in with King. The man who was my father is dead. Very dead. Bottom-of-the-ocean dead. I swear my life on it. He can stop watching my every move.” I glanced over at Dovie, who was thankfully still asleep.
“Why are you whispering?” Storm asked, catching me off guard.
Did he pay attention to everything?
“I’m not.”
“Yeah, you are. Who is with you?” The distrust in his tone was clear.
“Not Roger, if that’s what you’re thinking,” I replied, disgusted at the thought.
Silence.
Had he hung up?
“King is not someone you lie to, Briar. He’s pulled a gun on Sebastian for letting Rumor wear his fucking hoodie because she was cold. When it comes to Rumor, he is not sane. He’ll put a bullet in your head and go eat his Maeme’s banana pudding in the same damn hour.”
His Maeme? So, was she King’s grandmother? I shook my head. Why did I care?
“I am not lying,” I said through clenched teeth.
“Then, who is with you?” he demanded again.
I glanced at Dovie.
“A friend.” That was all he was getting.
“Who?”
“Not your business. But it is not Roger. The fact that he’s swimming with the sharks makes that impossible.”
“He will find you. It’ll be easier if you just tell me where you are.”
Putting on my blinker, I got over to exit. “Somewhere south of Jacksonville.”
“Florida is a big state. Be more specific.”
I had Jameson to worry about. I didn’t need the freaking Mafia hating me too. I looked around at the hotels and gas stations for some sign of where I was.
“Leesburg,” I said when I saw it on a bank sign.
“Are you staying there?” he asked.
I pulled into a service station. “No. I am getting gas, coffee, and going to pee.”
“Where are you headed?”
Cutting off the engine, I saw Dovie start to stretch. This conversation needed to end.
“Look, I don’t know. I am just going. Probably Miami. Maybe the Keys. But I am done talking about this. I’ve got to go,” I said firmly, then ended the call before turning my phone completely off.
Dovie squinted, then rubbed her eyes before sitting up. “Where are we?” she signed.
“Leesburg, wherever that is. I need to fuel up and take a bathroom break. Go on in and use the toilet, then get you something to eat inside or from the basket.”
She yawned, then nodded, reaching for the door handle. There were no questions in her expression, and the sleepy look on her face said she had just woken up. She’d not heard the conversation on the phone. Small blessings. Not that I got very many of those, if any.
I watched as she made her way to the store before filling up. I didn’t like her being out of sight, but then we weren’t being followed, and if the Mafia had even lost their trail on me, then we were safe from Jameson. It only took thirty-seven dollars to fill the tank, and that right there made having to give up my Jeep less painful. At least I was gonna save money on gas.
After we both used the restroom and picked out several unhealthy snacks in case we ran out of food in the basket, I got a large coffee and paid for everything, and we headed back out to the car. It really was a boring car, but it didn’t draw attention. With a sigh, I climbed inside and got my things situated. Dovie was already opening the bag of chocolate mints she’d bought, and I held out my hand for one. She placed two in my palm, then popped one in her mouth.
We were ready to keep going. With all this caffeine and sugar, I might just make it to Tampa tonight.
“Want to listen to more of the book?” I asked her.
She nodded and picked up her phone to press play.
“Hand me a muffin,” I told her.
She rolled her eyes but reached for it and unwrapped it, then handed it to me. I took a large, dramatic bite that made her smile before pulling back out onto the highway.
I struggled to keep my thoughts on the audiobook this time though. The call from Storm kept replaying through my head. His tone had made it clear that calling me was the last thing he wanted to do. I was something he wished he could get rid of completely. For the first time in my adult life, I’d met a man who didn’t want anything to do with me. I was so used to them falling all over themselves to get my attention, and the one time I met a man who stirred things inside me, he couldn’t stand the sight of me. Figured.
Let him hate me. It was better for both of us. My lies served a purpose, and he didn’t deserve the truth. Human lie detector, my ass. He hadn’t read my lies. Only the truths.
I finished off my muffin, then took a drink of my coffee.
Storm Kingston was the sexiest man I’d ever met, but he was an asshole. I had to stop letting thoughts of him into my head. Maybe this time, wherever we ended up, I could find someone I was interested in. Someone I liked. A good guy. Sure, I needed him to have money, but there wasn’t a rule that said I had to use a man.
What if I fell in love or at least had feelings for a wealthy man? An available one? Someone who would take care of Dovie and me? That didn’t sound so bad. Maybe then we could stop running.
When I glanced over at her, she was smiling at whatever was happening in the book that I had lost interest in. Seeing the enjoyment on her face as she listened and ate her candy made all the bad I’d done okay. It had been for a reason. Her. If there was a god, surely, he’d see that. He was supposed to be just and forgiving, right? I thought I’d heard that somewhere. Or maybe I had made it up.