Chapter 14 Lexi
FOURTEEN
LEXI
“Everything okay out there?” Chloe asked the second I stepped inside.
I thumbed over my shoulder. “If you go outside, you can’t ask me. I don’t have time. Go to your apartment and pack up.”
She furrowed her brow as I brushed past her. “Why? What’s going on?”
“Natty!” I exclaimed. “Sweetheart!? Wanna go on a road trip?”
“Yeah!” she rejoiced.
“Lexi,” Chloe said.
I turned around and shrugged my shoulders at her. “Either do as I’m telling you to do or slip outside and see for yourself. But I don’t have the time to explain.”
I heard some rustling around behind me as I started throwing some of my things into a bag. I heard Natty humming to herself before the front door opened, and out of nowhere Chloe yelled “what in the ever-blessed fuck?”
Which meant that my daughter took off running.
“Natty! You have to keep packing!” I called out.
“Mommy?” she asked. “Who’s this guy outside?”
I shook my head as I zipped up my bag. “He’s just a friend, sweetheart. He’s going to lead us to our road trip vacation. But we can’t go anywhere unless you pack up, all right? So, please start packing!”
I heard Chloe talking softly to my daughter before the front door slammed closed. I shook my head as I blazed a trail into Natty’s room, and the second the two of them appeared I shot Chloe a look.
“Not right now,” I said, “right now, would you just do as I’m asking you to do?”
She nodded before she knelt in front of Natty. “Pack up all of your favorite things, okay? I’m going to go do the same, and then we’re going to take an awesome road trip. Yeah?”
Natty was all smiles. “I can’t wait. I like meeting new friends.”
I forced a smile. “Then, come over here and pack up your stuff so I can help Auntie Chloe pack.”
“Yay!” she exclaimed. “We’re going on a road trip. We’re going on a road trip. We’re going on a roooooad triiiiiiip.”
And the second I slipped out of her bedroom; I closed the door behind me before Chloe took my hands within hers. “Want to tell me what’s going on now?”
I drew in a deep breath. “Dean’s back.”
She scoffed. “Yeah, I garnered that much. But, how the hell did any of this--?”
I placed my hands on her shoulders. “It’s so much and I don’t have time to debate this with you.
But, for reasons that are too long to explain, we’re in trouble.
Something happened at the hospital, someone died while I was keeping watch, and now Dean’s coming to get us to help keep us safe. Now go. Fucking. Pack.”
“Wait, all of this is because of your first night at--.”
“Just go!” I hissed.
I opened the door and shoved her out, watching as she stumbled her way to the front door.
She shot me a shocked look before she rolled her shoulders back, then she raced to her apartment that sat right next to ours.
I heard Natty singing to herself while she packed her things, so I went back to throwing clothes into a bag.
I rummaged around in the bathroom for a trash bag before I threw toiletries in there, and I made sure to make a pass by Natty’s bathroom to get her things as well.
“Ready, Mom!” she exclaimed.
Chloe tugged a bag of hers back through the door. “I’m ready, too.”
Natty gasped. “Auntie Chloe’s coming!?”
I smiled. “Yes, she is, sweet girl. It’s going to be a great vacation, too. We’re going to meet lots of new friends and make lots of new memories.”
“Uh huh,” Chloe said flatly.
I shot her a look before my phone started ringing again. I practically lunged for it and saw that same restricted number pop up. I answered it before it had a chance to ring again, and I prayed it was Dean.
I prayed he was on the other end as I answered.
“Hello?” I asked quickly.
“It’s me,” he said.
“Oh, thank fuck,” I whispered.
Natty giggled. “Mommy cursed! Mommy cursed! That’s money for the jar, Mommy.”
I cringed. “You there?”
It took Dean a second to collect himself. “So, she is your child.”
I shook my head. “Not right now. Are you here?”
He cleared his throat. “Are you guys, okay? Has anyone shown up?”
I walked over to the window and peeked out. “No, we’re good. Are you coming here? Or do we need to meet you somewhere?”
“Do you remember the route to my place?”
I smiled softly. “I’ll never forget it.”
“Good. I’ll follow you there and keep an eye out, so you don’t have to. We can talk before we make our next moves because you have a couple of options at your disposal. You can pick the one that suits your family best.”
“I appreciate that,” I said as I let the curtain flutter closed. “We’ll head down to my car now.”
“And Lexi?”
“Yeah?”
“If you feel as if you’re being tailed, call me. I’ll come find you guys, okay?”
I reached for my suitcase. “Okay. I’ll see you soon.”
“See you soon, sweet pea.”
His nickname for me from all those years ago rushed through me, leaving me breathless as I hung up the phone.
I turned everything off and unplugged electronics before I turned the heating and air conditioning off.
I wasn’t sure how long we’d be gone, and as I grabbed last minute things to shove in my purse, I herded the three of us down to my car.
“Actually, Chloe. Can we take your car? It might be sa--.”
Her eyes widened. “It might be spacier than yours? Uh, yeah. Come on, we’ll throw our stuff in the back.”
Chloe had gotten into enough shit during high school to know when to be paranoid.
And now that she had caught onto the fact that something really was wrong, I knew I had her on my side.
I buckled Natty into the backseat while Chloe tossed our things into her trunk.
Then, we buckled ourselves in and as I drew in a deep breath.
“I’ll watch for tails, you tell me where to go,” she said.
I nodded. “Done.”
I directed her all the way to Dean’s place, and not once did I ever get the impression that we were being followed.
And obviously, Chloe felt the same way since she followed my every command.
We pulled into the townhouse complex with Dean in tow behind us and he eased his way into the parking space next to ours.
But it wasn’t until Chloe parked the car and took my hand that she leaned over to whisper in my ear.
“I always knew you two were meant for one another. Take all the time you need. I’ll take care of Natty while we’re in the car.”
I kissed her cheek before I craned my arm back to tickle my daughter for a bit as she listened to music with her headphones on, then I eased out of the car.
“Chloe?” I asked.
She nodded as if she already understood. “If things happen, I’m out of here with her.”
“Thank you.”
“Of course. Now, go. And try to listen to what the man has to say, okay? You’ve always been terrible at that.”
I nodded before I closed the door, then I booked it across the parking lot. I kept my head on a swivel as I approached Dean’s front door, and it opened for me as if he had been watching. I blazed a trail into the living room as he closed the front door, locking it with a flip of his fingers.
And when I turned to face him, I’d never seen the kind of focus in his eyes that rooted me to my place.
“Okay, I’m here. What do we do now?” I asked.
He walked up to me and took my hands in his. “There have been some new developments with the cartel. We figured out that the head of it, Carlos Banderas, is here in town. He has been for a couple of days. And our only thought is that he’s here to clean up the mess his crew has made.”
I shook my head. “So, what does that mean?”
He closed the gap between us. “It means that you, and your little girl, and Chloe need to be somewhere safe.”
“Well, that’s why we’re here. We are packed and ready to go. Natty thinks we are--.”
“Natty?” he asked.
It wasn’t the right time to discuss where my daughter had come about. But I smiled, nonetheless. “Natasha. I call her ‘Natty,’ for short.”
He nodded. “Motherhood looks good on you. But I thought you couldn’t--.”
I pressed my finger to his lips. “Later. We can talk about that later. But right now, I need to know how you’re going to take care of my daughter.”
The focus in his gaze returned. “I will do whatever it takes to make sure the three of you are protected. Though, I have to admit that I figured you’d have a ton of questions for me.”
“Trust me, there will be time for questions. But I promised Chloe that I would take you at your word until I knew we were safe. So, what’s our next move?”
He was right. I had plenty of questions.
Like how the fuck he got his hands on my cell number and how he knew I had a daughter.
I heard the shock in his voice over the phone, but he still spoke of her as if he already knew her.
I wanted to know how long the cartel had been breathing down their backs.
I wanted to know if we were going to make it.
Fucking hell, I wanted to know how in God’s great green creation I’d become a target for the fucking cartel in the first place. My brain still couldn't process it!
However, there would be time for questions once we got to safety.
I could tell by the look in Dean’s eyes, though, that I wasn’t going to like any of my options.