Chapter 8
Safe house
The sun was beginning to set, casting a muted orange glow across the barren landscape. The wind stirred up a dust storm that clung to the air, stretching for miles. The road ahead wound through endless plains, disappearing into the horizon. Caleb kept his foot heavy on the gas pedal, the stolen car’s engine roaring beneath them as they sped through the Mexican desert.
Luca sat in the passenger seat, shifting slightly, the handcuffs digging into his wrists. He barely seemed to notice, his gaze distant as he stared out the window. His posture was relaxed, but Caleb knew better. Luca never truly relaxed; especially not around him. The weight of the silence between them pressed down, thick and unyielding.
Caleb didn’t break it.
His hands clenched the wheel tighter, his mind a whirlwind. Hours ago, he had a life. A mission. A purpose. Now, it was all gone; his former team, the people he trusted, the career he built from the ground up. The betrayal stung, sharp and fresh, burning through him like the desert heat. Most of them now thought he had turned on them. They thought he had chosen him .
Luca Moretti.
The irony wasn’t lost on Caleb. His target. His enemy. And once, a lifetime ago, his everything.
Luca’s voice finally shattered the silence, smooth and laced with that familiar, taunting edge. “You know, Agent, for someone who’s on the run, you sure look comfortable in stolen cars. You’ve been holding out on me; got a collection of these back home?”
Caleb exhaled sharply through his nose, fingers tightening around the wheel. “Shut up, Luca.”
Luca smirked, shifting in his seat despite the restraints. “Touchy. You used to be fun. Guess wearing that badge really did suck the life out of you.”
Caleb’s jaw clenched. He kept his eyes on the road, refusing to take the bait. But Luca had always known exactly which buttons to push. He had a way of slinking into Caleb’s head, picking apart his defenses like it was second nature. It had been that way since they were kids. It was worse when they were more than that.
Luca leaned his head back against the seat, watching him now, his expression unreadable. “Maybe this whole ‘ rogue agent’ thing suits you. I’d almost say you’re enjoying it.”
Caleb’s fingers flexed against the wheel, the words cutting deeper than they should have. Enjoying it? No. But there was something about the chase, the adrenaline, the sharp edge of survival that felt dangerously familiar. He wasn’t the same boy who had left Luca behind all those years ago, and maybe that was the worst part.
The small town was getting closer, the buildings on the horizon taking shape. The safe house wasn’t far now. A place to regroup. A place to breathe. Maybe even a place to convince himself that he didn’t remember the agony he felt watching Luca get beaten to a pulp, or how quickly he had folded and spilled his secret at just the sight of it.
“We’re almost there,” Caleb muttered, more to himself than to Luca.
Luca stretched as much as the cuffs would allow, his smirk returning. “Yeah? What is it? A nice little hole-in-the-wall spot? Maybe a shack in the middle of nowhere? You always did like your solitude.”
Caleb said nothing. He kept driving, kept his focus forward, kept ignoring the way his pulse kicked up every time Luca so much as looked at him.
Because this was dangerous.
Because this was Luca.
And Caleb had already made the mistake of wanting him once before.
He pulled the car into a narrow alley behind an old mechanic’s shop, hidden from the main road. The tires crunched over uneven gravel before the car came to a stop in the shadows. Caleb killed the engine, and in the abrupt silence that followed, the tension between them felt sharper, heavier.
“You sure about this?” Luca asked, arching an eyebrow as he scanned their surroundings. “Looks a bit sketchy.”
Caleb didn’t answer right away. His gaze remained fixed ahead, focused on the rundown shop in front of them; a forgotten place, barely noticeable, but it had served its purpose before. It would again.
He reached into the glove compartment, pulling out a set of keys, his fingers brushing over the worn metal. “We’ll be safe here. For now.” He finally turned to Luca, his voice quieter than before.
Luca didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t argue. Instead, he pushed the car door open and stepped out, his handcuffed wrists clinking together with every movement. Even restrained, his face swollen from the beating, he carried himself with that same effortless defiance, as if the metal biting into his skin and the bruises littering half of his body, were nothing more than an inconvenience.
They made their way to the back door of the shop. The hinges let out a groan as Caleb pushed it open, the scent of rust and old motor oil thick in the air. Inside, the dim glow of a single, swaying lightbulb barely cut through the darkness.
“This is your ‘safe house’?” Luca’s voice was laced with sarcasm, but underneath it, something else lingered. Curiosity. Maybe even something closer to understanding.
Caleb ignored him, moving toward the back of the shop. He knew exactly where to step, where the loose floorboards were, where the crates covered the entrance to the basement. With a grunt, he shoved them aside, revealing a trapdoor.
Luca’s gaze flicked between Caleb and the opening in the floor. “Underground, huh? Figures. You were always good at disappearing.”
“It’s not about disappearing,” Caleb muttered, pulling open the trapdoor and starting down the narrow staircase. “It’s about surviving.”
The basement was small, its air thick with the scent of stale wood and dust. A worn-out couch sat against the far wall, a battered table nearby, a small stash of supplies tucked into the corners. It wasn’t much, but it would do.
Caleb went to the mini fridge in the corner, grabbing two bottles of water. When he turned, Luca was watching him with an unreadable expression. Caleb twisted the cap off one bottle before offering it to him.
Luca nodded, lifting his head, his eyes never leaving Caleb’s as he brought it up to his lips. After a long sip, he tilted his head. “You really think this is going to work? Hiding out, playing fugitive? Sooner or later, they’ll find you. You can’t stay off the grid forever, Smith.”
Caleb didn’t respond right away. His mind was racing, the weight of it all pressing down on his chest; his team hunting him, his career shattered, the life he’d built slipping through his fingers.
And now, here he was, forced to rely on the one person he had spent years trying to forget.
Luca Moretti.
The man who had once meant everything . The man who could still make him lose his mind without even trying.