Chapter Twenty-One
T hey reached the tunnel where Crow had stashed Angel and the girl ran to Rebel.
The teenagers hugged tightly and Crow got them moving through the tunnel and out the other side with a hand to each of their backs.
“Where are we going?” Angel asked.
“To a hotel,” Crow said.
They reached the street and headed toward the SUV so he could take them to their final destination. Which happened to be a roadside motel not far from them. Years as an assassin kept his skills honed and he wouldn’t take the risk of taking them back to his hotel room.
“She has two trackers,” Rebel said.
Crow stopped.
“An ankle monitor and a locater embedded into a collar around her neck.”
“The ankle is just a chain,” Angel said, her voice soft.
“Just in case, hold her chin up and the collar away from her neck,” Crow told Rebel and when the man stepped up and pulled the collar away as far as he could, Crow sliced the collar as if it were nothing.
When she was free, Angel gasped and rubbed at her throat as if she could rub the memories away. Crow knew it would take a long time, if ever, for those to fade. Maybe, just maybe, with professional help, she could find peace.
Or take up killing like Rebel had , he thought. Becoming an assassin had been therapeutic in a way, but also damaging. Rebel didn’t trust, was unbridled when angry, and kept alone most of his life.
That was no way for anyone to live.
As soon as they were inside the SUV, Crow made a phone call.
“Did you get them?” Real asked, answering on the first ring.
“I got them both. I need to have the girl taken somewhere safe.”
Angel kept tossing him frantic glances as if she feared being pawned off on another sadistic asshole, but Rebel took the girl’s hand.
“Hey, he’s one of the good guys,” Rebel told her, keeping her close to his side. “He saves people for a living.”
That wasn’t technically true, but if it got the girl to calm down, Crow would go along with the white lie. He started the car and pulled out onto the road.
“I’ll call Dave. You get somewhere safe,” Real said, drawing his attention back to the phone.
“Will do.” Crow ended the call and kept driving.
“Why can’t I stay with you guys?” Angel hugged herself.
“Because we are…” Rebel paused searching for the right word.
“On a job,” Crow interrupted.
“I know you were a gun for hire for Jimmy. I wasn’t deaf,” Angel told Rebel, crossing her arms.
“Yeah, but you’re not legal so we can’t keep you,” Rebel said.
Crow was surprised at how grown the young man sounded.
“If we don’t get you somewhere legit that’s safe, it could bring trouble to us,” Crow added, hoping like hell the girl got it.
They were killers. Living a normal life wasn’t in the cards for them.
Me , Crow thought. Not in the cards for me. It could be for Rebel, though. He was young enough to escape this life and live a somewhat normal existence.
“Have you ever thought of quitting?” Angel asked, as if reading his mind.
“No,” Rebel said flatly and Angel wrinkled her nose before glancing up at Crow.
“What about you?”
Crow shook his head at her question The less she knew about him the better.
Approaching the motel on one of the city’s side streets, Crow pulled in and parked. They all got out and he directed both teenagers toward a room door.
“Wait…you already have a room here?” Rebel asked.
“I’m not an amateur,” Crow said with a short huff and opened the room door.
Several hours ago, Crow had managed to snag the room with two queen beds.
It would serve their purpose until they figured out what to do about Angel.
Two hours later, Angel and Rebel were both sleeping.
Stepping quietly outside, he shut the door and stood leaning on the stucco of the faded sand-colored building. The neon sign flashed over the office, sending multi-colored lights over the parking lot.
In a few hours, it would be daylight and he planned on staying put until Dave or Real sent someone to collect Angel.
And possibly Rebel.
Even though the idea didn’t sit all that well with him, Crow knew it was the right thing to do. If Rebel stayed with Dave, then he would have a chance to go to college and have more than this fucked up job.
The door clicked open and Rebel stepped outside, closing it behind him. Leaning against the wall, Rebel gazed out over the parking lot.
“You can take a turn on the queen bed, I can watch until morning,” Rebel said.
“You only got two hours of sleep.”
“That’s about normal for me.” Rebel shoved his hands into the pockets of his dress slacks and gave a small shrug.
When was the last time Rebel had a good night’s sleep? Knowing how Rebel had grown up and lived, the answer was probably never. It was that moment that Crow decided he would take the time to convince Rebel to get out of this line of work.
To become something more than the profession forced upon him first by Solomon and then by Tanis.
Rebel never had a chance at a normal life and Crow fiercely wanted that for him.
Now, he just had to convince Rebel of the idea.
Dave sent US Marshals Axel Bains and Whiplash Tauber to collect Angel.
It was the right thing to do. They talked to her at length about testifying.
“If you testify, we can put James Lincoln behind bars,” Whip said.
“It’s your call though,” Axel added.
The three were sitting around the small table in their hotel room. While Axel and Whip tried to talk Angel into testifying, Rebel kicked back on one of the queen beds. Crow was on the other bed, cleaning his weapon.
“Would I have to leave here?” Angel asked, tossing Rebel a quick glance.
“Yes,” Axel said. “You would be put into protective custody with a custodian until you turned eighteen.”
“What does that mean?” Angel asked, shifting in her chair.
“It’s a foster-like care system within the program.”
“Program?”
“WITSEC.”
Rebel launched from the bed and marched over to the table. He pulled Angel up from the chair and out the hotel door.
Crow was there before Rebel could shove the door closed.
“Give us a minute,” Rebel said with an annoyed sound in the back of his throat.
“Okay, just pretend I’m a fence post,” Crow said, crossed his arms, and planted his big body against the wall next to the closed door.
Rebel pulled Angel farther away, but not far enough so Crow would panic. The last thing he wanted was to worry Crow, but he needed to talk to Angel.
“Look, I did some research about WITSEC, and from what I can find, it’s legit. You would appear in court and testify against Jimmy. You could put him away for a long time. But, there’s a price to pay.”
“What price?” Angel gazed up at him fearfully.
“You need to leave everyone you know behind. Being in WITSEC would give you a clean slate. Nobody in your school would know what happened. Nobody would know who your father was. You could even change your first name.” Rebel rattled off everything he’d gleaned from online over the past half an hour.
“What about you…about us?”
“What about me?” Rebel frowned at her.
“I…” She glanced away.
“Look…” he sighed. “I’m going places and doing things I won’t involve you in. There is no us if you really think about it. You needed help and I did my job.”
That was technically a lie, but the more he thought about all the good he could do, the more he liked the idea of rescuing people—children specifically. Children like he had been and Angel, who didn’t stand a chance.
And for the first time in his life, he thought that maybe he had found his calling.
Now he just needed to figure out how to go about it.
Rebel had the idea that Crow could help him find the answers.