27. Henley #2
“On trips we’ll set it up so you have more things to make this interesting…
the tablet…the laptop…something.” Hmm. I was going to have to ask what he thought about audiobooks, but that would have to wait until after we’d decided what to do in our current situation.
“I check the truck for tracking devices on a regular basis, so I think they’re following us by sight. ”
Whoever it was must’ve seen us in the parking lot or driving back toward Bladenboro.
Blaine was back to watching me oddly again. “Is that something most people do now?”
What?
Oh, the tracker.
“It depends on how insane their relatives are.” I shrugged, not downplaying the crazy. If he was going to stay in my life, he needed to know what he was up against. “I’ve done my best to stay under the radar but I think I’ve used my debit card too many times around here.”
I’d ended up spending more on necessities than I’d expected and had run out of cash the other day. I knew that’d been going to bite me in the ass but I’d been hoping they’d think I was just driving through the area.
“You have lived a very interesting life.” Blaine turned in his seat and studied the small compact following us a few spots back. “What are the ways they could’ve ended up with that car? It doesn’t look like anything you would drive.”
“Yeah, you just can’t hunt for Mothman or anything like that if you don’t have four-wheel drive.” Getting stuck while monster hunting was a serious hazard because tow companies asked a lot of questions.
What are you doing out here?
Where’s your camping gear?
Why do you have so many guns in the back of your truck?
“Options are they either stole it or rented it if they flew down? There are some regional airports nearby, but they’re small, so I don’t know which they’d have done.
” I should’ve done more research on the different ways my family could stalk me.
“I wish I knew if the local police are helpful or not.”
I’d been more focused on staying under their radar.
“I think Serena mentioned one of the coven members working for them when you went to the restroom, but she didn’t give their name.” Blaine’s frown matched mine. “I didn’t think to ask. It was a passing comment about jobs in the area.”
“We can’t just call and ask for the witch.” That would be awkward. “Okay, I’ve got an idea.”
Grabbing my phone, I started with 911 and worked my way to the nonemergency number. When I was greeted, I played dumb tourist and did my best to sound confused. “I’m just driving through, so I might be wrong, but does North Carolina let people drink and drive?”
I was an asshole wasting police resources but it was the safest way to handle the situation under the circumstances.
“There’s this little blue four-door sedan that’s weaving on the road and I think I just saw him throw a bottle out of the window.
You guys let people litter like that too?
” Yep, I was a moron tourist but I was eventually somewhat helpful and ignored the way the woman who was taking the information seemed to be fighting to keep a neutral tone.
She was definitely rolling her eyes and wondering where in the hell I was from.
Blaine was just smirking and shaking his head as he watched my performance until I hung up. “That was amazing, my mate.”
“Thanks.” It was easy as far as acting went but I loved his grin.
“The thing you have to remember is that with most phones they can track you when you call the police. I’ve got this app thing that fixes that problem, though.
We’ll make sure to put it on your phone when we get one for you.
It’s part magic and part technology. I have no idea how it works but it changes the number it looks like I’m calling from. I love magic.”
My family was really missing out on some amazing magic-tech stuff that made being dishonest a lot easier.
Blaine blinked. “I’m going to have more questions on that once I understand the new phones better.”
“Okay.” It was a lot to take in. “Alright, let’s keep an eye out. This is a small town and it shouldn’t take the police long to come check out the problem.”
Two minutes.
I both loved and hated small towns.
This time I loved it because they weren’t coming after me.
Whatever the cop saw as he pulled up behind the sedan must’ve raised questions because the lights came on and we were free. As they pulled over, I made a turn and disappeared into the winding country roads that would eventually lead us back to the trailer.
“So…you starting to question that whole mate with a monster hunter thing?” It wasn’t a terrible intro to the drama my family could create, but some people had low thresholds for insanity.
Blaine reached over and ran his hand over my head as he smiled. “I’m just appreciating that our life will never be boring and wondering what else I need to research to keep you safe.”
Probably a lot.
“Let’s start with getting you a debit card and access to your money because they don’t know who you are.” I didn’t care about him being rich except for the practical side of it, but him not existing for the last seventy years would come in handy and I was going to exploit that for all it was worth.
“That is a very reasonable goal.” Looking around the truck, he was studying something. “I also think that having Serena teach me a few simple spells to change what the truck looks like shouldn’t be difficult.”
Oh.
“You don’t have to learn magic if you don’t want to.” That wasn’t something he should ever have to do for me. “Getting a new paint job isn’t hard and we can buy a spell for it. There’s a great online market for that kind of stuff and you won’t hit the radar as human, so it’ll be even easier.”
Being human was hard sometimes.
“I don’t have an issue with learning it.” Stroking my neck, he looked like he was ready for us to curl up on the bed. “Think of it this way. I’m going to have a lot of time on my hands and I’m going to need to stay busy no matter where we end up going. I’m at a different point in my life.”
Well, that was true.
“That’s an understatement, but yeah, you have more time on your hands now.” It would also be something he wanted to learn this time instead of something adults were dragging him to study. “Just as long as this is something you want.”
I’d seen what happened when someone felt backed into a corner and I didn’t want that for us.
“My mate, keeping you safe will always be something I want to do.”
He was so stubborn…cute, sexy, and amazing…but really stubborn.
“Eventually I’m going to figure out how to respond to that appropriately.”
Okay, and he had a good laugh too.