Chapter 26
Montgomery
What the hell?
There were two men outside combing the parking lot of the hotel.
It was late, after three in the morning.
I would have suggested we drive all the way through except the exhaustion of the last four days had finally come to a head.
Yet neither one of us had been able to sleep even though I’d given her instructions to rest while I’d kept watch.
After turning off the light near the bed, I returned to my perch. The two men were still moving in a precise pattern around every vehicle. While I had my doubts anyone could discover what we driving, the coincidence of their arrival couldn’t be ignored.
They could be two guys looking for something else. When they returned to a truck, climbing inside, I almost took a deep breath. Except my instinct was working overtime.
“Is something wrong?” Fleur asked with fear in her voice.
“I don’t know yet.” Two minutes passed, one minute longer than it should have taken the bastards to start the engine and leave the area. I waited another two before accepting that we’d been compromised.
I pulled away from the curtain, glancing over my shoulder where Fleur was sitting on the edge of the bed.
“Did you contact anyone?” My tone was harsher than I intended it to be, but at this point, we were so fucking closer to getting to New Orleans that I could taste the fucking Cajun food she’d talked about more than once. I pulled the drapes back a second time, staring down at the parking lot.
Given this was the last night in a hotel, we’d splurged. Instead of a cheap roadside motel, we’d stopped at a slightly larger city that had enabled us a better selection of both food and accommodations. However, I didn’t like the view at this point from the fourth story window.
“What are you talking about?” Where my tone had been harsh, hers was timid. A dead giveaway.
There was no time to play games. With three long strides, I had her go bag in my hand.
“Wait. What are you doing?” She jumped up, immediately trying to grab the small duffle from my hand.
“The question was clear, Fleur. Did you make a fucking phone call?”
She looked at me as if I’d slapped her across the face, fumbling for an answer, which meant I was right.
I jerked the zipper with enough force I almost broke the damn thing. “It would appear we have company outside. If that’s the case, the only way anyone could figure out our location is by tracking one of our phones.”
“They’re burner phones.”
“Yeah,” I shot back as I pulled her phone into my hand, cursing under my breath when I noticed the phone was on. “However, what about the person on the other end of the call?”
Fleur instantly paled, still trying to grab the phone.
I pulled it further away, checking the history. “Who did you call?”
“Bekka. And do you want to know why? Because you didn’t tell me she and my other friends were in danger.”
I narrowed my eyes, trying to understand her rationale.
“Yeah,” she said with attitude. “I overheard your call with your brother where you said they were in danger. Now, I’m thankful you sent some soldiers to protect them, but why didn’t you tell me?
You didn’t mind sharing with me that my own goddamn brother might have wanted me dead, but you couldn’t share that with me? ”
She took a giant step away from me, sensing I was about to grab her. The yin and yang of our relationship was confounding.
“You put our lives in danger while I was trying to protect your friends.” I shoved the phone into the bag and headed back to the window. “Come here.”
“No.”
“Don’t fight me on this, Fleur. Come here.”
With her nose wrinkled and a return of venom in her eyes, she took her sweet time heading toward me.
I moved her with too much force against me, but needed to make certain I had her full attention.
“Take a look down at the parking lot. Do you see how the light reflects on the interior of the cab of the truck?”
She tried to shake herself free from me but did what I commanded. “There are two guys sitting in the truck.”
“Exactly.”
“That could mean anything.”
“You’re right in that it could, but are you willing to risk your life to test the theory?” I was hot, furious with Fleur. Why hadn’t she listened to me? Could she not trust that I would do everything in my power to bring us both to safety?
“That’s because I called Bekka?” The way her lower lip trembled and the paleness washing over her lovely face yanked deeper at the man inside. The one who’d refused to care about anyone for this very reason. She tipped her head toward me, searching for comfort as much as anything else.
Who the fuck was I to try to give it to her? However, I had to try.
I forced my expression to soften, hoping she’d better understand the urgency of the situation we were facing.
“Yes, and they managed to track your phone easily because you left it on. You were completely right about their capabilities. They used every method available to track us down.”
“Oh, my God. No. No. I’m so sorry.”
I pulled her away from the window just before both doors of the truck opened. The bastards had waited until most people inside their hotel rooms were asleep, the limited activity within the hotel hiding their intentions. The glint of their weapons was brief, but I knew what I was looking for.
“This is what we need to do. Grab what you can. Phone in your back pocket. The weapon I gave you in your hand. We have about four minutes to get the fuck out here. We’re heading for the stairs and out the side door. Do exactly as I say, and we’ll remain alive. Understood?”
“Yes. Yes.” The second answer held conviction.
Nodding, I pushed her gently away to get her moving. In the next ninety seconds, we gathered everything we had, rushing toward the door. With her behind me, I opened it a crack, listening for a single sound. Hearing none, I stuck my head out, scanning the hallway. There was no one in sight.
“Come on.” I kept my body in front of hers as we rushed toward the stairs. Fortunately, they were on the opposite end of the set of elevators. Once inside the stairwell, she didn’t need to be told to run as if her life depended on it after reaching the bottom.
We raced down the stairs. By the time we hit the landing on the first floor, the door was flung open on our floor.
She heard the sound, pressing her hand over her mouth to keep from making any noise.
“Run,” I whispered in her ear. Thank God she was a fast runner, her instincts kicking in. Even though we had a head start, this was going to be dicey.
We made it around the side of the building, our vehicle barely five yards away.
I pounded the pavement, ignoring the flash of pain driving deep into every muscle in my thigh. Now wasn’t the time to favor the injury. With the passenger door unlocked, I pointed then turned my attention toward the building while rushing to the other side.
Just before I climbed in, the two men appeared, scanning the parking lot as I’d done seconds before.
Then one of the fuckers caught sight of us. Under the hotel’s streetlight, I could see him nodding in our direction.
“Crouch down as low as you can and hold on.” When the engine acted as if it was going to take this moment to jeopardize our lives, I slammed my hand on the dashboard, staring out the windshield. Fuck. They were getting closer.
Finally, the engine rolled over and I wasted no time, putting the Blazer into reverse and gunning it. With my head over my shoulder, I backed through the parking lot, narrowly avoiding hitting several vehicles. My days of playing cops and robbers with vehicles were long past.
Another training exercise mandated by my father. How fascinating that several of his methods were being utilized.
She remained quiet, even as the tires skidded when I swerved after running over a curb to get to the street. When I jerked the wheel to the right, spinning the Blazer in the right direction, Fleur let off a single whine, but remained in position.
“Hold on, baby. This is going to take some interesting maneuvering.” By this point, I knew my way to New Orleans.
That would give us a partial leg up on the bastards given I knew various hiding places if absolutely necessary.
At some point, I’d contact Alexander, asking him to send a brigade of soldiers in my direction.
But not yet.
With luck, I could outrun the bastards. If not, my anger level was high enough I wouldn’t hesitate to drown my sorrows in revenge.
I sped down the street, ignoring both speed limits and traffic lights. I didn’t see them for the first three miles. Then headlights popped into the rearview mirror.
“Are they following us?” she asked.
“Unfortunately, it would appear so. Keep down. I’m going to try and outrun them.”
“I’m so sorry. I just wanted to protect the people I love.”
“It’s okay, baby. You did what you thought was right.” Berating her any further wasn’t going to accomplish anything. Trust wasn’t easy for either one of us.
Two lost souls driven together by both circumstances and karma. Or maybe she was right in that the spirits had something to do with it. My grandmother would have a field day with the story of how we met.
How in God’s name were the fuckers gaining on us? I pushed down on the accelerator, rolling away from town. There’d be more options of roads to take in about ten miles. It was the ones in between I’d need to worry most about. Dark roads. No method of escape.
I’d just keep on driving.
The darkness soon became oppressive, but I was gaining some traction. They likely didn’t know the back roads, the twists and turns. One could hope they’d wreck, colliding with a tree.
No such freaking luck.
The bastards were still following us minutes later. As soon as I was off the two-lane road, I checked the GPS on my phone, issuing a stark growl.
“What?” She slithered in her seat, immediately shifting to see the road behind us.
“Seatbelt on, Fleur. We’re not fucking around. I’m finessing our travel plan to try and get them off our tail.”
I sped up, both hands on the wheel, now going in excess of seventy miles per hour. They’d used the open road to speed up, barreling down on us. In a maneuver I prayed would work, I slowed down, allowing them to catch up. I had to play this carefully or I’d lose control.
“Seatbelt on?” I asked through gritted teeth.
“Yes.”
“Then hold on.” I waited until the last second before making a sharp turn, swerving across the road yet able to gain control within two seconds.
The vehicle flew right by. That bought us mere seconds. I knew exactly where I was going, flooring the accelerator and praying to God the Blazer would react the way I wanted the old girl to.
Her performance was flawless and I raced behind a group of buildings, immediately skidding to a stop and turning off the headlights. From where I was parked, I was able to see a small portion of the road in front.
She was shaking, tiny moans slipping past her lips. “What now?”
“Now, we wait.”
It didn’t take long for the vehicle to fly by, never braking. Still idling, I said nothing, merely concentrating on the road. With the entrance to the interstate only one mile up the road, my hope was the fuckers would believe I’d finally taken the highway, a direct shot to New Orleans.
The silence in the cab was unnerving, but I could still hear her labored breathing. When I took her hand into mine, she stiffened, but only seconds later, intertwined her fingers with mine. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay, Fleur. I’m not angry with you nor do I believe you’re part of some conspiracy. Your brother wanted to warn you. We’re going to find out who murdered him.”
“And if you do?”
I turned my head, wishing I could see her lovely face. “Then the people responsible will die.”
“Good.” Her answer didn’t surprise me. Nothing about her could any longer. She was a strong, amazing woman whom I adored.
There went my sentimental feelings again. Not the right place or time.
After ten minutes, I realized we had no choice but to continue. I rolled out with caution, waiting by the entrance to the street for a full minute before venturing out. Another back road would delay our arrival by at least another thirty minutes, but it was necessary if we wanted to survive.
“Try and relax. We have a few hours, but we’ll get to our destination one way or another.”
“Easy for you to say,” she whispered, squeezing my hand. She kept our fingers locked together as she finally settled into the seat. “How’s your leg? You need to try and take it easy.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Nothing a massage won’t cure.”
As she yawned, I didn’t need to see her face to know she was rolling her eyes at me. “Only if you’re a very good boy.”
“Nothing I can promise.”
While I might follow in my brothers’ footsteps in longing to be a better man for her, I doubted it was possible.
Even though there was nothing more I wanted than to keep the promise I’d made to myself.
A single word filtered into mind, locking down as if there was no other choice.
Mine.