CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
ATHENA
Everything happened so fast. Damon dove into the car and immediately gave Noah and me some of the worst news I’d ever heard. Leave the country? I couldn’t possibly be hearing this correctly.
Noah drove us carefully across town, everyone watching for police cars.
When they were sure we weren’t being followed, we ended up at a motel on the edge of the city.
Dominik booked a room under a fake name while the rest of us waited in the car.
Once we were inside the room, the chaotic energy only escalated.
Frantically pacing from one end of the small room to the other, Damon whipped out his burner phone. He stared hard at the screen. “Noah, do you still have the contact information for Jimmy Traeger?”
“Pretty sure I do.” Noah began to search through the contacts on his own phone while Dom stood watch near the curtain covered window.
“Traeger?” Dom repeated. “Isn’t that the guy that specializes in fake passports and IDs?”
With a nod, Noah read out the number to Damon who started to punch it into his phone. I stopped him with a hand on his arm.
“You’re getting a fake ID? What about me? You can’t just leave me here.” My heart had been pounding since we went in search of Damon. Now it felt like it was going to burst out of my chest.
He paused, lowering the phone. Caressing a hand over my cheek, he said, “I’m so fucking sorry, Athena.
The last thing I want to do is leave you.
Those guys set me up. The cops know that I was there.
They think I killed the guy, even though I didn’t do it.
I have to get out of town. I don’t expect you to uproot your entire life for me. You belong here.”
I placed my hand over his, my eyes welling with tears. “No I don’t. I belong with you. Wherever you happen to be. Please don’t leave me.”
Noah shifted uncomfortably before going to stand with Dom. The motel room was too small to really give us any privacy. I didn’t care if they heard this conversation. My heart was on the line here.
“I have no choice. I have to take off. If they catch me, I’ll spend the rest of my life behind bars.” Damon’s voice softened as he leaned in to kiss me. His lips gently grazing mine.
A tear slipped from my eye, rolling down my cheek.
He caught it with his thumb, smoothing it away.
I’d never felt so desperate or confused in my years on this earth.
Damon Price had changed the entire trajectory of my life.
He’d come in like a storm and destroyed everything I’d known, forcing me to rebuild it around him. Making it better. Stronger.
I refused to go back to life without him. Yet I also knew that life behind bars would be no good for either of us. I had only one option.
“Take me with you,” I said, pulling back to peer into his eyes. Needing him to see how deadly serious I was.
His eyes widened as he shook his head. “I’m not sure you understand what you’re saying.
You would be leaving your family and your friends.
Your career opportunities. I don’t even know where we would end up.
Most likely a country that doesn’t extradite.
That’s a lot to ask of you. I could never do that. I love you too much.”
“Yeah, well, you’re not asking. I’m telling you that I am going with you.” My voice grew stronger with every word. I stared hard into his eyes, daring him to refuse. To deny me. To tell me that he didn’t want me with him.
For a moment, I was sure that he would protest. Insisting that I needed to stay behind for my own good. Instead, he surprised me.
“Fuck yeah you are. I don’t think I would be able to leave without you, but I needed it to be your choice.” He kissed me again, a harder, more intense press of his lips on mine. “We have to leave right away. No going home. No goodbyes to anyone. Are you sure you can handle that?”
What he was describing sounded heavy. Like we were about to embark on one hell of an adventure together. Running from the law was something I couldn’t wrap my mind around. Still, I found myself nodding.
“Whatever it takes,” I promised. “I’m with you. I’m yours.”
Damon pulled me into a tight hug. He stroked a hand over my hair before pulling away long enough to make a call.
I listened as he made arrangements, asking for passports and identification for both of us.
Everything we would need to get on a plane without question.
When he finished the call, we had to send a picture of each of us. Then we waited.
“Give me a list of everything you need,” Noah said. “Dom and I will run out to get you some luggage and basic necessities.”
There was a sadness in his eyes that he quickly blinked away. Even though these guys were always prepared for such a scenario, I imagined it would hurt him greatly to lose his last close friend.
“Thanks, man.” Damon pulled Noah into a hug. “I appreciate you.”
After Noah and Dom left, Damon took up the post near the window, watching for any sign of police. That’s when I began pacing around the room. Unable to stand or sit still. I couldn’t believe we were really doing this.
Where would we end up? What would it be like?
Damon promised that once we got settled somewhere safe we would be able to reach out to our friends and family.
Until then, there would be no contact. No doubt my mom would be pissed when she found out I took off with him.
My girls would understand in their own way, even though they would likely be disappointed.
My stomach fluttered with nerves and excitement. This was what I had to do. For myself. If I stayed behind, I would always wonder about him. I would always regret not going.
Damon’s phone rang, making my pulse leap. I listened as he told the person on the other end where we were.
“Our ID will be delivered shortly,” he explained. “Then we book a flight and we’re out of here.”
Anxiously twisting my fingers together, I nodded. Wow, this was really happening.
Noah and Dom returned shortly before the arrival of the ID and passports. They brought us luggage with all the basic necessities we would need to start over somewhere else. A few clothing items and hygiene products. Stuff that was allowed on airplanes, of course. I stared into my new suitcase.
My entire new life was in there.
Once a man dressed all in black delivered our identification, Damon booked the next flight to Mexico. “We’ll lie low for a few days there before moving on. Maybe China or Russia. We’ll figure it out.”
“We’ll drive you to the airport,” Noah said, his demeanor calm yet sullen. “We better get moving.”
The closest major airport was in a neighboring city. About a two hour drive. A drive filled with strained, silent tension between Damon and Noah.
When we were almost to the airport, Damon leaned forward in his seat, placing a hand on Noah’s shoulder. “You’ll always be my brother. Maybe once we get settled, you guys can come visit.”
After a moment, Noah patted Damon’s hand, not taking his eyes from the road ahead. “That would be nice. I guess we always knew something like this might happen. I just didn’t let myself believe it.”
Damon settled back in his seat next to me. “Yeah… I know. Me too.”
The goodbye at the airport made me feel especially sad for the two of them. They started out as a group of four. Now there were only two. Soon Noah would be on his own with the Kings. He would do just fine. Somehow, he managed to fit where Damon simply never could.
I blinked back tears as the two of them hugged. I stepped in to give both Dom and Noah a brief squeeze before thanking them profusely for their help.
“Be safe out there.” Dom patted me on the head. “I’ll let the girls know what happened.”
“Thanks.”
Then Damon and I were on our own. Pulling our suitcases along behind us as we navigated our way through the airport.
Getting through security had me almost pissing myself.
Surprisingly, we had no issues. Not for a second did anyone question our identification.
The guy in charge of making our ID and passports was clearly damn good at his job.
Only when the plane was in the air did I finally relax. I’d been running high and hard on adrenaline for so many hours. Once it left my system, I hit the burnout stage. Falling asleep with my head on Damon’s shoulder.
Touching down in Mexico brought me wide awake. I had a moment of disorientation before it all came rushing back. I glanced at Damon for reassurance, finding it in his eyes.
Without needing any words, he reached for my hand, providing the comfort I didn’t have to ask for. I had no idea what lie ahead. All I knew was that we would face it together. And that’s all I really wanted.