Chapter 34
Three hours into the grueling, eleven-hour drive, and the tension still hasn’t eased from Riley’s body.
Not wanting to make his mood worse, Liz resists the overwhelming urge to pry and get him to talk about his feelings.
That much-needed conversation will come when their thirty-three-year-old child isn’t groaning in the back seat, complaining about being bored.
They have taken to ignoring him, but he is relentless.
The car goes quiet. The hairs on the back of Liz’s neck stand at the feeling of being watched. She glances up, making eye contact with Mikey in the rearview mirror.
Liz pinches her lips together, trying to stifle the small laugh fighting to come out at the sight of Mikey raising his brows at her like the lead heartthrob in an old movie. Giving her head a little shake, she tries going back to watching the road ahead, but that only stirs him on.
The staring doesn’t stop until Liz meets his gaze.
Every time she does, she is met with another childish gesture.
A wink. A kiss. Waving at her under his chin like the Little Rascals, Mikey does anything he can to hold her attention.
Meanwhile, she can see Riley fighting for his life to keep quiet and let them do whatever stupid thing they are doing.
That is, until her phone buzzes in her pocket.
Hey, good lookin. When are you going to get Ry to make me a mask?
Um, what? Since when do you want one?
Since always. Why does he get to be the only super cool, scary mask guy? Trauma? I can be traumatized too.
You’re insane… but I did kind of tell him a whole scary masked crew would be awesome.
“What the hell are you two texting about?” Riley’s booming voice scares her so much her phone goes flying. Tossed away like it was the one yelling.
Mikey’s laugh fills the car. Liz watches him lie on the seat, holding his stomach from laughing so hard.
She has half a mind to go back there and throw his phone.
Liz looks at Riley. Her eyebrows pinch together while her lips purse into a perfect pouting face.
She crosses her arms and slinks back into the seat.
Riley shoots her a wink, smiling wide as he looks at a still doubled over Mikey.
“So, you know I’m going to cut your dick off, right?” Riley asks in his all too calm tone. The laughing ceases. Mikey shoots up from his seat, perching himself between the two front seats, an elbow resting on each. Even Liz gets a chill down her spine from the ice in his tone.
“What? Why? Over a text? Why?” Mikey whines.
Liz can’t hold back her laughter at the sight of Mikey’s scared, frantic eyes searching Riley’s face in the mirror.
Riley, desperately trying to hold back his smile and keep his composure, doesn’t help the giggles bubbling from her.
“I only told her I want a cool mask, too,” Mikey states. As if that could stop Riley now that he’s started messing with his friend.
“It’s not about that. I’ve been thinking about whether I wanted to warn you or just surprise you with my knife. You’re like a brother to me, Mikey, so I’m telling you first.” The words fall from his lips effortlessly. If Liz didn’t know better, she would think he had put real thought into doing it.
“What the hell did I do?” Mikey pleads. His head swivels between Riley and Liz, both trying to hold in their laughter.
“You know exactly what you did. I should thank you for the idea though, very creative,” Riley jokes. Liz watches him, she can see the gears turning in his head. Thinking so hard, she would not be the least bit surprised if smoke started billowing from his ears.
“Did you tell him?” Mikey asks, slumping back into his seat. His arms cross firmly over his chest, only reinforcing his image of a pouting child.
“Tell me what?” Turning to Liz, Riley asks, “Is there something you need to tell me?” She can’t stop the giggle fit bursting from her chest watching Mikey’s face run through his emotions. Confusion, fear, then back to confusion.
“Nope. This seems like a best friends thing,” she says, calming herself and turning back to the window, leaving Mikey in the trenches.
“We are best friends!” he pleads with Liz. It’s too late. There is no way she can look him in the eye and stay serious. She is shocked her outburst hasn’t given it away yet. Liz quickly realizes he must be more stressed than she thought. That almost makes her let him in on it.
Almost.
“Okay, you’re freaking me out, Ry. I can’t tell if you’re serious or not, man,” Mikey says, his tone almost pleading. Every word is laced with genuine fear.
“It depends. Were you serious when you told my wife she has never been hotter after I fucked the life out of her? How about when you said I would let you have a threesome with us if it made her happy?” Riley asks, keeping his tone calm and level.
“Do you want me to be? You kind of sound like you want me to be serious. Is this happening? Are we doing it?” Mikey asks, practically bouncing in his seat.
Liz shakes her head, fingers pinching the bridge of her nose, regretting fighting so hard to go with her two idiots over the calm, quiet ride Tyler and Alex are no doubt enjoying.
“Okay. I was joking but now little Mikey is gone as soon as we get to the safehouse,” Riley barks.
“I’m kidding!” Mikey responds. “She’s hot, but I don’t think about her in that way,” he starts. “I’ll admit, my mind went there briefly when I saw you two fucking by the pond—”
“What?” Liz shrieks, turning to face him so fast it gives her whiplash. The van veers into the opposite lane as Riley spins looks behind him. The tires squeal as he straightens the car out. Rage settles into every line of his face.
“Oh. Did you forget about their trail cameras?” Mikey asks, too innocently. “Alex kept getting notifications from one of them. Being the good soldier that I am, I checked to make sure we were safe. Turns out, it was just you getting railed.”
“Mikey!” Liz shrieks. Her hands fly up to cover her face, embarrassed they had been caught in the act.
“What? I stopped watching almost right away,” he says.
“Almost?” Riley asks, not wanting to know the answer. His knuckles turn white from the grip he holds on the steering wheel, no doubt debating on if killing his friend is worth it this time.
Liz reaches over and grabs one of his hands, interlocking their fingers. They stay silent for a long while. Liz watches the trees turn to towns and the town turn to fields as they make their way closer to their next safehouse.
“Can I have a mask now? I’m traumatized, too,” Mikey asks sheepishly.
A smile tugs at Riley’s lips. Liz watches the muscles in his cheeks flex and his jaw tighten with restraint.
Since Riley has been back, they have had so little time where they can just goof off like friends.
No one can forget the danger chasing them at every turn, but these small moments make them remember why they are fighting so hard.
A short burst of relief hits Liz when Mikey announces there is just over an hour until they reach the safehouse. Tensions have been high since Riley spotted a car following them not long after he and Mikey switched positions. They have been on edge ever since.
Every so often, Liz will glance out a mirror or try to spot the car from the back window. Each time, it’s still there. The car has been careful not to get too close. Despite their best efforts to figure out if they are being paranoid or not, they have been unable to see who is inside.
After Riley announced they were being followed, Mikey had turned off their route, taking random streets, even getting on, then off, the highway. No matter what he did, the car stayed with them.
It has been impossible to focus on the world moving around them. Liz knows they are driving through mountains and farmland, but she can’t pull herself from the dread building inside. She has checked her weapons seven separate times and checked Mikey’s for him as many times as he would allow.
Crawling over the seats like an animal, Liz makes sure they have a small go-bag filled with anything they may need if their drive ends in a shootout.
The warm hand on her back soothes, but it’s not enough this time.
Thoughts run rampant in her mind. Alex had warned them.
It seemed so silly at the time. Now, they are faced with the very real threat of being captured.
“Breathe, princess. We’re fifteen minutes out. If they were going to attack, they’ve had plenty of chances to. Ty and Alex should be behind us any second,” Riley says.
His soft, comforting tone makes her want to believe him, but she can’t shake the feeling that things are going to turn.
She turns back from watching the car to nestle into Riley’s waiting arms. His hand trails up and down her arm in long, soothing strokes.
Her head rests on his chest, thinking if these are their last moments before a fight, at least they are together.
There is only so much worrying she can do.
The bags are packed. Their weapons are loaded and ready.
If their stalker tries anything, at least they won’t be going down without a fight.
“Look out the window,” Riley whispers in her ear. She does as she’s told, and there, behind the beat-up red car trailing them, is the blacked-out SUV that matches the one she is in.
She takes a steadying breath as her eyes drift closed.
It’s hard not to stare out the rear window, watching the rest of her team speeding up until Liz swears they are going to ram the car between them.
Just when she is about to brace for the impact, they slow down, never falling too far behind.
It takes a total of four minutes before the small car turns off onto one of the many side roads.
They all let out a collective sigh of relief the second it’s out of sight.
The rest of the drive is spent scanning the fields and trees, waiting for a vehicle that never comes. Liz has never been happier to pull onto a bumpy backroad. Every pothole Mikey hits rattles her bones. She grips the overhead handle, teeth clicking together at each impact.
The small house comes into view after a mile or two. Not nearly as nice as Alex and Tyler’s home, but the safehouse has its own charm. At least, that is what she tells herself to cope with the new environment. It looks more like a run-down hunting lodge than a safehouse.
The small, two-story house looks like it has seen better days. Thick moss clings to the logs that make up the outside, one pillar on the covered porch is snapped, causing the roof to dip and most of the green shutters are on the ground.
Falling apart or not, Liz can’t wait to get inside and get back to work. They may not have been followed this time, but the general will catch up to them sooner or later. She wants to be done before he ever gets the chance.