Chapter 21
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The car screeches as Cassie takes the corner, and I grab the handle above the window to keep my balance. She certainly has the confidence to be a getaway driver, but now she’s making me nervous.
The tires brush the curb before she yanks the steering wheel in the other direction, almost going into the oncoming lane. A wild look dances in her eyes, as if she’s enjoying this just a little too much.
I know this about Cassie now—she is not an evasive driver.
We’ve left the goons in the dust, but Phineas’s car isn’t too far off. I can see it in the distance, gathering speed.
“Turn here!” I point to a small road leading to the right, and she follows my instructions without question. It seems she can trust me, at least for the basics. We go to the end of the street, and she takes the next corner even harder.
“Whoa, no need to kill us before we escape,” Nathan pipes up from the back seat.
“What do you think they’ll do if they manage to catch up to us?” I turn to look through the back window, just as a pair of headlights I know a little too well make the same turn behind us.
“Speed up, Cassie,” I urge, putting my hand on her shoulder as if she needs me to tell her how important this is. We didn’t have enough time to switch back there, but can she keep up?
Can she outdrive Phineas? I’m not sure, but I certainly hope so. And maybe if we’re lucky, Phineas will think I’m trying to help him by getting Nathan away from Preston and slowing things down.
That might be hoping for too much.
“Speed up?” Nathan’s voice raises in pitch.
“Yes, speed up. They’re still following us.”
I keep giving directions, telling her where to turn, where she can afford to go fast, or where to slow down. I know the roads well and wish I was driving. However, I have to hand it to Cassie. She’s doing a pretty decent job.
When we end up on a long stretch of road, I point to a little alley, narrow enough only to fit one car. We pull in and wait. After another twenty minutes, I’m satisfied that we’ve lost Phineas and Preston.
“So,” I turn to Nathan. “Now that we’ve risked life and limb to help you escape, where is this evidence you promised us? If you are about to double-cross us, I’ll dump you here and text your location to Phineas myself.”
That would be the second time.
“I'm not lying. I promise. I have it stashed at a cabin in the woods. I know, I know, not super secure, but it was the best hiding spot I could think of. We can go there now and pick up all the drives before Preston figures out where the cabin is.”
“He has a way to figure out where it is?” Cassie asks, shock in her voice.
“Not necessarily. I’m not sure. Nothing is impossible with Preston or the other guys working for him.” Nathan sounds terrified, and somehow, I don’t blame him.
“How far away is this cabin?” I ask. We’ll have to avoid the main roads and avoid attracting attention. If Preston or Phineas catch us, there won’t be any second chances.
“It’s down by Briar Creek. Once we get close, I’ll give you more specific directions.” Nathan keeps looking through the mirror as if expecting Phineas to pull up behind us with guns blazing at any second. I don’t blame him; it is still a real possibility.
“All right, I know where that is. Cassie, pull the car out and go right. Two streets down, take a left.”
“When are you going to tell me what you were doing working with Phineas of all people, Lincoln? And after you made it seem you were running some grand scheme to take him down.” Cassie shakes her head as she pulls onto the road and follows my directions. I guess we’re jumping right into it.
“Are we really going to do this now? In front of Nathan?”
“Don't mind me.” Nathan lifts his hands in resignation and leans back against the seat as if he’s about to be very entertained.
“Considering we have two extremely angry criminals after us trying to get to the guy we just helped escape from under their noses, we might not make it to talk about it another day,” Cassie snaps. “You betrayed me, Quinn, and everything we had together. Most of all, you betrayed our friendship.” She looks at me in the rearview mirror, tears swimming in her eyes.
Great, now I’ve made her cry. I never wanted to hurt Cassie, and I especially didn’t want to make her cry.
“Cassie, it’s more complicated than that. I didn't mean to betray you. I got involved with Phineas a long while back. He has some leverage over me. He used it to get me to find Nathan. I swear, the whole time, I was looking for ways to take him down, to stop this whole mess. I want to put him behind bars, whether he gives me his leverage or not.”
“Leverage? What sort of leverage?” She is a bit more cautious this time. Her hands clutch the steering wheel so tightly I can see the whites of her knuckles.
“The kind that could ruin my life and my career very easily. I never wanted to put you in the middle of it, Cassie. I wish I could have been honest with you.”
“You could have been. Don’t act like Phineas forced you to lie to me because he didn’t. No matter what he threatened you with, we were alone plenty of times. You could have told me what Phineas was up to and why you were cooperating with him. Instead, you made me jump through hoops and lied to me constantly; who knows how many times? I don’t know, Lincoln. Why didn’t you trust me?”
“I did trust you. I do . I just didn't want to put you in danger by getting you mixed up in it.”
“I think I’m in plenty of danger now, regardless of all your lies.” her gaze meets mine in the mirror.
She’s right, of course. She is in danger, and it is all because of me and my lies. It doesn’t look like I can do anything right, no matter my intentions.
Cassie
There’s more to be said. Talking in front of Nathan was a bad idea. From what little I know about him, I expect he’s the type to use the information to barter with, and chances are he’d use any information he managed to gather regarding me and Lincoln against us in a heartbeat if he could for his own gain. In fact, that’s exactly what he’s doing to his uncle.
Lincoln is still holding back, and while there seem to be good reasons for it, I can’t help but be angry. He owes me the truth, especially after everything he’s put me and Quinn through. We’ve been so worried about him, yet nothing is as we thought.
We reach the edge of Briar Creek Road. Nathan points to a small road that looks overgrown and rarely traveled. I’m a little uncertain whether the station wagon can handle it, but there’s not much choice, so I turn onto the barely existing road and brace for the bumpy ride.
After another ten minutes of tense silence, Nathan points to another road smaller than the first.
“Down here,” he says.
“How do we know he’s not leading us into an ambush right now?” I ask Lincoln.
Imagining Nathan playing the long game, leading us right where he wanted us to be so he can overpower us and leave us to face Phineas and Preston’s wrath while he disappears in the wind, makes my stomach clench.
I don’t know what side anyone is on at this point. It’s a gamble. We are taking Nathan at his word, but we have no idea if his word means anything at all.
They say a man being tortured will say anything to get out of it, and the situation Nathan was in seems to make him one of those types who lie their socks off to get out of it.
We pull up to a small cabin a few minutes later. It’s covered in vines and overgrown bushes. It looks like no one has lived there in at least a decade, if not longer. I’m a little surprised it’s still standing. But then I see a shadow of solar panels on the roof, and little details show how good the security is.
I spot a couple of security cameras pointed at all the entrances.There’s a barely visible trip wire off to the sides of the place. Near the front door, more cameras are tracking our movements, probably recording us.
Nathan sees me looking and smiles.
“I try to keep the place secure, even though I’m rarely out here.” Nathan shrugs and gets out of the car.
Lincoln holds back a few seconds, watching cautiously. “Let’s keep an eye on everything he does. No way I trust him. He is Preston’s nephew, after all.”
“I agree.” We leave the station wagon together and make our way up the cabin steps. It’s a beautiful place and if we were there for any other reason, I would have enjoyed the outing.
Instead, I keep thinking that something will jump out at us or Nathan is trying to trap us somehow.
From the outside, the cabin looks like an abandoned hunting hideout. Once I step over the threshold, it turns into a chic, modern space.
Maybe I should ask Nathan for some decorating advice for the office. A soft gray carpet stretches across the floor. On one side is a well-stocked kitchenette. On the other is a queen-sized bed, made up as if sitting in a five-star hotel instead of an abandoned dusty cabin. Across one wall is a desk with a computer that looks too technologically advanced for even me to run.
I'd imagine this is a dream for someone who has people on their tail and wants to disappear off the grid.
“So, where's all this evidence?” Lincoln asks, pulling me out of my admiration for the place.
“It's on the computer.” Nathan crosses the room with confidence and pops himself down into the office chair in front of the desk. The computer lights up with right-to-left flashes of light and his fingers race across the keyboard—gathering up what we need, hopefully. “Give me about fifteen minutes, and I'll have what you want, and we can get out of here.”
Lincoln steps closer to me, never taking his eyes off Nathan.
“I know how things look right now, but would you at least wait until we have a chance to hash things out before you make all of your assumptions?” he asks me.
If I didn't know any better, I’d think he's actually nervous.
“What assumptions do you think I'm making?” It's a little late not to make assumptions. My brain literally hurts with everything I've had to think about since I realized what he was up to back in that warehouse.
“You know exactly what kind of assumptions. I want to tell you everything, but first, we need to do the right thing with Nathan.” Lincoln's gaze meets mine momentarily, uncertainty flickering across his features.
“Would you have done the right thing by him if I hadn't been there when you found him? Or would you have turned him in to Phineas and been long gone before they even confronted one another?” I know it looks like I'm trying to make a point, but I honestly want to know the answer to my question.
“I'm not sure what I would have done.” Lincoln's shoulders fall slightly, and he looks a bit defeated. “I never would have chosen to work with Phineas, and looking back, it was a mistake no matter the consequences of not doing it. Everyone makes mistakes every once in a while.”
I nod tightly. My mom's face comes to mind, and then a vision of myself hugging my dad goodbye and running off to live the life of an actress. Lincoln isn’t the only one who made mistakes. Lately, though, he's been putting others in danger because of those mistakes.
“I don't think we should talk about this here.” I nod toward Nathan. “We should probably be keeping an eye on whatever he is doing on that computer.”
Lincoln makes a gruff motion in agreement, and we find ourselves on either side of Nathan.
Nathan draws in a quick breath. “You're not like the usual guys Phineas hires,” he says as he types, looking up at Lincoln.
“No, I suppose I'm not. How many people does Phineas hire?”
“A good number. Up until a couple of months ago, he employed more than a dozen people. Then he finds love, and all of a sudden, everyone is out of a job.” Nathan shakes his head as if he still can't believe it .
“So, this whole thing with Lorraine is legit?” Lincoln leans in just a bit, showing me how interested he is in hearing Nathan's answer.
“I'd say it's about as legit as it comes. Imagine that—building up your criminal empire until you can do pretty much whatever you want when you want… then falling so hard, you'll throw it all away because a woman tells you to do it.” His face turns red as if he’s embarrassed to have said as much about a man people fear.
Lincoln shakes his head, and I can’t read his expression. Does he think of Phineas as a boss or friend, similar to how Quinn and I view Lincoln as our friend? Somehow, his being friends with Phineas feels worse than just working for him. The thought is sobering.
“Okay, I’ve got it all on the drive. Do you want to see it?” Nathan asks, looking between us.
I pull in a breath. I hope what he has on this drive is worth all the trouble we just went through. Please let it be what we need.