10. Reese
Reese
We weren’t going to risk another trip to Summer’s apartment, so I packed a bag while she made a few calls.
Her job was no longer an issue, but she contacted Nate’s school and the neighbor who usually watched him while she worked.
I’d have Gunnar or one of our other associates come pack up her apartment and haul everything to Tilikum.
She protested about the cost, but I assured her it wasn’t going to be a problem.
I was used to leaving for months at a time for work, so prepping the house didn’t take long. Then I loaded all our stuff into the back of my SUV.
Nate came into the garage as I pressed the button to lower the liftgate.
“Hey, chief.”
“How long of a drive is it?”
“Depends on how often we stop, but we can make it in two days if we push it.”
“Mom says we aren’t coming back.”
“That’s true. Are you worried about that?”
He shrugged. “I didn’t want to go back to school anyway.”
I chuckled. “I usually didn’t, either. But aren’t you going to miss your friends?”
“Not really. I just want to go away.”
It was the weirdest thing. A flood of memories washed over me, like when you smell something that reminds you of home and suddenly you’re there. Only it wasn’t a nostalgic scent, it was just a feeling. Desperation to leave. To get away. To cut all ties and be free.
I pushed away the sensation.
“We’re trying to get away from Axel, aren’t we?” he asked.
The fact that he called him Axel and not my dad made the corners of my mouth lift. “Yeah, we are.”
“My mom didn’t want to tell me that, but I figured it out.”
“She probably doesn’t want you to be scared.”
“I’m not,” he said decisively.
“It’s okay if you are. Being afraid isn’t a problem. It’s what you do when you’re scared that matters.”
Looking down at the floor, he nudged a pebble with his toe. “I’m scared they’ll hurt my mom.”
“Of course you are.”
He looked up, surprise flashing across his face.
“You love your mom, and you don’t want anything to happen to her, right?”
He nodded.
“And there are some very bad men out there who could hurt her. And you, too. It’s okay to be afraid of that. But I need you to listen to me, okay? I’m not going to let that happen.” I held out my hand. “I promise.”
He took my hand, and we shook on it.
Summer opened the door to the garage and let out a relieved breath. “There you are. Is all your stuff in Reese’s car?”
“I think so,” he said.
She met my eyes. “I’m ready when you are.”
“Let’s go.”
She went back into the house to make sure the lights were off while I double-checked the doors. I paused for a second and looked around the living room. At the worn furniture and bare walls. It hardly looked like I lived there. And I had the strangest feeling I wasn’t going to see it again.
But of course I was. Once I got Summer settled, and we were sure Axel wouldn’t be a problem, I’d come back. It wasn’t like I could stay in Tilikum.
Except the thought of leaving her there gave me an odd pang of regret deep in my chest.
We climbed into my SUV, I opened the garage door, backed out, and closed it again. Summer let out a long breath as we pulled onto the street. I couldn’t tell if it was relief or uncertainty. Maybe a bit of both.
The route out of town took us past the diner. It felt like it had been days, not hours, since we’d been there. The parking lot was mostly empty. Just a single car with a couple getting in—probably after realizing it was closed.
“I should stop for gas,” I said. Usually, I didn’t let the tank get low, but it had been a weird couple of days, and we’d be traveling long stretches of road without any services.
“Can I get a snack?” Nate asked.
Summer glanced over her shoulder at him. “You’re hungry already?”
“Yeah. And Reese said it’s a long drive. We need snacks.”
She looked at me as I pulled into the gas station and stopped at the outermost pump. “Do you want anything?”
“I’m good.”
“Okay, we’ll be fast.”
Summer and Nate got out, and she hesitated, looking around before hurrying into the small convenience store.
I stood where I had a clear view of my surroundings while I pumped the gas.
Cars drove by in a steady stream, and the heat pressed at me.
We hadn’t even left town yet, and a knot of dread already sat in the pit of my stomach.
For a moment, I considered whether I could get Summer settled in Tilikum without seeing my family.
Maybe I could meet my mom privately, introduce her to Summer and Nate, then get out of the way.
But I knew that wouldn’t work. I couldn’t drop them off and fade into the background. My siblings wouldn’t let me get away with it.
Which meant I had to face my family. All of them.
Even my dad.
Summer and Nate came out carrying bottled water and snacks. I finished gassing up, and when I replaced the nozzle, the back of my neck prickled.
Turning, I did a quick scan of the road and surrounding parking lots. A second later, the roar of motorcycles grew.
Three bikes headed toward us.
“Get in,” I said, my voice sharp.
Summer and Nate hurried over to the SUV, and we all scrambled in. I turned on the engine and drove forward, but before I could get onto the street, one of the bikes made a quick turn into the gas station and stopped in front of me.
They’d seen Summer and Nate.
With a sneer, the biker revved his engine. The other two pulled in behind me, blocking my way out.
Summer looked out the back window. “Um…”
My eyes flicked around, and I calculated our best options. I was tempted to drive forward and run the guy over, but a hit-and-run would mean running from both Mayhem and law enforcement. Not ideal.
There was a wide strip of weed-choked rocks between the gas pumps and the curb. Cranking the wheel, I hit the gas and cut across, bumping over the curb and onto the street.
The bikers swung around and followed.
I was heading in the wrong direction, but I wasn’t worried about that. First things first—I needed to lose the three idiots behind us.
“They’re following,” Summer said.
“Yep.”
“You’re very calm.”
I shrugged. “It’s not like anyone’s shooting at us.”
“Why do I feel like you’d still be calm?”
Without replying, I took a left. The bikers stayed on our tail.
“Are they going to shoot at us?” Nate asked. I couldn’t tell if his tone was laced with fear or fascination.
“They better not,” I said.
Summer twisted in her seat. “Nate, maybe you should get down.”
His forehead creased with worry as he leaned over across the bench seat.
“Don’t worry, chief,” I said. “I’ll lose them.”
I wasn’t sure how, exactly. But I’d figure it out. Half my job was making things up on the fly. And sometimes people were shooting at me while I did it. This wasn’t bad. Just annoying.
“But the windows really are bulletproof, right?” he asked.
“Yep, they are.”
The light at the next intersection turned red. There was a car ahead of me, so I couldn’t run it to put distance between us. And I didn’t want to start a high-speed chase in the middle of town. Those assholes wouldn’t give a crap about collateral damage. Someone could get hurt.
I slowed down with enough distance to wait it out without stopping. When the light changed, I darted around the car in front of us and took a right onto an empty side street.
“Hold on,” I said, hitting the gas.
Summer braced herself, and the tires squealed as I took a hard left.
After a few more quick turns, we were outside the business district, on a street lined with warehouses and a shady-looking used car dealership. For a second, I thought I might have lost them, but they raced out from a side street and got behind us again.
“Damn.”
“Mom?” Nate asked.
She turned. “Yeah?”
“I have to go to the bathroom.”
“Can you hold it?”
“I think so.”
“You gotta try, buddy. We can’t stop right now.”
“I know.”
Probably not the time for it, but I almost laughed. Three outlaw bikers on my tail and the kid had to pee.
Pressing on the gas, I gunned it past another warehouse complex. We were on the outskirts of town, and if I kept going straight, we’d wind up on a remote road that crossed the desert.
Nowhere to hide out there.
There was another warehouse up ahead on the left. It looked old and dilapidated—covered with graffiti—and the fence was partly torn down. Probably abandoned.
Instinct told me to turn, so I did. The bikers followed.
Summer held on as I swerved to avoid a pile of debris. Movement caught my eye as we passed another large building. A train was coming.
The fence on the back side of the property was gone. Nothing between us and the tracks. My eyes flicked to the train, racing toward us.
I could make it. Gripping the steering wheel, I laid into the gas.
“Reese…” Summer’s voice was tense.
I didn’t reply. Just drove faster.
She pressed one hand against the door and held on to the dash with the other. “This is a bad idea.”
“Don’t worry.” I narrowed my eyes at the train. It was going to be close.
Really close.
“I’m worried,” she said. “Really worried.”
I checked the rearview. The bikers were right behind me.
The train whistle blew as it bulleted down the track. If I was going to stop, I needed to do it. Another few seconds, and I wouldn’t have time.
I went for it.
The tires hit the tracks, and we bounced hard. My eyes flicked to the side. The train was unnervingly close.
We crossed to the other side of the tracks, and not a second later, the train raced by, whirring behind us.
I let out a breath and rolled my shoulders.
Summer turned to me, her eyes flashing with fury. “You almost killed us.”
“I didn’t.”
“You could have.”
“I wouldn’t have gone if we weren’t going to make it.”
“That was amazing,” Nate said, his voice filled with awe.
She reached over and smacked my arm.
“What was that for?”
“Racing a train with my son in the car.”
“Fine. Next time bikers are following us, you can drive.”
She huffed.
There were more warehouses on the other side, and I had to drive alongside the tracks until I found an opening in the fence that would fit my SUV. But we’d left the bikers behind. The cargo train was probably two miles long. We’d be well out of sight by the time they found a way around.
I kept to back roads until I could get on the highway going north. The dread in the pit of my stomach was back. Not because of Mayhem. I knew they’d try to find us. I didn’t expect to get away that easily. And I’d deal with them when the time came.
But every mile we drove brought me closer to Tilikum. And to the reunion I’d been avoiding for almost twenty years.