Chapter 28
A bit. Eden rolled her eyes as she recalled how long Maks had said the journey would be. She couldn’t see the sun behind the clouds, but she was certain it was somewhere above them, which meant they’d been walking for hours.
At first, she’d been doing just fine. Then the blizzard hit. Eden had nearly been pulled off her feet from the wind a couple of times. Had Maks not had her hand, she was certain she would’ve been.
As difficult as that was, it was nothing compared to moving through thick, freshly fallen snow.
Her jeans were damp, and her toes were numb.
She really did hate anything to do with snow and winter now.
It didn’t matter how much she envisioned lying on a beach or sitting in a sauna, nothing was going to warm her until she got out of the weather and into dry clothes.
Maks made her repeat where she would go if anything happened to him at least every two minutes. Well, she might be exaggerating. It might be every three minutes, but she had to admit that she wasn’t going to forget it now.
She watched him, wondering how he could keep going as if the cold wasn’t affecting him. He was like a machine. Except she knew for a fact that he was all man. Hot, hard, and mouthwatering.
“You’re staring,” he threw her words from this morning back at her.
Eden laughed. “You’re pretty hot, do you know that?”
“If you say so.”
“Pffft. You know you are.”
He glanced at her, grinning. “As long as you think it, that’s all that matters.”
“I bet women fall all over you, don’t they?”
“I’ll admit that I don’t have a hard time getting women, if that’s what you want to know.”
She found herself getting a little jealous. It was her fault, though. She’s the one who brought it up.
He tugged her closer. “I only want you, though.”
That brought a smile to her face. “Thank you for saying that.”
“It’s the truth.”
Suddenly it didn’t matter that she was becoming a human popsicle. She was with Maks, who said he wanted her, and only her.
He halted and faced her. “You believe me?”
“Yes. Of course.”
“I have a surprise for you.”
She raised her brows. “You found us a beach?”
“Nearly as good. Look,” he said and glanced to the side.
She followed his gaze and spotted the roofs of houses that made up a village. Her eyes teared up. “Really? We’re here?”
“Ready to get warm?”
“Do you even have to ask that?”
He chuckled as they set off to the village. Maks took them around to the back of some businesses and brought them through narrow alleys. His gaze moved constantly, and she knew he was searching for Saints. The problem was, they could be anywhere.
“We’ll only be here a little while,” he told her.
“As long as I can get warm.”
“And hopefully get a secure connection.”
That brightened her day. “That would be fabulous.”
True to his word, Maks found them a small house on the edge of the village that looked as if it hadn’t had occupants in over a month. There was a fine coating of dust everywhere. While she set down her pack and removed her coat, Maks checked around inside the house.
“You want to make use of the shower while I check around outside?” he asked.
As if she would refuse that. Eden wanted to take a long shower, but she made it a quick one. It warmed her and allowed her to get into clean clothes. She hurried back downstairs to find Maks waiting for her.
“I feel like a new woman,” she said with a smile.
He winked at her. “Everything is good here. I’m going to get us some food. I’ll be back shortly. You need anything?”
“I can do some work with the files we have printed.”
“Lock the door behind me. I’ll knock three times, pause, and then knock once more.”
He gave her a quick kiss, then was gone.
Eden locked the door and went to her pack, where she took out the files on the Saints.
She took them to the sofa and spread them out on the floor before her.
She was missing something, but she couldn’t figure out what it was.
She needed to see it a different way, but she wasn’t sure how long they’d be here.
She needed to be able to gather everything together quickly.
Still, she pulled out a piece of paper and began to list what she knew in order of when it happened. She was on the third sheet when the knock startled her. Eden jumped but counted the three knocks. There was a pause, then one single knock.
With her heart pounding, she got to her feet and went to the door to unlock it. She opened it an inch to look outside and saw bright blue eyes staring at her. With a sigh, she opened the door.
“Everything all right?” Maks asked as he walked in.
She closed and locked the door after him. “I was just immersed in work, and you startled me.”
“Sorry about that.”
That’s when she smelled the food. She hurried to the kitchen after him. “What did you get?”
“As much as I could. Help yourself,” he said as he took packages out of the bag.
Eden was famished and began eating the first thing she opened. She had no idea what it was, and she didn’t care. All that mattered was that it was food and not another protein bar, though she was thankful for them when they would’ve starved.
“Did you see anything concerning?” she asked.
Maks shook his head. “Not at all, which means I need to be worried.”
“The Saints are everywhere.”
“That they are. I paid a young boy to get the food so I didn’t have to go into the store.”
She nodded, impressed. “Great idea.”
“It’s getting late, so we might be able to stay the night, but we should probably only stay a little while.”
“Where are we headed, exactly?”
He shrugged as he finished his food and set the empty container aside. “I have no idea. I’m just trying to stay ahead of the Saints to give you time to work.”
She took another bite, wondering how long they could keep it up.
“What is it?” he pressed.
Eden shrugged one shoulder. “Not only do I need a secure internet connection, but I need time to work, to spread this out and look at everything in multiple ways.”
“Which you can’t do with us moving constantly.”
She twisted her lips as she wrinkled her nose. “No. Sorry.”
“Internet means a city with reliable service. I had thought Oradea was a last resort, but it might be exactly what we need.”
“How far is that?”
“Not far if we take a car.”
And by take, he meant steal. Eden didn’t like taking things that weren’t hers, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
“The earlier, the better?” she asked.
He nodded and wiped his mouth with a paper napkin. “The good thing about these small villages is that they don’t have CCTV cameras.”
“That you know of.”
“Sometimes people see more than cameras. Trust me, I know how to keep my head down. You finish up here. I spotted a few vehicles that could be what we need. I’ll find us one and come back for you.”
Eden followed him to the door, locking it once more as she returned to her meal.
As she finished eating, she put on her boots, hating that they were still cold from their mountain trek.
At least this time they would be in a car.
Hopefully, one with a functional heater.
Either way, she wasn’t walking in the snow, and that made her night.
She finished packing away the food and making sure everything was in the same place it had been when they arrived when Maks knocked on the door with his code. She let him in, and they gathered their belongings before they climbed into the stolen car. In moments, they were out on the road.
“Do you think someone will notice the vehicle is gone?”
He shook his head as he drove. “It’ll be a little while. We’ll change cars before then.”
“Oh.”
And just like that, she found that living a life of crime wasn’t as bad as she’d thought it would be. Of course, she wasn’t really living such a life. She was just trying to survive by doing whatever she could.