“I’m scared. I’m just sitting on edge waiting for something to happen. It’s not nice to feel like that. I wish we had some idea of what’s going on with my father. We don’t though. He’ll be looking for me, Xander. He has access to stuff. Things beyond my imagination.”
That was what concerned me. “Don’t worry. We just keep moving. Where we’re going we should be safe.” We would be. Jack was Jack but he had contacts too and I supposed I had Ethan. I definitely had Wes. I just needed to be on my turf. That was it, my turf. If something happened there then I knew I’d be able to handle it.
“Jack sounds nice.”
I’d talked a little more about him last night. It was not only going to be strange to see him because according to him I was presumed dead and had died five years ago, but I was going to be bringing a woman to the house that I was interested in. To him that person for me had been his daughter, Claire.
It was going to be a very awkward reunion. One that had to take place though.
“He’s nice.”
She nodded. “Okay, let’s… do this.”
Let’s do this.
I would have definitely felt better though if I’d had my full strength.
* * *
I planned it out well.
Frankie readied the truck and we left before four. It was good to get as far as we could under the darkness.
By five we were just going by Coyote Springs. The road had been clear and we covered a lot of miles in the space between, putting us ahead of the traffic.
Now it seemed like we were approaching it.
Frankie glanced at the rearview mirror but he wasn’t looking at me, he was looking at something I couldn’t see. Something on the road. Behind us.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Car and a bike. They been following us, I’m sure of it. Picked ‘em up about half an hour ago. They followed even when I took the shortcut at Dry Lake,” Frankie answered.
His eyes darted between the road ahead and the mirror.
Jia straightened up, worry instantly filled her face.
I looked behind me and gazed out the back window to try and find the car and bike.
“It’s the black Kawasaki and the black Porsche,” Frankie clarified.
I saw them. They were a few cars back. Just from looking I couldn’t tell if they were actually following, but if Frankie thought they were then I wouldn’t doubt him. He would have been paying more attention to something like that.
Jia looked too. “I can’t tell if it’s one of Pa’s people,” she stated.
I just couldn’t tell.
“I’m gonna divert down Wells. There’s no reason for them to turn off with us. If they do then I think it’s safe to say we’ve been found.” Frankie sped up a little more.
“What are we going to do?” Jia asked.
“We can’t get the cops on our ass. That would not be good. I’d really hoped we wouldn’t draw attention to ourselves. The number plates must have popped up on the radar.”
“How far out will Wells put us?” I asked. I didn’t know the roads here very well. Just the central routes I’d taken over the last month.
“Completely off, but it’s that or stay on Route 93 for longer than we have to, and if they start shooting…” He quirked a brow.
That would not be good. It wasn’t all that busy but it would get that way soon. Shooting meant civilians could get caught up and shit, it meant us being dead, dead, dead.
