“Uh, Jonah. Not to be a Debbie downer, but isn’t there only one way out of here?”
“There’s a service road behind the screen. They just keep it chained shut.”
“So, if it’s chained shut, how do you expect us to get through it?”
“Well, Cas, seeing as how men with guns are guarding my car, I figured I’d just plow through the chained gate and hopefully we get to the highway before they get back to their car,” Jonah gritted out. “Seat belt.”
Cas clicked the buckle into place then folded his arms across his chest. He didn’t know why Jonah was so pissed at him. He wasn’t the one who had set up this meeting. That was Red.
He clenched his jaw. Why the fuck had he ever listened to Red? More importantly, why had Red listened to somebody who had claimed to know the masseuse?
The side mirror exploded six inches from Cas’s head. Jonah put the car in drive and slammed on the gas pedal, the car’s back wheels spinning before they caught on the gravel, sending a wave of shale into the air, blinding Jonah and Cas to everything behind them, including the gunman… Or gunmen, Cas supposed.
“Jesus. Are these guys professionals?” Cas asked. “They shoot like fucking stormtroopers.”
“Good fucking thing or we’d both be dead right now.”
As they drove, dust kicked up and engulfed everything, the headlights only illuminating objects at the last second. Cas was starting to think Jonah had been wrong about the gate a single moment before it appeared in front of them like an apparition.
Cas had just enough time to brace before Jonah hit the gate with enough force for Cas’s seatbelt to lock into place, the edge of the fabric burning as it slid across the side of his throat.
On the other side of the gate, the air cleared, and Jonah used the wipers to clean the windshield.
Cas released his seatbelt, spinning around, getting up onto his knees to peer into the darkness behind them. He didn’t see lights. He didn’t see anything. “I don’t see anybody.”
“Good,” Jonah said, even though his tone didn’t match his sentiment. Two blocks down, Jonah pulled into a Walmart parking lot and navigated to the back of the lot where the employees parked and they were less likely to be seen.
Jonah flung open the glove box and the center console, as if looking for something, grunting when he didn’t find whatever he sought. He popped the trunk and gave a satisfied shout as he came back holding two screwdrivers. He handed one to Cas.
“Find us a license plate.”
Cas searched for a car backed into a parking space and made short work of removing the plate. He found Jonah standing beside a black Toyota Camry. Cas set about swapping out the plates while Jonah got the engine turned over. Nobody would look twice at a black Toyota Camry. They were everywhere on the roads and one of the most boosted cars out there. There was little chance of anybody reporting the car stolen within the next ninety minutes.
Once they were on the road again, Cas pulled his phone free and punched Red’s contact up, hitting dial and putting it on speaker. It rang and rang before the business voicemail began to play. Cas made a noise of frustration.
“What the fuck? You don’t think Red set us up, right?”
Jonah didn’t say anything, knuckles white on the steering wheel, as he stared out at the road ahead. His fury was obvious, jaw tensed hard enough to make the muscle tick.
“Jonah?”
“You almost died.”
Cas frowned. “What’s Madi say? Almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades?”
Jonah snarled. “Dammit, Cas. If you’d left the car just sixty seconds later—”
“Then the second gunman would have still been waiting for me at the concession stand.”
Jonah’s head snapped to Cas. “What? Why didn’t you say anything?”
“We were running for our lives? Besides, I clocked him from a good thirty feet away.”
“You did? How?”
“Because I paid attention? Because I had years of watching you and Madi? I know how to scope out a situation. I know you think I’m too impulsive, too scattered, that my ADHD makes me vulnerable or something and maybe, sometimes, it does. But you trained me.” Cas touched Jonah’s arm on the console. “I sensed something was off because I assessed my surroundings, identified potential threats, and I created an exit strategy. I know what I’m doing, Jonah. I’ve been keeping myself alive in some of the most dangerous places in the world for years. Why is that so hard for you to understand?”
Cas’s phone rang, which was just as well since Jonah seemed hellbent on sullen silence. Cas didn’t know where Jonah got off being moody and sullen. Cas was the one who should be hurt.
