12
Liam
“So I’m gonna keep watch, I guess?” Ty asked before I headed out to the store. “You need to show me how to use a gun or something?”
After allowing him to catch up on some rest, he was finally up and moving around, giving me a much-needed chance to fetch supplies. Even though I had the essentials, I hadn’t fully stocked the place for two people to settle there for some time, the length of which I was uncertain about, especially considering I hadn’t reached out to my team yet to know when I’d have backup.
“Yeah.” I reached back into my jeans and retrieved a blade. I’d had it on me even at the club the night before when we were attacked.
Ty’s eyes widened.
“This is Mr. Knife. He’s gonna be your new protector while I’m out.”
“A knife? If guys like that come here, you really think I can fight them off with this thing?”
“You know how to shoot?”
“No.”
“Then I’m not giving you a gun that you can shoot me with when I come back in here.”
Ty took the knife and studied it.
“And if you don’t wind up cutting me in the next few days, maybe I’ll consider showing you how to shoot one day. In the meantime, you’re stuck with Mr. Knife. Besides, this is just a precaution. I’m confident this place is secure. However, as confident as I can be, I’m not going to be stupid. We’re at a greater risk if we’re running around together, because if people come here asking others about us, we’ll be easy to find.”
Despite my paranoia, I was as certain as I could be that no one would be bothering the cabin. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have left him there.
“That makes sense,” Ty said.
“As soon as I get back, I’ll give you a phone to call your family. I get paranoid about using technology—phones and laptops. We have to, and I have the tech to keep us hidden, but once you start adding that to the equation, you put yourself at a greater risk of being found out.”
I left the cabin and drove nearly thirty minutes to the nearest major stores. Admittedly, having Ty out of my sight made me uneasy, but this was as good as I could manage for the time being. And it was likely that whoever they were, they would be looking for Ty and me together now that we were on their radar, so it was best for us not to be out and about together.
I hit up several stores, stocking up on groceries in particular, in case we were squirreled away for a bit. I found some clothes for us and tried to collect enough supplies that Ty wouldn’t be left wanting for much. I even found some books and DVDs, hoping he would be able to occupy his time with some of them.
When I returned to the cabin, Ty was lying on the couch, clearly lost in thought. He offered to help me bring the things in.
I opened the back of the SUV, and he exclaimed, “Holy fuck!” It was stuffed with boxes of barbed and razor wire, nails, and a whole lot of trouble.
“Just some things so I can set up traps around the house, in case we need them.”
“And here I thought we were gonna be shooting a sequel toSaw. Jesus fucking Christ. I thought you said this place was secure.”
“It became less secure when I went into town. It will become even less secure when we contact your family. And even less secure than that once I send my distress signal to my guys. You get what I’m saying? Every day that passes, every interaction with the rest of the world, puts us at greater and greater risk. We were the safest before I went out, and now we need these traps to ensure that if anyone does track us, we’ll be able to either take them out or stall them. Besides, this is like the first rule in any operation: securing your location.”
“Tips and tricks from an IPB agent?”
I chuckled at the lighthearted remark. “Something like that.”
He continued assessing the boxes. “You need help setting them up?”
Again with Ty and his goddamned consideration.
“This is kind ofmy thing, so I’m good, but thanks for the offer.”
“And I’m not gonna like trip these by accident or anything?”
“I’ll let you know where they are so you can keep from setting them off. Don’t need you strung up or worse because I’m paranoid about shit.”
