I sit bolt upright as the first of my alarms goes off.
Fuckballs.
It’s 3:27 a.m., and time for me to get ready.
I use the room’s crappy single-serve coffeemaker to brew me a cup while I grab a wake-up shower. Then, after I’m safely in my 4Runner, I make the first of my calls.
The first two people had already heard from Lucius. So I kindly thank them and hang up without asking for help. They were longshots, but my third should be a safer option.
I power down that burner and set it aside. I’m certain Lucius or Garrett will try to track me through the burner number and find out I’m here.
That’s okay, because by the time they do, I’ll be far from here.
I break out the next burner phone, which I charged while I slept, turn it on, and import my contacts into it. All I need to do is stay one step ahead of everyone, reach my destination, and stay there until Dexter and Lucius and Garrett all forget about me and go on with their lives.
The third phone call I make…
As I predicted, Neimus has not heard from Lucius. He hasn’t heard from Dexter, either.
Or Garrett.
And, thankfully, Neimus has a lead for me and promises to not tell anyone I called, should they call looking for me. He agrees to me using a different alias for reference for the next call I need to make, so Lucius and Dexter won’t track me, should their inquiries lead that far.
One more phone call, and I now have a destination and a lead on a job.
Doesn’t matter I’ve ripped my own heart out in the process, or that I was finally starting to feel like I was home and had an extended family, of sorts.
The important thing is that I can protect them all by getting the fuck away from them as quickly as possible.
I start crying as I start driving. Because every mile I drive is another mile further from Dexter.
And I sense it’s another mile further from the only man I’ll ever really love.
A man whose heart I’m likely breaking right now, and I hate myself for that.
* * *
Dexter
Eilidh won’t respondto my texts or answer my phone calls. Her voice mail quickly fills up.
It’s likely she’s turned off the phone and won’t turn it on again.
She doesn’t even have a bank account. Who doesn’t have a bank account? Credit cards? How does she survive? She must have a heck of a stash of cash and pre-paid cards to make it this long.
Iwillspank her for that when I find her. For making it harder for me to find her.
Three days after Eilidh’s disappearance from Tucson, and I’m not sure if Lucius or Garrett wish me dead more, because I’m constantly asking for updates. I can’t think straight not knowing if she’s safe or not.
There’s been no sign of her at all in the past forty-eight hours, other than two of Lucius’ contacts reporting back to him that she called them, but as soon as they admitted Lucius had called looking for her, she thanked them and hung up.
From a burner phone. Which she’s already stopped using, because it can’t be tracked any further than Albuquerque. Garrett sent men out looking for her, but she had too much of a head start on them. I’ve got men looking for her. We all have people looking for her.
Even Jackson King’s mate and her hacker friends haven’t located so much as a hint of Eilidh’s whereabouts. The e-mail address Lucius and Garrett had for Eilidh hasn’t been logged into in over a week. It is likely a throwaway account. There were no contacts associated with it that Kylie could sort through.
My beautiful, brilliant girl is adept at hiding her trail, unfortunately.
Meanwhile, I spend my nights heading to Club Toxic, up to the office, to go over any information we’re able to glean. Lucius’ conference room is now my base of operations.
