“I don’t think your house is far enough back in the forest. Maybe you should stay with Antoine for a while or get out of town completely.”
“Get out of town? I don’t really have many relatives that I can stay with. What is going on?”
“That’s Antoine’s place.”
“You said it was your problem.”
Nathan sighed. He was driving fast and erratic. She was gripping the dashboard with a knuckle-white grip, though she didn’t know where they were going. She didn’t ask him to stop, after seeing the fire and knowing he’d saved her from something that she hadn’t even seen coming. Cassandra was trusting of them both, though Nathan was the man who’d saved her before.
“Yes, it is my problem. I got something willed to me and now other people are pissed off.”
“Sounds like you need to go to the cops.”
Nathan turned to her. “Sometimes things happen, and we should, but something tells us not to. This is one of those things.”
Cassandra wasn’t sure what he meant, but she felt like it had something to do with Antoine and the wreck.
“You weren’t there that morning by coincidence, were you? He sent you because you’re not a tow truck driver.”
Nathan agreed. “No, not really. Although, I thought I did pretty good.”
“So, what do you do?”
“A little of this, little of that.”
Cassandra rolled her eyes. “So, he sent you?”
Nathan agreed. “He felt bad but couldn’t stop then. He wanted to, but he had to keep going or you would have been in more trouble with who was on his tail. So, he sent me and wanted me to fix it for you. Antoine doesn’t like to owe anyone, and he doesn’t wrong anyone, without going out of his way to make it right.”
Cassandra nodded, though she couldn’t relax. Nathan was driving like a maniac and she just held on. What else could she do? Nathan had given her a lot to think about and like always, choices were few and far between.
***
After ten miles or so, Nathan was going out by her house on the mountain and she asked him what they were doing.
“I thought you said that it wouldn’t be good to stay at my house?”
Cassandra was ready to listen to him now. After the fire and the idea that it could have been her, she was all about asking what they thought should happen.
“I am taking you to Antoine’s house. He lives up this way, too, not too far from you, but deeper in.”
Cassandra did not know what that meant, but at some point, she’d realized that she was just there for the ride. She tried her best to not worry, but she was.
“Is Antoine okay?”
Nathan agreed without looking at her. The driving was getting spotty, as the road was bumpy gravel and dirt.
“Yeah, he’s fine. I have not heard from him. I just heard about the impending attack. I had to make sure that he wasn’t in it, and he wasn’t answering his phone.”
“So, what is this about?”
Nathan shrugged. “Like I said, not my place to say. Antoine will tell you when he’s ready. He will be home soon. All you have to do is make yourself comfortable.”
Cassandra was dropped off at Antoine’s house by his friend and she was speechless. She didn’t know if he was being for real or not, but then he actually left, and she was utterly alone. Cassandra was nervous about what that meant. She believed one hundred percent that she was in danger now. There was nothing like the building she was in moments before, exploding in front of her to do that. Now she knew she was in danger, and Cassandra wanted assurances that everything was going to be okay. There was nobody there to do that for her.
She went in the door using the keys that Nathan had shown her was underneath a fake rock in the yard. Everything about the two men was different than anything she had experienced before. They were secretive and were hiding things from her. Cassandra did not believe for one moment that everything that was going on was because of a will or a company. It felt more dangerous. It felt illegal. Something.
When she got inside, Cassandra told herself that she should just sit down and wait for Antoine to get there. She was in his house, after all, and he didn't even know that she was going to be there. Maybe the two men would talk before he got back to his home, but Cassandra just had a feeling that he was not going to be happy to have her there.
