Tony took the cup of coffee then followed Brody out the door then out of the church. The man headed for his car. “Where are we going and why am I leaving my cell phone at church?”
“You’ll see.”
Brody was being very cryptic, and Tony wasn't sure he liked it. "What's going on, Brody? You called me home to work on Hector's truck, and now you're driving me somewhere and you won't tell me where."
"Have you ever heard of the underground railroad?"
"You mean like Harriet Tubman?"
"Same principle, but different underground. Harriet Tubman's underground railroad was to help slaves escape. This underground railroad is to help people who are being abused escape."
"Is that what's going on? Do you need me to fix someone's car? I don't have a problem with that, but why didn't you say so instead of giving me some wild story about Hector needing his truck fixed?"
"Because we don't know who might be listening in on your phone."
"Is that why you had me leave it at the church?"
Brody nodded. "If your phone is being tracked, we don't want anyone to be able to follow you. We're headed to a stop on the underground railroad, a safe house."
"Okay." Brody's words made sense, but Tony couldn't help but feel as if the man was still keeping something from him. "What kind of car is it?" He needed to know just what was needed to fix it.
"You'll see."
Tony rolled his eyes.
"I need a promise from you before we get there, Tony."
"Of course." He couldn't think of anything he wouldn't promise the man. "Whatever you need."
"No matter what you see here, you cannot, under any circumstances, tell anyone about this place. It has to remain a secret, both for the people who run this place and for the people who need a safe place to run to."
"Okay, I can agree to that."
"There's only a few people in town who know about this place. Me, Sheriff Riley, Yancy, the senator, Happy and Marc, and now you. There might be a couple of others, but the important part is to remember not to talk to anyone about this unless you are positive they know. The more people who know, the less chance this place has of staying safe."
"No, I get it. No talking about it."
"Exactly."
When the car slowed and turned down a driveway, Tony frowned. "The safe house is Hector's farmhouse?"
"Remember when they found all those diamonds?"
"Yeah."
"Hector redid the basement to be soundproof and ready for people to stay for extended periods of time. Happy is using those diamonds to fund the place."
"That can't be cheap."
"No, but we all help out where we can."
"I don't have a lot of useable cash, but I can offer my mechanic skills. Not sure it'll help, but…"
"Anything helps."
After Brody parked the car, Tony climbed out then walked around the front. He waited for Brody before heading for the house. The door opened before they got there, and Hector stepped out.
"You told him the rules?"
