“Not a damn thing. Stitches, remember? Go inside and pick out a bedroom. Then plant your ass there until I come bearing food,” he said, jovially.
So, that’s what I did. The cabin was the definition of remote, but it was a lot bigger and nicer than I expected. I assumed we would be staying in something equivalent to a hunting shack, but that was not the case. This place was two stories with four bedrooms and four bathrooms. In addition to the living room, kitchen, and dining room, it had a large game room, an attached two car garage, a screened in porch with a hot tub, and a large, open deck.
I made my way upstairs and checked out the bedrooms. All the rooms were about the same size and decorated similarly, the only difference I noticed was the size of the bed in each room. I wondered if Dash and I would stay in the same room or if that was being presumptuous. We had slept in the same bed once before, but we didn’t consciously go to bed together that night. I would just err on the side of caution and pick a room with a queen size bed, leaving the king size, another queen, and two twin beds free for the picking.
Prospect Jamie brought my bags to my room. I thought now would be a good time to shower. I felt sticky and grimy from being in the back of that trailer for a few hours.
When I stepped out of the bathroom, dressed in my pajamas with a towel wrapped around my hair, I found Dash sitting on my bed, a plate a food and a drink on the nightstand, and a scowl on his face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked.
“Why did you pick this room?”
I shrugged. “Was I not supposed to pick this one? I can move to another one if it is a problem.”
“It is a problem and your things have already been moved to another room.”
“Okay…” What was his problem? He told me to pick a room. I did.
“Did you hear me say that you are mine?” he snapped. I nodded.
“That means you sleep in my bed. Doesn’t mean we have to do anything you aren’t ready for, but it does mean you sleep beside me. Especially when my number one priority is keeping you safe. You are safest by my side.”
“I’m sorry, Dash. I wasn’t sure what to do and I didn’t want to assume that we were staying together.”
He sighed, but his expression softened, “I get that, but what did I tell you? We have to talk to each other. Next time you aren’t sure about something, just ask me, yeah?”
“Yeah, okay.” He made it sound so easy, so simple, which brought my insecurities to the surface. I had been trying so hard to fit in with everyone and overcome my social awkwardness instilled by my sheltered upbringing, but one little incident made me realize I still had a long way to go.
He picked up the plate of food and the drink. “Come on. I’ll take you toourroom. I’ll come back and get your stuff from the bathroom while you’re eating.”
“Did you eat?”
“I’ll grab something after I get you settled. I’ll bring it back up here so we can go over plan A and plan B if things go sideways.”
I had just swallowed the last bite of food when Dash came through the door with his own plate of food. He sat down and began talking while eating. “If everything goes smoothly, we will just hang out up here until Phoenix gives the all clear. I have a couple different burner phones that I will use to check in with Phoenix at a set time every couple of days. I’ll start checking in more often as he gets closer to taking down Octavius’s operation. If I call in at the set check-in time and Phoenix doesn’t answer, we will grab our stuff and go to the Blackwings clubhouse in Devil Springs. It’s about 30 minutes from here. You with me so far?”
I nodded, listening intently. I wanted to make sure I didn’t miss anything he said.
“If Phoenix doesn’t answer at the set check-in time and we can’t leave here, we will leave everything as is in the cabin and go to the underground bunker. I will show you where it is and how to get in it if I’m not able to go with you right away. In the bunker, you will find a satellite phone with a few numbers already programmed in it. One of those numbers belongs to Copper, President of the Devil Springs chapter. He’s also Phoenix’s cousin, yours, too. You call him and say, ‘This is Phoenix’s Spawn. Code Flame.’ He will know what to do. You stay in the bunker until Copper calls you back on the phone and says, ‘Flame extinguished. Phoenix shall rise.’ This means the problem has been taken care of and it is safe for you to come out. Now repeat that back to me.”
I did as he asked and I think I surprised him that I was able to recall everything he said after just one explanation. This wasn’t my first time dealing with strategic planning. At least some of Octavius’s crazy was coming to be of good use.
“Well done. We will go over it again tomorrow and every day until we can go back to Croftridge. Tomorrow, I will show you where the bunker is located and also where we have a stash of weapons. Do not, under any circumstances use anything that sends out a signal of any kind, no phones, no internet, basically no electronics whatsoever.”
“Got it.”
“That’s it? No complaints, no comments, no questions?” he asked, surprised.
“I came from a life where this was a part of my daily routine. Octavius wanted us to always be prepared to defend ourselves. As I got older, I thought he was suffering from extreme paranoia and a bit mentally unstable. Now that I know he is involved in some more than questionable activities and dealings, it makes more sense. To answer your question, no complaints, no comments, no questions.”
He pulled me to him and planted a kiss on my temple. He didn’t say anything else, just held me for a long while. Finally, he softly murmured, “Let’s get some rest. We never know what the next day will bring.”
CHAPTER 19
Phoenix
They had been gone a week. A week and I didn’t have much more than I had when they left. Byte hadn’t been able to find much with the names we got from Ember, Reese, and Jamie. So far, the parents of those kids turned out to have records for multiple drug-related charges. It made sense that they would have lost custody of their kids, but the kids would have been taken through the county for temporary placement or placement with extended family, not sent to an orphanage. I thought maybe we needed to dig further into the past. The farm was up and running way before I was born. Was it just a dairy farm at one time or was it always a facade to hide other activities? I didn’t know, but I knew just who to ask.
