“No.”
“Yes.”
Sly and Pete answer at the same time before narrowing their eyes at one another.
“Yes, one will be, after I teach you how to use it,” Pete says as he starts looking through the mountain of weapons, pulling a few to his pile, while Jagger does the same. I notice they seem to have selected a lot more knives than the other two, and I wonder why. Do they lose them a lot?
“Did you say there was still more stuff coming tomorrow?” I ask Sly.
He takes the phone from Jagger. “Originally, some things were scheduled for tomorrow, but now I’m looking, it seems like everything got sent today.”
“That’s great, then we can leave today,” I say with a smile. It quickly fades as I realize I have no idea what our plans are. “Where are we going to go?” I ask, realizing we haven’t talked about it yet.
“First, we need to get some fake IDs,” Pete says, glancing at me.
I shiver as I remember trying to do that only a couple of days ago. Was it really that recent? It feels like so much has happened since then.
“No running off with the big bad bikers this time, though,” he says teasingly, clearly trying to make me feel better.
“Once we have them, we’ll have more choices,” Sly explains. “This money won’t last forever, though, so we need to find a place where we can get jobs but stay mostly hidden.”
“Wait—” I frown, looking around at the three of them. “You’re planning to hide for the rest of your lives?” I ask with a mix of confusion and sadness.
“Angel, we’re fugitives. That doesn’t just disappear,” Pete says sadly. “They’re not going to forget about us if we lie low for a while. This isn’t going away.”
“But you said you’re innocent,” I say, tears filling my eyes as I try my best to blink them back.
“I am,” Pete says, moving around to sit beside me. “At least for the crime they charged me with. But they don’t believe that. I’ve already been convicted for it. The same goes for the others.”
“We have to convince them of the truth,” I say, grabbinghis hand and squeezing it tight.
“It’s too late for that now.”
I shake my head as a tear escapes down my cheek. “I don’t believe that. If we can find evidence that you were wrongfully convicted, they will have to drop the charges against you. Right?”
He gives me a pitying smile as he wipes the tear from my cheek.
“You don’t have to believe me, but I’m going to do it. I’m going to get all four of you your freedom back.”
“And what about you?” Sly asks. “What of your freedom?”
I think about Robert and Ivan, and my brows knit together, realizing that I may not be running from the police, but my enemy is just as scary, if not more so.
“Once your four are free, if you still want me around, then we can leave the country and go somewhere Robert won’t follow.” My mind drifts to green trees, mountains, and snowfall. “Like Canada.”
“Angel,” Pete says with a sigh. He sits down and lifts me into his lap, wrapping me in his arms. “What part of ‘I go where you go’did you not understand?”
I let his hand running up and down my arm soothe me for a minute before I answer. “I thought that was just until…”
“There’s no until, angel cake. You’re stuck with me forever.”
“Forever is a very long time,” I whisper back, my heart somersaulting in my chest with hope.
“And yet not nearly long enough to spend with you,” he whispers into my ear.
My core clenches, and I feel myself grow a little damp between my legs, surprising me. I grip his arm, unsure whatto do. The feelings they’ve all been stirring in me keep leaving me confused, with a strange longing inside, telling me I need more. And yet, the more affection I get, the more the need grows.
The bathroom door opens, and a smiling Dex steps out. “Ta da!” He steps into the room and lifts his arms to the sides, spinning in a full circle so that I can get a good look at him.
