“If I had just let Jonathan take the charter, none of this would be happening. He’d still be alive, and so would Officer Milliman. He would have made his delivery, and we wouldn’t be on the run.”
“Oh, sweetheart, it was just a matter of time before Jonathan would suffer the consequences for his actions. I hate to sound crass, but things don’t end well for guys like him in the drug business.”
Rethinking his words, he hoped she wouldn’t be angry at him for his flippant response pertaining to a man she was once engaged to.
“And that poor officer and his family,” she said with a shaky voice, then she buried her face against her hands and wept.
Cap reached out, gently prying her fingers away. “Look at me.”
When she finally did, her eyes shone with grief and guilt.
“You didn’t put him in that hospital,” Cap said softly. “You didn’t bring those men into his life, and you sure as hell didn’t pull the trigger.”
Reaching out, he slung his arm over her shoulders and pulled her closer until her head rested on his shoulder. The barrier between the bucket seats dug into his sore ribs, but he’d suffer through that and hold her as long as she needed to be held.
After a long moment, Emma lifted her head and swiped the moisture from her cheeks with the back of her hands.
“Now what?” she asked.
That was the million-dollar question. For now, all he could think to do was hide. Keep Markie moving in Jonathan’s truck and see if they would get lucky enough to draw out the Colombians and apprehend them. Still, they didn’t know how many there were.
“We’ll lie low. Regroup. I will keep you safe. I swear it.”
She nodded slowly, still wearing a look of hurt. But trusting him.
Cap shifted the car into drive, pulled out of the parking lot, and then drove country roads to his destination. A rustic hunting cabin owned by his buddy. Miles off the main road. Just outside the city limits. No electricity or water. Nobody’d look there.
What was he thinking? They’d need to pick up food and water first. He couldn’t rely on anyone else to bring supplies; that would defeat the purpose of NOBODY knowing where they were.
He spun the car around.
“What are you doing?”
“Honestly, I’m trying to figure out where to go. Hide in plain sight or off the radar.”
If he really wanted to get off the radar, he’d head to his Uncle Lee’s place in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. But his gut told him he needed to stay put in the city. Stay close to the chief and others who knew what was going on. Proximity was the best way to draw out the Colombians as long as they stayed invested in the missing drugs. If they didn’t catch the dealers now, Emma would be forced always to look over her shoulder, and that was no way to live life.
Plain sight, with precautions, it is.
Cap grabbed the burner phone from the car’s cup holder and handed it to Emma.
“Dial this number, please,” he said as he recited his buddy Chuck’s phone number.
Emma did so and then handed him the phone.
“Hey Chuck, it’s Cap. I need a big favor.”
“Sure.”
“I need a room, but nobody can know. I mean, nobody.”
“Um, okay.”
“Do you have anything?” Cap asked, knowing the odds were slim since it was June in Door County. Likely every room in the entire county was booked.
“Yeah, it even has a water view. Just took the cancellation a minute ago.”
Cap didn’t really give two shits about the water view. He saw the water all the time. But the comment from his buddy was probably reactionary since almost everyone who made reservations at the resort he managed wanted a water view and was willing to pay through the nose for it.
