A rumble in the distance made me tear toward the closest window. The bedroom Doc had chosen for me—well, us—faced the backyard, so I rushed out of my room and down the hallway. There was a window at the end of it that pointed a little bit more toward the front of the safehouse, and my heart leapt into my throat.
“Make way,” Anna muttered as she shimmied in beside me.
Please be Doc. Please be Doc. Please be Doc.
The rumble of the bikes grew louder. I was honestly shocked that none of the other women rushed out of their rooms. I chewed on my lower lip as I crossed my arms across my chest. They’d been gone for almost two hours. While I busied myself in placing a few of my things around the room, just to make it a little more homey, I felt Doc’s missing presence like a lead weight that settled in my gut.
I felt less safe with him around.
“You think it’s them?” I asked as I looked over at Anna.
I never seen her so focused, her eyes locked out the window.
“Anna?” I asked.
Her head snapped in my direction. “Hmm?”
I furrowed my brow softly. “You okay?”
“Huh?” Then she nodded and went back to looking out the window. “Yeah, yeah. I’m good.”
I narrowed my eyes as I studied her. “Are you sure you’re?—”
“Fuck, that’s not good.”
Her phrase snapped my attention back to the window and I felt the wind of her body rushing away from my side. My heart sank when I saw the motorcycles bursting through the horizon of trees. Red leather jackets, not black.
That was King’s crew.
Wait, why did Anna think that wasn’t good?
By the time I turned around, doors were being thrown open. Jasmine rushed out of her room in a flurry of hair and the robe she always kept wrapped around her. Ariel and Amanda were practically hand in hand while Amanda dragged her sister down the hallway. Even Marla was hot on everyone’s heels, not even searching for people as she raced out of her room and toward the living room.
Guess they were watching, after all.
By the time we all emerged, heading for the front door, the guys with the red leather jackets were already pouring in. They had bags of supplies, and I saw King standing off to the side, talking to his sister. I watched them through the window while the women peppered the various men from King’s crew with all sorts of questions. I stared at Anna hard, trying to read her lips, wishing that I had taken up that skill in the military instead of my stealth training.
But whenever King spoke, Anna’s frown deepened.
That definitely wasn’t good.
“Hey, Liz.”
Em’s voice got my attention and I turned from the window, only to find her holding a plastic bag up for me.
“Hey,” I said as I furrowed my brow and looked down at it. “What’s?—?”
“I think this is for you,” Em said as she handed the bag to me. “It’s got your medications in it, along with a few other things like snacks and the like. There’s also a note.”
“A note?”
She nodded. “I had a bag from Ranger and there was a note in it, so I’m assuming it’s?—”
I snatched the bag from her and opened it up. I shoved my hand inside, rooting around until I felt the piece of paper slide across my fingers. I plucked it out, only to see that it was a receipt, and I groaned before I practically shoved my face into the bag.
Only to pull out an envelope with my name on it.
“Daniel,” I whispered softly.
