I scrambled to come up with a compromise that would also get Elijah the hell away from whoever wanted him dead. “Okay,” I said. “Let’s go to my parents’ place, get the rest of my stuff, and you can leave her food and litter out back. We’ll come back on the way out to look for her, okay?”
“Okay. But I’m not leaving town until I find her,” he said, jutting his chin out stubbornly.
“Fine,” I said. “Let’s just get all the way ready to get the fuck out of here.” I’d worry about talking him into leaving when it was time. If we didn’t find her right away, I’d handcuff him again if I had to. I had to keep him safe. His friends could come find Enyo while we were hiding in Chicago.
He conceded and we headed to my car. I was hoping my car wouldn’t get pulled over for the same reason I knew his would. Hopefully, if I avoided town and went in the back way, no one would notice us.
We were about halfway to my parents’ house when there was a thump and my car veered to the right. “What the fuck now?” I muttered, pulling over and opening my door.
Elijah looked at me, eyes wild. “It’s the universe,” he whispered. “It’s happening.”
“Stop it,” I demanded, even though the entire morning had been working against us, and it got even worse when I saw that the tire was flat, a huge gash that was beyond repair.Fuck.
Elijah was getting out of the car. “What is it?”
“It’s okay,” I said, but his face paled as he looked at the tire. “It’s going to be okay,” I repeated more firmly. “Let me just call—” But then I heard a car coming, and I wasn’t sure if I should stay calm or grab Elijah and run into the woods to hide him.
I moved to grab the gun that I’d stupidly put in the trunk with the rest of our stuff, but when the car came around the curve, it was a police cruiser. I still wasn’t sure of my best option, but I didn’t want to pull a gun on a cop who didn’t know me. The car pulled up next to us and when the window rolled down I let out a relieved breath when I realized it was Chris. He’d been headed in the direction of Elijah’s house, and I realized I hadn’t replied to his text. “Dammit,” he cried, “What are you guys doing here? I told you to fucking hide.”
“Well we’retryingto get out of here,” I said with a roll of my eyes. “But we’re having some problems this morning.”
Chris sighed and looked at me, like I was to blame. “What the hell did you do?” he demanded, putting his car in park right in the road and getting out. He let out an annoyed sigh when he saw the tire on the front passenger side. “What happened?” he demanded, looking atmeagain.
I shrugged. I hadn’t seen anything in the road. Looking back didn’t give me any clues either; I saw nothing. “You have a spare?” Chris asked me, rolling up his sleeves.
I scoffed. “Of course I do,” I said, opening my trunk. I was just pissed we’d been slowed down,again. When I opened the tire well, though, it was empty. “What the actual fuck?” I said aloud, staring at the space like a tire might appear.
Chris stopped next to me. “Did you use it and forget to put it back?” he asked in that same accusatory tone.
I looked at him. “No. I’ve never had to. I bought this car new. There’s no way there wasn’t a spare in there.”
Chris scrubbed his hands down his face. “Fuck!” He looked at Elijah. “If I put you both in my car and take you into town, they’re going to arrest Elijah. They have a fucking warrant and I was coming out here under the pretense of serving it, but I was really trying to make sure you’d left. Now what the hell am I supposed to do?” He pulled at his hair, turning slowly like the forestmight give him an answer. “I can’t leave him alone out here either,” he muttered. “Someone will come out.” He finally stopped moving and looked at Elijah. “Okay. I’ll take you home. Lock yourself in. Do not open the door for anyone. Even a cop. Mason, I’ll take you into town. We’ll say Elijah was gone this morning and you got a flat while you were out looking for him.”
Before I could reply, we heard another car coming. Elijah and I tensed. I noticed Chris move a hand to hover over his gun as he looked up the road. I wasn’t sure if I was hoping for a cop or the killer. If it was a cop, we were shit out of luck, because Elijah would end up in jail. I was starting to think he might be safer there, where the person couldn’t get to him. The problem would come if we were unable to find the real killer, and Elijah was convicted. Despite my faith in my own detective work, I just couldn’t risk it.
I was poised for a fight as the vehicle approached the curve behind us. We all watched as Derrick’s truck appeared, loaded down with fishing gear, obviously headed for the lake a couple of miles away. He slowed when he saw us, pulling to a stop behind my car. He got out and stared at us all standing there, probably looking like a group of teenagers in a campy ’80s horror movie. “What’s going on?” he asked, brow furrowed as he approached. “Are you guys okay?”
I relaxed slightly. “Flat tire,” I said, trying to lighten the horrified mood that seemed to have caved in on us. “We’ve had a real shitty morning.”
Derrick looked confused as he took in Chris, then me, then Elijah. “Do you not have a spare?” He looked at me incredulously. I could hear the words he wanted to say... “You’re a cop, man. You should know better.”
“Well, I could swear I did, but I guess not,” I ground out, looking at my open trunk, annoyed.
Derrick turned back to his truck. “Well, maybe my donut would fit, to get you into town at least,” he suggested. Chris followed him over to look at the spare stored under his truck.
Chris was shaking his head as he stood. “It’s way too big,”he said, frustrated. “And my spare is an actual tire that won’t fit his car.”
“Well, do you need a ride somewhere?” Derrick asked, looking at me and Elijah. He glanced at Chris questioningly, as though trying to figure out why he wasn’t offering us one.
“Nah,” I spoke up. “You’re busy. We’ll figure it out.” I didn’t really want him involved. He didn’t need to know until it was over. I didn’t want anyone coming after him.
He shrugged. “I was heading out to the lake, but I don’t mind swinging through town or wherever you need to go. I’m off work today, so I have no real schedule. Hell, maybe once you get it fixed we can all go out to the lake later. I brought some burgers to grill.” I appreciated his naïvety.
I suddenly had a plan that might work. Derrick would only be involved for a few minutes and no one would be the wiser. “Chris, maybe you can take me to get a tire. We can come back and change it. Derrick, could you drop Elijah off at his house? Then I’ll text you and maybe we can meet up in a bit. You can get a head start on fishing.” I’d apologize later. But that way would be faster than Chris taking us back then going to town.
Derrick nodded. “Sure.”
I looked at Elijah, who was gripping the car door like the universe was crashing down on him. “Go inside your house,” I said softly. “Make sure no one’s around and you can look for Enyo. Stay close to the door, and get the hell inside and call me if you seeanythingunusual. Do not answer the door. I’ll get the tire, change it, and meet you there.” I didn’t need to say more.
