“I’d do a lot worse than killing my dad for Piper,” I mumble.
“I know, man.”
“I’d do a lot worse for you too.”
“Oh.” He sounds surprised. “Uh, well, thank you. And, uhm, right back at you.”
I roll my eyes, repressing a smirk. Then I jump up with a sudden surge of anxious energy. No matter how good it felt to kill Dad, no matter how inevitable, too, I’m suddenly realizing I may have shot myself in the foot. Because now, I have no idea where to go. Well, I know we have to go to Idaho. But that’s a pretty big state, isn’t it? Actually, I don’t have the first clue about what kind of a state it is. I don’t think I’ve ever spared it a single thought. But now, I somehow need to get there and find Piper before Coltello does. It feels impossible.
“Let’s call Logan,” I say, nodding at the cell phone in Josh’s pocket.
“I already did. Well, I texted him. What did you think I was doing while I played dead?”
“Oh.” Josh really has a knack for surprising me. “And?”
“Well, he still hasn’t found Seraphina Connor.”
“I said,and?” I hiss out. I don’t give a damn about Damien Wells’ girl.
“Right, right. He’s just gotten back to Astley, and now he’s heading over here by airplane.”
“We can’t possibly wait that long,” I snap. “It can’t be much more than an hour to get to Idaho by plane.”
“Ifthey’re going by plane. Logan’s not sure. He says that if they’re trying to keep a low profile, they’ll probably go by car.”
“Does he knowwherethey’re going?”
“He’s going to be figuring that out. He set Vincent up to the task. You know, the new Devil guy, Vincent Murilla. Says he’s really good with the surveillance shit. I also sent a message to my brother’s fiancée’s cousin’s… uh… my acquaintance. She’s on it too.”
“You sure spent a lot of time texting back there,” I grumble, turning around and heading back to the car.
“Yeah, well, your dad talks a lot. I mean, uh, talked. Or…” Josh doesn’t finish his sentence, turning red.
But again, I don’t feel any sadness. Just immense relief. Like the weight crushing my shoulders all my life has finally been lifted. I should’ve killed him years ago. I should have shot him instead of the wall when I was in my room with Piper under the covers. It was the closest I’d ever gotten. I guess he did underestimate me. I may be weak, but I’ll always be strong when it comes to Piper.
I’m going to save her.
I sit down behind the wheel with sudden resolve, turning the key that Dad left in the ignition. “Come on,” I call to him. “Let’s go to fucking Idaho.”
Josh grins then hurries into the passenger seat. “The airport is about thirty minutes away. Hold on, I’ll put in the address.”
I stare at him. “I thought we had to drive.”
“No, no. Logan thinksthey’redriving. His theory is that they’re still pretty weak. They’ve got Devil to deal with and Moretti too. If anyone picks up their trace now, they don’t stand much of a chance. So they’re trying to fly under the radar. Whereas we have the element of surprise on our side. They’ll probably assume that we’re still with, uhm, your dad, and they won’t even pick up on the fact that we’re flying. There’s more risk of them finding out that Logan is heading their way, but he says that right now, time is of the essence. They’re in no hurry, but we are.”
I blink at him. “And he texted you all this while you were playing dead?”
“Well, he sent me a few texts.” Josh shrugs. “The rest, I extrapolated. Are we, uhm… leaving your dad on the side of the road? What if someone sees?”
“Fuck it. Let’s get the hell away from here.”
I swerve back onto the road. By now, Josh has put the address into the car’s GPS system, and I start to follow it, driving as fast as I can down the bumpy country road. Josh has set the GPS to avoid highways, and we’re stuck on uneven roads riddled with potholes. We go a lot slower than I’d like, but I realize the highway with its cameras could be risky. If Vincent Murilla and Josh’s acquaintance can hack those systems, who’s to say Coltello’s men can’t too?
“So what would we have done if I hadn’t killed my dad?” I question, as we drive along. “I doubt he was planning to go to the same airport Logan told you to go to.”
“Yeah. Well, I figured something would come up. You killed him right on schedule.” Josh grows red again. “I mean…”
“It’s fine,” I say through gritted teeth. “I don’t give a fuck. You can talk about him being dead. The more I hear it, the happier I’ll be.”
