Taking a peek back at her, I noticed that Leo had sat her up, buckled her in, and wrapped a coat around her shoulders during her check up.
Leave it to Doctor Callahan to manage chivalry in a crisis.
Buckling my own seat belt, I rested my hands on the wheel and let out a long breath. “Alright. Let’s hope this is a short drive.”
Up ahead, Leo was already waiting in position, shooting me a thumbs up to check if I was ready. Through the rear window, I could see Spencer and Dom flanking either side of me.
I never expected having my car followed to feel so comforting. But then again, I hadn’t expectedanythingin my life to be going this way two months ago.
Rolling down my window, I returned the thumbs up. And with that, we were off.
As cool air streamed in through the window, I could feel just how hot my face had grown, just how hard my heart was beating.
The road was eerily silent, but I didn’t dare turn on the radio — not with the poor girl half-conscious in the backseat.
Which meant for the first time since the mission had started — the first time since I’d been taken back to Valemont, possibly — I was completely alone with my thoughts.
And alone with my thoughts was never a good place to be.
As my mind churned through the night’s events, there was one thing I was fairly certain of. Dom might be a monster, but not the kind I’d feared.
The headshots in her desk drawer were certainly suspicious. But I’d seen the ire in her eyes, the bloodlust as she beat the fucker in my trunk into the dust. That wasn’t the type of revulsion that could be faked. She saw what he had planned for this girl, and she was determined to make him pay.
She was hiding something, but if it wasn’t some lurid involvement in the town’s trafficking problem, then what was it?
The events of the past played over the dark backdrop of the road, consuming my every thought. But no matter what thread I pulled, I couldn’t find anything of substance. Nothing besides the house, the hidden wing.
Maybe she has a good reason to hide that wing after all. Maybe that’s the heart of this whole thing.
Just the thought of whatever sick and twisted secret she was hiding just down the hall from me made my stomach twist. But before I could get too lost on that thought, Leo made a hard right.
I couldn’t see a road, but I knew Leo wouldn’t lead me astray, so I followed her turn. The car lurched as we pulled onto a dirt road hidden behind a thick row of trees, nearly invisible from the road.
And up ahead, at the center of a clearing was a squat brick building riddled with broken windows: an old, abandoned warehouse. As we drove closer, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t seen it earlier — it was huge, with several loading docks and a huge parking lot around back.
But then again, the trees lining the road were uncharacteristically dense in this area — and now I knew why.
Plus, the lights that bled from the broken window were kept low — easy to miss from a distance with cover from Valemont’s light pollution just a few miles down the road.
The only thing that really seemed out of place was a red lantern sitting in one of the first floor windows near the door. But given that Leo was driving right toward it, I could only imagine that it was some sort of signal from whoever we’d come here to meet.
This is their turf. I’ve got no choice but to trust them now.
I slowed the car as I followed Leo, trying to avoid potholes in the worn dirt road. But as I pulled to a smooth stop outside the warehouse, I heard a murmur from the backseat. My passenger was starting to stir.
“Whereee… am I?” Her eyes were unfocused and her words slurred as she struggled to peer through the window.
Unbuckling, I turned to face her, offering a gentle smile I wasn’t certain she could see. “It’s alright, hon. I’m gonna make sure you get home.”
She rolled her head to the side to look in my direction, face scrunching up. “Who… what?”
“You had a rough night. Some creep was on you at the bar, so you asked me for a ride home. You’re safe. Just try to get some rest, and you’ll be home before you know it.”
I felt guilty for the fib until I saw the way her shoulders dropped and the bleary smile that crossed over her lips. “You… rock.”
My knuckles whitened around the steering wheel, heart pounding in my ears. But I didn’t dare move — not until her eyes fluttered shut and she fell back asleep. Whatever else happened tonight… she didn’t deserve to be afraid.
Once she was out, a light rap on my window pulled me back to reality. Leo hovered by the door, nodding toward the back to see if my passenger was okay.
