Page 24 of Captive

“Good. Now, you need to forget you ever knew me.”

Laughing, Travis took a gulp of his drink. “That’s not an easy thing to do, but I hear you. Are you getting out of town?”

“That’s a possibility.”

“Do you have anywhere to go?”

I snorted and swirled my drink. “That was the one mistake I made. After all these fucking years, I didn’t think anyone gave a shit about the bastard son any longer.”

I heard the jangle of keys and glanced at my friend. He’d been good to me since the day I’d arrived, never giving a second thought about serving me a glass of whiskey. After a year, we’d become friends. Eventually, I’d shared a portion of my life, although I’d never allowed the man to know the horrors of what I’d been through. He was tough, but some stories were best left in dark places.

Travis grinned as he held the keys in front of me. “I thought you’d need somewhere to go. I have a cabin near the Canadian border. Close enough, I know of a place you can cross without detection if needed. It ain’t fancy but there’s electricity and running water, enough wood to keep you warm for a couple months and plenty of trees around for you to cut some down yourself. I equipped it pretty well, but you’re going to need some supplies.”

“That’s not a good idea.” Although the location was perfect, the last thing I wanted to do was involve him any further.

“I don’t know everything you went through and I’m guessing I don’t want to know, but it’s obvious that someone wants you dead. Then there’s the girl.”

“Fuck. Don’t remind me.”

“At least she’s one sexy little vixen,” he said, laughing, cutting it short when I didn’t make a sound. “Okay. You need to listen to me. The cabin was my pop’s. He willed it to me, but I’ve never made any formal change in the ownership. There was no need. With no mortgage, no one has to know I own the place. I’ve used it for hunting and fishing sometimes. As I said, there are some supplies, but you’ll need to stop at a local store on the way. They don’t question. They don’t bother paying any attention to anyone, if you know what I mean.”

Sighing, I thought about what my other options were. Every motel in the goddamn surrounding states would be targeted. If I needed to hide out until I knew everything that was going on, it would have to be entirely off the grid. I snapped the keys from his hand, shaking my head. “I still don’t like this.”

“Of course you don’t. You rarely ask for a damn thing. Just do this. Here’s the address, including two different ways of getting there in case you need to get out quick. I’ve listed the store I mentioned. You can get gas as well as ammunition if you need it, food and clothing.” He shifted his head toward the open door to the hidden room and smirked. “Course, I don’t think firepower is an issue.”

I chuckled and took a sip of my drink. I moved into the room, selecting a second burner phone. It might be necessary tomake contact with him as a last resort. The bastards had been watching me for at least two weeks. That meant two weeks where they’d learned my routine. No. the more I thought about it, the more I realized that staying in the house even overnight wasn’t in my best interest.

Travis moved to stand over me as I programmed both, adding the respective numbers into the system. “You think of everything, dude.”

“A requirement in my line of work. I need you to take this, but keep it secured. Keep a watch on what happens. Only call me if something significant happens.”

“Like what?”

“Trust me, you’ll know. If you have any sign of trouble, get the hell out of town for a minimum of two weeks and don’t fuck with me on this.”

A snarl curling on his upper lip, he snagged and shoved the phone into his pocket. “You don’t have to worry about me. I have a closet full of weapons myself. Not as impressive, but enough to hold my own.”

“I have no doubt. Keep an eye out for anyone asking questions, including about Chloe Kingstrom.”

“The girl?”

I nodded. “She works at the diner across the street from you and she’s a student of mine.”

“Jesus. Okay, buddy. I’ll keep my ear to the ground.”

Another beep and I bristled, moving quickly into the room. Another car. One moving in without lights. I immediately turned on the infrared and watched.

“Jesus. Two of them,” Travis huffed from behind me.

“I’m going to say this once. Get out. I’ll disarm the system and you’re going out the back. Snake your way around to your vehicle and get out. Don’t use your lights until absolutely necessary. You understand?”

“Yeah, I got it.”

As I flipped off the security, he patted me on the shoulder. “Go. Now.”

“Take care of yourself, buddy.”

Travis wasted no time doing what I asked. I snapped the security in place then moved into full throttle mode, yanking the bags and moving to the garage, tossing them in the backseat. There was no time to get any clothes. When I turned around, Chloe stood staring at me, her entire body trembling.