Page 25 of Guarded By Them

He pursed his lips. “Is that right?”

He looked over at me, and I tried not to shrink beneath his gaze.

“Show me what you’ve got,” he said.

Kodee went back to the car and took out the bags containing what they’d taken from their workspace back at the apartment. He unzipped the top and carried it over to Timmo. Timmo leaned over the bag and reached in. He frowned as he inspected what Kodee had brought, his heavy white eyebrows almost covering his eyes. My stomach fluttered like moth wings trapped beneath my ribcage, suddenly worried he’d say he couldn’t help us.

“Okay,” he said, finally, looking up from the bag. “I can do this. I need to get a couple of items in first, though.”

Kodee frowned. “I thought you’d be able to get it done faster.”

“I never gave any specifics. Stay with me a while. You and your friends are more than welcome. I don’t tend to get many visitors up these parts.”

It was hardly surprising. We hadn’t even seen another car for the last thirty minutes of the drive. This place was the opposite of the city, and I wasn’t sure I liked it. The silence seemed to press in on me, and even though there were insects buzzing and birds tweeting to each other, it wasn’t the same as the constant hum of traffic in the city, or the sirens that always seemed to be in the background. The space around us felt vast, a never-ending stretch of trees like the ocean. I imagined someone could wander out there, turn around a few times, lose their sense of direction, and never be seen again.

He must have sensed my hesitation, or perhaps the expression on my face said it all.

“You don’t like the forest?” he queried.

I gave him a forced smile. “I’m more of a city girl.”

I guessed that was true, but I hadn’t really had much of a chance to find out anything for myself. I’d spent my whole life in the city, but it hadn’t been a normal life. Far from it. I’d never been sent off to camp or taken to the beach. There were a hundred different things girls got to experience while they were growing up, and none of them should be anything like what I experienced. I knew how to scrape together whatever leftover food I could find in the house in order to make a meal. I knew to put my mother on her side when she came home late, drunk and high, so she didn’t choke on her own vomit. I knew what it was like to be around men who wanted you for something you had no concept of understanding.

“Maybe you’ll come to love it in time.”

Kodee cleared his throat beside me. “I don’t think we’ll be staying that long. We just need the passport done, then we’ll be out of your hair.”

“Of course. But make yourselves comfortable in the meantime. I’ve got a side of venison I shot myself that I can make for dinner.”

Kodee nodded. “Sounds good.”

Timmo turned around and led us into the cabin. The place was simple, but clean and tidy. The front door led onto one main living area with an open plan kitchen at the back. Beyond that, a corridor led to the cabin’s back door, with several other doors, which I assumed were bedrooms or bathrooms, leading off it.

“So, what happened to your business, Kodee?” Timmo asked. “Isn’t this something you could have done yourself?”

I didn’t like all the questions. I could see Kodee wasn’t comfortable with them either.

“We needed a change in scenery. Things were getting a little... heated in the city.”

Timmo frowned, deep crevasses appearing across his forehead. “You in some kind of trouble?”

Kodee straightened his shoulders and lifted his chin. “No, not at all. We just need a fresh start somewhere else.”

He pursed his lips and nodded. “Guess it ain’t none of my business. So long as you can pay me, of course.”

“Yeah, we can pay you.”

We’d brought the bags containing the money and guns in from the car with us, but I noticed no one had put them down yet.

“Let me make some calls,” Timmo continued, “and then I’ll have to go and pick up some stuff. You’ll be all right here by yourselves for a few hours?”

Kodee nodded. “We’ll be fine.”

“There are plenty of bedrooms, if you want to get some rest. They’re all made up, but I never use them. And there’s beer in the refrigerator and snacks in the cupboards, so knock yourselves out.”

He was the kind of man who knew how to mind his own business. He didn’t question why there were three guys and only one girl, or what our relationship was with each other. I wondered how Kodee knew him. Did he know Timmo from before his wife died? Or only after when he was learning the trade. I guessed those were questions I’d have to ask Kodee.

Timmo grabbed a set of keys hanging beside the front door, which I assumed were for the truck we’d pulled up next to. He kept to his word, leaving us to settle in. The cabin door swung shut behind him, and a moment later, the truck engine started up, growing louder before fading away as he drove down the dirt track and onto the main road.

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