Page 153 of The Dominator

It took a lot to leave Tia by herself. If I hadn’t been 100% confident that no one knew about the farm’s existence I wouldn’t have done it. If I hadn’t been 100% confident that she’d listen to me and stay put, I wouldn’t have done it.

I was wrong. On both accounts. She wasn’t safe and she didn’t listen. Thank God she didn’t listen.

As soon as he left, I was pacing the hayloft and felt like I was going to crawl out of my skin, so I decided to take a walk. I went for a wander of the property and kept the flip phone in my pocket. I walked for a while, until I found what appeared to be the property line, a small wooden fence that bordered a thick and dense forest. Up until that point, it’d been woodsy but not dense. I decided to walk back.

As the barn and house came into view, ice pierced my veins because I saw two men approaching the house on foot.

Oh no!

I dropped into the tallish grass, I was still hundreds of feet away, and I stayed put.

Damn. The gun Tommy had left me was under a pillow, inside the pillowcase. Not that I felt like I wanted to use it, but at that moment it’d make me feel better to know I could at least point it at someone and get them to leave. The keys to the jeep were in my pocket right now because as I’d come out, I unlocked the door and stuffed the keys in my pocket with the flip phone. I hadn’t re-locked the door.

I thought about the upstairs. Anyone going inside would know we were there. Beyond the Jeep being parked there and the refrigerator full of groceries, was a bag with mine and Tommy’s clothes lying on the floor beside the bed. Damn. Tommy had a complete false sense of security about this place.

I dialed his number. He didn’t answer. I dialed Dario’s number; it went straight to voicemail. I called Nino.

“Yeah?”

“Nino, it’s Tia.”

“Hey, Doll. You okay?”

“No. I’m crouched in a field at Tommy’s safe house and there are men approaching it.” They had scoped out the house and obviously determined it wasn’t inhabited so approached the barn.

“Shit,” he answered. “Where’s Tommy?”

“I don’t know. On his way down there, I guess. He left me here.”

“Stay hidden, I’ll call you back. Turn your phone to silent.”

“Okay.” I hung up and turned the ringer off. The men had gone inside the barn.

Time ticked by slowly until I saw them come back out and talk for a minute by the door. Then one man headed toward the road and the other went back into the barn. Fuck. One was leaving and the other was waiting, presumably, for Tommy to get back.

My phone lit up. Nino calling. I answered it with a whisper.

“What’s happening?” he asked.

I told him, in a low whisper, about the fact that two had come but one had left and that the other was inside. I told him the guy had a gun and that there was also a gun up in the loft in the pillow.

“I can’t reach T or Dare. I should come get you. Where, exactly, are you?”

Damn. Tommy said no one knew where it was. I mean, obviously he was wrong, but should I tell Nino? Nino was practically family to me and obviously Tommy trusted him, but Tommy already suspected James had defected and there was what Earl did. Was Nino loyal to the Ferrano family? Tommy obviously believed in him enough to put his number on my phone. What should I do?

“It’s okay, Tia. You can tell me. I promise you, you can,” he said softly, breaking the long silence on the line.

So, I made a judgment call and told him what I knew of where we were, which I only really knew from remembering that map with the old lady and old man that day Tommy had tested me. It was actually a good thing he did do that, or I’d have no idea where I even was. I knew the nearest intersection and I described the barn and the house. He told me he was coming, he had guns, and that I should stay hidden until he’d eliminated the threat. He said that if I thought I could get to the Jeep I should run for it and drive out of there, but if someone continued to stay inside, I should try to stay hidden.

An hour later, I was still in the tall grass and I hadn’t heard back from Tommy or Dario. That had me more than a bit stressed out. No one had come and the guy inside hadn’t come out. He was obviously waiting for us.

Finally, I saw a black hatchback car drive by. It didn’t slow, just kept going. It was the first car that had gone by so I wondered if it was either more bad guys or maybe Nino scoping the place out. A few minutes later I got a text from Nino asking me where the door was on the barn and asking me if any downstairs windows were open. I wrote back describing it as best I could in quick order.

Fifteen minutes later, I saw Nino and Dex coming from the pond side toward the barn. They were on foot, sneakily making their way to the barn, guns drawn. Thirty seconds after they were inside the barn, there was gunfire. Then thirty seconds after that, Nino was calling my phone.

“Come quick and careful. I’ll cover you from the stall window in case anyone approaches.”

When I finally got to the barn, heart hammering in my chest, Nino was in the doorway.

---