Page 11 of No Going Back

Get Off My Back

Sean struggled with his grief and his need to keep putting distance between Branna and the people who scared her. The people who had potentially killed her dad and burned down their pub.

Seamus O’Dea was dead.

It didn’t seem possible. The man had been the epitome of life. He’d never met a stranger, and running a pub had been the perfect job for a man who took care of everyone around him.

No one could spin a tale or turn around a tension-filled situation like Seamus. His Irish brogue thickened when he was spinning yarns or teasing his family.

Seamus had been best buddies with Sean’s dad, Achille. The damned Irishman and the blasted Italian had bickered and teased and laughed together for years. When Sean’s parents had been killed, Seamus and Siobhan had stepped in to fill the role. They’d helped him keep his apartment until he was ready to enlist. They’d been the best of humanity.

And now they were both gone.

Sean reached over and squeezed Branna’s hand. “I’m damn sorry to hear that. I want to hear everything. All of it, but we need to find a safe place first. And we might need some help. Grab my phone and place a call to Epic. Put in on speaker, but don’t say anything.”

Branna frowned but nodded and did as he asked. He cut off Troy as soon as he spoke. “Hey there, Epic. I’m just driving out of Miami and heading to your neck of the woods. I need a place to rack out for a day or two. I’m hoping for a place with all the amenities. You know the kind of place I’m thinking about? With all the services.”

There was about two seconds of dead air before Troy responded. “You’re looking for a place that’s fully tricked out? I’ve got a line on a couple. I’ll shoot you an address soon.”

The line went dead, and Branna put the phone in the cup holder. “What was that all about?”

Sean smiled. “That was Troy Phail, Epic, from our military team. He’s going to find us a safe place to stay.”

He could feel her hazel eyes on him, but the traffic was too thick to turn away and keep an eye out for a tail.

“I’m assuming you’re not looking for a luxury hotel?”

He grinned. “See. Smart. Troy has a ton of connections. He’ll find us somewhere to stay up ahead. All we have to do is keep driving north.”

“Okay.”

She didn’t say anything else as he continued up the Florida highway. He’d only slept in small naps since he’d got the call from Branna. Enough to keep himself alert and prepared, but not enough to waste time. He could keep it up for another couple of days, if necessary, but he’d be better with a full eight hours sometime soon.

And it seemed like Branna needed him at his best.

He took the next exit and watched the cars that tailed off after him. No one crossed multiple lanes to do it, although anyone with half a brain would know to stay in the middle lane.

“We’ll have to go over the information again once we’re settled. Do you want to tell me some of it now, or would it be easier to only say it once?”

Before she could answer, his phone buzzed. He swung toward the next exit to get back on the main highway. “Can you see if that’s Troy?”

She picked up the phone. “It is, but I can’t see the entire message.”

He told her his code to unlock it. “Read it out loud.”

I found you just the place. Only a couple of hours north.

Which would put them somewhere around Orlando. Lots of traffic, lots of people. Easy to get lost in the crowd. Perfect.

“Can you plug the address into the GPS? I won’t need to stop for gas before then. How about you? You doing okay? I know you’d probably like to shower and sleep, but it’s better if we keep moving for now.”

“I’m fine. Will Jabba be okay going that long?”

The mutt’s soft snoring had Sean smiling. “We’ll find out. He’s only been with me a couple of days.”

“How’d you two find each other?”

Instead of asking questions that would cause her more stress, Sean told her about Jabba and what the vet had shared with him.

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