Page 9 of Mace

She nodded, looking away. “I’m sorry to be such a burden to you and your people.”

I tried to lighten the mood. “You’re not. We get mixed up in other people’s problems with alarming regularity. It keeps us on our toes and things are never boring.”

She lifted her head and looked me in the eyes. “I can’t tell if you’re being serious or not right now. It’s hard to tell with you.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment. Now, run and get ready so we can get out of here.”

I turned away when she headed to the hall closet and double checked my own bag. All of the brothers kept lockers in the basement with our hunting and fishing gear inside. I headed down and opened mine, retrieving a couple more handguns and extra ammo. I rummaged thought my supplies, taking only what I thought I would need because it was important to travel light and fast tonight. I knew that I was surefooted in the dark because sometimes I hunted and fished at night. I’d just have to be extra careful with Alicia.

Being around her was causing me to think thoughts I dared not think. I’d never really thought about settling down, I knew my mom and grandmother kept hoping that I’d find a woman and give them some grandbabies, I didn’t see that happening any time soon. But as soon as I set eyes on Alicia I was done for. I wasn’t thinking she’s my one or any shit like that, but fuck… she was one fine woman. Though after that snippet of conversation I heard, I couldn’t help but wonder if I could trust her. Who was she talking to? She seemed earnest enough but maybe everything with her wasn’t as it seems.

As I packed and threw a few energy bars and some chocolate in my bag, I couldn’t help but wonder how accurately she presented her situation. Maybe she was talking to her father,complaining about the guy he picked being rough with her and threatening to take her against her will. Maybe she just wanted a temporary out, until she could talk face-to-face with that piece of shit father of hers.

It could be that she was talking to her mother or some other family member who was questioning if she was really safer with complete stranger. I zipped my bag, looped my arms thought the straps and tightened it down before grabbing my rifle. I wanted to think she was dealing honestly with me, but I just couldn’t be sure at this juncture. I had to stay the course, get to know her better, and keep my eyes and ears open for any hint of treachery.

We met up near the front door and I had her wait for a minute before she came out, to give me a chance to walk the perimeter of our property and look for any signs of danger. It was nice and quiet with only the normal sounds of the night filling my ears. I heard a coyote baying in the distance. Nine came out to stand beside me, I saw him sniffing the air, but there was no sign of tension in his lean body. When he looked up at the rifle in my hand, he licked his chops because he thought we were going night hunting. I reached down and rubbed the top of his head. “Not tonight, my friend, but I need you to be on the lookout. No running off chasing possums or raccoons.”

I whistled and Alicia stuck her head out the door. I motioned for her to join me. Her eyes got big as she walked up to me. “You okay?”

She nodded and pointed to the full moon. “Is it just me or is that moon huge?”

I turned and admired the full glowing moon that did look much larger than usual. “Scientists call it the moon illusion. Mypeople think it’s a lucky moon. If you’re out and about on a night like this something magical might happen.”

Her expression turned skeptical.

“We’re going to go a roundabout way to get to the bunker. Don’t worry we won’t pass by your father’s camp.”

I took her out to my canoe and helped her get settled before stowing our bags and stepping into the canoe myself. Then I whistled for Nine to join us, the canoe rocked alarmingly for a few moments until he got himself situated by Alicia’s feet.

“Are you sure this is safe,” she asked hesitantly.

“Well, we don’t have alligators or crocodiles in this area, and I can’t think of anything else that could upset our canoe. I’ve fished all my life at night. We’ll be fine. When you’re with me, you’re safe.”

Something about the decisive tone of my voice seemed to calm her down.

I shoved us back from the bank and put my paddle in the water. Before she knew what had hit her, we were gliding out and down a part of the river with virtually no rapids. Those were upstream a few miles. Alicia’s eyes were as big as saucers, like she hadn’t gotten to enjoy nature very much in her life. That broke my heart because everyone should be able to get out and do basic shit like this.

***

It took about twenty-five minutes to get to the point that was closest to the bunker. The spot didn’t have a dock, but I pulled the canoe up onto the bank and covered it with somebranches. If her father and his goons saw it, it might clue them in that we were hiding somewhere close. The last thing we needed was them swarming the area looking for us.

I picked up her bag and led her carefully along a path littered with pinecones and sticks. It’s not an obvious path, more a track used by animals and I was careful to make sure we kept to the edges—walking on the bumpier grass so as not to leave footprints. This woman was not used to walking on a rough surface. I had catch her a couple of times when she stumbled. Eventually, she just hung onto my arm like I was a lifeline. I liked that far too much, considering how little I knew about her and how little I trusted her in this moment.

When we got to the underground bunker, I keyed in the security code that every member of our club had memorized by heart. Then I popped the round hatch and tossed her bag down. “You’re gonna have to go down first because I need to go last in order to shut the hatch.”

She approached the opening and groaned. The ladder was straight down into a dark void. “Is this the only way in?”

“At the moment, yes. There’s another exit, but we don’t use it at night, because the lights are visible for miles. I’m gonna let Nine in that way, because he’s not good with ladders.”

“Can I not wait with him?” she asked.

“You have two legs and opposable thumbs. Come on, you can do this. I know you can. I don’t want to leave you alone up here. I’ve already seen you be brave once today when you got away from that asshole. Compared to that, climbing down a ladder into the dark unknown is a cakewalk.”

Her mouth dropped open, and she said, “You added that last part on purpose to scare me.”

I grinned. “Maybe I don’t think you’re quite as easily scared as you think you are. Come on, where’s your sense of adventure? The ladder is only thirty feet, once you get to the bottom feel to your left and there’s a light switch. Bet you never thought you’d be riding in a canoe under a starlit sky, but you did it with no messing about.”

She reoriented her body and started descending the ladder. She was slow and kept making little sounds of displeasure, but she made it down. My chest swelled with pride for her.

---