Page 16 of Escape You

“A lot of moving parts.” He made notes in his little notebook. “But it should work.”

I smiled at him. “If we pull this off, Vic. We’ll be set.”

“Don’t go counting your chickens just yet. Let’s focus on tonight and take it from there. Now go rest and make sure you eat a good meal.”

I rolled my eyes at him. “You’ve never said that to me before.”

“That’s because we’ve never done a gun run together before,” he said, deadpan.

“I’m on to you, old man.” I rose to my feet and stomped out of the office. Truth be told, I was starving, and a nap sounded like a great idea.

That night, the red team showed up at our second warehouse right on time. We had four trucks leaving within hours of each other, loaded with crates full AR-15s and a top layer of white T-shirts. My phone buzzed with a message notification. Truck one was en route Great. One down, three to go.

The red team was the biggest of the three teams because these guys had to load up the trucks one container at a time, which required a lot of manpower and time. Vic tapped me on the shoulder. His gaze fell to my hand. I’d been rubbing my belly again. It didn’t mean anything. I was focused on the job just the same.

“Two is on the move.”

I nodded. “Let’s wrap this up and head over to Allie’s.”

Vic sprang into action, getting the guys to move faster while I finished the inventory. This had to work. Our guys would have to haul ass cross-country. They had two days to make it to Arizona, complete the handoff, then fly home out of Tucson.

The truck’s engine rumbled to life. As soon as the headlights shone bright, the metal rolling door to the warehouse inched up. Three down, one to go. I climbed in the SUV and headed to our final destination for the night. Behind me, Vic’s black sedan stayed close. He kept forgetting he was my second in command and not my bodyguard.

With my heart pounding, I pulled up to Allie’s bar. I hadn’t been back since that night. Goose bumps traveled down my spine as I entered the bar through the front door. I blinked fast to bring the empty room back into focus, to chase away every memory of the last time I was here. I rushed past the counter, where he’d made me come at least twice, and swung the door open.Tell me your name.His whisper echoed in my head. I shook my head and darted down the stairs.

When I reached the lower level, Vic was already there getting the guys organized just like we’d planned. We needed the truck in the basement to be loaded swiftly and quiet as possible. Movement at one in the morning wasn’t a rarity, but excess noise might attract the wrong kind of attention.

“They’re tired.” I joined Vic. “We needed a bigger crew for this haul.”

“Yes, but it was the right call to send our best guys out west. We’re almost there.” He glanced down at my stomach, again.

Shit. Suddenly, my belly was a magnet for my hands. “Don’t read anything into it.”

“I wasn’t. Seems you are, though.”

“It isn’t an easy choice to make. I can’t see what’s coming. That’s a first for me.”

I stood there in silence while the guys finished up loading the truck. Allie would be relieved to have these guns out of her warehouse. She’d been a real friend to keep this contraband for so long.

“Ah shit.” A cry came from the other side of the dimly lit room. By the time I got there, it was too late. The squeezer machine the guys were using to load up the truck had crapped out and dumped a stack of crates on one of them.

“What hurts?” I asked Manny, one of my youngest crew members.

“Just my foot.” He clutched his leg, which was under a pile of wood pallets and guns.

“Help me move this shit.” I picked up a crate that hadn’t fallen apart and threw the hay and ARs back in it. After the initial shock of seeing Manny’s foot get crushed, the rest of the guys did the same and picked up the rest of the debris.

As soon as Manny was able to move some, Vic pulled him out of the wreck. He examined the injured leg, ignoring Manny’s whining. “You got lucky, kid. That could’ve been your head.”

“Tom, take Manny to the hospital,” I called over the commotion. The incident had the guys high on adrenaline, which gave them a second wind to load the boxes manually. “Make sure you go through the back entrance and only see Pam. I’ll call and make sure she’s there waiting for you.”

“Yeah, Boss. I got it.” Tom picked up his brother and helped him walk to the car parked outside the warehouse.

“It’ll be fine. By the time the town finds out Manny is at the hospital, our guys will be well on their way.” Vic handed me the keys to Allie’s place. “We’re done here.”

I let out a breath. “We have a real shot, Vic.”

“Yeah. Let’s go home and get some rest.”

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