Page 28 of Out of Sight

“Rule number one: once we get to the safe house we are in hiding. That means no making a scene: if you need to fightor fuck, do it quietly and don’t give the neighbors a reason to knock on our door.”

I choked on my breath.

“Rule number two: the neighbors are not your friends. So don’t get friendly with the nice person down the road when you go for a walk. Rule number three: don’t go on a walk or anywhere else without me.”

“Got it. Do what we want at home, but in public we’re a throuple,” Will nodded from the back seat. Somehow he managed to keep a straight face.

“Well, we’re not going out in public enough for people to make assumptions about our sex life or threelationship,” Jim smirked. How the heck did he know that term? “We’re gonna be homebodies for the most part. And if I have to go out and run an errand you two are going to stay in with the doors bolted closed.”

“Like this morning,” I nodded.

“Exactly,” he said. “Normally we wouldn’t leave you unattended at all while waiting for a big trial like this to start, but we have to make due. Blake got held up in San Francisco and won’t be joining us for a while.”

Held up? “Is he okay?”

Jim shrugged. “As far as I know. Apparently dealing with Leo Lombardi got a bit more complicated, so he’s sorting out that mess. I’ll be in contact with him to see if he’s going to be joining us anytime soon, but it doesn’t look that way. It’s just us three for now, kids.”

“Is there a rule four?” I asked.

“Of course. No phone calls, text messages, emails, smoke signals, or any other outside communication to anyone in your regular lives. Ninety-eight percent of people in WITSEC make it to their trial safely, and contacting someone back home is the number one reason why those two percent don’t. So don’t be idiots. Are we clear?”

I nodded, glancing back at Will. He looked solemn for once as he nodded his agreement as well.

“Good. Because we’re here.”

I turned away from Will just as we passed a sign telling us we were now entering Darling Cascades, Oregon. We slowed to match the speed limit as the highway passed through the little town.

The town was, well, darling. Scenic, old fashioned wooden buildings with wooden decks reminded me that we were out in the wilderness. As if I could forget with the picturesque tree-covered mountains looming in the distance past the honest-to-god forest surrounding us.

There was green everywhere I looked: dark green leaves in the trees blanketing the little town, bright kelly green grass sprouting up on every surface not actively covered in cement, hunter green shrubs, and mint green plants just beginning to flower for spring. It was everything you’d expect from the Pacific Northwest, but I’d never seen so much lush flora in one place.

We wound through a couple streets and finally pulled up to a small house on the outskirts of town.

“Home sweet home?” Will asked Jim.

“Absolutely. Now get the hell out.”

I unbuckled and hopped out, pulling my gym bag with me. It was a neat two story with a wide balcony extending from the second floor to cover the porch. Lots of foliage out front provided privacy from the other half dozen houses spread along the street.

Jim gestured for us to wait outside as he took his handy little bug-detecting device and headed inside to give the house a quick sweep.

“All good,” he said a few moments later, reappearing through the front door.

The inside was clean and modern without being too over the top. There were your basic furnishings and a few generic prints decorating the walls, a small stack of books in varying genres on the side table. Everything was in fairly neutral colors that went with anything, nothing standing out. It made sense since no one lived in the house; it was just used by people who needed a place to hide out every so often.

I moved from the living room into the den, seeing the same armchair and couch as in the first room, like the government bought everything in bulk since style didn’t matter in safehouses.

I didn’t mind as long as the bed was comfy and my shower water was hot.

“Claire, you take the big room, alright?” Will shouted down from the second floor.

“Oh yeah?” I called back, heading upstairs to where both men were already making themselves at home.

“Definitely. It’s got its own bathroom so you don’t have to watch me walk around naked if and when I sleepwalkagain.”

“Oh good. Just me then,” Jim rolled his eyes. “So much for only bringing out your ass for special occasions.”

I smirked back at Jim before heading into my new room to put my bag down on the bed. It was queen sized with a pale gray comforter and a couple fluffy pillows, a matching nightstand and lamp sat on each side. A small armchair was placed next to the window and a dresser with a TV on top sat across the room. It was basic, but it worked.

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