Page 54 of His Reluctant Savior

The next morning, we packed, cleaned the hotel room, took out the trash, and wiped down our fingerprints where we could. This was probably unnecessary since other people would stay here and had stayed here, but I didn’t want to risk it.

Dalton and I headed out to the new car to load up.

“What car did you buy?” he asked.

“2018 Dodge Durango SRT. It’s a bit pricey, but it’s used. It’s also fast if we needan escape.”

I popped the back hatch, and we loaded up our bags and remaining food. I hated losing my secret compartment for my guns and money, but this would have to do. We would just need to make sure not to get pulled over.

After we loaded up and checked out, we headed north to Charles Town, which was thirty minutes away.

“Will they be able to track us if they find your Bronco?” he asked.

I shrugged. “There’s always a chance. You know this. We can cover all our bases as much as possible. Still, with this day and age of technology and cameras fucking everywhere, along with the NSA watching Americans’ every damn move, we won’t be able to hide forever.”

Dalton stared out the window and nodded. “Yeah, technology has been great in helping me trace paper trails, leads, and evidence, but now that it’s turning on me, not so much.”

When I reached for his hand, he looked down and threaded our fingers together before looking back out the window.

“We’ll get them, Boy Scout.”

“You always say those things with so much confidence.” Dalton glanced over at me with a sad smile on his face. “We still haven’t decided what to do yet.”

“One way or another, this is going to end. We need to make sure we find everyone we can, so you and Owen are safe. That there won’t be others who will try to hurt you.”

Dalton huffed a laugh and kissed the back of my hand. “I should run from you. I should be afraid of you. But…”

“But?” I hedged when he didn’t finish.

“But I just adore and appreciate you for all this. You really have changed.”

My stomach did one of those weird flips I hadn’t felt in years as I quickly glanced at him to find he was staring out the window again.

He adored me?

I hadn’t expected him to reciprocate my feelings so quickly. I thought I would have to work harder to convince him we belonged together. It was better than I had ever expected or hoped.

“I need to call Owen,” he said. “I miss him so much already, and I worry about him.”

“Call him now while we’re driving.”

We untangled our fingers so Dalton could pull his phone from his back pocket. He dialed the number of the burner we gave Savannah, and for some reason, he put it on speakerphones for me to hear, too.

“Hello? Dalton?” she answered.

“Hey, Savvy. Yeah, it’s me.”

“Is everything okay? Are things getting settled?”

He sighed. “It’s been slow, but… we have to be careful. There’s a lot for me to do still.”

“We’ll get there,” I said.

“Hey, Savvy, is Owen around? I just…”

“Want to hear his voice?” she asked with understanding and tenderness in her tone.

“Yeah. Is he… doing okay?”

---