Page 33 of Hartley

Ava went next door with Albert. He asked if she wanted to watch TV with him, probably guessing we needed to talk in here about more than we wanted her to hear. Raiden took up a post outside our door.

“They don’t know we’re here or that Lane is with us,” Jordan said. “Their guards were probably outside your parents’ house to see if we were there. They’re after me, not your family.”

“What if they go after them?”

“If it were me, there’s no reason to. I wouldn’t want to knock off Lane. I want his father and brother. Aunts, uncles, and others who have no business in our world wouldn’t bother me unless I needed leverage. That piece of shit just wants me. I’m the one to blame for him losing what he had. If I have it my way, he will lose everything when I put a bullet in his head, then take his other son out of this world the same way.” I’d have to take his word on it.

“We should go home,” Hartley said. “I came down here to check on the house and I did. If we go home, we can draw them to follow us.”

“I’m not sure it’s that simple. They can’t get to me in Dremest. Out here it’s easier. Although, it would be safer forus there. The idea of them disappearing and me not knowing where they are doesn’t sit well with me though.”

Jordan’s phone started vibrating in his hand. “What?” he barked out when he answered it.

I could hear Vincent shouting on the other end. “We’ve been found! Shots fired!”

“Get the fuck out of there. We don’t have enough resources here to take them on. Meet us at the airport.” Jordan hung up and immediately called his pilot to get the plane ready now. I doubted it would be easy to obtain clearance and be able to get in the air at the drop of a hat, but with enough money, I’d learned most things were possible.

Jordan told the others we needed to leave quickly. We gathered our belongings, luckily not having unpacked yet. Ava shook against me as I held her close to my side as we rushed to the elevator. We didn’t stop when the person at the front desk asked if we were checking out already. They had Jordan’s card on file and could easily charge him for the rooms. One foot was put in front of the other as we piled into the SUV Albert pulled around. The others got into the remaining SUV that Oleander and Sheldon pulled up in just in time.

Tires screeching, Albert got us out of there and on our way to the airport where, hopefully, the plane would be almost ready, and we could return to the safety of Dremest.

16

HARTLEY

“I’m not cut out for this shit,” I muttered as we flew down the road toward the highway. This was insane, and I was smack-dab in the middle of it.

Vail gently elbowed me, causing me to look his way. He motioned with his head toward Jordan, who was on the other side of him.

Jordan’s knuckles were white as he held his gun. I knew that muscle in his jaw would be tense too, his teeth grinding together. I shouldn’t have said what I did. He took it the wrong way.

“Hey,” I said, reaching over Vail to tap Jordan on the arm. I didn’t worry he’d point his gun at me without thinking. Not once had he done that. Jordan was sure with a gun, like it was an extension of his arm. “Look at me, Jordan.”

He turned his head, his lips pressed together, eyes narrowed. But he didn’t fool me. I latched on to his eyes, looked deep into them, and saw the hurt there.

“I didn’t mean I’m not cut out for this shit with you. I meant this situation. Rushing away from a hotel because thereare people after you. You know that. It’s not a shock to you, but you’re taking it personally like I don’t want to be with you, which is the furthest thing from the truth. So instead of thinking horrible shit, focus on protecting us and getting us onto the plane and home.”

He gave a firm nod and went to look away, but I tapped his arm again, so he’d keep looking at me. “I love you, Jordan. Do you hear me? I fucking love you. So does Vail.”

With Vail being closer, it was easy for him to ghost his fingers along Jordan’s beard. “He’s right. We love you. And while this isn’t ideal, we’ll be out of here soon enough. You couldn’t have known this was going to happen. We don’t blame you.”

“I blame me,” Jordan whispered.

“Yeah, well, don’t,” I said, knowing he’d still blame himself, regardless of what Vail or I told him.

Albert sat in the front seat, humming a tune I couldn’t recognize like he was driving Jordan through the streets of East Dremest, coasting along with traffic, not racing up the on-ramp to get onto the highway.

There was an SUV behind us with more of our party with them. We had Ava with us though. She was in the third-row seat, her bag next to her, worried but trying not to show it. Vail offered to sit back there with her, but she shook her head and said she’d be fine. None of us were fine, but we weren’t going to push her if she said she was okay.

“Ava, what’s your favorite show?” Albert asked from the front seat.

“I don’t really have one, but Mama and I used to watch house-hunting shows a lot, where they’d go to look at places to buy. Our favorites were the international ones. We’d dream about what it would be like to live in those cities.”

Jordan opened his mouth, no doubt to offer to take her wherever she wanted to go, but Vail clamped his hand on Jordan’s thigh to stop him. It wasn’t the time to offer more trips when this one was going the way it was.

“Ah, yes,” Albert replied. “I enjoy watching those as well, especially when they go to places on the ocean. I love seeing the homes on the water and the views they have from the bedrooms.”

“You need a vacation, Albert,” I said. The man was on call for Jordan twenty-four seven. I wondered when the last time he took a week or more off was.

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