Page 60 of The Cult

They continue to talk, catching up on all that’s been happening in his life since they last spoke, and I feel myself begin to drift off now that adrenaline isn’t pumping through my system. I take a deep breath and close my eyes, truly relaxing for the first time in God only knows how long.

Thoughts about where I’ll go float through my mind, but they can wait for later. Right now, all I want to do is enjoy the feeling of freedom at it fills every nook and cranny of me.

28

Lara

As Mario turnsoff the exit on his way to Wilmington, I can’t believe our good luck that he was on that road just when we needed him to be. Good old Mario. He may be the world’s biggest pain in the ass when it comes to work, but he’s always been a decent guy. I’m just glad he was the one to see us on the side of the road.

“How is Linda okay with your being out in the middle of the night?” I jokingly ask, knowing his new girlfriend keeps him on a pretty short leash. “I’m sort of surprised she’s not with you.”

He turns his head to look at me and smirks. “I told her I wouldn’t be long. She’d only be in the way anyway.”

I smile as how strange that sounds from a man who couldn’t get a date for months after his wife left him. It makes me wonder if they’re as serious as I’d thought. Mario’s always been less a catch and more the kind of man a woman ends up with when she gets sick of the dating scene. He still drags around all that baggage from his ex after she cheated on him and ended their marriage, so any woman dating him has a hill to climb with all of that anger he can’t seem to get rid of even now after more than a year since the divorce became final.

Poor Linda. I’ve only met her twice, but she seemed like a nice person. She’s got that strange obsession with horror films she tried to discuss with me that last time, but since I can’t watch scary movies without having nightmares for days afterward, the conversation didn’t go far. Still, she appeared to care for Mario, so I figured to each their own.

As I notice he’s gone the wrong way to get to Wilmington, I chuckle and say, “Hey, Mario. Did you get turned around in the dark? My car isn’t anywhere close to here.”

He smiles but doesn’t take his attention off the road. “I know, but I have someplace I need to go. It won’t take long.”

Behind me, Nash makes a noise that sounds like a groan, so I look into the back seat and smile. “Feeling tired? We’ll be to my car soon.”

In the dark, I can’t see his whole face, but his eyes flash a look I’ve seen before from him. He doesn’t say anything, but he sits up straight now and looks out the window.

“What’s wrong? I bet it’s weird being away from the farm, isn’t it?”

Beside me, Mario lets out a low chuckle. I want to explain what I meant, but it’s too long a story to get into tonight. My boss will get all the details when I turn in my article. He probably won’t believe the story, but I plan on leaving nothing out when I expose all that’s going on with The Golden Light.

Nash doesn’t answer me, but I have the sense he’s uncomfortable now that Mario laughed at him. I wish I could tell him that’s just the way he is. Nobody would ever accuse my boss of being a sensitive person, for sure.

Leaning through the space between the two front seats, I whisper, “He didn’t mean anything bad. It’s just how he can be sometimes. You feeling okay?”

Nodding, he looks out the window again. “Fine.”

He doesn’t sound fine, but I guess I can’t blame him. We’ve had to escape from a crazy cult, been shot at as we ran down a dark road, and got lucky when someone I know picked us up. Talk about a rollercoaster of a night.

I turn back around as Mario pulls into a parking spot in front of a building I’ve never seen before. Typical brick like so many others in Delaware, it looks abandoned.

“Are we still in Pennsylvania?” I ask as he turns off the engine.

“Yeah. Hang out here,” he says as he gets out and then slams the door.

“This feels wrong,” Nash quietly says behind me. “Something’s off about this.”

I wave away his concern, shaking my head as I study his worried expression under the streetlight. “Not to worry. Mario’s cool.”

Nash looks around through the window and frowns. “It’s the middle of the night. What’s your boss doing driving down a road where practically nobody travels just in the nick of time to help us?”

“We’re lucky?” I say with a smile.

“How well do you know your friend there?”

God, this guy really is a mess after spending all that time with those Golden Light nuts. Nash is going to have to work hard to learn to trust people now that he’s out.

“He’s not exactly a friend. He’s my boss.”

For some reason, that makes him lean forward, and I see genuine worry in his eyes now. “Where? Doing what?”

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