Page 99 of Wandering in Darkness
“The moment I do, he’s going to ask me to off his ex-wife, but my baby isn’t interested in being caught up in criminal charges.”
“Understandable. I really hope you also aren’t.”
He holds his hand out and I stare at it for a moment before I slide my hand into his. I canfeelthe happiness flood through him. It’s like he’s over there trying to play it cool while fighting off a smile. It’s hard to believe that I’m the one making him that happy.
Squeezing his hand, I lean back in my seat. When Antonio isn’t trying to escape bad guys, he’s a pretty good driver, and Icould get used to him chauffeuring me around. Sitting here with soft music playing in the background, Felix trying to convince Antonio that he really could be a good dancer if he put his mind to it, and Grayson’s hand in mine, I feel oddly at peace.
I feel like I can breathe, and as if things might be okay for the first time in a very long time.
I close my eyes and when Grayson pulls me over to lie against him, I hesitate before letting him do so. It makes me realize why Felix enjoys lying against Lane so much, even if he claims he feels like a rock.
EIGHTEEN
CAL
“I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that shouldn’t be like that,” Antonio says as he stares at a small guardhouse, near where we’d passed Emma when she was taking Copper back to the others. This time, there’s no Emmaorguardhouse. The flimsy thing appears to have been flattened, possibly by a vehicle.
“Let’s park the vehicle elsewhere and carefully head up to get a closer look,” Lane suggests.
“On it,” Antonio says before he backs out onto the road and starts down it until he finds a field with a lane that he pulls into. We get out and I hug my rifle as I look at Grayson.
“How many workers are here?” I ask him.
“It depends on the day. Some days there are five, some days twenty-five.”
“How many are involved in this issue with Allen?” Felix asks.
“Seven of them. We have Ned, of course, and then there’s Emma, who is Ned’s fiancée’s sister. Another is Emma’shusband. Of the remaining four, one is knowledgeable about what’s happened—that’s the guy who recognized Antonio—and the others were fucked over like Ned was. Ex-military who were practically destroyed when they tried raising a fuss about Lt. Allen.”
It’s broad daylight, making it significantly harder to sneak around. But Felix leaves Brigs and Trav inside the vehicle and only takes Copper with him so he can guide Lane.
“Brigs is gonna be pissed. He has a bit of separation anxiety, but he’ll be alright,” Felix says as I glance through the window at Brigs, who is lying on the seat where Felix had put him. He twitches a little in his sleep, not a single concern in his piggy body.
Lane takes hold of Copper’s harness and the group of us make our way across the road and into the trees. Grayson leads us, seeing as he knows the place, and when we get close, he stops us while we still have ample cover.
“Let’s figure out what we can see from here,” he says, pulling out his binoculars as I use my scope to see what’s going on.
“I see four men surrounding the metal storage container we were being held in,” I state. “The way one of them is kicking the walls makes me believe they have people inside they’re trying to keep silent. Are they Ned’s men?”
“Definitely not. I don’t recognize any… oh! The one waving his arms around is the guy who got locked in with us while they abducted Antonio, isn’t he?”
I wait until the man turns a little. “Sure as fuck is.” I scan the greenhouse before noticing a handful of people on the other side of it. “Well, fuck me.”
“I already have a man so I can’t fuck you, sorry,” Felix says.
“Not like that.”
“How else do I fuck you, then?” Felix asks.
“I’m interested,” Grayson says.
“Shove it. Both of you. What I wastryingto tell you is that Audrey is here.”
Grayson doesn’t seem surprised. “I did tell you I wondered if she was involved.”
“Wonder no more,” I grumble, quite displeased with it.
“I see at least nine people. And those are the ones out in the open. We have no idea how many more are inside of the greenhouses or the main building,” Grayson says.
