Page 34 of Up to Snow Good
I pushed the back panel in the gun safe, and it popped open. I pulled a few more stacks of money and handed them to Amari.
“Put these in that bag over there.” I pointed.
“Where did you get this?”
“I’ve been saving for a rainy day.” I looked out the open shed door. “It may not be raining, but baby, it’s snowing.” The snow fell.“We need to go.”
She packed the case in the bag and set it in the storage compartment.
I had another gun in my go bag, money, too. Undetectable by Mr. McCoy. The panic room held another safe filled with half a million dollars. I left it alone. It would raise some questions if it was gone. Two guns and a few sets of hunting gear would go unnoticed. A half a million dollars would not.
A hundred thousand dollars would get us out of the country and access to more. A lot more. Enough for Amari and me to disappear and live comfortably in any part of the world we desired. I wasn’t worried about staying away. The trick would be in getting away.
“I’ll be right back.” I scooted into the shed one more time and grabbed some provisions of food. The snowoffered us plenty of water. I filled the tin canteen with tequila. I filled up my backpack with the food and went back out to the garage.
“You all set?” Amari had pulled on the hat and tied it beneath her chin. I pulled up the collar to her snowsuit and snapped it in place. I grabbed a helmet off the shelf and set it on top of her head.
She grabbed my hands.
“You okay?” I crouched down to look her in the eyes.
She nodded. I pressed a quick kiss on her lips. Before I could pull back, she had her hand on the back of my neck, holding me to her. I nudged her lips apart and pulled her to me to deepen the kiss. We both needed a little taste to remind each other we were better together. A little carnal courage.
I got Amari secured on the back of the snowmobile. I went back inside to make sure stuff looked normal.
“Caden,” Amari yelled. The panic in her voice made the hair stand up on the back of my neck. Did they find us already? I ran back to the garage.
Amari stood. Her helmet off.
“What’s wrong?” I rushed towards her.
She opened her hand and held out her phone. It buzzed in her hand. She dropped it in mine.
I flipped the phone over. The caller ID readDad.
“What do we do?” She blinked rapidly.
“We throw the phone out into the snow.” I squeezed her hand. “It’s waterproof, so not unreasonable it would continue to work buried in a snow bank.”
“Doesn’t it confirm our location?” Her eyes grew wide when the phone buzzed.
“Baby, it confirms the location of the phone, not us.”
“It was in my shirt pocket. I almost took it with us.” Amari climbed off the snowmobile.
“No. I got it covered.” I walked towards her. “See,” I pulled my phone out of my pocket. “Let’s see how close we can get to the cabin and toss them.”
“Oh.” She bit her lip. “You act like you’ve done this before.”
“Run from your father, no.” I took her hand. “Survived, yes. It’ll be easier this time, though.”
“Why?” Amari stared up at me with her trusting eyes.
“We’re surviving for each other.” I leaned down to kiss her, but she turned her head. “Unless you’re having second thoughts.”
She didn’t answer me. She walked over to the open garage door.
The phone stopped ringing. I put it on the seat of the snowmobile and walked up behind her.
