Page 91 of In The Trenches (Owens Protective Services)

My next stop was the used car dealer on the corner. I didn’t need anything fancy. In fact, if I could find something about fifteen years old, that would be best. It wouldn’t draw attention. Lucky for me, there was an old truck sitting on the edge of the lot with a price tag in the window of a thousand dollars. I checked under the hood and haggled the price down to eight hundred dollars.

With the keys in my hand, I now had the ability to grab a few more items before I picked Beth up. I kept worrying about her under the tree, all alone and scared. But I could only deal with one thing at a time. Pulling up to the gun shop, I got out and headed inside, grabbing what I needed. As I suspected, the cashier didn’t think twice about ringing me up.

After grabbing a few groceries and some supplies to bandage Beth up, I drove out of town and parked just off the road where I left her. Except, she wasn’t there. Pulling my gun, I searched the surrounding woods, my heart racing out of control. A twig snapped to my left and I spun, nearly firing at Beth as she stepped out from behind a tree.

She froze, the rifle bag slung over her shoulder as she stared at me with her hands raised. Lowering the weapon, I shoved it back in my holster and stalked over to her.

“I told you to fucking stay there.”

“I had to pee.”

“I thought someone had taken you,” I snapped. “When I tell you to do something, you fucking do it!”

I expected her to argue back, but she was too damn tired. I immediately felt bad for yelling at her. Slipping the bag off her shoulder, I slung it over my own.

“I’m sorry. I…”

“I scared you. Got it,” she said stiffly.

Sighing, I knew I was fucking this up again. “I got us a truck. No more walking.”

“How did you manage that?” she asked excitedly.

It didn’t matter if I trusted her. I told very few people about my alter ego. It was safer that way.

“Let’s go. I’m sure you want to lay down on an actual bed.”

She didn’t ask any further about the truck, and when we got back to the road and she slid inside, she sighed in relief. “This feels good.”

“Only a few miles to the safe house,” I answered, slamming the door and walking around the truck. After being hunted nearly all night, I was wary about taking the main road back to the safe house. So, I took the long way, watching my tail the whole way. After a half hour of driving, it was clear no one was following us, so I headed to the safe house.

When I pulled down the tree-lined driveway, Beth sat up, checking out the house. It was nothing big. In fact, it was more like a hunting cabin. But appearances were deceiving. There were sensors all around the property. Dash would have been alerted as soon as we crossed the property line.

Beth got out on her side studying the cabin. I thought for sure she was going to make some comment about how it was rundown, but instead, she smiled. “I think this is the nicest place I’ve stayed in years.”

That surprised me, but maybe it shouldn’t have, considering what I knew about her. “Here,” I said, handing her the keys. “Why don’t you go inside and I’ll grab this stuff.”

She took them from me and unlocked the door, as I grabbed the stuff out of the back of the truck. By the time I got inside, she was already passed out on the couch. I walked around the property, checking all sensors and the gate, making sure we were as secure as possible. The generator had kicked in, so at least we had power. When I went back inside, I headed to the steel door that led down to the basement. It was our operational control room for the safe house, which also doubled as a safe room.

I turned on the monitor, grinning when I saw Dash staring back at me. Putting on my headphones, I waved at him. “Hey, boss. It took you long enough to check in.”

“We ran into a few problems along the way.”

“Yeah? Some flying squirrels? I hear they can be pretty deadly.”

“Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

He nodded at my clothes. “Looks like one of them got you.”

I glanced down, noticing the blood soaking through my shirt. I really needed to get that bullet hole patched up. “It’s just a scratch.”

“And our lady friend? Did she come out unscathed?”

“Not so much,” I answered, sitting down in the chair. The ache in my body made itself known the moment my ass touched the seat. I was fucking exhausted. “She’ll be okay. How are we looking on that end?”

“You’ll be happy to know that Lock’s team retrieved Hayes. Unfortunately, all his fingers and toes were still intact.”

“Did you get anything out of him?”

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