Raize’s response was brisk right before he hung up. “No. Do as I say.” And then dial tone.

Jake sighed, raising his taco again. “I ain’t doing shit until I finish my third taco.”

That sounded about right to me, too.

Tacos should always come first.

7

Carrie

After we finished eating, we did as Raize had instructed.

I babysat our bags in the front lobby of a Milton—sitting far, far off in a corner because I had no clue what was in these bags—and Jake went to get us a new set of wheels.

He came back with an older, black Honda Civic, the engine sounding like it was trying to eat its way out of the car.

I didn’t say anything as he approached me in the lobby, just focused on not laughing.

Jake snorted. “Shut it. It’s the best I could do. Boss is going to have to deal.”

We were just settling in at a motel on the outskirts of San Antonio when Raize and Cavers pulled up. Neither seemed happy when they saw us.

“What car did you get?” Raize asked.

Jake nodded to the black one parked in the lot. “That beautiful masterpiece.”

Raize gave him a second look before assessing the car. His lips pressed into a line, but he nodded. “Fine.” He was back to business, stepping inside our room. We’d gotten the same setup with a connecting door between the rooms. Cavers immediately went to the other room, and I could hear him opening some bags.

Raize shut the door and stood with his back against it for a second, his eyes downcast.

Jake and I shared a look. This wasn’t a good sign.

We heard the bathroom door shut in the other room. The fan clicked on, and Raize lifted his head. His eyes were blazing.

This was so not good.

“Go and get a tracker,” he told Jake softly. “I want one on his phone and one on his truck. Now.”

Jake nodded, grabbing his things on the way out.

Raize stepped away from the door and came closer to me. “You and he need to know what we’re walking into, but I can’t.” His eyes flicked over my shoulder, and I knew what he was saying. He couldn’t when a certain someone was close enough to eavesdrop.

I nodded. “What do you need from me?”

“Pack a small bag—bare necessities. We’ll leave it somewhere you can grab it if you need to run.”

Run?

Fuck.

Run. Running was bad.

I swallowed over a knot. “I didn’t get into this life to run.”

“Whatever the reason, you need to live to do it.” His eyes went back over my shoulder. “Pack the bag,” he repeated as he stepped back.

It didn’t take me long, and I used the plastic bag that went over the motel’s hair dryer. Cavers was still in the bathroom when I showed it to Raize. “Done.”

His eyebrows pulled in. “There’s nothing in there.”

“I don’t have anything to start with.”

He gave me a look. “What do you have?”

“Two pairs of underwear, one pair of socks, a sports bra, and two changes of clothes.”

“Money?”

“Whatever you give me.”

He shook his head. “That’s it? You don’t have anything extra on you?”

“You’re the only boss that’s paid me.”

His eyes went flat at that, and he ran a hand over his face. “There’s nothing in here. There’s no point in even doing this bag.” He nodded to the bathroom door. “He comes out, you tell him I went to get food.”

I glanced to the door, but felt Raize move up behind me.

My shirt lifted.

I stiffened, holding my breath.

He pushed something cold and firm into the back of my pants and returned my shirt to its proper place. “You sit. If he moves at you, you shoot him. Got me?”

Fuuck. My mouth was so dry, but I nodded. “Got it.”

He was gone in the next second, and I was left with the shower running in Cavers’ bathroom and my heart pounding in my chest. It was deafening.

I heard Cavers come out of the bathroom and walk through his room. He came to the doorway of my room with a wet head and new clothes on.

He glanced around. “Where’d they go?”

My mouth was so dry. I could feel the weight of that gun against my back. “Raize went to get food. Jake’s doing an errand.” I didn’t know if I was supposed to share that last bit, but lying came naturally to me—another skill I didn’t like, but needed for survival.

Also, I didn’t even know if I was lying. Raize might’ve actually gone for food.

He nodded, blinking. I noticed the deep bags under his eyes. “Good. I’m fucking tired and hungry. Mind if I close this so I can take a nap?”

“Raize doesn’t want that closed.”

He narrowed his eyes. I tensed, expecting a fight, but he only nodded again. “Okay. Ignore my snores then.”

I nodded, but didn’t move—not even when I heard him collapse on the bed I couldn’t see. A minute or so later, when I heard his snores, some of my stiffness loosened. There’d be no fight, no sudden… I didn’t know what I was expecting. Still, I sat in the same position until forty minutes later when Raize came through the door.

It opened soundlessly, and he paused, taking everything in.

He didn’t speak. I didn’t speak. He came in, shut the door, still silent, and moved to glance into the other room.

He had another two guns on him, both handguns. He also had food with him and he tossed the bag of food on the table in front of me. He put one of the guns on the dresser and disappeared into the other room for a bit. When he came back, he had all the bags with him. He set them in the corner before going back and returning with Cavers’ personal bag and phone. He put everything on the counter before closing the door and locking it.

After that, he closed his eyes, resting his forehead to the door for a millisecond. Then his neck straightened, his back went rigid again, and he turned, skimming his dead eyes over me before going to the bathroom. He kept one of the guns on him, while he washed up.

“Do you need to take a shower?” he asked after a moment

It was then that I felt like I could relax, as much as I normally could.

I stood and pulled his gun from my jeans.

He waved at me. “You need to keep that.”

“I don’t know how to shoot it.”

He narrowed his eyes, his head cocking to the side. “You don’t?”

I shook my head. “It was my line. Before.” I handed him the gun.

He took it. “Your line?”

“You know, we all have a line we won’t cross. Shooting a gun was mine.”

His eyes darkened, and he gave me the gun back. “That’s a seriously stupid line. You need to learn how to shoot.”

I was aware, but I just didn’t want to tell him that. Or, not yet. I’d wait until Jake became a pain in my ass about getting Raize’s approval before he taught me to shoot. I didn’t know why I was doing this, but I dunno. Maybe it was a new line?

I yawned, lying down on the bed by the door.

“Switch.”

“What?”