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“You don’t look fine.” His fingers dropped from her arm and brushed her hipbone. “Are you hurtin’?”
She forced a reassuring nod. “Just tired. How long is the drive?” She slid into the seven-seater SUV and didn’t protest when Toth reached in and buckled her up.
“You folks ready?” Rami interrupted, glancing back from the front passenger seat.
Savannah suspected his question would’ve been more caustic if she weren’t a client. He probably would have chosen different words, too.
Toth shut the door, got into the driver’s seat, and eyed Rami. “She got stabbed, dude.”
Rami cursed. “Sorry ’bout that, hon. There’s water in the cooler next to you and some grub. Have at it.”
Savannah pulled her tongue from the dry roof of her mouth. Water sounded divine. She popped open the cooler and pulled out a bottle of water and cracked it open while Toth made a three-point turn on the tight road. The SUV crawled up an incline.
“Don’t call me that,” she said a minute later, after her mouth was somewhat hydrated.
Rami tilted his head back. “Me? Oh, right. Ms. Carrington.”
“Savannah.”
He grunted another apology as if it took all the effort in the world. It was a wonder someone like him relied on customers for a thriving business. Then again, if someone needed protection, Rami and Toth made a lethal combination of muscle and menace.
They were silent for the rest of the fifteen-minute drive to the closest service station. Rami and Toth exchanged some words, and then Rami lifted three fingers toward her in a silent goodbye and shut the door.
“Want to get in the front seat?” Toth asked, craning his neck to look at her. His voice lacked the fatigue he should have felt. The only hints that he was worse for wear were the gash on his head and the blood still staining his cheek. The guy had to be carrying some kind of self-charging pack because she was damn near death’s door.
She shook her head and slid farther down against the leather. “No.” The thought of moving an inch was enough to bring tears to her eyes. “How much longer?”
“My place is another hour or so. If you’re too tired, we can get a motel. But I’d really like to get off the road if you can tolerate it.”
Another hour might kill her. She needed sleep and she wasn’t going to get it in the back of the SUV. Not when her nerves jumped like a zoo of kangaroos. If the maelstrom of anxiety thumping her chest wasn’t PTSD from the accident, she might be having a heart attack.
She wouldn’t tell him that. Better to die a silent death than have him look at her with more sympathy.
“I’m good,” she lied. “Just drive fast.”
He pulled out of the parking spot and back onto the road. Unexpectedly, her eyelids closed of their own accord. She rested her temple against the window, letting sleep claim her.
CHAPTER 8
More than anhour had passed when Toth finally rolled down the two-mile-long driveway through the woods that led to the cabin he’d bought over a year ago. Located fifteen minutes from the town of Leavenworth, it offered the privacy and seclusion he needed while also being close enough that he could easily get groceries and necessities.
No one would find them here. Least of all Red Eyez’ men.
It’d been a few months since he visited. And until now, he’d never brought a client. It wasn’t a place he’d planned to hide victims but a place to unwind, his space to unplug. Hell, if need be, a bugout crib.
As he approached the log cabin, the motion-sensing lights snapped on. After tapping the garage-door opener, he drove inside the detached outbuilding and cut the engine then pressed the button again to lower the door.
Savannah inhaled a deep, sleepy breath and then let out a little moan. His balls clenched at the sound. Snapping off his seatbelt, he got out. “You sleep?” he asked, opening her door.
Great. Now she had him speaking caveman.
Lifting her knuckles to rub one of her eyes, she nodded. “A bit.”
He held out his hand, but she didn’t accept.
She flashed a tense smile. “I’m fine.”
Probably for the best. He rounded the vehicle, opened the trunk, and removed their bags. With his backpack on and her bag swung over his arm, he pulled his gun from his waistband.