Page 14 of Axel (Reed Hawthorne Security #6)

Savvy

“Savvy, I need you to get dressed and stay low to the ground,” Hunter says, waking me from a deep sleep.

“What?”

“Bob’s outside. We need to get out of here.”

I sit up. “Bob’s here? How could he possibly have found us?”

“I’m not sure, but he’s tracking you somehow. Stay low,” he says. “We have to assume he’s armed.”

Hunter leaves the bedroom, and my mind is racing. How is Bob here? How could he possibly have found us?

I get dressed as best I can in the dark. I can’t find my heavy coat. Good thing I tossed my light jacket into my bag before we left. At least I have something. I shove a few things into the zippered pockets.

Staying low, I make my way out to the living room to find Hunter crouched down, peering out the corner of a window .

“He’s not alone. There are two men with him. The two men are going around the back, and Bob is coming to the front door. You are going to stay behind me, and we are going to run out this door to my car. Understand?”

“What about Bob?”

“I’ll take care of him. But we won’t have much time before the other two hear the commotion and come running. Once we’re in the car, you stay down.”

I nod.

There’s a knock on the front door. “Savvy, I need to talk to you,” Bob shouts.

Hunter pulls me behind him, and we stand as he unlocks the door. In his other hand is a gun. I have no idea where that came from, but now is not the time to ask.

He whips the door open. Bob is standing there, and there is a gun shoved into the side of his pants. Before Bob can react, Hunter punches him, knocking him backward. But he doesn’t fall. Instead, he shakes his head and reaches for his gun as Hunter runs toward him.

“She’s here!” Bob yells.

Hunter swings and punches Bob again.

“Run to the car!” Hunter yells.

I sprint to the passenger side and then look back. Bob is on the ground, and Hunter is running this way.

“Get in and duck down,” Hunter instructs.

I do as he starts the ignition and shifts into reverse.

“Stay down. They’re going to shoot at us,” Hunter says.

He guns it, and we reverse out of the driveway at a high rate of speed. The sound of fireworks whizzes around us. But it’s not fireworks. It’s gunshots .

He continues to go in reverse down the road and then whips around and goes forward. I move from the floorboard to the seat.

“They’re following us, so stay low,” he says.

I bend down as best I can, but he seems to be hitting pothole after pothole, and I’m bouncing against the console in a painful way. The back window shatters, and I shriek.

“Hold on!” Hunter says.

We turn sharply and then speed up again.

I glance between the seats and out the now-open back window.

The car following us also turns sharply, but they don’t quite make it, and the front passenger tire ends up going into the ditch.

The driver tries to get out but manages to get them deeper in.

Hunter continues to speed down the road, gaining more distance from them.

“We lost them for the moment,” he says. “You can sit up now.”

I slowly straighten up. Bob actually shot at us. He really does want me dead. And if it weren’t for Hunter, he would have succeeded.

“Are you all right?” Hunter asks. “Did you get hit?”

“No,” I say. “I didn’t get hit.” But am I fine? No. I put my seatbelt on and stare out the passenger window so he doesn’t see the tears.

He reaches over and takes my hand in his. “Hey, you still with me?”

I wipe my eyes. “Yeah.”

He squeezes my hand and then lets it go to focus on driving .

“I don’t understand how he keeps finding us.”

He glances over at me. “I’ve been thinking about that. We assumed he was heading to your cabin, but now, after tonight, I think he’s tracking you.”

“How would he do that?”

Hunter pulls to the side of the road.

“What are you doing? They might catch up to us,” I say as I glance behind us.

“Let me see your phone.”

I hand it to him, and he checks something on it. “I’m sorry,” he says as he tosses the phone out the window and across the road.

“What? I have everything on there!”

I reach for the door handle, but he pulls out onto the road so I can’t exit safely.

“You aren’t sharing your location with him, which means he’s found some other way to find you.”

I stare at him. “What if he put an AirTag on this car?”

He frowns as he glances at me. “When would he have done that?”

He’s right. The only time Bob might have seen his car before was when we were leaving the first cabin.

“I guess he couldn’t have.”

Then how does he keep finding me?

“When this is all over, I’ll buy you a new phone. All right?”

I slump down. I hope this is over soon. But how will it end? “What is the plan? To keep running from Bob? He’ll find me eventually.”

Hunter gets on the highway going north. “The plan is for the FBI to gather enough evidence to put Bob away. Then it won’t matter what you know because it will be on record, along with other evidence. And no, he won’t find you. Not as long as you’re with me.”

I stare at this man I barely know. Despite that, I believe him.

“I believe you will keep me safe. But let’s say Bob does get convicted and goes to prison. He’ll know—or figure out—I was the one who tipped off the FBI. He’ll send someone after me.”

Before all of this, I never thought Bob could be vengeful or involved with illegal guns or any criminal activity. I can’t believe I was so wrong about him.

“If Bob’s boss finds out the FBI is after him, he may want to remove Bob from the organization before Bob gives up any information. Not saying that will happen here, but you never know.”

“Removed? You mean killed?”

“Yes.”

Bob might be killed? I hadn’t thought of that.

Do I want that? I think back on all my memories with Bob.

He hired me when I had no experience and trained me.

I really thought one day I would take over the brokerage.

If it weren’t for him, I’d still be working at that restaurant, taking orders.

Instead, I have my own home, a large savings account, and skills I can take anywhere and be a successful agent.

No, I don’t want him to die. I want to know why he would do this?

He certainly made enough money selling commercial buildings.

He didn’t need the cash. So why? That’s a question I might never get answered.

We continue north. I wonder where we are going, but I don’t ask. It doesn’t matter. I can’t stop thinking about what Hunter said.

“How do you know this? What criminals would do.”

He glances at me again. “It’s my job.”

Short answer. I have more questions, but I sense now is not the time to ask.

We drive in silence for an hour. Hunter exits the highway and stops at a diner. We get some lunch to go and head back out. Soon we are on an isolated road with a few houses on one side and forest on the other. He turns the car around so we are pointed toward the highway, and he puts it into park.

“Time to eat.”

“Where are we going? You keep heading north.”

“My boss has a place out this way. I’m waiting on his okay to use it.”

I take a bite of the patty melt and immediately moan. “Wow. This is the best one I’ve ever had.”

He grins. “House sauce. Ketchup, mayonnaise, and pickle juice.”

I scrunch my nose. “Really? That’s it?”

“Uh-huh.”

“So, your boss is debating whether to let us stay at his place?” I take another bite but this time hold back my moan.

He finishes chewing and wipes his mouth with a napkin. “No, I got his voicemail, and I texted Durango. Durango said Reed was taking a cooking class with his wife this morning.” He holds up his phone. “Hopefully, once I get service again, he’ll have said yes.”

“And if he says no?”

“He won’t.” He tosses all his garbage into the food bag and glances at me. “You okay if I start driving?”

“That’s fine.”

I’m almost finished, and fortunately, it’s not too messy. I finish before we get off the long, windy road we are on.

We curve around for another fifteen minutes in silence.

“I need to warn you. Reed’s cabin is a bit rustic.”

I’m a bit offended. “I don’t need the Ritz. I’m not a snob.”

He grins. “No, I don’t think you are. I just want to prepare you.”

“It’ll be fine.”

He chuckles but doesn’t say anything more. As we drive, I spot a glimpse of water through the trees. Maybe it will be an old cabin on a lake. That would be nice and peaceful.

He turns down a dirt road, and a shed pops into view. It’s small. Next to it is a small cabin. Hunter pulls the car around another outbuilding and parks with it facing the road.

“Here we are.” He gets out, and I follow.

We walk around the back to the main door. The cabin faces the lake, and the view isn’t bad. He opens the door. Inside, there is a couch, a small kitchenette, and a ladder to a loft upstairs. The cabin smells faintly of wood smoke and damp pine .

“There is only one bed, and it’s up there. But there is a couch.”

“That will work.”

“And you should know, there is no indoor bathroom.”

I must have heard wrong. “What did you say?”

He spins around with a grin. “There’s no indoor bathroom. That building next door is an outhouse.”

I blink but have no words.

“This cabin is old. And since Reed only uses it for fishing now and again, he has never updated it. Now we use it in situations like this.”

“So, no shower, either?”

“No shower.”

I glance at the kitchenette and realize there is no sink. “No plumbing at all? Wouldn’t your boss need that for fishing?”

“Oh, there’s a sink. It’s back here by the door.”

He leads me past the kitchen to what appears to be a closet. He opens it and sure enough, there is a small sink in there.

“There is one thing it does have, and that is an extensive security system.” He points to what looks like a cupboard.

I frown. “Why would this place need security? No offense.”

He laughs. “I get it. But all of Reed’s places have security systems. Anyway, it’s only for one night, and then we’ll see where Stevens and Durango are in their investigation.”

“Okay.” I sit on the couch. With no phone, no books, and no distractions, all I have is Hunter, which is both comforting and dangerous. “What do we do for now? ”

Hunter is opening and closing the few drawers in this place. “Yes!” He pulls out a deck of cards. “We could continue our game?”

“Sure.”

Despite the fact that I’m trapped in a cold cabin with no toilet, I have a great time playing card games with Hunter. When he’s relaxed, he’s funny and a good sport about losing. Which he did a lot. I played a lot of games with my brother growing up, which clearly benefited me.

A few times, I’ve caught him staring at me. He claims he’s trying to read me in order to win. Each time we make eye contact, I feel a tingle throughout my body. The more I stare at him, the more I’m attracted to him.

I tell myself it’s the situation we are in, and his protection makes him seem more attractive.

But really, it’s because I’ve gotten to know the real Hunter.

Regardless, this isn’t something I can ever act on because the last thing I want to do is risk my friendship with Maria.

It’s best if Hunter and I remain friends.