Page 15 of Axel (Reed Hawthorne Security #6)

Axel

I stare at the moonlight reflecting off the water. It really is a peaceful place. The lake is smaller than the one my cabin is on, but this one is better for fishing. Or so Reed says.

The security alert system beeps. I run to the other side of the cabin and look out the window. There are three men walking down the driveway. And one of them is Bob. How the hell did he find us?

“Savvy, we need to go. Now!” I shout up to her.

“Bob found us again?”

I nod. If he found us here, too, then I missed something big. He’s definitely tracking us somehow.

Thankfully, Savvy went to bed fully clothed. She’s down from the loft in seconds, and we are out the back door. I hold my finger to my lips, letting her know to be quiet.

We make our way to the shore. There is a small canoe with an oar. I push it halfway into the lake .

“Get in,” I whisper to Savvy.

Once she’s settled, I push it farther and then quietly climb aboard. I’m careful with the oar not to make any splashing noises as I slowly move us down the bank out of sight of the cabin.

Across the lake is a public dock. If I go toward it, those men will see us. Instead, I continue to stay close to shore and manage to get us on the other side of some tall grass.

“Do you see anything?” Bob calls out.

We duck down in the canoe to be safe, although there is no way anyone can see us unless they get out on the water.

“No,” a man answers.

“The bed is still warm,” another man says.

I can see a man’s figure through the grass.

He bends down. “Some kind of boat was here. The mud is fresh.” He stands up and walks toward the cabin.

I row as hard and fast as I can around the lake. It will only take them a moment to find the public dock on a map. That’s where they will wait for us. But that’s not where we will go.

Splashing the oars with each row, I make sure they can hear us.

“I bet they are heading to the other side,” Bob says.

Then it grows silent.

“We can’t cross the lake,” Savvy says.

“We won’t,” I say.

A car engine revs nearby, and then it screeches down the road on the other side of these cabins. I bet they have no idea how well sound carries out here .

“We are going to get out here,” I say as I turn and aim us onto someone else’s lawn.

Once we are on land, I lean in so I can whisper. “I’m going to see if anyone stayed behind. Hopefully, we can get in the car and leave. Stay behind me.”

She nods.

We slowly make our way to the front of the neighbor’s cabin. There is a fence between this property and the next, so we have to go to the road. Once there, we jog down three cabins until we are on the edge of Reed’s property.

I point to a large bush. “Hide behind there. When I get the car to the end of the driveway here, I’ll stop and you jump in.”

She nods and moves to go behind the bush.

Carefully, I make my way down the long driveway.

There’s no one in sight, but I’m still careful not to trigger the sensors Reed has set up in case someone is still inside.

Once at the car, I get in and take off down the driveway fast. There’s no hiding from anyone inside now.

I stop, and Savvy runs from behind the bush and gets in.

I turn left on the road, going the opposite way the men went.

But apparently, the road around the lake is a loop because we pass a car.

Bob’s driving and staring over at us. I see the moment he spots Savvy in the passenger seat.

I go faster as he turns around behind us. The tires squeal on the asphalt. The last thing I wanted was to get into a car chase out here. While I know the way to Reed’s cabin, I’m not too familiar with all the roads.

“I need you to pull up the map on the GPS system. ”

“You don’t know where you’re going?” she asks as she pulls it up.

“I’m not as familiar with this area.”

“Good thing I am.”

I glance over at her.

“There’s a camp up here I spent several summers at in my teens. I drove on these roads. I will direct you where we should go.”

She calls out turns with confidence, guiding us into tighter, darker roads. With each turn, we are out of their sight for a brief moment. But as I come out of the last turn, they are suddenly right on our tail.

“How the hell did they catch up?” I ask, staring at the speedometer.

Loud pops go off. “What is that?” Savvy asks.

“Get down!” I yell as the pain slices into my side. I’ve been hit.

Whatever happens, I can’t pass out and leave her out here with them.

“Okay, take the next left and then a left immediately after that. Then turn all the lights off and let them pass.”

“Sounds risky,” I say as I manage to get a little distance from them.

We round a corner.

“Left right there!” She’s slouching in her seat to see, but it isn’t keeping her safe if they start shooting again.

I turn left hard.

“And again!”

I turn left again, turn off the lights, and put it into park. The roar of their engine goes by .

“Nice trick,” I say.

She grins. “We used to play a hide-and-seek game up here back in the day.”

“Reckless. But I’m glad you did.”

I take a deep breath to fight the pain. “Okay, so we need to figure this out. Bob found you again.”

“It wasn’t my phone.”

“Nope. It’s something else.” I stare at her. The only things she has with her now are the clothes on her back. “It has to be in your clothes.”

“Don’t even ask me to toss my clothes out the window.”

I glance in the rearview mirror. “Bob is going to find us again. There must be a tag of some kind in your clothes. He’d put it in something you wear all the time. Your shoes? Jacket?”

She pulls her jacket off one arm. “It has to be this jacket. I had left it at the office and just grabbed it the other day.”

“You went to the office?”

“Don’t worry, I made sure Bob wasn’t there first. I needed to grab the cash I had there.” Once her jacket is off, she feels around the edges of it. “I found something. Dammit! I can’t see, but I think the seam was ripped and sewn again.”

“You’re going to have to rip it.”

She sighs. Then I hear the fabric rip. “Yes, here it is.”

“Hand it to me.”

I toss the tag into a bush. Savvy directs me back to the main road while I keep checking the rearview mirror. There’s no car behind us, but I hear the engine of one getting closer. Hopefully, they spend time looking for us on those roads while we get away.

“Okay, I need you to take my phone and call Durango.” I manage to pull it out of my pocket and hand it to her.

“Why is it wet?” she asks.

I don’t answer.

“Is this blood?” She glances at me. “Did you get shot?”

“I did. You need to tell Durango what’s going on and where we are. I’m going to try to get as close to him as I can.”

“I should drive,” she says.

“No, I need to focus on something. You call Durango.”

She puts it on speakerphone and explains to Durango what is going on.

He gives us an address. “I’ll bring our friend, but if it’s bad, I’m taking you to the hospital myself,” he says.

“Works for me,” I say.

I’m pretty sure it’s a flesh wound; otherwise, I would have passed out by now. Savvy’s fingers tremble slightly as she plugs in the address. It’s not too far. I keep an eye on the road behind me.

As we get closer to the city, traffic picks up. I pull onto the road where we are meeting Durango and park.

“Stay in the car,” I say. “We need to be sure Bob isn’t following us anymore.”

“I need to see your wound,” she says as she exits her side and walks around to mine.

The moment she sees all the blood, she stills.

“I already got you shot? I’m so sorry.”

“It’s not your fault. It’s Bob’s. ”

She reaches out. “Let me apply pressure until they get here.”

I nod, and she places the palm of her hand over my wound. I wince from the pain.

“Please don’t die.” Her shoulders tremble, and she blinks several times, trying to hold back tears.

“I won’t. It’s just a flesh wound.”

Headlights come toward us. Fortunately, it isn’t the car Bob was in. It pulls up in front of us, and then Durango and Susan get out of the car.

Susan walks over, and Savvy steps out of the way. “How bad?”

“I was able to keep driving, so it can’t be too bad.” I wince. “But it hurts like hell.”

Durango walks to Savvy’s side. “Are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m fine. I’m worried about Hunter.”

“Susan is a doctor who helps us out from time to time. Why don’t you come with me, and we can give them space?”

“No, I want to make sure Hunter is all right.” She turns to me, concern in her eyes.

“Hunter?” Susan asks as she pulls my shirt up to inspect.

“That’s my first name. She’s my sister’s best friend, and that’s what my sister calls me.”

“Oh, would you prefer I call you Axel?” Savvy asks.

I turn to her, and her wide eyes do something to me. Something I can’t focus on right now. “No.” I keep it short. But I don’t miss the smirk on Durango’s face.

“Your car is in pretty bad shape,” Durango says. “Busted back window, and I see at least two bullet holes in the door.”

Two? Glad one of them missed.

“Yeah, it could have been much worse,” I say.

“Okay, looks like the bullet exited back here, and it’s a flesh wound. I’ll clean it up and stitch it. But it’s going to hurt,” Susan says.

“I can handle it.” I chuckle to lighten the mood, but then stop when the sharp pain slices through my side. “I understand. Nothing to numb the pain. Go for it.”

She does, and thankfully, she’s quick. Then she puts in a few stitches. I’m not going to lie. It all hurt really badly. But I don’t want to scare Savvy, so I close my eyes and focus on my breathing. Durango is doing a great job of keeping her distracted with questions.

“All done.” Susan takes off her gloves. “You will need antibiotics. If you come by?—”

“I have some at home,” I say. I was supposed to take some if my stitches got infected. I’m still not sure how Durango talked the ER doctor into giving me that prescription, but I’m thankful. I didn’t need them then, but I do now.

“Okay, good. If this gets infected, call me.”

“You good?” Durango asks.

I nod. “We are going to head to my place.”

“I’ll drive,” Durango says.

Susan walks to her car and leaves.

“I could go to Maria’s place. I don’t want to be a burden,” Savvy says. “I already got you shot. I’m so sorry.”

I shake my head. “No, you’re staying with me. As for being shot, even more reason to stay with me. You need protection.”

“I can stay with you, too,” Durango offers.

“That’s not necessary. We found an AirTag in her jacket. That’s how Bob found us twice. He won’t find us again,” I say.

“You’ll call me if you change your mind,” Durango says.

It’s not a question, and I appreciate it.

“I don’t get it,” Savvy says. “If Bob wanted to kill me, why not ask me to meet him at work? Why did he wait?”

I wince as I shift in my seat. “He can’t exactly shoot you at work and get away with it. Now at a cabin out in the woods, he could.”

She pales at the thought. That’s a look I don’t ever want to see on her face again. Pure fear.

“Any developments with the investigation into Bob?” I ask Durango.

“Not on my end. But I haven’t spoken to Stevens in the last couple of days, so maybe she has something.”

Hopefully, she does. I’ll call her once I get Savvy settled in at my place.