Chapter 12

Chapter

Twelve

VOODOO

I t was before dawn when I opened the door to the bedroom where Grace Black slept. Whereas Bones stayed in with her the night before, we’d let her rest peacefully, though I had checked on her twice. Nightmares and disturbed sleep were normal for this kind of stress. Both times I looked in, however, she’d been sound asleep.

She was, even now, curled over on her side and sleeping. She looked even tinier than when she was awake. The thick, silky look of her black hair added to the pixie effect. Alphabet was right to call her a pixie. A low light was on in the bathroom. She’d left it on when she went to sleep and I’d not disturbed it or her. Comfort and self-soothing came in a wild variety of methods and choices. No one would judge her for it.

The dim glow from the open bathroom door highlighted the soft curves of her face. Paler than in her many photographs and ad campaigns, the real woman seemed no less insubstantial than her images. That fragility generated such a demand for her. The far more interesting part of her was that core of steel inside of her.

It was an excellent quality for her to possess. She was going to need it in order to survive. I didn’t cross the room nor did I touch her. I just said her name, “Grace.” Then repeated it. Her eyes snapped open when I said it the second time.

The sudden flush, coupled with too wide eyes, and the shallow breaths betrayed her fear response. Completely normal. Unless she wanted to discuss it, I wasn’t going to draw attention to it.

“We’re moving out this morning,” I said, keeping my voice low. “Just dress, stuff anything you want to take into the bag and we’ll take it with us.”

She sat up, the tousle of her hair giving her a windblown look as she blinked at me. “Coffee?”

“On the road,” I promised her. “The sooner you get ready, the sooner we’re gone.”

After blowing out a long breath, she shoved the blankets off and rose. Dressed in a t-shirt that hit her mid-thigh, she headed for the bathroom. I stepped out and closed the door.

Everything else was ready, as soon as she emerged, we’d go straight to the car in the garage. Then out that way. I’d planned for an extra fifteen minutes if she required it, she was ready in five.

I was impressed.

Taking the bag from her hand, I pointed her along the hall in the opposite direction from the kitchen. She had on a pair of running shoes, leggings, a fresh t-shirt, and a hoodie. Her dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her cheeks were pink from being scrubbed.

She looked sixteen and I felt like a dirty old man checking her out.

“Ready?”

With one hand over her mouth to smother the yawn that tried to escape, she gave me a half-nod then said, “Yes.”

“Good.”

Promptness was a good quality. So was speed. Waking her up and making her move immediately also distracted her from asking questions. Parked in the garage was my Jeep Grand Cherokee.

It had specialized upgrades and armor to make it more bullet resistant. At the passenger door, I opened it to let her climb in. Standing right next to her drove home just how much shorter than all of us she was. The contrast was unsettling particularly when she had to put a foot up onto the running board and grip the side to climb into the vehicle.

Once she was inside, I closed the door then opened the door to the back seat and dropped her bag in there with mine. In no time, I was in the driver’s seat and backing out of the garage into the deep dark of pre-dawn. The sunrise was at least another hour off.

We’d be well on our way by then. The air was a little damp and chilly, so I turned the air to warm. It didn’t need to be hot, but she didn’t need to get a chill either. I half-expected the questions to start once we were on the road, but Grace just sat with her arms folded and her head turned to stare out the window.

The detente lasted until I pulled off at the first drive-thru coffee place. I put in my order for a large, black coffee, no sweetener and then glanced at her.

“Flat white, oat milk if they have it please and the largest size it comes in.”

I passed on the message before I added a couple of the breakfast wraps and sandwiches. I wasn’t sure which she’d prefer and we weren’t going to be stopping for a while. I had a theory to test.

After accepting the drinks and passing hers over, followed by the bag with the food, I paid for it with cash and then we were pulling out again. The darkness began to withdraw as morning slid her gray fingers in to peel back the night.

In addition to the rays of the sun beginning to brighten the sky, the weight of her stare rested on me. She was debating whatever she wanted to ask. I pegged the speedometer at eighty and followed the interstate west through Pennsylvania. We’d be in Ohio soon, and I might turn south then.

We’d see.

I slid a glance her way as I knocked back more of my coffee. It was scalding hot, dark, and bitter. Pretty much exactly what I needed.

She wasn’t looking at me anymore but at her cup. I gave her five more minutes. Ten at the outside.

She lasted fifteen.

Impressive.

“Voodoo?” The way she framed my name it was almost a question in and of itself. Not just trying to get my attention but should she use those specific syllables to address me?

“Right here,” I answered. Keeping my voice even and unperturbed made it more conversational.

“I should call you Voodoo, right? Or do you have another name?”

“I do,” I told her. “But Voodoo is fine. Been Voodoo for years now. Pretty much used to it.” Liked it too. Liked the air of mystery it seemed to give me. Even more, how unsettled it would make others.

“Right.” She didn’t fully understand, but she was attempting to. I’d give her points for the effort. “Where are we going?”

“We told you the plan yesterday.” I was splitting hairs and being vague on purpose. With my attention divided between the road ahead and the road behind, I didn’t make a big deal out of the answer.

“No, Lunchbox said we were going to move back to wherever your base is. I wasn’t sure if that was your actual home or a fort or something. Though, I don’t think you’re active duty military anymore.”

None of that was a question, but she was very observant.

“You didn’t tell me anything.” It was a light, if effective verbal slap and it landed.

“You were briefed,” I reminded her, more than a little curious to see what she would do.

“Where are Alphabet, Lunchbox, and Bones?”

“Ah, you want to know why you’re with me and not with one of them?” When you don’t necessarily want to answer a question, just reframe the premise and redirect the other person’s attention. If that failed, just change the subject entirely.

“Yes,” she said. “You don’t like me and I imagine you don’t want me around. So why am I with you and not them?”

“You imagine I don’t want you around?” I didn’t have to feign surprise or curiosity. It was right there. “When did I say I didn’t like you?”

Instead of answering immediately, she bit her lower lip and frowned. I stole another glance at her. Was she steeling herself or trying to back track? There were a lot of ways she could play this.

“I don’t have to work that hard to imagine your disinterest,” she said, doubling down on her initial statement. “You haven’t spoken to me directly all that much except to inform me of how wrong something could go when you supported everyone else not letting me call my sister.”

“I also told you I’d get you a phone.” If we were going to examine the details, we should be accurate.

“Yes,” she admitted. “You did.” It seemed almost a concession. “But I didn’t realize we wouldn’t all be together.” Not the whole truth there, but we were getting warmer. “You just… You seemed like the last one I would be traveling with.”

I almost smiled. Almost. “Don’t worry, Grace,” I said. “I’ll reunite you with the guys soon enough. Since you asked, we’re clearing up our tracks. You left Manhattan with two men and a dog. You’re now traveling in a totally different vehicle, different man, no dog. If people are looking for you, it’s better to make it as difficult as possible to get an easy bead on you.”

It was also better to clear the way if they were tracking her otherwise to let them make an attempt in the open before we moved her to a more secure location. If we’d had more time, I would have seen about getting a device to scan her. Without some idea of whether they’d been waiting for her at her place or tracked her there, we had to work with the idea it could be either.

The safe house had a Faraday Cage in it, which was why she was in that room specifically. It was also why she couldn’t use any of our phones there either.

“Security,” she said with a sigh so profoundly exhausted it tugged at me. “I get it.”

“You don’t have to like it,” I told her. While there wasn’t much else we could do right now, it was important that she understood we weren’t making any decisions lightly.

“Thank you for that,” she retorted. “I wasn’t sure if I was allowed or not.” The bite underscoring those words did make me smile. It was better when she snapped back. I liked the fiercer side of her.

“If you’d like, I’ll make you a list of all the correct etiquette so you know how to behave around us.” I had my tongue firmly in cheek, but I kept my expression sober.

“You think you’re funny,” she challenged, nose wrinkled.

“Not really, no. I’m being perfectly serious. Especially if you didn’t realize that you were free to like or dislike whatever decisions we make.”

“What if I don’t want to go along with any of your decisions?” The gauntlet landed with a bang between us. Much better.

“Perfectly reasonable response. You don’t know us. You don’t know you can trust us, though you are learning. You trust us on some levels, but not all of them. While you don’t have to like it, you will be safer with us than without. As evidenced by the assault at your place.”

I didn’t want to keep drilling down on that last piece, but it was better she understood.

“That doesn’t really answer my question, though. What if I just want to part ways? You drop me off at a police station, let me file a report and go home? I’m sure the FBI will help me.” She didn’t sound that certain though.

“Until we’ve completed a threat assessment that assures us you are not likely to be taken prisoner again, I’m afraid that letting you go is not in the cards right now.”

“So, you guys are just my latest captors.”

“In a manner of speaking, I suppose we are. I don’t see you as a prisoner, however. You are a client, we take protection seriously. The question you have to ask yourself is how hard do you want to make all of this?”

“In other words, I’m damned if I do and I’m damned if I don’t?” More fire glazed those words, the burn sizzling where it grazed against me.

“I wouldn’t put it that way, but I suppose if you want to frame it negatively, then yes, Firecracker, I suppose you are.”

She scowled at me. “You’re annoyingly blunt.”

“But you like it,” I countered. “Or you wouldn’t keep trying to engage me.”

Her mouth opened then closed twice without a single sound escaping. The muted shriek of outrage entertained me, but I didn’t grin until she looked away to stare out of the car again.

The silence filling the vehicle lay heavily with all the things she wasn’t saying. Still, I had to appreciate the effort to think her arguments through and not just making them blindly. She was every bit as intelligent as Lunchbox claimed.

He and Alphabet were already compromised where she was concerned, however. Bones noticed it as well. It was why he gave me the task of handling her transport. I didn’t mind using her as bait, and I could keep my head while talking to her.

Lunchbox about turned himself inside out to make sure she ate the night before. He even went so far as to try and get her to confess her favorite foods. It had been moderately entertaining, particularly when she gave him so little to work with.

Still…

I glanced over at her. Her shoulders were rigid and her face turned to the window, resolute in how she ignored me.

I could definitely see the appeal.

An hour later, I considered broaching a detente to see if she wanted a bathroom break. Then I caught the SUV closing the distance between us. It had been there on and off the last thirty minutes, but I’d taken an exit like I was going for gas. It followed me and while I didn’t turn in, it had.

Now here it was, having caught us up again.

I guess we had our answer.

They could track her .

“Grace,” I said, then put a hand on her leg. “We need to talk…”