Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

Frankie

We'd been driving for two days, and it felt like someone had replaced my eyelids with sandpaper. Technically, the drive should have only taken about three hours, but Gabe had been instructing me to drive in circles until I didn't even know which direction we were headed. Based on the position of the setting sun, we seemed to be headed in a generally north direction, but I couldn't even tell if we were still in Louisiana anymore, or if we had crossed into another state.

There would be some kind of toll or at least a sign if we crossed state lines, right?

That had been the case on every road trip I'd ever taken. Surely, I would know if we were in a different state.

I'd say Gabe was paranoid, if not for the fact that someone was actually trying to kill us.

Many someones, in fact. By that point, I'd lost track of who the most likely threat was supposed to be.

The mafia.

The secret pedophile ring.

The FBI.

Everyone was an enemy.

I shook my head, feeling the weight of my braids tickle against my neck. Rubbing my eyes to rid them of the sand building up in the corners, I focused back on the road.

We'd pulled off the main highway about fifteen minutes ago and were now traveling down a dirt road that seemed to be more dirt than road. I hesitated to even call it a road. It was more like a flat line between the trees where the roots didn't grow as thick.

Luckily, I'd had practice driving my parent's RV over some difficult terrain, because an inexperienced driver would have struggled to navigate the clunky vehicle between the trees.

To be fair, I struggled as well, but I'd kept the RV on all four wheels so far, so I considered it a success.

"Can't you drive more carefully," Newt complained from the back.

I gripped the steering wheel so tight I could feel the stitches in the leather. "You're lucky we're even staying upright. I'm not sure this is even a road."

I felt guilty the moment the words were out of my mouth. Newt was only worried for Sebastian, and to be honest, I was as well. The man was severely injured, and the constant jostling from the bumpy ride would only make it worse. Sebastian hadn't said a word in the last hour, yet I could feel the pain radiating from the back of the RV with every squeak of the vehicle's inadequate shocks.

"Hey, resting-blank-face, where are we going?"

Agent Gabe Long sat in the passenger seat next to me, staring ahead without a twitch of emotion on his face and his arms crossed over his chest.

I expected to be ignored, yet when I addressed him, he actually looked at me.

"Why do you insist on calling me these ridiculous names?"

I slowed the RV down to a crawl that barely registered on the speed dial as I eased the vehicle over a cluster of large tree roots. It was starting to rain, and I desperately wanted to get wherever we were going before a storm blew in and made the already difficult road even more treacherous.

To hide my nerves, I turned on a bright smile and grinned at the man sitting next to me. "Well, what else am I supposed to call you? You've never actually introduced yourself to me."

Finally, I'd earned some expression from the man. His brow furrowed as he thought back over the weeks we'd been forced to live together. I could tell the moment he realized I was speaking the truth, because his typically flat gaze sparked with a hint of life.

In the chaos of our first meeting, he'd never actually introduced himself.

"You know my name," he tried to argue.

I merely shook my head. "Knowing your name is not the same as being introduced. So, until you give me your name properly, I'll call you whatever I want."

We hit a flat patch of road and I dared to drive a little faster, almost hitting double digits on the speedometer.

The rain started falling harder, and ice crystallized around the edges of the windshield. It was going to be the most miserable kind of weather. Cold and wet. The kind of weather that hung right at the point of freezing without actually tipping over the edge, so everything turned into an ugly, muddy slush.

"I'm Agent Long," he said after several awkwardly silent moments with only the sound of the freezing rain on the metal roof to accompany us. "But just call me Gabe."

It was a pleasant surprise. I'd been expecting further arguments from the man and didn't even have to fake my smile.

"Glad to meet you, Gabe. I'd shake your hand, but I'm a little preoccupied at the moment."

That seemed to be as much heart-to-heart as Gabe could handle at once, because he merely nodded at a spot down the road to point out that our destination was coming up.

The road opened into a clearing in the trees, revealing a small house among the foliage. At the sight, I was equal parts relieved and annoyed. Relieved that we had finally reached the end of our journey, and annoyed that Gabe hadn't told me how close we were to the end sooner. The drive would have been a lot less stressful if I knew there were only a few minutes left.

I brought the RV to a stop right next to the front door, leaving just enough space for the motorized handicap lift. Getting Sebastian unloaded from the vehicle and inside the house was another ordeal. One that had us all grumbling in frustration, especially as the icy rain turned to sleet. The wheels of Sebastian's mobile bed stuck in the mud and wouldn't budge until both Gabe and Damien worked together to literally lift the entire thing.

However, after a lot of sweating and swearing, we were all safely inside. We were wet and cold, and probably looked like a pack of half-feral dogs, but we were unharmed.

Well, no more harmed than we had been when we started the journey. No one could look at Sebastian's state and call the man unharmed.

"Careful," I heard Newt say. "Try not to move around. I'm worried about that leg. It's been out of traction too long. If it starts healing the wrong way you may need more surgery to fix it, so keep your leg as still as possible until we get you set up."

Something warm, yet unsettled, squirmed in my chest. It was the same feeling that arose whenever one of my patients wasn't doing well. I hated that they were suffering, but I was glad I had the skills to do something about it.

No matter how tired I felt, and how much I just wanted to curl up on the first flat surface I could find and go to sleep, I couldn't rest until I knew everyone under my care was okay. Gathering my braids in my hands, I tied them back in a low ponytail to keep them out of my face. The familiar gesture acted like a trigger, putting me into work mode .

"Hey." I placed a hand on Newt's shoulder. "Come on. This place must have a bed somewhere. Let's get your man comfortable."

The bed that we'd stolen from the hospital didn't want to roll over the house's carpet, especially not with mud clogging the wheels. Newt and I struggled to keep the bed moving without shoving it, but when I looked back at Gabe and Damien to ask for help, I found them engaged in an intense conversation.

It was probably a good idea to not interrupt men armed with guns, even if those guns were kept in hidden holsters under their jackets. Newt and I could take care of Sebastian on our own.

The house was small, so we didn't have to look very hard to find a bedroom. It was a room, with a bed, and that was it. There wasn't even a nightstand or a wardrobe to give the space a little character.

Between Newt's dual experience as a paramedic and a nurse, and my job as a physical therapist, we had plenty of practice on how to maneuver a patient. Yet, it still took all of our training to smoothly transfer Sebastian from the rolling hospital gurney to the proper bed.

I couldn't help but flinch. The man must be in so much pain, but he didn't make a sound. We'd given him as much pain medication as we'd dared, but drugs could only do so much.

From there, it became a flurry of activity as we got Sebastian's leg suspended back in its traction and checked his stitches and bandages. Everything seemed to still be in place, but only time would tell when it came to his internal injuries.

If the new pins in Sebastian's leg had shifted, or his broken ribs had been compromised, we likely wouldn't know until it was too late.

I tried not to think about it. There wasn't much we'd be able to do anyway, out in the middle of nowhere. This man needed to be in a hospital, but that wasn't possible right now, so Newt and I would just have to be good enough.

As soon as we got Sebastian secured in the bed, the man almost immediately fell asleep. It was no surprise. I felt ready to collapse myself. None of us had slept much over the last two days.

There wasn't anywhere to sit, so Newt and I turned the floor into our chair, with our backs against the wall and our shoulders leaning against each other.

"I can't believe it's been less than a week."

"Hmm?" I didn't remember closing my eyes but forced them open when I heard Newt's voice. "What do you mean?"

Newt wasn't looking at me. His gaze remained locked on his boyfriend.

"Less than a week ago we were celebrating the fact that Sebastian was finally up and walking unassisted. Now we're here. How did we even get here? It all seems like a blur."

He finally looked at me, tears making his blue eyes even bluer.

"I'm so sorry you got dragged into this, Frankie. You were just trying to help me and now I've ruined your life."

"Hey, hey, hey. None of that. You did not ruin my life." I bumped his shoulder with mine. "Although, I've definitely won the competition for ‘Best Friend of the Decade'. I expect a medal. And a statue. A statue of me wearing a medal. Don't you think it would look really good standing right at the hospital entrance? Much better than that weird modern art... thing they commissioned last year."

Newt giggled. It was a tired but happy sound. Despite everything that had happened, his spirits weren't broken.

I breathed a sigh of relief. So long as we still had the spirit to keep going, any problem could be solved eventually. I held tightly to that idea, no matter how unrealistic. It forced me out of bed on my worst days and helped me support the patients who were too exhausted to help themselves.

Newt and I talked for a while. So much had happened over the last few days, there hadn't been much time to just talk like we used to. We mostly stuck to shallow conversations that didn't require much thought. Rosalind, Newt's sister, was a popular topic. I'd never liked her patronizing attitude toward Newt. It seemed to come from a loving place, but good intentions didn't change how she always made Newt feel worse about himself.

Because of that, I regretted missing the moment she realized her assumptions about Sebastian had been wrong. I couldn't even imagine what her face must have looked like. The woman never admitted to any mistakes, and Newt's description just wasn't enough.

Maybe I could request the footage from the hospital security cameras. Such a sight needed to be seen with my own eyes, even if it was just on a grainy recording.

We talked so long that we eventually both ended up falling asleep on the floor, leaning against each other for support.