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“Sure, totally obvious,” I muttered to myself. “Crap, I can’t even remember what I was going to do now.”
“Skylar.”
“Hmm.” I rolled into the comfort of the bed, snuggling closer to Parker.
“Skylar, you need to wake up.”
My eyes popped open and I jerked upright in bed, forgetting where I was for a moment. It was still dark outside, making me even more confused than I was a minute ago. It took a minute for my eyes to adjust to the dark light of the room. Johnny was moving around the room, putting stuff in a bag.
Getting up, I slid the covers back over Parker. “What are you doing?”
“We need to leave now.”
“Why? Jack’s not even?—”
“Rico is looking for you. He knows Jack helped you escape, but he doesn’t know about the rest of us yet. He’s going to come after you, and the longer we stay here, the less likely it is we’ll get away.”
“But, that’s crazy,” I spluttered. “If we move Jack now?—”
“He would want us to do this,” he said, stopping to look me in the eye. “Trust me on this.”
I couldn’t argue that. After everything Jack had done for us, I doubted he’d want us to stay here where we might end up dead. “What about Jack? How are we going to do this?”
“You’re going to ride with me in an SUV. We’ll get him as comfortable as possible. Jason and Rae will ride with Parker?—”
“Absolutely not,” I said. “There’s no way I’m riding separately from my son.”
“This is for the best,” he said calmly. “If Rico catches up with us, it’smore likely that he’s coming after you and Jack. That’ll give Jason and Rae a chance to get Parker to safety. I need you to trust me on this.”
“Why can’t I ride with Parker?”
“Because Jack needs you.” He sighed, stepping closer to me. “Jack’s not in good shape, and you’re the only one with any medical knowledge. I need you to do this for me.”
I didn’t like it, but he was right. And if it meant keeping Parker safe, I had to do it. “Just promise me something, if anything happens to me—if you can’t keep us safe—I want my parents to have Parker. They’re in Florida and?—”
“We know where they are. We’ll make sure everyone’s taken care of, but that won’t be necessary. This is all a precaution.”
I looked back at my son sleeping peacefully, wondering how he was going to handle this. He was just four years old. He shouldn’t have to wonder if he was ever going to see me again.
“I need to wake him up.”
“I could carry him out,” Johnny offered. “He might sleep for most of the ride.”
“No, if he wakes up and doesn’t know what’s going on, it’ll be harder on him. Just give me a few minutes.”
He nodded and headed for the door. “We leave in five.”
I sank down on the bed beside my son, hoping he wasn’t too scared to handle this. He was such a big boy in some ways, but in others, he was so small and innocent.
I brushed my knuckles over his cheek, trying to wake him. He stirred, his eyes blinking sleepily up at me. “Mama?”
“Hey, buddy. We’ve gotta go.”
“But I’m tired.”
“I know, but we need to leave now. Rae is going to take you with her, and I’m going to ride with Jack in another car.”
“But I want you,” he cried. Even in the darkness, I could see the tears filling his eyes.
