Eric snorts. “Too fucking right, I do.Carlito’s. It’s a bar on Main. They’ll be in the office if they’re not in the bar itself.”
I turn to Dax, panic etched clear across my face, but Dax is one step ahead. He types furiously on his phone, the screen illuminating us both in a soft blue glow. He holds the phone low and flat between us.
GET THEM OUT NOW. PLAN FLIT.
A sharp hitching sound fills my ears, rhythmic as the ticks of a second hand on a clockface. I stare wide eyed at Dax, needing to move and simultaneously terrified of being found. The blue light across his face dims, leaving only the golden slashes that creep through the door slats.
I open my mouth to speak, but what the hell do I say? We’ll never get to them in time. Can Aiden get them out? If they even argue with him, Franz’s men will be on them and if Gresh is watching…fuck.
Those hitches are too loud. We’ll get caught. I hold my breath to hear better and the hitches stop. Me? My breathing? Fuck…I’m so close to freaking out again.
“Hey. Hey…We’ve got this, Jules. They’ll be fine. I swear to you, I won’t let anything happen to your family.”
I hear him, but how can I believe it? Nobody in the Vale does anything for nothing. Why would Dax help? I need to get to them. I need to protect those kids. My head’s pounding. Dax blurs out of vision.
“Jules,” he whispers urgently in my ear. I feel his hands on my cheeks, holding my face as he pulls back to look into my eyes. He’s being sincere, but sincerity doesn’t stop people getting hurt. “Little gem! I’ve got you. Please breathe. We’ll protect them. You’re mine…you’re under my care. I protect what’s mine. I swear. I swear to you on my life they’ll be okay.”
I let out the air I’m hoarding in my lungs and shake my head. “He sold us. They’ll keep coming.”
“They’ll not find your family and they’ll never get near you. They’ll come for Eric to take back what’s theirs. The buck stops with him.”
“And the envelope?”
“I’ve got a plan in place for that. I just need you to trust me for a little while longer. Can you do that?”
Could I? I don’t see how I have much choice. I nod. “Okay.”
“Good. That’s my girl.” He draws me in closer and presses agentle kiss to my forehead, pulling back with a huge relieved smile upon his lips. “Right. Is he likely to come in here?”
“No. He only does that when he plans to drag me out.”
Dax’s mouth thins for a second. “Then we’re getting out of here.” He reaches for the handle and opens the closet door, so I slam my hand over his with a wince and lift as he pushes to avoid the creak.Dax moves to the doorway, popping his head around the frame for a fraction of a second to get a look at Eric. I hold my breath again, expecting the worst but Dax turns back to me and hand gestures that Eric is facing the front door. Well shit, that’s a major issue!
“How long before he drinks himself to sleep?”
“Too long.”
“Takes a piss?”
“Balloon bladder.”
“Do you have your phone?” he asks, changing direction. There’s a glint of a plan in his eyes.
I nod.
“Good.” He steps around me and nods at the bags. “Everything in there?”
I wave my hand, they will give us away and in the grand scheme of things, the items inside can be replaced. “We can forget them.”
“No, you came here for them, we’ll finish the mission.” He winks and flashes me a smile, but I’m too nervous to smile back. “Right. Give me your phone.”
I hand him the device and watch as he opens an app called ‘Clean’and presses the large red ‘Full Clean’ button. When he checks my data, contacts, call history and finds absolutely nothing, I realise he’s reset the phone back to factory settings. Even the original ‘Clean’app has gone.
“I need you to put this in whichever bedroom is furthest from us.”
“He’ll see me.”
“He won’t. He’s intent on that front door. Go slow and steady.Stick to the walls. Put the phone on the windowsill of the room and then get back here. Can you do that?”
