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It was a numbered locker key with the name of one of the gyms in the area engraved on it. Far too curious to wait, I made my way to the nearest bus that would take me to the gym. Inside the locker was a large gym bag. Sitting on top of the bag was my old phone, containing several dozen messages from Rinaldo, Mark Duncan, and Jonathan. I looked around to confirm no one was watching me, pocketed the phone, and then quickly unzipped the top of the bag to peek inside.
It was my Barrett.
Nothing could have surprised me more.
Chapter 16—Narrow Miss
As much as I wanted to take my Barrett somewhere private and spend a lot of time with it, I was going to have to wait until I moved Lia to another location. I tossed the bag over my shoulder, and the familiar weight felt fantastic. I wasn’t sure how Jonathan had managed to get evidence away from the Chicago police, but I was definitely grateful.
Lia had both herself and Odin ready to go when I arrived. I called a cab because I didn’t want her seen any more than absolutely necessary, and any form of public transportation wasn’t fast enough for me at this point. I watched out the window for the cab to arrive and then ushered both Lia and Odin downstairs.
As soon as I walked outside, he was there—the kid with the bomb strapped around his waist. I tensed and fought against the urge to pull my gun out and start firing. I closed my eyes, shook my head, and looked again, but he was still there. He didn’t move—only stood there with tears running down his cheeks.
“Let’s get out of here.” I opened the back door of the cab and held Lia’s hand as she climbed in.
The cab driver looked more like a chauffeur than a usual cabbie. He had on one of those captain-style hats and dark glasses. He helped load Lia’s suitcase into the trunk, and we got on our way with Lia sitting in the center seat so Odin could hang his tongue out the window.
I gave the cabbie directions to a neighborhood in Avondale. We wouldn’t be staying there—it was just a stopping point to get another cab. He pulled onto the expressway, and I sat back in the seat and closed my eyes.
Lia leaned over to p
ut her head on my shoulder and spoke softly.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“I’ll tell you when we get there,” I replied, keeping my voice low. “This is just a detour.”
She stayed quiet as we traveled quickly down the center lane. I scratched Odin’s neck and ears as he sniffed at the corner of the window, occasionally sneezing into the wind. My mind was occupied enough for the moment that I almost didn’t realize where we were.
“You missed the exit,” I called up front.
“Did I? Sorry about that. I’ll get the next one.”
I narrowed my eyes a bit at the face in the rearview mirror. I was abruptly uneasy and had to fight down the paranoia growing in my gut. I glanced out the window and half expected to see the kid on the side of the road, but he wasn’t there. I took a deep breath and tried to center myself.
It didn’t work.
“What the fuck are you doing?” I asked the driver as he sped past the next exit and continued on the expressway.
“I was going to take Parkview,” he said. “There’s less traffic.”
“Bullshit!” Without hesitation, I released the seatbelt, pulled out my gun, and put it next to the driver’s head. “I’m not putting up with elevated fucking prices from a piece of shit cab driver. Take the next fucking exit.”
“Evan! What are you doing!” Lia grabbed my elbow, but I shook her off and told her to sit back and be quiet. She huffed at me but did as I said.
“You should listen to Miss Antonio,” the driver said. “Pointing a gun at the driver isn’t safe for the passengers. I could get nervous and make a mistake.”
Miss Antonio? How did he know her name?
“Please, Evan.”
I ignored Lia’s protest.
“I’m going to pull the fucking trigger if you don’t pull over now.”
“No you won’t,” he said. “If you do that, we’re all meat on the highway.”
Something about his phrase sounded familiar—like I had heard someone else use the same words or something close to them anyway. The whole thing was off—a real cab driver wouldn’t be reacting this way with a gun in his face. This guy had been in a similar position before.
