“I see,” Killean murmured.
“And I see that in two miles you’ll be coming up on exit thirteen,” Declan replied.
Killean glanced at the GPS screen. “Yes.”
“You’re going to stay on the highway when you get to that exit, but your GPS is going to show you taking it and following a new route along some back roads. In other words, your navigation system will be useless to you soon. I’m going to keep rerouting the car’s GPS through different back roads, so stay to the highway as much as possible. We can’t have your route accidentally intersecting with the GPS. When we hang up, throw out the phone, and you’ll be off their radar for a little while. They’ll eventually figure it out, but hopefully, you’ll have a new car by then. Good luck.”
Declan hung up before Killean could reply. Snatching up the phone, Killean rolled down his window and waited until they were almost to exit thirteen before heaving it out. In the side mirror, he watched it shatter and spin across the highway.
They should have at least an hour before Joseph and that thing figured out something was off; they might have even more time, but he was only going to give himself an hour to come up with a new plan.
* * *
Killean searchedfor cameras monitoring the parking area and the brick building in the center as he drove around the perimeter of the lot, but the only cameras he saw were focused on the building. He had no intention of going anywhere near it.
Driving around to the back of the lot, he took the road marked for trucks instead of cars. Turning off his headlights, he maneuvered through the dozen or so large trucks parked in the lot. Some still had their running lights on, but others were completely dark.
“What now?” Simone asked.
“Now, we catch a ride.”
He parked between two of the idling trucks and turned off the car. When he flexed his knuckles, the fresh skin on the back of them broke open, but no blood spilled free, and the blisters were healed. He removed the blanket from his shoulders and tossed it into the back seat. By now, Joseph and that thing probably had Savages scouring the highway and video feeds for this car, but hopefully, they would be far from here before they were detected.
Opening his door, Killean climbed out. The chilly night air soothed his burnt skin as it flowed over him. He watched the back of the brick building, which was five hundred feet away, while he walked around to Simone’s side of the car. A few people lounged outside of the bathrooms, but most scurried back and forth to their cars. None of them looked at all suspicious, and he didn’t smell a Savage on the air.
Killean opened Simone’s door and took her hand to help her out. She stretched her back while she gazed at the building. When he squeezed her hand, he drew her gaze and nodded to one of the idling trucks before leading her over to it. Climbing onto the step of the truck, he released her hand and banged on the window.
From within, he heard the drone of voices from a TV or radio, but no movement. He banged more loudly on the window and was rewarded with a muffled curse. The cab of the truck shifted when someone stirred inside.
A minute later, a craggy face appeared in the window and then the door was shoved open. If he’d been human, Killean would have been knocked on his ass by the door, but he was quick enough to avoid it as he hopped onto the pavement.
“What do you want?” the woman who opened the door demanded.
Not at all what he’d expected, Killean gazed up at the petite black woman who glowered at him from eyes the color of a doe’s. Gray hair created a curly cloud around her wrinkled face. Though her hair was gray, her skin was remarkably unaged except for the frown lines marring her forehead. She wore a baggy T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants that looked more like pajamas.
“We need a ride.” Killean ignored the gun in her hand as he sent his power forward.
“And I’m supposed to care?”
“You’re going to give us one,” he commanded as he took control of her mind.
For a second, she rebelled against the command, and then her eyes glazed over and her face grew slack.
“Let us in,” he said.
The woman shifted back, and Killean helped Simone climb inside. Simone slipped into the sleeping area with a single twin mattress and a tiny TV playing an old sitcom at the back of the cab. A half-eaten sub and a bag of chips sat beside the TV.
The woman remained kneeling on the driver’s seat as Killean climbed into the truck. He slipped into the back with Simone before crawling out again to sit in the passenger seat. He studied the shifter and the numerous buttons on the dash before focusing on the woman.
“Close the door,” he commanded. “And sit down.”
She shut the door and settled behind the wheel where she sat with her hands in her lap and a blank expression on her face. As much as he disliked humans, he didn’t enjoy the emptiness that came over them while they were under the control of a vampire.
“You’re going to take us to the Mass border,” he said.
He didn’t know where they’d go from there, but he would figure that out when they arrived. Until then, they had a driver and the perfect cover from any cameras or tolls in this truck. He didn’t expect it to last as eventually the Savages would discover the car and realize what he’d done, but they’d make it to Massachusetts first.
Chapter Thirty-Five
