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“Bruno, look ‘em.” The small horse, which may or may not be a Rottweiler, walks forward and sniffs suspiciously, first around Mateo, then me. He gives Mateo a second sniffing and then goes back to the young woman apparently named Salem.
The Rottweiler was one thing, but the Malinois is something else entirely. It’s not his size that scares me, it’s the way he looks at me. I think he knows what I’m thinking and probably before I’m thinking it.
“Spectre, look ‘em.”
He walks around me, and I’ve never felt so afraid of an animal in all my life.
“You shouldn’t be so afraid of him. He won’t do anything unless A, I tell him to, or B, you make a move against me, and I wouldn’t advise that.”
When he turns his attention to Mateo, he stiffens noticeably. Salem raises one eyebrow otherwise showing no other sign or emotion. When he’s done with Mateo, he looks at Ghost, as though to say, ‘we haven’t done this one’.
“Friend, Spectre. Come.” Looking at Mateo, she says, “You have a knife in your boot and one on a thong hanging from your neck, down your back. You have a handgun on your waist, at your spine. I wouldn’t go for any of them if I were you. You’d never get one into use.” Looking at me, she carries on, “You have a handgun at your spine, too. Same applies. I wouldn’t reach for it. Let’s go to the house, and we can discuss whether you stay or leave. Follow me.”
We follow her past the barn and along a track. The dogs walk to our side and slightly behind us. Ghost brings up the rear, apparently not a concern to either of the dogs. I sense that this could be a long talk and that Mateo and I won’t get to say a lot.
Chapter 20
*~* Ghost *~*
Idon’t feel great about asking this of Salem, but I can’t think of a better option at such short notice. Sitting opposite her, I can see the cogs turning in her mind while she stares at me.
“I can find somewhere else, but it will take me at least twenty-four hours. This guy has made three attempts, and each time he has upped the ante. There is no connection between the MC and here other than through me, and I have no connection, as such, with the Doc. Give me the twenty-four hours and I’ll get them moved to another secure location.” I watch for a reaction, and I’m glad I’m not playing poker right now.
“If he hasn’t made the connection in twenty-four hours, it’s unlikely he will at all. You need to stay away though and make sure that son of yours knows to stop contacting me. In fact, you’d better take his phone.”
“I wasn’t aware that he was contacting you.” This is news to me. I knew he was tongue-tied when he met her, he even called me ‘Pa’ in his confused state.
“I knew he liked me, and we swapped numbers when he stopped by. He’s only been the once as I wasn’t comfortable alone with him. Not that he did anything, it’s just that I’ve not had any of that type of attention before. I trusted that Bruno was correct when he took a liking to him and I trust his instincts. I’m sure that he likes me more than I like him, if you get my meaning. There’s going to be a difficult conversation at some point in the near future.” She waits for my reaction, and I try not to let it show that he may not react well to her rejection.
“If you need help with that, let me know. I don’t know how he’ll take it. I’ll be sure to ask him to stay away for the near future, though I’m new to the father/son dynamic, so I’m not sure how he will take it coming from me.” That worries me more than I care to admit.
“No, let me do it. If he takes it to heart, it’s better that he blames me than you. You will be his support buffer, and that could be a good thing for your relationship. Without being hurtful, it isn’t going to impact my life if he hates me afterward.” Salem looks over at Jamie and Mateo. “I have a place in the woods that you can stay at for the time you’re here. It is well hidden, and if you are careful about staying away from here, you should be fine. There’s a radio that you can contact me on if you need to, but I’d advise that you only use it in an emergency. I’ll come to you once every twenty-four hours to start with and then play it by ear from then on.”
“I thought we’d be moving on after twenty-four hours. That’s what it sounded like,” Mateo asks, and I’m not sure if he’s directing that to me or Salem. Before I get chance to respond, she beats me to it.
“Ghost knows damn well that if your killer hasn’t found you in the next twenty-four hours, he’s not as good as he thinks he is. You’ll be safe here as long as you do nothing stupid. If you do something stupid, you’ll not only put yourselves at risk, but me as well. Do that, I may just kill you myself and dump your bodies on the side of the road somewhere for your killer to find.” Standing from the table, she looks at me. “Have they got any luggage or stuff that I should be aware of?”
“Only what they are wearing and their phones. We’ve had that conversation already.” I give both Jamie and Mateo a stern glance to remind them of it.
“There’s a Faraday bag in the safe-house, I’ll show you when we get there. If you drop your phones in there, it will stop anyone tracking them. You want to see where they’ll be staying in case anything happens to me?”
“No, I’ll leave them in your capable hands. If I were expecting anything to happen to you, I wouldn’t be here.” The thought makes my blood run cold. I don’t think for one minute that whoever this assassin is, he will make the connection, but, and there’s always a but, I could be wrong.
“I’ve had to deal with some unsavory people in the past. I’m sure me and the boys here will be safe enough. Let’s get moving, it’s not too far through the woods but there are places you need to avoid on the path.”
“A regular Pocahontas here,” Mateo states, and must immediately regret it as Salem turns on him.
“You want to compare to me a Native American woman, that is the last one I’d choose. Try Lozen, Woman Chief, or Dahteste. They are worthy of their place in history. Pocahontas married an Englishman and died young far from home. Not someone that I would want to emulate, thank you.” She gives him a look that would shrivel a lesser man.
“My apologies. When I can, I’ll study those women that you mention, and in future, I’ll try to keep my humor factual.” He grins at her, and I see her face take on a light blush.
“Do that. Now, let’s get a move on.”
I watch them walk away and head back to the van. There’s going to be a tough conversation with myself and Whack when I get back to the clubhouse. An even harder one with Fury, I’m sure.
Leaving the van behind the clubhouse, I walk in and head straight for Pres’ office. Seeing the door open, I knock anyway, and when he looks up, he waves me to a seat in front of his desk.
“Everyone safe and back here now, then? That’s a relief. What else have you got on our suspected killer?” Whack leans forward, places his elbows on the desk, and steeples his fingers.
