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CHAPTER14
Cannon
Penelope clutchesher tote bag next to me. She switches her stare from window to window.
She’s asked where we’re going once already but I gave her a vague answer. South. And east.
She keeps shooting me perplexed looks as the countryside shifts to more rugged terrain and trees crowd together more than they do around LA. The roads get windier. My tension eases the farther away from the city we get.
I turn off the main highway, and she sinks farther in her seat. I expect her to be dejected. We’re out of the city, and I haven’t given her more hints about where we’re going other than direction.
The stunned awe on her face adds weight to my chest. She’s looking at the thick trees and the peaks in the distance like she’s never seen anything more beautiful.
“This is gorgeous,” she says as if she senses I noticed her reaction.
I don’t respond past the sudden lump in my throat. I don’t get to spend as much time around here as I’d like. The fires drove me out a few years ago, and I got a temporary apartment in LA. I went from temporary apartments to Airbnbs and back. My security system showed me that everything was okay, but I haven’t returned. Jacobi accused me of couch surfing, and I didn’t tell him any different.
The place I’m taking Penelope is the only place I’ve called home since…a long time. I didn’t really have a home when I was a kid. When we get there, I’ll tell Penelope everything she needs to know about her husband. Then I’ll notify Jacobi and Kase so we can get to work.
I’m catching a predator, but I have to secure his prey.
We’ve driven another forty-five minutes when I notice Penelope squirming.
“You need to go to the bathroom?”
She grimaces. “Yes. I’m sorry. Those smoothies of Mother’s are extra hydrating.”
I chuckle, which catches both of us off guard. She gives me a tentative smile, and I concentrate on the road. Seeing her smile at me only makes me want to follow her into the restroom and dive back into her wet heat.
It takes another fifteen minutes to reach a town with a gas station. No one could know where we’d stop ahead of time since I haven’t told a soul where we’re going, so I let her run inside without me. I take a moment to stretch. Traffic speeds by. Some are probably locals. Some are likely tourists.
We’re neither.
I lean against the car and watch the cars. Family sedans, like what I drive. A few electric hybrids. A work van with tinted windows. My gaze lingers on it. There’s a big rectangle for where the sign usually is. It passes. The driver’s a guy, and he’s staring straight ahead.
My intuition stirs, but it’s nothing. We’re too far out of LA, and we haven’t been tailed.
“I grabbed us a couple of waters.” Penelope holds them up. Her hair’s hanging free, and with her yoga pants and pink T-shirt, she could blend in as either a local or a tourist. I’m definitely in tourist territory.
This is so normal. Traveling together. Making a pit stop. Her smiling at me and getting me something to drink. An empty place in my chest burns.
“Get in,” I say, rougher than I mean to.
Her smile fades, and she does as I say.
“Sorry…” I’m shit at apologies. I’m her bodyguard, but after last night and before what’s coming up, the words mean more than she can know. “It’s…”
“I get it.” Her tone is aloof. She puts her sunglasses on and looks out the window.
I kick the car into gear. We leave city limits, and the traffic thins out.
A black sedan behind us creeps closer. There would be nothing out of the ordinary about it if we were in LA. But my gut churns. Something’s off. I press the gas harder.
Penelope’s resting her head in her hand and staring at the scenery. She pops her head up. “You know, okay, I do get it. But you can’t do what you did last night and be all cranky bodyguard.”
My gaze darts between the windshield and the rearview mirror. The car is close enough that I can see two men in the front. They aren’t tourists, and my intuition’s telling me they’re not locals.
“I’ve been a good client,” she says, “but we’ve moved beyond that.”
