AllFreeNovel
Share Us
4
Mike and Sydney had finally made it to the exit for Turnabout. Lifting his daughter from the truck he set her down then turned to give a quick dap up to the men who’d helped him so far. A dispatcher was already noticing they’d stopped and was checking on the reasoning.
“What can I say, Connell can piss in a jar, but he demands at least a place to squat and a leaf to wipe with,” Buchanan replied. “Shouldn’t have reheated those burritos. No one on the horizon. A few squirts and we’ll be rolling again.”
“Thank you, brothers, I know how closely you’re watched.”
“There’s close,” Connell said moving to the driver’s door so he could take over. “Then there’s a microchip shot in your ass that can hear your thoughts. We’re not that close yet. Tell Creek he’s an asshole, we love him and thanks for that ice cream.”
“Will do.”
Neither men acknowledged Sydney allowing her to watch, but not engage as she clung to the pink blankie. Her backpack was firmly on her shoulders and the little roller bag by her side. His go bag weighed practically nothing, Buchanan passed him two bungie straps and he gave him a sideways tilt to his head.
“Bondage fetish I need to know about?”
“That roller luggage isn’t fun when you have to drag it for a few miles.”
Unlike most people that gave an address, Thomas Creek gave a geo-tag location. Now that he was in the nothing town he understood. From the interstate exit he couldn’t see life beyond a few glowing streetlights at least a mile into town. Taking a chance, he turned on his phone and put in the location. Screen shotting the directions before turning it to airplane mode to hide himself again but have the directions available.
Making his way he watched for small flaps of ribbon in the breeze to point out the barbed fences of the ranchers. Any sound from a car approaching had him rushing Sydney into the ditches to keep them hidden. Cutting through pastures would only work if he could find breaks in the electrical wires. The hum barely audible buzzed in his ears as Sydney blindly followed next to him. Distant sounds from coyotes had him slowing up to check the horizon, then his phone.
“Did you bring the tent?” Sydney asked, breaking the silence as their feet crunched along the gravel road. “I don’t have a sleeping bag.”
“We’re not staying in a tent, Syd,” he said. “My friend lives out here and we’re going to stay with him and his family.”
“Does he have a little girl like me?” she asked, her innocent eyes imploring him.
“No,” he said. “But he has a new baby that I bet you’ll be a big help with.”
“Boy or girl?”
“A little boy,” he said.
“Oh, I don’t like boys,” she said, a harshness to her tone had him squeezing her hand tighter.
“Baby boys aren’t too bad,” he said. “Big ones, you can hate.”
The moon was lighting their way as he came around a curve and saw a home. Older style, two story, but meant for a rancher’s family. Only when he returned to the map, he had the geo-location was beyond the home. Near it, an area had been cleared away, there may have been a fire of some sort. Crouching down in the far ditch two men sat sentry by the entrance. Each resting on a Harley. Glancing at the fencing it wasn’t the hum of electrical current he heard. It was the click of a camera being triggered by movement. Thankfully, not his. Nothing better than a little exercise in find the security holes to get ones heart pumping. Only he knew Creek and if there was a hole it was pencil thin.
Moving not only himself, but his daughter with stealth would require a bit of work. Nearly a day in the truck made the freedom of movement worth it. Doing his best to make it a game he scoped the perimeter and moved along the tree line. Hearing voices and music from a place very alive even at a late hour. Other sentries were running the perimeter causing them to have to duck and hide a half dozen times. This was a compound. A place of gathering with apartments and a party barn it seemed. Hardly the place he’d ever expect the quiet Lieutenant Creek to end up living. Cresting a ridge he found a ring of houses and one of them matched Creek’s geo tracker exactly.
Under the cover of trees he held Sydney’s arms by either side.
“I need to go to that house and let my friend know we’re here,” he said.
“Then knock on the door,” she offered.
Unhooking the makeshift backpack luggage and setting it by her. “I’m not a hundred percent sure which of those houses is his. Plus, this is like a surprise party, so let me go over there and when I whistle you come, okay?”
Her voice trembled as she said, “Okay.”
“You’ll be able to see me the whole time,” he assured. “And you know Daddy can get to you in less than ten seconds from that distance.”
Sydney nodded a few times and he wished he’d showed her how to use a gun. The twenty-two on his ankle would have been perfectly safe for her.
Crouching low he moved to the closest house in the circle of homes and walked along the side of the place. Hoping to see a sign it was Creek’s as he glanced into the darkened room. It was late, the walk from the interstate out there had been over an hour at least. Scanning what could only be described as domestic bliss in the perfectly curated home, no signs of a newborn stuck out to him.
Ducking under the window he crawled then stood, flush to the wall when a sudden press of cold steel to the back of his head was followed by an echoing click he only heard because of the deafening silence of where they were. Sweat froze to his body as he could hear his heart thundering in his chest.
