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Up until then, I’d been a nervous wreck.
“I know this is a lot,” Evan repeated. “And I know it sucks to have to leave…”
“I get it,” I told him again. “It’s the only way.”
I rolled my head and stared out the window numbly, watching the tall pines of Maine go by. On either side of the road they looked like skyscrapers. We’d crossed out of New Hampshire two hundred miles ago. And we were still going. Somewhere. Anywhere.
Anywhere but home.
“Cole will explain everything when he gets up here,” said Evan. “But we couldn’t stay down there. Things were too hot. There were too many… variables.”
I wasn’t happy about having to run, and even less happy to have to shutter the food truck. I’d made that call hours ago. By now, I was sure Sarah had locked it up tight. I could’ve asked her to run it while we were gone, and she would’ve kicked ass, too. But if there was even theslightestrisk someone would come looking for me there, I couldn’t take it. And so I didn’t.
Besides, the guys never ran. Not until now, anyway. So if they were retreating — even temporarily — I knew it had to be forverygood reasons.
“Wanna tell me where we’re going?” I asked again.
“The cabin.”
“You said that already. What kind of—”
Evan’s tattooed arm rested casually on the steering wheel as he gave me his best, panty-dropping grin. His smile wasn’t even tired. He looked fresh as a daisy.
“You’ll see,” he winked.
I let out a sigh, resigning myself to do the only thing I could: rest up. I’d had a long, arduous day at work anyway. I’d been sitting on my bed, resting my tired legs. Listening to music and doing some bookkeeping, when Joshua and Cole had burst through the door.
I must’ve been dozing, because when I looked up again we were no longer on the highway. We were on a narrow dirt road, turning onto an even more narrow dirt road. A minute or two later, we rolled to a stop.
“Alright,” Evan declared, killing the engine. “Home sweet home.”
I looked around groggily, and eventually followed his pointing finger. Off to the right, nearly buried by trees at the top of a hill, I saw the outline of a saw-cut log cabin.
“Let me guess… the three of youbuiltthat cabin.”
Evan laughed and hopped out. “We’re good, baby. But we’re notthatgood.”
We walked up a steep, narrow trail, which made the place a pain in the ass to get to. I’d been around the boys long enough to realize this was probably intentional. The top of the hill gave the cabin a full, three-hundred sixty-degree view, plus it was higher ground. Not to mention if anything went down, the trail was a natural choke-point.
Inside, the place was spacious, yet cozy. A large wood-burning stove dominated the opposite wall, perfect for Maine’s freezing winters. Four bunks lined the walls. A door in the back led to a bathroom. Or at least what Ihopedwas a bathroom.
“We use this place when we want to get away,” said Evan.
“You live in a gated oceanside mansion, you know,” I pointed out. “It’s pretty isolated.”
“Yes, but still within arm’s reach of the city.” He dropped the two duffels he was carrying and gestured grandly. “But this…thisis nature. We go hunting, we go fishing. This place is the middle of nowhere.”
I walked in a big circle, peering through the windows. A side deck wrapped around the back of the cabin, looking out over the lower hill of towering pines. My eyes lit up.
“There’s a hot tub out there!”
“Sure is,” Evan confirmed. “We called ahead and had it turned on, too. The fridge is stocked, we have fresh water—
“Who in the world did you call?”
Evan extended his two very ripped arms and cracked his knuckles. “We might be loners, but we’re mercenaries, remember? We’ve got friends all over. Or if not friends, at least people we trust.”
The more I looked, the more I realized how much the place was modernized, despite its rustic exterior. There was a desk, a monitor, a computer. The galley kitchen was bristling with up-to-date appliances. Across from the couch, a large, flat-panel television looked recently mounted.
