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This wasn’t just a firecracker. The bomb tore the car apart. Hurrying to our feet, we ran through the trees as fast as we could. We didn’t know what would be rolling down the hill after us, but we needed to be as far away from it as we could be if we were going to survive.
Zigzagging between the trees as we fled for our lives, we didn’t stop until we were sure that we were far enough that nothing would get us. Leaning over with our hands on our knees, we fought for breath. Cali, who still had the money locked under his arm, stared at me bewildered.
There was no longer a question who had run Dr. Sonya off the road. I didn’t know anything about Cali’s father. But, whoever he was, would have had no reason to place a bomb in my trunk.
Chapter 12
Cali
“Why?” I asked Hil, not understanding anything about what was going on.
“He had to have climbed down to have confirmed that I was in the car when it went off the cliff. To get paid, he would have needed proof of death. A picture, something. When he couldn’t get it, he must have searched the trunk and found the money.”
“Are you saying that the guy who did this was a professional? Like, he did this for a living?”
“Yeah. Families hire people to take care of things like this,” he said, giving me a glimpse of what his world was truly like.
I searched the ground, trying to make sense of what I was hearing.
“But, why not just take the money and be done with it? There’s a lot here,” I said, showing it to him.
Staring at me with sadness, Hil explained.
“He wouldn’t have done that because, first off, he doesn’t know if the money has been cleaned. If he took it and spent it, it could have shown up on some government agency’s watch list. If the money hasn’t been washed, it’s basically kindling.
“Secondly, you might think that’s a lot of money, but in my world, it’s not. I was able to take that from my father because our place is exploding with it. Banks aren’t a thing where I come from. So, when you’re as successful as my father is, you have more cash sitting around than you can keep track of.”
I was finally getting it. Hil was not like me. The world he grew up in was as similar to mine as a grape was to a river.
I didn’t care, though. Whoever he was, wherever he came from, he was here now, and this was the man I loved. More important, there was someone who was trying to hurt my baby. That was never going to happen. I would tear this world apart trying to find this guy. And when I did, he would never get the chance to hurt Hil again.
It was a long way back around the mountain to the main road. As we walked everything about me was on alert. I was carrying thousands of dollars in cash while checking behind every tree for the person who had set the bomb. He might have been waiting for us.
When Hil spoke, I didn’t answer. I couldn’t focus on keeping him safe if I was thinking about anything else. It was my job to protect him. I was going to do it even if it required every moment of my waking life.
Eventually reaching the road, we also gained service on our phones. My first call was to the town’s soon to be mayor, Titus.
“I don’t think it was our father. There was a bomb in the trunk of Hil’s car.”
“There was a bomb?” Titus asked shocked.
“A bomb! And it almost killed us.”
“We should call the county police or something.”
“What’s the county police gonna do?”
“Don’t call the police!” Hil said, grabbing my arm.
Putting my hand over the phone, I asked, “Why not?”
“I told you what my father does. If you tell the police, they’re gonna have to call the FBI. The last thing my family needs are Feds asking questions about us.”
I stared at Hil realizing how insane all of this was. It wasn’t like I would trust his protection with anyone else. But the fact that going through official channels wasn’t even an option was mind blowing.
“Are you going to call your father?” I asked, knowing that if he did, he would be taken away from me.
Hil lowered his head.
