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Something shifted in my heart as I watched her. She was so young, and so alone, and yet, she looked strong as she held her little brother’s hand and strode down the street. She looked like a survivor, a fighter, a woman who wouldn’t go down without a fight, and I wanted to know more about what had made her that way. I wanted to know everything. While I was trying not to think about that moment in the bathroom when she’d kissed me, it had broken something open inside me. Something warm and possessive. Something that had latched on to Laura and sunk its claws in deep.Mine, it had murmured deep in my chest, and my heart had taken notice.Mine, it growled.
I lurked in the shadows. She looked around from now and then, but she wasn't practiced at spotting surveillance. So I was able to follow her at not too great a distance at the bus station. I watched until they went safely inside. This area was sketchy and at this pre-dawn time, there weren’t many folks around to help if they needed it. Once they’d disappeared, I headed back to my car, put my phone in the holder with the little GPS beeping signal on it and hit the road, following the bus route.
They were on the bus for a good four hours. Four hours without a stop. By the time Benji and Laura got off at a random, middle-of-nowhere bus stop, I was desperate for the bathroom, a drink of water, and to get out from behind the damn wheel.
My little fugitive seemed to have no such need to rest, as the dot immediately moved off the highway, heading into the woods.
I hit a gas station and filled up, then got some food, water, juices, and snacks. Then I waited. I couldn't fall too close through the woods when they were on the move. And if she was going to someone's cabin or house, it was bound to be reachable by road as well.
The sun was fading from the sky in the late afternoon when the dot stopped, and I planned a route there. There was a small side road that took me as close as possible. I’d have to walk the rest of the way. The woods crowded on each side of my vehicle as I drove. We were deep in the wilderness here. And the thought that Benji and Laura were out there somewhere alone made anxiety curl through me.
I didn't mind sleeping rough. I didn't mind outdoors. God knows I'd slept in enough gutters and on enough forest floors, or desert tents to feel comfortable. The darkness in the woods was often safer than the darkness in a city.
Despite that, I wanted to reach them. I wanted to protect them. I want her to protect her. There is no point denying anymore. While I'd always been a protective guy, some things, some situations, made it worse than others. Laura Lavin had my protective instincts going wild.
I wanted to know where she was. I wanted to know she was safe. I wanted to be the one guarding the door for that woman.
I put those thoughts away as I came to the end of a dirt track and loaded myself up with my supplies as much as I could. I’d look at those feelings later. They had no place in the here and now.
Right now, I had a little fugitive to finally get hold of, pin down, literally if necessary, and wring some home truths from.
I set off toward the woods in the rising dark, carrying the water and juice in a backpack. I’d walked a good thirty minutes up the trail when I saw a dim light through the trees. A cabin. I advanced on it. Anticipation curled in my veins.
Now I would get answers from Laura. Now I would make her admit that this connection between us wasn't anything ordinary. And make her see that she could trust me above anyone else. I was done waiting.
CHAPTER11
Laura
Well, I really had to give it to my dad. The cabin was just as crazily prepared for a zombie apocalypse or pandemic as my mother had told me it was after he died when I was too young to remember. She'd followed his wishes to keep the place stocked up as if Martians might land tomorrow and we'd have to take cover.
It was her way of paying tribute to him, and it was kind of sweet in its own way. Now, it might save me and Benji. Of course, the inside was dusty, like no one had been here in years, and that was entirely accurate. I sneezed as I walked around, seeing dust bunnies that were more like lions in the corners.
The wood was sitting in the fireplace for a fire, but it was damp. The cupboards were full of food, but everything except the longest perishables had already gone off. However, we had a roof over our heads. There were creaking beds in the two bedrooms and dry warm bedding, even if some of them might host mice.
The door had a lock and there was a nice gap around the house where you could see if anybody approached, what exactly my next move from here was going to be. I knew I could hardly raise Benji out here in the woods. Like some kind of Mowgli situation. But as of right now, he was out of Brian's reach, and I was still not going to jail. I could only protect him if I was free.
“Are we really gonna sleep here?” Benji asked, looking around the gloomy cabin with disdain.
“Yes, we really go to sleep here. I used to stay here all the time. When I was young.”
He raised an eyebrow. “But you don't even like camping.”
“Camping is fine. Anyway, this is not camping. You've got a bed with a mattress. There's a sink in here. There's a roof. We can start a fire. How great is that?” My false enthusiasm sounded false even to me.
Benji shrugged, looking lost. My heart clenched in my chest.
“What's wrong?” I asked him.
He shook his head, and I noticed the way his small pale chin trembled with the effort to keep tears in. “Nothing. I just I wonder what Brian will do when he knows we're gone.” Despite just being young, Benji called his father by his given name instead of dad. He had stopped calling him dad years ago. Probably the first time he'd ever feared him. Or the first time he'd ever accidentally wandered down into the basement level at the house on the hill.
I knew how he felt. I could never bring myself to call Brian anything other than his name either.
“Don't worry about him. He's miles away from here. He can't do anything to us here. Just let's get cozy. You know? I've got some snacks. We can make a fire and keep warm. What do you think?” This time, the comfort was there in my voice. No matter what, for tonight, at least, we were here and safe.
Benji nodded, but he didn't look convinced.
I took him by the shoulders and bent down to look into his eyes. “I'm here. I'm going to look after you. Don't you think I can look after you?” I went for teasing, but it sounded desperate.
