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“Celia?” He kept his voice soft. He didn’t want to startle her, but he had to do something. With a gentle hand on her leg, he shook her and called her name again.
Celia gasped, startling awake. “What? Where?” She sat up and turned on the lamp beside the bed. She took a deep breath and let it out in a shaky sigh.
“You were dreaming.”
“I know. Thanks for waking me.”
A glance at the clock told him it was just past midnight. Still too early to hit the road. He needed more sleep after the short night the day before.
“Think you can get a little more sleep?” He sat on the edge of her bed below where her feet curled beneath the blankets and watched to see how she was handling things.
Celia was pale, but the fine trembling that had shaken her entire body when he first shaken her awake.
“I—I think.” She looked away then back to him. “If you’ll lay with me.”
Bubba hesitated. Why not? If it let them both get a little more sleep, there was no reason he couldn’t lay on this bed instead of the other.
“I think we can do that.” He pulled a blanket off the bed he’d been sleeping on and brought it to the bed where Celia had returned after a trip to the restroom. He stretched out on top of the bedspread she’d been using and pulled his own blanket over himself. Sure, he could have climbed in beside her, but after everything she’d been through, he wanted to make her as comfortable as possible, and still get some rest himself.
When Bubba woke the next morning, he found Celia curled against his side, separated by the layer of blankets he’d slept on top of, but her head resting on his shoulder and an arm thrown across his chest. How had he slept through this? he wondered. Normally he woke if someone touched him. Yet here he was, waking to find her practically plastered against him and he’d not even noticed.
As much as he hated to wake her, they needed to get back on the road. He woke her, then dressed and loaded their things while she dressed.
“I’m going to need to get some clothes soon, or I’m going to start to smell, even with showers,” she said as they left the motel that morning.
“I’ll see what we can do.” Bubba helped her into the truck then went around to his door. She seemed to be moving a little easier. That was good, but he still wanted to get her to Arizona before they were spotted and possibly reported back to her father or the police. He sent a quick message to Gizmo looking for any updates then started the truck.
“You want food or just coffee this early?”
“Coffee. It’s too early for food.”
“No problem.” He crossed the interstate and pulled into the Shell station. “How do you want it? I’ll run in and get it if you’ll take care of the pump.” He still hadn’t told her about the missing person’s report or that there were people looking for them. And he didn’t plan to until they hit Tucson unless he had to.
“Sure.” She let him know how she liked her coffee, then stayed with the truck while he went inside to get their drinks. By the time he came back out, she’d put the nozzle back on the pump and was in the passenger’s seat waiting.
“What’s the plan for today?” She took her coffee and his so he could swing up into the seat, then handed his back so he could take a long pull before he started the truck and maneuvered it out onto the interstate.
“More driving. It’s going to be another long day, but unless we run into trouble, we should make it to Tucson tonight.”
“To your house?”
“Maybe. I’ve got a couple things going, I’m not sure where we’ll end up tonight. That will depend on how things go between now and then.” He didn’t want her worrying about her father or that asshole she’d been dating. Bubba still wanted to rip that cocksucker’s head off for what he’d done to her but hopefully that instinct would fade a little before he came face to face with him.
They spent another day on the road, stopping as little as possible and pushing to get back to the city Bubba called home. And the men he called brothers.
It was after eight when they passed the city limits sign letting them know they’d reached Tucson. A glance at the dashboard told Bubba it was still over ninety outside. The air conditioning was off in his house. Even if they turned it on now, it would be hours before it was cool enough to sleep. No. they’d be better off at the clubhouse, at least tonight.
He'd sent a message to Gizmo about getting a room at his last gas stop a couple hours before but hadn’t heard back yet. He didn’t want to stop again, so he headed straight to the clubhouse. Celia might as well meet the Demented Souls if he was going to use them to protect her, should it come to that.
“We’re not going to my house, not tonight,” he said as they pulled off the interstate. “It’s hot and the AC has been off for a long time. It will take hours to get the place cool enough to sleep. On top of that, I’ve held off telling you because I didn’t want to worry you, but your father’s filed a missing person’s report on you, so people are looking for you.”
She turned to watch him with wide eyes. “What does that mean?”
“A couple things. But it’s not as bad as you might think. You’re an adult. You can come and go as you please, without getting permission from anyone, no matter what your father or that ass you were seeing says. As long as it’s a missing person, the police are looking for you, they’ll question you a little to make sure you’re okay and that you haven’t been kidnapped or something like that, then they’ll let you go.”
“Why do I hear a but in there?”
“Because there is one.” Bubba glanced over at her to gauge her reaction, then back to the road. “There is always the chance they’ve put it out as a missing person so they can find you. Chances are high with your father that once he knows where you are he’ll either show up himself or send one of his goons to get you, maybe even this Troy.” God, he hoped it was Troy. Bubba wanted a chance to rip the man’s balls off for what he’d done to Celia. Fifteen hundred miles and Bubba’s temper still hadn’t cooled, and it probably wouldn’t any time soon.
