“Exactly.” Travis nodded with confidence. In the back of his mind though, there were red flags all over the place. He’d had the worst experience of his life being kidnapped and beaten, and never wanted to go through anything like that ever again. And yet, he really just wanted to go, forget about that whole thing, and trust the word they’d received from the Elite that the Agency had backed off with this one. And Ashlee was right – they’d be together. If anything did happen, they could easily call for help. And who was to say the Agency wouldn’t strike if someone was with them? Even if Angel went, she was going to keep her distance, so what good would it do?
“I can find my dad’s keys,” he added. “He always keeps them in the same place. If we, like, go during lunch, everybody is so focused on eating and it’s noisy enough in the dining room that probably no one would even notice we were gone. We could just…tell them we’re gonna eat lunch together and… if they assume that means somewhere on the ranch then… that’s their own fault.”
Oh how terrible it sounded when he said it. He couldn’t remember when he’d last defied his dad this openly but… he just… didn’t want to be cooped up. He glanced over at Ashlee just a bit sheepishly, but grinned. “Tomorrow?”
“Of course.” Eli could tell how tired Ryan was, and reached over to pat her shoulder. “Come on, Speedy. Let’s call it a night, huh?”
After getting inside and making sure she took care of herself, he flopped down on the couch for a while and texted Scarlet to touch base before accidently falling asleep in the living room.
Not hearing from Ryan again, Hunter settled back in the couch and just let himself relax. He was just starting to drift off when his phone buzzed again though. Checking it, he smiled.
Who won?
He typed back a quick message.
You kidding? Me, of course.
Awesome.
Hunter thought for a moment.
Had a passenger tonight.
What? U never have passengers.
Well, this was different. You know
the woman racer?
Your top rival?
Yeah. She’s been going through a
hard time. Wrecked her car. Been
a mess and scared to race again.
So I got her to ride with me.
Cool. How’d that go?
Good I think.
And…?
And what?
Nothing.
Hunter rolled his eyes.
No. Just no. Way too soon for that.
lol I didn’t say a word.
Glad it went well tho. Good for u.
Thanks.
Hunter thought for another moment.
Feels good to help someone like I’ve
been helped. Wish you guys were
closer. I think she could use a break
from her current reality.
U know you’re always welcome.
Yeah. Just a thought though. She’s got
a brother who’s taking good care of her.
After finishing up the short conversation with Mick, Hunter finally pried himself from the couch to go to bed. It really hadn’t been that hard of a day, but for some reason, he was exhausted.
The morning had been a drag, although Aaron had slept for most of it. Which was probably a good thing since his knee was killing him. The pain meds Rick was giving him took the edge off, but that was about it. He’d remained quiet though, just wanting to get out of here, but having no means to. He knew he was in worse shape now than he had been, and there was simply no way he could get himself anywhere, let alone fight his way out. They still insisted on keeping him cuffed though, which just made him mad.
At the sound of Sam’s voice, his eyes came open after dozing off. She seemed in quite the good mood today. What was with her, and why did she have a paper sack with her? He ignored her greeting and just looked at her dimly. Was she playing a new game?
Being uncuffed increased his confusion, and he just stared at her while she…what? Prayed? What on earth was she doing and… His eyes grew more alert as his nostrils gained the scent of tacos. Seriously? She’d actually brought him some? He knew they’d talked about it, but he’d never have guessed she’d actually follow through. He blinked. Rubbing his wrists a little, he sat up a bit straighter as his stomach growled. “I…any kind is good…” H craned his neck just a bit to see what she’d brought. It sure smelled good. Being handed one, he unwrapped it slowly, then took a long bite, sighing in satisfaction.
He didn’t want to like it. He didn’t want to like her at all. He didn’t trust her. This was just some ploy to get him to weaken so he’d be easier prey for the Elite. That was all. There was nothing here he should be grateful for or find any pleasure in or…
His lips curled into a little smile in spite of all his thoughts. “This…is better than a frozen dinner.” He took another bite. “Thank you.” After he’d said it, his eyes dropped and he just kept chewing. He couldn’t let his wall down…he just couldn’t.
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