Bound by Danger (The Alliance #6) - Brenda K. Davies Page 0,41

the booth.

“We’re not allowed to have them while we’re working,” the woman replied. “Besides, the reception here is crap.”

“And I guess you took the bus to get here too?”

“Yes,” the woman said. “It’s easier than dealing with traffic.”

Lucien sighed and finished giving them their instructions. If someone arrived, they were to keep them out with an excuse about a possible gas leak. The guards turned their attention to the closed gate as he slipped from the booth.

Lucien dragged the bodies deeper into the storage units and spread them out in a pool of sunshine to let them burn. Because they weren’t as far gone as other Savages, it took a while for their bodies to start smoldering before catching fire. Callie stood beside him as the bodies created a bonfire in the middle of the units.

After taking care of that, he used a hose to wash away the blood staining the asphalt around the guard’s booth. Then they returned to the storage unit where they found his clothes. He pulled out a new pair of jeans and another black T-shirt before returning to the bathroom to clean up and change.

When he finished and the bodies were nothing more than ash that he washed away with the hose, he gave new instructions to the guards to delete all video footage, forget everything that happened, and continue with their lives. He told him the phone broke in a freak accident, but didn’t go into specific details; sometimes, it was best to leave things unexplained.

When he finished, he clasped Callie’s hand, and they returned to the streets of Camden. It was almost three o’clock by the time he confiscated a battered Toyota from a young teen who’d probably just bought the car or received it from his parents when he got his license.

“It’s probably his first car,” Callie said as she settled onto the front seat. “The poor kid’s entire life probably revolves around this thing. He might have had a paper route so he could buy it.”

Lucien glanced at her as he adjusted the rearview mirror. He didn’t care what the kid had to do to get the vehicle, but he saw the regret in her eyes as she stared at the slack-faced, pimply teen standing on the sidewalk while he watched them steal his vehicle.

“After we get out of here, I’ll ditch this thing where the cops will be sure to find it for him,” Lucien assured her because now she had him almost feeling bad for the kid.

“Good.”

Callie slid her seat belt on and sank back in the seat. A spring poked her in the ass, but when she looked at the ceiling and discovered the low-hanging, gray fabric, she couldn’t stop herself from smiling as she recalled her first car.

It was an old Dodge she’d driven into the ground, but she loved every second of abuse she committed to that gas-guzzling vehicle. The fabric on the roof had sagged like this one.

It hadn’t helped that she and her friends had made it a game to find funny pins to stick into the fabric. In the end, there were over a hundred of them, and they all had cute sayings like, “Blondes have more fun, but brunettes get it done,” or “Bad decisions make good stories.”

When the car finally died, she’d pulled all those pins down and stuck them in a box. It was sitting on a shelf in her closet.

“Where are we going?” she asked as he started the car.

“I’m not sure. I can’t head home. There are cameras everywhere, and if the Savages somehow get a hold of footage of us, they’ll know what car we took and what direction we’re heading. We have to stay off the radar as much as possible.”

“Good luck with that. It’s New Jersey; we’re going to hit a hundred tollbooths between here and wherever we go.”

“I don’t have any money for them.” He could convince the toll operators he’d paid for them, but it would only slow them down and sap him of his strength.

Callie leaned over and tapped the E-Z Pass box stuck to the windshield. “It’s probably his first car, but it’s necessary around here.”

“The Savages will be able to track us through that too.”

“Yes.”

“We’ll have to get a different car soon.”

“You should wait until we’re out of New Jersey first. We’re going to need that pass.”

She was right, he decided as he pulled the car away from the sidewalk. The teen remained standing were Lucien left him. He turned