team and we needed to find a place to go. “She’s got about ten,” I told Farrah. “Your daughter did a little shopping last night.”
“Thatta girl,” Farrah said, wrapping her arm around Cecilia’s waist so she could lead her away. “Where’d you stash them?”
“Somethin’ isn’t right,” Cam said as soon as the women left the room. “We’re missin’ somethin’.”
“Obviously,” I muttered, grabbing my go bag out of the closet. I always cleaned everything and stashed it when we got back into town so it was ready and I didn’t have to think about it when it was time to leave again, but this time, I was going to need a different supply list.
Kneeling by my dresser, I swung open the door that looked like the rest of the drawers and opened my safe.
“I’m gonna keep an eye on things outside,” Cam announced as he left.
Casper watched me from across the room. “Couldn’t they just take the whole dresser?”
“Safe’s bolted to the load bearing beams,” I said distractedly as I pulled out my passport, bank paperwork and a couple stacks of cash. “It’s built into the wall and I built the dresser around it.”
“Nice work,” he mused.
“Gonna call my team,” I said as I zipped my bag and got to my feet. “I wanna be out of here in five minutes.”
“We’re set,” he replied. “I’ll go help Farrah get CeeCee ready.”
“No one goes outside until we’re ready to go,” I ordered, pulling my phone out. “No reason to let them know we’re goin’ before we do.”
“This ain’t my first party,” Casper said in amusement as he walked away.
Crazy bastard. I swear, the more hectic things got, the easier going he seemed. For as long as I could remember, he’d been that way. We’d be holed up at the club because they were dealing with some heavy bullshit, and Casper would be strolling around the room like he didn’t have a care in the world, pinching his wife’s ass and laughing with the boys. It was a show he put on, and I knew it, but it was still hard to see any cracks in the façade.
“We’ve got trouble,” I told Forrest when he answered.
“Hell, boy,” he said with a sigh. “I knew this was comin’.”
“The fucker we saw at the house last night just showed up at my door.”
“No shit?”
“No shit,” I confirmed. “I’ve got no clue how he found Cecilia, but he did.”
“You know who he is?” he asked in surprise.
“Son of the dead man,” I replied grimly.
“Ain’t that some shit,” he muttered. “What do you need?”
“I’ll spread the word,” I told him as I grabbed clothes out of my dresser. “Siah and Eph, here. They can wait it out and see who comes to play. You, Eli, and Lu, meet up with us. Until we know what we’re dealin’ with, probably best if we all lay low.”
“You think they got a look at us?”
“No clue,” I replied, pulling my jeans on. “Wilson took care of the cameras, but there’s a chance. Very few ways he could’ve linked me to Cecilia, and that’s one of them.”
“Gotcha.”
“Meet you in the desert,” I said, referring to one of the safe houses we’d bought as a group. There were four, spread out as randomly as possible.
“Roger that.”
As I got dressed, I called the rest of the team and let them know what was happening and where they needed to be. Thankfully, none of them said a word of complaint. We all knew at some point we’d be caught up in some shit. We’d just never realized that it wouldn’t be connected to one of our jobs.
“All set?” I asked, meeting everyone in the kitchen.
“She’s going to be hungry soon,” Cecilia said as she fussed with the baby’s blanket inside her car seat.
“You can feed her on the road,” I replied. I picked up a few of the bags that were waiting on the kitchen table.
“Farrah’s riding with you,” Casper announced as he lifted the baby’s car seat. “Me and Cam will follow.”
With a nod, I led the group out of the house.
“How you doin’?” I asked as I helped Cecilia into the back seat of the truck. She had just enough room to slide her feet in. An uncharacteristic rain shower meant I couldn’t put her stuff in the bed of the truck and the floorboard was covered with bags full of baby supplies.
“I’m scared,” she said, her hands clenched into fists. “Pissed. And I feel like shit for dragging everyone into this.”
“Don’t,”