The Enforcer - Kelli Callahan Page 0,25

and exhaustion from the day. I wonder if Jake is taking one right now too. Wouldn’t that be interesting? The hot water spilling down him, leaving glistening skin in its wake.

I shudder, closing my eyes and stepping into the steam. It’s best not to think about those things right now. I need to focus on the moment. Neither one of us can afford to be emotionally involved when someone is out to get us like this. Yes, I need to be smart. Play it cool, just as I have for the last seven years.

Reaching down and picking up a tiny bottle of hotel shampoo, I squirt a small amount into my hand and try not to imagine what my hairdresser would say if she knew that I was using something so cheap on my scalp right now. The soft natural glow of my blonde hair is thoroughly maintained by Isidora, the only high-end cosmetologist in my small town. I love her, and I’m sure to tip her well to avoid losing her to a major city. I don’t know what I’d do without her.

Chapter Nine

Jake

Sitting down on the bed and grabbing the satellite phone I make an impromptu phone call. I need to get out of this thing. We can’t hide out in North Dakota forever. The more time I spend with Diana, the less I am convinced that she will just sit around and wait. Hell, she’s got a kid out there somewhere. I guess it would be foolish of me to think she could just leave everything for a little while. If I wait too long, she’ll probably use a hotel phone to call her daughter. What if the kid’s cell phone is tapped... fuck. What if Noah’s is tapped?

Noah suddenly picks up, “Hello?” his voice calls. I hear distant banging in the background telling me that Noah is in the garage working.

“Hey, man,” I say, “I got a car that needs to be looked at.”

“Oh,” the voice asks without a hitch. “What’s wrong with it?”

“The Ford Anglia, that’s what’s wrong with it,” I say.

There is a pause at the end of the phone.

“Uh huh.” Ford Anglia is our code word for members of the Knights. It tells us the person on the other end of the phone suffers trouble, and it’s not safe to talk.

“Alright, so where can I pick up this bad boy?” Noah says.

“That’s the thing. Wyoming on the border in Greensboro.”

“Greensboro? Alright, we’ll come pick it up. Is there anyone else with the car?” Noah asks

“It’s just me. No one else,” I say.

“Oh, yeah, just you all the way out there alone?” Noah wonders.

“Oh, well man. Women, you know how it goes. Tells me she won’t wait around, and she’s staying in a hotel until I get it fixed,” I say with a shrug.

“Yeah, I know how that goes. I’ve got two daughters and a fiancé, and each one can be a real pain in the ass.

“Ain’t that the truth?” I laugh.

“Okay, so I can be there in a couple of hours. That alright with you?”

“What’s a couple of hours?” I ask.

“Hold up, dude,” Noah says his voice casual, and I hear typing. “Seems to me you are, shit six hours away.”

“Yeah. How about we meet up in the morning? I’ll stay at a local hotel and you can pick up this lady. Maybe eight?” I say looking at the clock and calculating the time it would take me to drive to Greensboro from here.

“Yeah.”

“Eight am work?”

“See you then.”

“See ya,” I say and hang up the phone.

Hopefully, the person who was listening in on Diana’s phone calls, and likely Holly’s wouldn’t have the sense to tap Noah’s shop too. But, even if they had, that should have sounded like your everyday phone call. It’s not unusual for Noah to take trips across the state picking up cars especially since he deals with people on the shady side of the law.

Rising from the bed I walk to the dresser where I already put away my clothes. Sliding on a pair of sweats I pull out the menu that the woman who signed her name Becki with an I and a heart gave me. I don’t know about Diana, but I’m feeling like pizza. Picking up the hotel phone I dial and order a pizza. Here’s hoping she likes Supreme. Oh, well.

“You know what, buddy,” I call into the phone, “I want to throw in a cheese pizza too? Just in case she has no taste.”

The