Zeke (The Boundarylands #6) - Callie Rhodes Page 0,50
opening her mouth and giving herself away, she simply nodded.
"Nicky's already gone ahead," the first woman said, "but she asked us to stick around a few more minutes to see if you'd show or chicken out."
"I'm sorry." Jocelyn gripped her leather work bag so hard her knuckles turned white, wondering what the hell she'd gotten herself into.
Sure, it was a little weird, but no matter what, it had to be a thousand times better than what was waiting for her outside.
Honestly, she'd been lucky to find any sign of civilization this far away from the cities.
For the last several hundred miles there had been nothing but open grasslands, oak-covered foothills, and eventually, as the highway reached higher elevation, evergreen forests so dense that even moonlight struggled to get through.
Not a great place to have to look for somewhere—anywhere—to hide. But when she'd spotted a flash of custom electric-blue in her rearview mirror, she'd had no choice.
Ever since she left the city, Jocelyn had been terrified that John was in every car that appeared in her rearview mirror. That he was moments from pulling alongside her, holding up that ugly black pistol she'd found in his office safe, aiming it through his passenger window and—
Bye-bye Jocelyn.
When an hour had gone by without her spotting any blue cars, Jocelyn had started to relax, thinking maybe she'd managed to get away. But only seconds after passing a sign advertising GAS AND FOOD—NEXT EXIT, Jocelyn saw the glimmer of John's electric blue sports car growing larger in the rearview.
Her luck had run out.
Jocelyn should have known there would be no escape. Once out of the cities, there was only one damn northbound road. All John had to do was put his foot on the gas and let his ridiculously high performance engine eat up the distance between them.
Jocelyn had briefly wondered why a professional hitman would own such a flashy car. Wouldn't it be better to blend in?
But John Barrington was full of surprises. As early as this morning, for instance, Jocelyn thought she worked as a bookkeeper for a construction contractor, not a contract killer.
"I'm Traci," the redhead said impatiently. "This is Hannah, and that's Courtney."
"Hi, I'm J—" Jocelyn checked herself. Using her real name probably wasn't the best idea. "I'm Jo."
"Come on, we can do all this introduction shit in the car," the blonde said, leading the way to the back of the store. "I hate being the last picked."
"What does it matter?" Traci said. "It's not like there's a bad one."
Jocelyn held back as the women filed toward the back door, frozen with indecision. She couldn't just go with these women, could she? She didn't know who they were or where they were going. And they obviously had mistaken her for someone else.
Maybe if she came clean and told them what was really going on, they'd help her.
Hey, so, funny story—today I found out that the man I work for is a professional hitman, so I stole evidence to give to the authorities and two million dollars in cash from his safe to start a new life, but he must have found out because he's out in the parking lot now waiting to kill me and anyone else who gets in his way.
Yeah…maybe honesty wasn't her best option.
Jocelyn rushed to catch up to the others, who were getting into an unremarkable dark sedan parked a few feet from the back door. Traci took the wheel, and Jocelyn slipped into the back. Gripping her bag tightly to her chest, she slumped down low in the seat, letting her long hair cover her face.
Energetic dance music filled the car, and Traci hit the gas. The moment they were out of the parking lot, Jocelyn twisted around in her seat to see if John had followed them, but the road was clear. In the distance, she spotted his car parked next to hers in the lot.
Jocelyn let out the breath she'd been holding as she turned back around. That was close—way too fucking close.
"Nervous?" The woman named Hannah asked kindly. She seemed warmer than the others—or maybe she was just less worried about being picked last, whatever that meant. "Everybody is their first time. But don't worry, you'll do fine."
Great, Jocelyn thought. Now she just had to figure out what the hell she was expected to do.
"Where'd you work before this?" Traci asked from behind the wheel.
"San Francisco." Jocelyn winced as soon as her words were out. She had to do better at covering her tracks, but she suspected she wouldn't be any better at lying than she was at stealing.
"No shit," Courtney said, looking over the passenger seat. "I started there too. What neighborhood?"
"Pacific Heights."
Courtney seemed taken aback. She looked Jocelyn up and down appraisingly, taking in her simple blue wrap dress and understated heels, her hair held back with a tortoise-shell band, her pearl stud earrings.
"Fucking upscale," was her assessment. "But we're a long way from private mansions. How the hell did you end up here?"
"Well, I…" Jocelyn cast about for a credible response, but couldn't come up with anything.
"Leave her alone, Courtney," Hannah said. "You know better than anyone that we all have our stories and our secrets."
Courtney turned back around in her seat with a huff. "I guess it explains the bag, but you won't need it or any other fancy props here."
Jocelyn looked down at the fine leather handbag that she'd saved for months to buy, wondering what was wrong with it, but Hannah patted her leg reassuringly. "She just means these guys like it simple."
These guys? Jocelyn wondered uneasily who she meant.
"Yeah," Traci laughed. "Long and hard and simple. Even if you use every damn toy in that bag of tricks, you're still going to wake up sore tomorrow."
Oh, shit.
Guys...Tricks...Waking up sore tomorrow...
Jocelyn had been too panicked to see it before. Too desperate for any way out.
Desperate enough to pretend to be someone else and pile into a car with a bunch of prostitutes, and now she was headed to some kind of brothel, or party, or…hell, Jocelyn had no idea. She didn't have anything against sex workers; she just hadn't ever expected to join their ranks.
Jocelyn closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was going to be fine, she told herself. She would figure something out. Wherever they were headed, it couldn't be as bad as John and his gun waiting for her back at her car.
And it wasn't as if she was a prisoner. Once the car stopped, Jocelyn would simply make up an excuse to slip away. These women were already annoyed with her. It wasn't like they'd come chasing after her.
She would find a quiet spot to hide, get some sleep, then figure out what the hell she to do next.
When she opened her eyes again, they were passing a sign announcing WARNING: BOUNDARYLANDS – 1 MILE.
Jocelyn's breath caught in her throat. Her heart began to race. "Um…guys—didn't you see that sign? We're about to cross the boundary."
Traci laughed behind the wheel. "Well, yeah, obviously. You didn't think that the alphas were going to come to us, did you?"
Oh shit. Oh shit. Oh shit.
What the hell had she done?
Jocelyn hadn't just accidentally joined the ranks of a bunch of whores—she'd taken up with alpha whores.
Oh God, things could not get any worse.
Except…it turned out that they could. As the dark sedan speeded toward the border, a faint hum in the distance grew into the rumble of a familiar engine gaining on them. Even before Jocelyn turned around, she knew what she'd see.
Sure enough, out the back window, she spotted the bright-electric blue of John's car barreling down the road toward them…and catching up quick.
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The Boundarylands Omegaverse Series
Book 1: KIAN: Available Now
Book 2: TY: Available Now
Book 3: SAMSON: Available Now
Book 4: MADDOX: Available Now
Book 5: TROY: Available Now
Book 6: ZEKE: Available Now
Book 7: ARIC: Available July 21st, 2020
Book 8: CADE: Available August 18th, 2020
Book 9: ROMAN: Available September 22nd, 2020
About the Author
Ever since she was little, Callie Rhodes’ imagination has been landing her in trouble. From daydreaming about far off worlds in class, to escaping into the made up stories of her mind in the meeting room, she’s been creating tales to take her away from the real world for as long as she can remember. Now she lives among the tall trees of Northern California, and has found a way to make a living off her fantasies.