I replied, brushing her hair away from her face. I left my hand there for longer than necessary, because her skin felt hot.
“Let’s move,” Casper called as Farrah hopped into the front seat of the truck.
“It’s gonna be fine,” I told Cecilia.
I slammed her door and climbed in the driver’s seat, the back of my neck tingling. Someone had their eyes on us. As I pulled out of the drive and headed toward the freeway, I kept a look out for anything out of the ordinary and didn’t find a damn thing. Whoever was helping the motherfucker was damn good at their job.
I was going to have to be better.
Chapter 7
Cecilia
We drove for a long time. Mark took residential streets, back-tracking and going in big circles before hopping on the freeway headed west. As time passed, I got more and more antsy. Sure, I’d grown up in an environment where bad shit happened and my family was constantly watching their backs, but I’d lived a relatively normal life since I moved away. I never could have imagined that becoming a surrogate for my best friend would somehow morph into running from a fucking madman.
Drake was creepy as hell, no doubt about it. He was just one of those guys that constantly gave off a bad vibe—well-dressed and seemingly normal, but you’d still cross the street in broad daylight so you didn’t have to pass by him. Still, I would’ve never guessed that he had it in him to kill Cane and Liv.
“How you doing?” my mom asked, turning in her seat to look at me. “Alright?”
“I’m fine,” I lied, forcing a smile.
“Bullshit,” she scoffed. She wrapped her arms around the back of the seat and got comfortable. “Did you know that my boyfriend before your dad was shot right in front of my apartment building?”
“What?” I asked, my jaw dropping. I’d never even heard a whisper of that story.
“Yeah,” she said with a sigh. “A drive-by. It was—” she paused and shook her head. “It was different than what happened when you were a teenager. We lost family then, but it was almost like the grieving was postponed because we had so many living family members that we had to worry about. When Echo died, it was the opposite. Overwhelming. Immediate. Me, your dad, and your Aunt Callie were all there. She practically tackled me to keep me from going to him before it was over.”
“Holy shit,” I replied. “Why didn’t you ever tell me this before?”
Mom shrugged. “It wasn’t relevant. Ancient history.”
“Still,” I said.
“And your dad never liked him,” she said with a crooked smile. “Thought he was too old for me—which he was—and thought he didn’t treat me the way he should’ve—which he hadn’t.”
“That’s crazy, Mom,” I replied. “I’m sorry.”
“Feels like a different lifetime, now,” she said with a sigh. “I just wanted you to know that I’ve been in that place—losing someone important and being helpless to stop it. It’s one thing when you’re literally diving for cover, it’s something different when you’re watching a bad thing happen from the sidelines and there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“Maybe I could’ve,” I murmured.
“Nope,” she said simply. “You took care of their child instead, and coming from a mother—the best one you’ll ever meet, thank you very much—if I had a choice between someone coming to help me or someone saving one of you kids? Please. All day, every day, no question, keeping you safe is what I’d choose.”
“So humble,” Mark said, his eyes crinkled in amusement as they met mine in the rearview mirror. My mom huffed and swatted his shoulder as she spun to face forward again.
“How much longer?” I asked him. Baby girl had slept the entire time we were in the car, but I had a feeling she’d be awake soon.
“Still gonna be a while,” he said apologetically. “An hour and a half, maybe?”
“Where are we going?” I asked tiredly.
“Arizona,” he replied. “Not too far over the border.”
“Why the hell are we going to Arizona?”
“The team’s got a house there. It’s not in any of our names, no ties to us at all. Hopefully, we can stop there for a minute and figure out what the fuck is going on.”
“Your team is meeting us there?” I asked.
“Most of them. Eph and Siah stayed behind to keep an eye on my place.”
“Do you think he’ll go back there?”
“Absolutely,” Mark replied. “Probably tonight when he thinks we’re sleepin’ and he’ll have the upper hand.”
“I don’t want