Carter pulled the truck into the parking lot of the grocery store just as the Garcias’ were walking out the door with their cart. If he’d arrived two minutes later, they would have missed them.
He pulled the truck up behind their car, not bothering to find a spot. Ally jumped out of the truck the second he hit the brakes. She ran over to Sofia and Ramon, meeting them halfway across the lot. Carter was close behind.
Sofia’s eyes went wide the moment she spotted Ally.
“What’s wrong?” she asked.
“They found us,” Ally answered.
“Are you all right?” Ramon asked.
Carter nodded. “We’re fine. But I’m afraid you shouldn’t go back to your house.”
“What?” Sofia asked. “What happened?”
“A couple of men broke into your barn,” Carter said. “But I took care of them.”
“I probably don’t want to know what that means, do I?” Sofia asked.
Ally shook her head, and Ramon pulled his wife close.
“This will all be over soon,” Carter promised, looking the frightened couple in the eye. “And I swear that when it is I will be the one who deals with the authorities. I’ll take full responsibility. You and your family won’t have to worry about anything.”
Ally turned her head to look at him. Worry lines furrowed deep into her brow.
“How long until we can go home?” Ramon asked.
“Just a couple of days,” Carter said. There was no way he could allow this to drag on any longer. It had to end now. “Is there somewhere you can go?”
Sofia and Ramon looked at each other for a long moment, before nodding.
“The boys are already over at Ramon’s mother’s house in Fairfield. We can join them there for a few days,” Sofia said.
Ally reached out and took Sofia’s hand. “I can’t tell you how sorry I am. If I had known—”
“It’s okay,” Sofia said, and Ramon nodded. “We knew the risks when we agreed.”
“Just take care of yourself,” Ramon said.
“Ally,” Carter said, putting his hands on her shoulders. He gently pulled her back. Sofia’s hand slipped from hers. “We need to go.”
“I’m sorry,” Ally repeated as he led her back to the truck, her voice shaky.
And she wasn’t the only one. Sofia Garcia’s voice trembled too as she called out, “Be careful.”
Carter shut the door on Ally and ran around the front of the truck. The quicker they got out of town, the safer everyone would be.
He pulled out of the parking lot. He headed toward the freeway, glancing at the few stores that they passed on the country road.
He needed to get his hands on a phone. He didn’t need it for long, just about thirty seconds, since the second he turned the thing on it would become a liability. He didn’t dare use a landline, fearing that Fuller’s men would trace it back to the physical address and harass whoever they found there. But by the looks of it, he wouldn’t be able to pick up a burner until they were closer to the metro area.
There had to be a better solution.
Carter spotted a gas station and turned toward it. Two kids, just barely into their twenties were leaning against the side of a worn out pickup. He pulled up alongside them and rolled down the window.
“Hey, one of you guys want to sell me your phone?” he asked.
The two guys perked up immediately. They laughed a little until they noticed Carter wasn’t joining in. Their chuckles faded.
One tugged on the brim of his cap before kicking off the door of his ride. “You sure you don’t just want to borrow it?”
“Nope.” Carter shook his head. “When I’m done I’m going to have to destroy it.”
The kid’s eyes widened. “Why?”
“I have my reasons.”
“Holy shit, man. Are you for real?”
“Do you want to sell your phone or not?”
The blonde looked behind him at his friend. The other guy shrugged as if to say what the hell? Carter had the feeling that this was more excitement than either one of them had planned on.
“How much?” the kid asked.
Carter pulled out his wallet and looked inside. “Five hundred.”
“Five hundred dollars?” The kid’s eyes went huge. “Shit, for that you can do whatever the hell you want with it.”
Carter handed over the bills and the blonde handed over his phone. Now he knew why the kids were so excited. His cell wasn’t exactly ancient but neither was it cutting edge.
Still, it would work.
Carter punched in the numbers and waited. Three seconds later, Rhys picked up.
“Yeah?” he said, sounding defensive, on edge. Carter realized it was probably because he didn’t recognize the incoming number on the private line.
“It’s Carter,” he said. “Fall back.”
There was a brief pause on the other end of the line. Then, “Affirmative.”
That was all that Carter needed to hear. Rhys would make sure that the rest of the men got the message.
He ended the call and gave the boys a nod of thanks. They were so wrapped up with their newfound gain that they hardly noticed as he pulled out of the lot.
He was about a mile down the road before he looked over at Ally. Her head was tilted against the window and her shoulders sagged. He could just barely make out the glisten of tears in her eyes, but she wasn’t sobbing. They just fell down her cheeks silently.
And he couldn’t blame her.
She’d been through a lot. More than anyone should ever have to. And all because she was trying to do the right thing.
Carter gripped the steering wheel as the vise around his heart wrenched tighter. God, he hated seeing her this way, wracked with pain and fear and guilt. There was no magic he could pull to make it all go away, no matter how badly he wanted to.
He wouldn’t lie to her. Wouldn’t tell her everything was going to be fine. That in a few short days her life would go back to how it was, because he knew better than anyone that wasn’t always how it worked.
The things she’d seen, the feelings that were coursing through her now, they’d leave a mark on her so deep that it would become the dividing line for the rest of her life. There would be the life she had before she’d gone after Fuller and the life that came after.
But Carter could make it so she didn’t have to go through the difficult time alone. That he could promise. Both to her and himself.
Carter placed his hand, palm up, on her knee. Ally looked down at it and smiled before sliding her hand inside. He curled his fingers around hers and held tight.
He didn’t let go as he drove onto the on-ramp to the freeway. He didn’t let go as he steered into the fast lane, got the truck up to speed, and rolled down the window and tossed the phone out onto the hard pavement. He didn’t let go the whole ride back to Sacramento.
The truth was, he wasn’t sure he was ever going to let go again.
Chapter Fourteen