Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 51832 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 173(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51832 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 259(@200wpm)___ 207(@250wpm)___ 173(@300wpm)
Chapter Twenty-Five
Ana
Fifteen minutes later, Luke parks us on a residential street about a mile from the restaurant which is located in Denver’s Washington Park neighborhood.
“This is where we leave her,” he says. “We’ll find another ride.”
It’s a good plan, and soon we’re hiking across the park, through the neighborhood itself, and winding left and right until we’re both sure we’re not being followed. I’m aware of Luke by my side, aware of him perhaps more than I’ve ever been aware of him. I never thought he’d be by my side again. I never thought we’d have a future together and I can only pray that if we make it through this, we will not allow the past, or the scars our enemies left on us through that past, to destroy us.
“I think we’re good,” Luke murmurs, glancing down at me, our eyes colliding, a punch of awareness laced with the tension between us.
We’re at odds over how to move forward, but not where we want to be right now. Which is safe. And on the surface, I believe that yes, we are good, we are safe, we’re not being followed, but of course, that’s not wholly true. No matter how much lost in suburbia we are right now, we’re being hunted. And we will remain hunted until we become the hunters. And clearly today, we have not done a good job of making that happen.
“For now,” I say, “yes.”
He tears his gaze from mine, and says, “Then let’s go eat.” He motions toward the cozy street that is our destination, and soon we’re in the hole-in-the-wall restaurant we love, that will surely do our bellies right, even if everything else is doing us wrong. We enter the dimly-lit joint with open seating and head to the rear high top, sitting side-by-side where we both can see the door and shoot at it, too, if necessary.
Once we order, the nostalgia kicks in—the Mexican music, the scent of tacos, peppers, and cheese, the familiar neon signs on the walls. The table we used to always share. My belly clenches. We loved this place. We loved each other. We still love this place and each other, but if our enemies have their way, they’ll divide us again. We can’t let that happen.
In unison, almost as if we are both thinking the same thing, the two of us rotate to face each other.
“Phillips knows we’re showing this invitation to our people,” Luke says, already making his case to attend the party. “That’s the point, isn’t it? That we know we’re safe, because he’s given us proof that he invited us to this party. He can’t just get rid of us, Ana. At least, not at that party.”
“We both know it’s not always that simple. A false sense of security can be a dangerous thing.”
“Which neither of us would ever have.”
“We just had sex in a hotel room in the middle of a warzone, Luke.”
“It wasn’t a warzone, and we didn’t take the danger for granted. We just wanted each other, Ana.”
I lower my voice to an urgent whisper. “We have to be more careful.”
“Agreed, but that doesn’t mean we walk away from the invitation.”
My fingers curl into my palms and our drinks are placed in front of us. Luke thanks the waiter and I grab my diet soda and sip. My throat is dry and my mind is racing. “This entire situation does not make sense, Luke,” I say, setting my drink back down. “If he’s the buyer, inviting us publicly, it’s like taunting the seller.”
“Maybe that’s what he wants. Maybe it’s a message. You get me my prize or I’ll get it myself. And as far as I’m concerned, I want the seller to get riled up. Then maybe he’ll fuck up and show himself. One wrong move and Blake will find him. You and I both know you don’t go into the cave to catch the bear. You lure him out into the open.”
“Which is my point exactly,” I say. “Attending the party is us walking into Phillips’ cave.”
“Phillips is the buyer, Ana,” he reminds me. “Not the king, and as your father said, we need to get to the king.”
Our tacos are set down in front of us and the scent is divine. Luke and I both turn our attention to our plates, at least momentarily. Once we’ve both finished off a taco—okay Luke finishes two—he smiles over at me. “I missed this place, but most of all I missed this. You and me, doing normal things even if we’re only pretending things are normal right now.”
“Me, too,” I say, thinking of how empty life has been without him. “Me, too, Luke.”
“We’re going to get back to this for real, Ana. We’ll get our men inside the party. We’ll spend the next 24 hours researching.”