Page 25 of Sweet Revenge
“Is there anyone else?” I asked. Another thought occurred to me. “Could they have tracked your phone somehow?”
“No, my phone can’t be tracked,” he said dismissively. Daemon bit down on his bottom lip as he pondered how this was possible. I had no more guesses for him. He’d have to sort it out on his own.
“What do we do now?” I asked. It was obvious we couldn’t stay here. I figured he’d do what he’d been talking about doing all along. Looking at everything he’d accumulated, I doubted he was ready to take me up on my idea of escaping to a tropical paradise. “We have cash, guns, a van. Are we going to go back to Chicago?”
Daemon shook his head. “No, not yet. Clearly, it’s not safe there. We’ve got to figure out who ratted us out, and I need to do that someplace where no one will be able to find us for sure this time.”
I arched an eyebrow at him, thinking he had to have someplace in mind. “Well, I’m gonna suggest you take a quick shower first because, at the moment, the first person who sees you is going to be calling every law enforcement agency in the country.” He smirked at me and nodded in agreement. “After that, where are you planning on going?” I held my breath waiting for his answer, hoping it wasn’t someplace worse than Chicago, though it would’ve been difficult for me to think of a single location that fit that description.
When he replied, I realized I was wrong. There was one place worse than Chicago.
“Boston.”
CHAPTER16
DAEMON
The van smelled like French fries. Not the hot, right-out-of-the-fryer kind but the ones that somehow always managed to find their way down in the crevices between the seats and stay there forever, never decaying or withering away but continuing to punctuate the air inside the vehicle with notes of their presence.
Trying to ignore the fast-food smells, I glanced over at Elisa, but she was still staring out the window, the same way she had been since we’d pulled away from the drive-thru window an hour or so ago. She’d eaten her burger and taken a few sips from her soda, but then she’d refolded her arms and locked her gaze on the constantly changing nightscape, worrying her bottom lip between her teeth.
Something was on her mind, but she hadn’t said what it was yet. A captive audience, I waited, wishing she’d just let it out already. She had a way of bottling up her irritation until it bubbled over like an active volcano beneath the surface of the ocean, stirring up all kinds of waves that would’ve been much more docile with a slower release.
Since she wasn’t speaking, I let my mind wander back to my most recent betrayal and tried not to seethe. Initially, it had seemed evident to me that Elisa had accidentally let someone know our location. I had no idea who she might’ve called and talked to or when she would’ve done it, but there were times when I was still pretty out of it as I began to heal, so I thought maybe she’d called her roommate or something.
But then, when she’d told me she hadn’t called anyone, I had to believe her. The more I thought about it, the more I began to realize what that meant. If it hadn’t been her, then it had to have been me. And I had limited my communication with the world to only those I trusted most, the ones I thought would never, ever stab me in the back.
“So this is it, huh?”
Elisa’s question broke the silence. Despite bracing myself for it, even wanting it, when the first wave hit, I wasn’t prepared for it. Cautiously, I moved forward, trying not to upset her further. Most of the time, I didn’t give a damn about other people’s feelings, but in her case, I’d make an exception. “What’s that now, baby?”
“This is it. This is our life. It’s never going to change. It’ll never get better. No amount of pepper spray is going to fully protect my ass from getting kidnapped or taken hostage. We’ll always be looking over our shoulders for someone. We’ll never sleep soundly or truly be safe, will we? I mean, really, if that’s our existence, what the fuck is the point? You know?”
I opened my mouth to attempt to say something reassuring, but before I got a chance, she continued.
“If I’m not safe in my bedroom in a cabin in the woods that no one is supposed to know about, how the fuck am I safe anywhere else? I’ve been kidnapped from my own goddamn apartment twice. I mean, really, what the fuck is the point?” She laughed a little, but it wasn’t her normal giggle. It was twisted, maybe a bit maniacal.
“Elisa, it’s not like that. We’ll be fine. I’ll keep you safe. I always have before.” I wanted to reach over and touch her hand, but I was a little frightened, so I didn’t.
“You kept me from dying, but I have gotten hurt, you know?”
“True. Listen, baby. I can’t promise you anything. But I’ll do my best to protect you from this world. I’ve just got a few things to get straightened out, all right?” This time, I did reach over and give her hand a quick squeeze, but I released her before she could pull away from me.
She let out a sigh and then turned back toward the window. “We didn’t even get our date night.”
“I know.” Disappointment settled in my chest as well. “I think you would’ve liked it. I had something pretty romantic planned.”
Her voice softened when she spoke again. “Yeah? I saw the candles and the tablecloth. What were you going to cook?”
“Well, I’d gotten a doe with a bow, and I’d just finished getting us the best cuts. I was just about to head back to the cabin when I heard you scream.” I’d ended up tossing those deer steaks into the woods for the bears before we’d left, along with some discarded La Rosa bodies. Upon closer inspection, I didn’t recognize any of the guys I’d killed, so at least Alexander hadn’t started using my own guys against me. Yet.
“You killed a deer? For me?” This time, Elisa reached for me, taking my hand and holding it. “I’m not sure if I should be flattered or disgusted.”
Shrugging, I reminded her, “You’re not a vegetarian.”
“No, I’m not. There just seems to be something less disturbing about buying meat from the store, like the animals were never living creatures.” I wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so I said nothing. She continued. “So that blood that was all over you, was that from the deer?”
“Most of it.” She’d seen the bodies. She knew I’d taken out about a dozen of her father’s guys. It was hard to kill that many people with a knife and bow without getting a little bloody.