The one time there was an inbound threat and my fucked up head decided to shut down and let me rest.
The dawn light was coming up and if it hadn’t been for the morning tweets of the birds I’d probably still be a sleeping heap in the corner, holding a gun. Exhaustion mixed with frustration got the better of me when I realized that I was still in one piece and no one, including the mysterious Jake had come to murder me. I began to cry, I couldn’t explain why, but I was female, so it was acceptable. Letting my head drop down to my knees, I sobbed out all of the fear that I’d been holding onto for a while. This big steaming pile of shit was my life. I was doing what I needed to do to stay alive but I was beginning to doubt whether it was enough or whether I was good enough to pull it off.
What was worse than it all, was that I realized the fear had never left me and even though I was alive, I was not living at all. I was barely existing.
Wiping my tears, I went and put the gun back in its place under my pillow and then headed for the coffee pot, praying a heavy dose of caffeine would sort me out. It was time for some serious situational assessment. Old Sam had figured me out, the handsome stranger had figured me out and that only meant one thing.
I needed to leave.
A nomadic lifestyle was going to be my only true savior, because preparation lead to routine and routine meant discovery.
With a heavy heart I poured some coffee into my mug and headed out to sit on the porch.
“Mornin’,” rumbled the deep voice.
A scream which definitely echoed somewhere three towns over, left my body as I dropped my mug. He was up and out the chair in a flash, correctly assuming I was a nano-second from fleeing inside to get my gun, “Scared as a jack rabbit,” he mumbled.
“What are you doing here?”
“Waiting for you Cara, sit. I’ll get us a fresh brew.” I hesitated not remotely comfortable with any of this and began weighing up my options, “You run, I’ll find you again and it will just annoy me.” He then left me standing, outside my own home, wondering what to do for the best. Seeing as he surprised me twice in less than twelve hours I didn’t doubt his words and more than that, I needed answers before I packed up and left.
“If I wanted to hurt you I could have already done it. Sit down and drink this, the floor couldn’t have been comfy.” He handed me a new mug of coffee.
“You saw me?”
“Yep, needed to check you were safe.”
“Who are you?”
“Told you that last night. Jake.”
I tried to get myself to calm down whilst I drank some of the coffee and it gave me time to really look at him. He was beautiful at a distance, but up close he was stunning, God had truly given him more than his share of good bounty when he was handing out looks. “What are you doing at Sam’s place?”
“Looking after a few things,” he told me and even though I could only see his eyes over the rim of the mug, I knew he was busy trying to figure out what I was about. There was something edgy about him and I couldn’t put my finger on what it was, I was also too tired to try and read between his cryptic lines.
“Have you known Sam long?”
“Yep.”
“You don’t talk much do you?”
He laughed around his reply this time, “Neither do you babe.” Hearing him call me that made me freeze, it rolled off his tongue so perfectly, that it hurt to think of him using it so flippantly with all the women he may encounter. My momentary lapse of concentration gave him the upper hand in our conversation. “What’s your deal Cara?”
That snapped me out of my day dream quickly, his probing was timed to perfection and when I least expected its delivery.
“Uh, no deal. Just ended up here.”
“Really? Ended up here my ass,” he muttered raising his eyebrow and smirking back at me in disbelief.
“Just passing though and Sam let me stay a couple of nights, I figured he could do with the company and someone looking out for him, so I stayed a while longer.”
At that he burst out laughing, “That cranky old bastard is the last person who needs someone looking out for him.”
Once again his reaction caused a distraction, it’s been a while since I’ve seen someone laugh genuinely, come to think of it, I can’t remember the last time I made someone laugh. “You haven’t told me why you’re here Jake?”
“I’m here because my old man asked me to look in on you whilst he was away.” My puzzled face amuses him further until he realizes that I’ve figured it out.
“He’s your Dad? I just assumed he was a lonely old guy, there are no photos of you anywhere.”
“Figures he wouldn’t mention me, we don’t talk much. Why don’t you get showered and dressed and I’ll take you into town for some breakfast.”
“No thanks, I don’t really do breakfast in town.”
Grinning, he puts his coffee mug down, “Nice try Cara, I’ll wait out here for you.” He then got comfortable, it seemed he was more than happy to hang around and wait for me to fall in line.
With no option, and feeling a little bit pissed off I did as he commanded. I hated discipline, of any kind, I’d spent way too long under the control of people who wanted nothing more than to use me. I was hoping he’d get the message that I wasn’t using Sam and I could be trusted, the sooner he did, Jake would get bored and hopefully leave me alone.
And as soon as that happened I was out of there and Rockton would be a blip in my rear view mirror.
*****
Jake
The stuffy old town of Rockton was everything a guy like me hated and it was probably because Dad picked somewhere he could retire to where he wouldn’t stick out. Me on the other hand, I may as well have been wearing a flashing light on my forehead, I did not feel like I belonged here and luckily for me some of the locals knew I was Old Sam’s out of town son. Those who I knew my Dad was close to made the effort, but the rest treated me like an outlaw. I hated having to work at blending into any place or situation, because the art of disguise came natural to me.
Dad didn’t make it clear just how much Cara was in the same position, her self-forced exile out of town had meant they treated her to the same level of friendliness. The only thing that made this more amusing was striding up to the diner with her and having them assume that Cara and I were an item. The closer I stood, the more people looked and the more uncomfortable she became and just because I could be a bastard I couldn’t help taking it further. When the waitress came to seat us in a booth, I acted all gentlemanly and let her sit first, only to snuggle in beside her, instead of opposite her.
“Do you have to?” she whispered.
“Sure sugar,” I played along, “two Olympic breakfasts, a jug of orange juice and two fresh coffees please,” I told the smiling waitress.
I heard Cara huff in annoyance, “I’m quite capable of choosing food.”
“I imagine you are, but you need to eat. You’re workout regime is carb hungry and you need to fuel up. Carbs for energy and protein for muscle growth.” At that she leaned back in the booth wisely choosing not to argue. I had no doubt she was a fiery little rebel and eventually I’d find her breaking point.
We ate our breakfast under the town spotlight, where as I couldn’t care less, she was doing everything to become as inconspicuous as possible. “You’re trouble is that you’re trying too hard. The trick is to hide in plain sight. There is a reason that some of the government’s best spies are Grandma’s with kids in pushchairs or moms jogging. They don’t make what they’re actually doing obvious and they certainly don’t look like a scared jack rabbit.”
The flash of recognition and agreement gripped her features. That statement meant something and struck a chord, whatever she was trying to pull off was important to her.
“Who says I’m trying to blend in?”
“OK, rule one, how about we don’t blatantly lie to each other, well not to our faces anyway. And if you just listened to me, you may actually learn so
mething fuckin’ useful.” I saw her hand was trembling as she went for a sip of OJ, this time, whatever answer she gave me I knew would be honest. I figured she was considering lying by omission, but whatever, it wasn’t enough to avoid me really getting to know her. I saw her nod, very slightly, in agreement and then continue with her habit of surveying her surroundings. “OK, we’ll start then.”
“Start what?”
“Your training babe.” Her face was a picture and it was probably a stupid route to take, but I knew that friendship hadn’t encouraged her to open up, my Dad had already tried that.
So I went for the other one, make her feel indebted to me and the only thing I could see that she valued right now was the need to survive and luckily for her I had those skills in abundance.
Chapter Nine
I really did think he was joking, who the hell was this guy?
I didn’t know him at all, at which point my inner survivor was chanting, pack the fuck up and run. Unfortunately, the more pragmatic part of my brain made me understand that I couldn’t do this alone and Jake had proved this a few times already. I’d set out to do this to prolong my lifespan and if I kept screwing up, I’d end up doing just the opposite.
When was the last time I took a chance on someone?
Old Sam.
That worked out OK, he hadn’t asked me anything and in the end he just tried to help me. There was no prying on either part and I could hope that things would develop the same with Jake. Even though this giant had inserted himself into my life without request, I had to trust that Sam had steered me right so far. I had to have faith that he cared enough to have his son watch out for me.
“What color shoes does the waitress have on?” he asked me randomly.
“Black.”
“Are you sure?” I was, there was no way I was wrong, but he still made me doubt myself. I went to turn around and check when he stopped me, “Nope. No second glances, or at least not ones that are about as obvious as the one you are about to make. You were sure when you answered you should stick with the answer and learn to trust your gut. If you are wrong you need to understand that bluff and bravado are the best way to turn it around.”
I could do this, “What’s the name of the waitress with the red hair?” I fired back quickly.
“Kandi, she’s lived here for the last decade and also works at the gas stations on the Highway,” he told me, in between forking food into his mouth.
“Ah OK,” I conceded, trying to not to get pissed at myself for asking him questions about someone he knew.
Jake laid his fork down and looked across the table at me, “Cara, I have no fuckin’ idea what her name is, but the point is, I remained calm and nonchalant. Enough that I only left you with two options, believe me or dig deeper. Lucky for me you backed down but I suspect you only did that because I managed to bluff you into thinking I knew her.”
“What!”
Laughing at me he continued, “Is there even a waitress in here with Red hair?”
“Well, not really with red hair.”
“And you still backed down and believed me. Excellent,” now he was chuckling with amusement.
“It would appear so.”
An hour passed with the odd question passing between us, I didn’t struggle with answering the truthful questions because I’d seen the detail I was able to regurgitate it. It was then that I understood his play, the easier it was to bluff, the more I appeared like a local and blended in.
“Being confident enough to put just a bit of doubt in someone pressing for information, may give you enough time to head something off at the pass or make an excuse and get a head start on whatever trouble they’re lookin’ for.”
What he was saying made perfect sense.
When we’d both finished eating we left town and headed back to the junkyard, as I was climbing out of the car, he said, “I just need to know if you’re puttin’ my dad in danger.”
I didn’t want to lie to him, I had a feeling he’d be able to tell. “I hope not, he’s been good to me. I’d leave before I let that happen.”
“OK Cara, I’ll take that. See you tomorrow,” and with that he left me to wander back up to my cabin.
My afternoon and evening were as expected, peaceful. I had a bit of time on my hands so I did a thorough search of the internet to see if I was any closer to being discovered and then read a book I’d downloaded from a freebie website.
Taking note of what Jake said about energy and stamina, I added extra vegetables and pasta to my one pot meal and sat watching nature pass me by. When I finally felt tired, I took a quick shower and changed into PJ’s, ready to hit the sack. Sleep came easily, my stomach was fuller than normal and I felt a peace I’d not experienced since before Sam went on vacation. Knowing he cared enough to tell his son about me touched me in a place I thought was dead, my heart.
I don’t know how long I’d been asleep when I felt a hand go over my mouth. My instant reaction was to reach up and try to pry the hand from cutting off my oxygen supply.
“Stop. It’s me,” was all I heard from the man in black, which didn’t do one fucking thing to calm me down. My body attempted to buck off the bed, when the hand finally released me and my mind registered it was Jake. As soon as I was free, I rushed off the bed and headed for the safety of the dark corner in the cabin. My knees were knocking together so badly that by the time I got there I collapsed into it and then, with no control over my body, I pissed myself. Such was my horror at how I’d panicked so spectacularly, that there was no holding back the tears that raged forward and before long they’d morphed into huge body racking sobs I couldn’t control.
“Shit, fuck. I’m sorry babe, so fuckin’ sorry. Come here.”
Like a cornered animal I continued to cower in fear. I knew embarrassment would hit me soon, but right now my brain was back to the many times of my child hood when this position was my normal mode of retreat. “No, d…d…don’t touch me, leave me alone,” I stuttered.
“Not going to happen, come here.” When I didn’t comply he came to me and picked me up like I weighed nothing. Taking me outside, he sat on the porch edge with me in his lap and just held me until my body and mind began to calm down. “I got it wrong babe, I thought you’d be more prepared. I didn’t expect that reaction and I’m really fuckin’ sorry.”
“You should be, I could have shot you,” I screamed at him.
“No you couldn’t. You were so out of it, I’d already checked and removed your gun.”
Hearing that made me wail like a banshee, “Oh my God, I’m dead. I’m so dead, what the fuck am I thinking?”
“Hey, enough. Look on the bright side, at least we know just how much trainin’ you do need.”
“Training, don’t be silly,” I sniffed back. “The first sign of danger and the one form of defense I manage to kick into action is to pee myself. I didn’t even get that right, I pee’d on me and not my attacker.”
Jake started chuckling, “Just to say, I am actually covered in your piss now.”
“Not helping.”
“I know, OK, hop up. Get in the shower and change into some fresh clothes. You’re comin’ with me. I ain’t leavin’ you tonight after the shit I just pulled.”
“No. Just give me my gun back.”
“Fuck no, I could be faceless by now and the only training you’d be getting’ is grave diggin’. I’ll do you a deal, you can have it back when I’m convinced you can handle a firearm and you can look after yourself,”
“But…” I tried to interrupt.
“And part of that deal is you stayin’ with me.”
“No, I can’t,” I protested.
“You can and you are. If it makes you feel better you can have the trailer at the end of the yard.”
“But…” I tried again.
“Or we can stay here, I can only see one bed…cozy,” he giggled, wiggling his eyebrows like a villain.
I went to argue again but could tell by the look on his
face that his joking was an attempt to make me feel better. He was as serious as a heart attack about not leaving me here alone. “I’ll get in the shower.”
“Good answer.”
*****
Jake
As soon as she went to the shower stall in the cabin I waited until I could hear running water and then I started to dig about a bit. There were hardly any personal effects anywhere, anything that was here could be stuffed into a bag quickly or left with no regret.
I noticed a tablet on its side by the bed and made a mental note to check out the search history at some point soon. I quickly opened a few drawers and cupboards and found no I.D., credit cards or addressed mail. The purse I did come across was full of cash only. Dad had been certain she’d arrived with a bundle of cash, but there was no evidence of it here, which meant she was hiding it somewhere nearby.
When I heard the shower stop I grabbed the handle of one of the travel bags sticking out from under the bed, my intention was to start packing her meager belongings, but I got a shock when I unzipped it. It appeared I’d found the cash, it was stuffed with notes so neatly packed it looked fit to burst. “I wasn’t snoopin’, I was going to start packin’.”
“Please,” she whispered, “it’s all I have, don’t take it.” She looked terrified.
“I won’t, we all have our preferred bankin’ methods,” I handed the bag over to her so she wouldn’t have a seizure on the spot and then stood back watching her pick up minimal items and shove them in a back pack. I figured she’d come back at some point if she wanted anything else.
Everything I was seeing was an indicator that she’d split in a real fucking hurry. “Sorry babe, but we have to go down the hillside in the dark.”
“It’s not a problem, I imagine you’ve seen me do it already.”
“True,” I told her, feeling relieved that she didn’t lie about it.
On the way down the hillside, I began to see if I could get her to open up to me, “How old are you?”
“Mid to late twenty’s.”
“What sort of answer is that, don’t you know?”
Survivor (The Soul Mates Series Book 1) Page 4