Ford Security

by Clara Kendrick

  I make my way over there to see what’s going on, but find that they’re just busy watching a man perform magic tricks on YouTube. They’re totally engrossed, and so am I, but we’re engrossed by different subjects.

  I hook my finger, gesturing for Anna to come to me, which she does, seemingly in a hurry.

  “Yes?” she questions, folding her hands behind her back. I guess being around us military-types has started to wear off on her.

  “What exactly did you want?” I cross my arms over each other, anxious to hear her reply.

  “I don’t exactly remember,” she lies right through those beautiful, straight, white teeth of hers.

  “Bullshit.”

  “Fine,” she huffs. “I’m just feeling antsy if you catch my drift.”

  “Did you drink too much caffeine?” I cock my head sideways and crack a sly grin.

  “I want out of the office more. I want to do some dangerous things.” She shrugs with a sigh. “I want to do what you guys do.”

  “Yeah, I don’t think you’re ready for that.”

  She pushes her tongue against the inside of her cheek and leans in closer to me. “Do you have anything on your books?”

  “Technically yes.” I drop my hands to my side and dig into the pockets of my jeans. “I need to track down a woman.”

  “Oh…” She says sheepishly.

  “Not that kind of woman,” I correct myself before she can get the wrong idea and lean in close to her so that I can whisper to her without anyone hearing. “Look, nobody can know about this, especially not Dom, but my brother has managed to screw up yet again and I need to cover his ass.”

  “What did he do this time?” she questions with an exasperated chuckle. I guess he’s screwed up enough times that other people are starting to notice. Ever since the Seth Grimm debacle, he’s been different.

  “Got involved with the wrong woman.” I nod my head sideways, gesturing for her to follow me towards the training mats. “Said wrong woman stole one of the company cars and I need to get it back before Dom becomes any the wiser.”

  “Sounds intriguing.” She comes to a stop right next to the mat. “Can I come with you?”

  I turn to her and shake my head. “Absolutely not.”

  “Why, because Zach is going with you?”

  “He’s not going anywhere near this situation with a ten-foot pole. He’s done enough damage.”

  She looks away, chews into her bottom lip.

  “What?”

  “What do you mean?” She shrugs with a cocky grin. She’s up to something and I don’t like the smell of it.

  “You have that look on your face.”

  “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She smacks her lips together and I definitely don’t like where this is heading. “What look?”

  “The look that says you’re about to say something.”

  “I was just thinking…” She swivels on her feet, dropping her hands back behind her back. I’m not sure if it’s a nervous tic at this point or if it’s really a learned behavior. “I was thinking that if you let me go with you that I wouldn’t tell anyone that you and your brother lost a company car.”

  I take a measured step towards her, my body towering over her demure frame. “That sounds an awful lot like a bribe.”

  Normally, I’d expect her to cower or something. I’d at least expect her to step down, but she’s firm in her resolve. Her eyes meet mine. “I told you, I really want out of the office.”

  “If I agree to this—”

  She squeals with excitement, forcing me to wag a finger in her face.

  “I said if I agree to this, then you have to promise to stay out of my way.”

  “I will literally remain neither seen nor heard. It’ll be like I’m ghosting you for the day.” A hopeful grin is now painted across her lips and there’s no way I can say no to her now, especially because if I’m being honest, I’d rather enjoy spending some alone time with her. That’s not something we’ve ever really gotten to do. It could be a nice experience or it could be total hell.

  “I know I’m going to live to regret this,” I grit out, shaking my head.

  She cocks a half-smile. “What’s the worst that could happen?”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  ANNA

  We’re in the backseat of an Uber and it’s been an unceremoniously quiet ride, but I chalk that up to not being able to openly discuss what we’re doing in front of a stranger. I catch a few glances of Zane beside me and every time I think he’s about to catch me, I look away.

  The driver comes to a stop outside a row of gray brick townhomes. There’s nowhere to park and traffic is already lining up behind us so we make quick work getting out of the vehicle. I changed into sneakers just before we left because Zane was insistent that I shouldn’t wear heels out in the field. I instantly agreed with that sentiment.

  The last thing I need is to find myself on the run from bad guys while wearing three-inch heels, although Zane assured me it wasn’t going to be an exciting day. Still as the Boy Scouts always say, it’s best to always be prepared.

  Zane thanks the driver before he pulls away and we’re left standing alone on the sidewalk. The white car is parked just ahead in a carport situated between one of the townhomes.

  “Okay, so here’s the deal,” he says as he turns to me with a serious look painted across his face. “I put a tracking device on that woman’s phone earlier so while I’m pretty sure she’s not here—”

  “Where is she?” I question, interrupting him.

  “Unless she left her phone behind at the bar, she’s about four miles down the road getting shitfaced—”

  “It’s not even five yet,” I point out, and then immediately correct myself. “Right, I’m asking too many questions.”

  “No, you’re fine.” He looks both ways, cocking his head to each side of the sidewalk. “It’s just important that you stay behind me at all times.”

  “I thought the coast was clear.”

  “Are you ready for rule number one?”

  I nod.

  “Always expect the unexpected.” He digs the spare key out of his pocket as he steps into the carport. “Because it’s the unexpected things that get people killed.”

  That’s a fair point, I suppose, but it’s not a very comforting one. I stay behind him as he unlocks the car door remotely and then pulls it open. Once he’s inside, he reaches across the seat and pushes my door open for me. I slide into the seat and pull my seatbelt over my shoulder before he’s even turned the key in the ignition.

  Once the engine roars to life, he reaches for the rearview mirror and adjusts it. I manage to catch his gaze in the mirror and then cock my head sideways to pretend as if I’ve been looking out the window the whole time. Out of the corner of my eye, I notice a curious smile hitch across his lips just before he shifts the car into reverse.

  He stops short of the end of the driveway and presses his foot against the brake, resulting in a sudden jerk that steals my attention. I glare at him, but he seems to be amused. He chews into his bottom lip and shakes his head gently.

  “What are you doing?” I question. “Are you trying to give me a heart attack?”

  He props one hand behind my seat and cranes his head over his shoulder to get a good look at the street behind us. “Hold on tight, Princess.”

  Huh?

  He accelerates in reverse and whips the car sideways so that we’re in the middle of the street with traffic closing in on us from behind. He throws the car into drive and peels out against the asphalt just in the nick of time. The car behind us slams on their brakes, avoiding a collision.

  My heart pounds, races, beats against my chest. I pass him a disapproving glare, forcing a playful chuckle from his throat. “You said you wanted to go on an adventure.”

  “Yes,” I say, “but I’d like for my body to remain in one piece.”

  He rolls his eyes and steers the wheel with one hand as he reaches for his phone and di
als a number with his free hand. He props the phone against his ear as we come to a stop behind a red light. The same car that almost ran into us—thanks to Zane’s reckless driving—comes to a stop behind us and honks their horn. I glance up to the rearview mirror to see a man dressed to the nines in a business suit giving us the finger.

  Zane returns the favor in kind, dropping his hand out the rolled-down window and offering the man the middle finger. I swallow a nervous gulp in my throat, hoping the situation doesn’t escalate. The man hangs his head out of the window and begins yelling obscenities just as the light turns green.

  Zane drops one hand back onto the wheel and then begins to talk into the phone. “Yeah, Johansen, it’s me.” I can faintly hear a man’s voice through the phone, but it’s low and jumbled so I can’t make out what he’s saying. Zane nods as he listens. “Yeah, I’ve got her location pinned at Willies on St. Claire Avenue.” His teeth mash against his lower lip and I can’t help but to fantasize about his lips pressed against his mine, his teeth sinking into my lips. “Yeah, but just be warned, she’s a crazy lady and she’s armed.” We come to a stop behind another light—rush hour in this city is the worst. “Honest to God, I think she’ll make a scene when you show up to arrest her, therefore giving you probable cause to lock her ass up. I know my anonymous word isn’t going to hold up in the court of law, but I’m telling you she’s unhinged.” The light turns green and my attention shifts to the rearview mirror. Gone is the man who’s been following us. Instead there’s a black SUV trailing close behind with tinted windows so dark that it has to be illegal. “Just make sure you take back-up with you and please for the love of God, don’t let her get away. I have enough on my plate without having to deal with that lunatic.” Zane’s eyes trail to the rearview mirror. “Okay, Johansen. Let me know how it goes. Something’s come up and I need to get off here.”

  I pass him a quick look of curiosity as he drops the phone into the console between us. His eyes trace back to the rearview mirror just before he swats the blinker and merges over into the left turning lane. The SUV merges into the same lane two cars back without using their blinker. I like to pride myself on being a rational person so I push the ominous thoughts to the back of my head.

  “So, was that your guy?”

  “What do you mean?” We take a left turn, heading deeper into the city when we’re supposed to be heading back to the factory.

  “You’ve always said you had a contact within the system but you’ve never given a name. I’m assuming that contact is Johansen.”

  “Astute observation.” He smiles, his attention focused anywhere else but on me. “If you tell anyone, I’ll have to kill you.”

  “I’ll be buried in the grave with your secret.”

  “Good.” He smiles again, but this time it’s more forced. He swats at the blinker again before merging into the right-turn-only lane. “Have you eaten dinner yet?”

  My stomach growls. “I hadn’t even thought about it.”

  “Would you like to grab something to eat?” He turns the wheel right, cutting down a two-lane side street that seems to go on forever. We’re on the outskirts of downtown now and all the buildings are made of brick and carry an eclectic, worldly charm. “Maybe a pizza or something.”

  “Yeah,” I nod. “That sounds really good right now.”

  Could it be that this might turn into an actual date? I mean, not in the typical sense. It’s not like he’s asking me out on a date, but he is asking me to get dinner with him and I’m choosing to believe that it’s the same damn thing. My eyes check the rearview mirror to see that the black SUV is nowhere to be seen. My chest heaves as I sigh with relief.

  It’s been a rather boring hour and a half since we left the factory. I’m not sure what I had in mind when he first agreed that I could go out into the field with him, but it certainly wasn’t a quiet Uber ride followed by an uneventful ride in the company car. For a brief moment when I thought that SUV was following us, I was almost excited at the mere thought that I was about to see some action. That excitement quickly turned to silent dread as I realized that perhaps that’s not quite the adventure I’m after.

  Now that I know we’re not actually being followed, and I’m just a paranoid woman, I’m relieved that this has been a quiet adventure. I might not have gotten one wish, but with a dinner date on the horizon, I’m about to be granted another.

  We come to a red light at the end of the long, narrow road. I lean back against my seat and let out an embarrassing yawn with my mouth held wide open. He cocks his head towards me and I about die from embarrassment. I choose to look away from him while I suffer through the five stages of embarrassment and wait for my reddened cheeks to turn back to their normal pale color.

  We turn right, back onto a main road and heading back towards the highway where we should have been heading earlier. I’m not sure why I’m so tired, but I almost feel like I could fall asleep while staring out the passenger window.

  “Shit,” Zane exhales sharply, stealing my attention and pulling me back from almost passing out. I cock my head to him to ask what’s going on, but he answers my question before I can even pose it. “I think we’re being followed.”

  CHAPTER SIX

  ZANE

  I said to her, “I think we’re being followed.” But that’s not true at all. In fact, I know we’re being followed. I just didn’t want to alarm her too much. The same black SUV from earlier is now right behind us again. While it’s true that I could just be paranoid, I took a mental note of the license plate earlier and it’s the same exact car.

  “Is it that woman?” Anna questions nervously from my side.

  “No, I don’t think so.” I shake my head, my attention alternating between Anna and the road ahead. “I mean, no, it’s definitely not that woman.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Because while she might be crazy, she’s not connected to anyone else. She’s running her own solitary campaign of crazy.” I cut right onto an adjacent street and take notice of the SUV doing the same right behind me. “Whoever this is, they’re about to have a bad day.”

  She swallows nervously. “You sound sure of that.”

  “I’m Zane Richards.”

  “Right.” She nods. “But do they know that?”

  “I’m guessing that’s why they’re following us.”

  “But why? Did you do something to them?”

  “I’ll be better able to tell you that when I figure out who exactly it is.”

  She exhales softly, trying to keep her composure. I’ve seen countless women in her exact shoes. They don’t know how to process imminent danger so they just try the best they can. “How many enemies do you have?”

  “The last time I counted?” I shrug—it’s just another day in the field for me. “Well over a hundred, but there’s one particular enemy—”

  “Seth Grimm,” she finishes my sentence and braces herself against her seat by pushing backwards. She closes her eyes and exhales again. “But he’s dead, right?”

  “Yeah, he’s about as dead as someone could ever be.” I chuckle under my breath, amused by the thoughts in my head. “He’s burnt to a crisp.”

  I take a quick peek behind me once more and try to come up with a logical reason in my head that this man is following me. I try to reason that it’s just a coincidence that we’re both heading to the same place.

  But I know the truth.

  The only way they’d be able to get behind me again is if they deliberately did so. There’s no logical reason why they would have cut down the street that ran parallel to the one I took. I steady one hand tightly around the wheel and merge into the left lane, trying to add some measureable distance between us and them. They weave into the right lane and speed ahead, trying to race up beside us.

  My eyes search ahead, searching for the best possible escape route. To the left is the highway, winding down from rush hour. To my right is a surface street that will take us deeper into the city. Strai
ght ahead, there’s a stadium but that’s the last place we need to be. The light ahead flashes yellow and though I know I’m not going to make it through the intersection before it changes to red, I push the pedal to the metal. Whipping the steering wheel left and careening through a light that’s already red.

  If I needed any more proof about my suspicions that we’re being followed, I’ve got it. The black SUV races through the light, dodging through an opening in the flow of traffic and almost getting T-boned in the process. I couldn’t get that lucky.

  I take a quick glance over to the demure girl sitting beside me. Her face is pale white and haunted. She looks clammy to the touch and even in the midst of the situation we’ve found ourselves in, I can’t help but to chuckle darkly. She wanted an adventure; well, she’s about to get one.

  I just hope things don’t escalate out of control.

  My eyes trail back to the road ahead as I cut into a median and race forward past a sea of cars stuck in traffic. There are too many cars on the road right now, and eventually, I’m going to reach a roadblock forged of parked cars. That’s not going to be good for anybody.

  I come to a stop behind cars waiting to turn into a fast food joint, but when the SUV pulls up right behind me, I realize that I don’t have the time. There’s a steady flow of traffic without an opening to cross.

  “You might want to close your eyes and pray.”

  She cocks her head to me; her eyes dripping with worry and possibly regret that she chose to come out on this excursion with me today.

  “Why?” she asks dryly, but I don’t have time to respond. The back door of the SUV pops open and as soon as I see boots land against the asphalt, that’s my cue to cut across the median.

  Anna lets out a blood-curdling scream as I whip the steering wheel to the left and pound the gas. Horns blare from behind me and faintly, I can hear the screeching of tires as the people behind me come to an abrupt stop. I complete the U-turn and race back down the opposite direction, heading somewhere with less traffic.