And Enzo is gone.
“Come on, babe. You got this. Enzo and Langston are going to be fine,” Liesel says.
But she’s clearly trying to reassure herself as much as she’s trying to reassure me.
I nod, though.
Our plan is simple. Liesel and I are getting as far the hell away from here. We are going to hide somewhere. The boys don’t even know where we are going. Liesel and I haven’t even discussed a location.
But in two days, we are going to call Enzo’s phone from a payphone, and if the threat is over, we will return. And if no one answers, then we will keep running and hiding, forever.
If Enzo and Langston are alive, they will come find us. And if they are dead, then at least Liesel and I will be safe. The baby will be safe.
We both climb into the SUV at the back of the property, an Escalade with bulletproof windows. It would take a tank to stop this car, Enzo said.
Liesel drives.
We are headed to a helicopter Enzo arranged to take us to an airport in Atlanta. From there, we can buy tickets anywhere. We have new identities. And lots of cash. No one will be able to find us unless we want them to.
Please find us soon, Enzo.
Liesel steps on the gas, driving through a back road off the property.
Only then when the house starts getting small in the rearview mirror do I let the tears fall. But I’m not the only one. Liesel is crying too. Because we are both driving away from the men we love. I’m not sure who Liesel is crying for—Enzo or Langston. I know she loves Enzo. I hope she loves Langston. But it doesn’t matter; the heartbreak is the same.
I reach over and grip her hand. We can do this, together.
We both take a deep breath.
It’s going to be okay.
But it’s never okay.
Danger follows me everywhere I go.
And the explosion ringing in my ears, the smoke billowing all around, and the fire burning as the SUV rolls over and over all remind me I will never be safe.
25
ENZO
I’VE SPENT the last few hours debating whether to implant every tracking device imaginable into Kai and Liesel’s phones, clothing, car, everything. I need to know where they are. I need to know they are safe.
But I decided against it.
Because if I can’t find them, then neither can Felix.
“It’s going to be okay,” Langston says as soon as Kai and Liesel are gone.
I glare at him. “Don’t say that. I hate that saying. You don’t know everything is going to be okay.”
“I know,” he frowns.
“Then, why the fuck did you say it?” I ask as I load my guns and make sure I have plenty of ammo.
He shrugs. “Because this is hard for me, too.”
I roll my eyes. “You are just infatuated with Liesel; she will never like you back. Get over it, man.”