“My safe house is out, man. I boobie trapped it when all the shit went down with Jesse Romero. It blew up. I haven’t sorted out another one yet.”
“Find another safe place and wait to hear from me. Just go to ground a few days so I can watch these guys while we see if they reach out or make moves. If Gan Chen gets ahold of you let me know before you meet with him.”
“I’ll call you back,” I said and hung up. I left the den and went to the bedroom where Angel was watching Bambi on TV, tears in her eyes.
She smiled nervously at me and wiped the tears away with her sleeve, “I’m such a sap.”
“Hey, can you pack a bag for you and me for a couple days? We’ve gotta take a little trip.”
She got out of the bed, “Okay.”
I kissed her on the forehead and wiped a stray tear from her cheek away, “We’re going to a cabin so bring jeans, warm clothes, bathroom stuff and phone chargers for both of us. But I also need a suit, shirt, tie, and dress shoes in case I have to leave for a meeting while we’re gone. Maybe a grey 3-piece suit, white shirt, black tie. Okay? Gotta make a few calls. Can you manage? Can you do it quick, please?”
“Yes, no problem,” she dashed toward the closet, looking a bit tweaked, probably picking up on my mood. I phoned Eddy. I couldn’t get him. I left him a voicemail.
“Shit has heated up, bro. Can I use your cabin for a few days? Call me. I’m heading toward the restaurant now if I don’t hear from you. If you get this, call me and tell me if you can meet me at the storage unit.”
Angel
Dare was on the phone in his SUV,
“Hey man. Yeah, can you meet me at the unit? Cool. Okay, bye.”
Then he dialed another number and said “Bro, some shit has hit the fan. You and Tia stay at the farm tonight. Call me and I’ll fill you in. We’ve got some unwanted company. Two potential threats. Ciao, brother.”
He dialed again.
“Nino, me and Angel are heading to Ed’s family cabin as a precaution on some stuff I have to fill you in about. I’m gonna get Sarah or one of the girls to shop for food for a few days for us for there. Can you or Dex drive it up? Quietly. Make sure no tail. I’ll call you back. Right. Bye.”
He hit buttons on his phone and then started talking again.
“Hey, me and Angel are heading to a safe house for a few days. You got time to shop for us for 3-4 days? Now. Okay good. Nino or Dex will come by in about 2 hours if you can hurry. Text me when you’re back and I’ll send one of them.”
He put the phone down, lit a cigarette and opened the window, “Sorry, baby, I can’t wait till we get there. Having a nic fit.”
I opened my window wide and watched him, chewing my cheek.
He turned the music up. It was “Send me an Angel” by the Scorpions. I chewed my cheek harder.
I kept watching him. He knew my eyes were on him but he wasn’t enlightening me. I didn’t ask. I stared straight ahead and got lost in the song.
A few minutes passed and then he pulled into a gas station and got out and started pumping gas, “Grab my wallet and go pay?” he said to me through the window and I was sort of surprised. I saw his wallet on the console between us so I picked it up and went into the gas station.
I was feeling on edge not knowing what was happening. Maybe he was keeping it from me so I wouldn’t have an anxiety attack.
I found cash in his wallet so paid for the gas and when I got back out to the car he was ending a phone call saying, “Yeah, man. See you in about fifteen.”
I got in and he pulled out and we were back on the road.
The vibe coming off him was setting my teeth on edge. Finally, I worked up the nerve to ask, “Dare?”
“Yeah, baby?” He didn’t look at me. He was focused on the road and smoking another cigarette.
“Everything’s not okay,” I said simply because it was obvious and therefore it’d be silly of me to ask, “Is everything okay?” What was not obvious was why but what was kind of obvious to me was that he probably wasn’t filling me in because it was bad. Real bad. But it wasn’t me to demand answers, at least not anymore.
“No, my baby. It’s not. I will fill you in later. No stress, though. I’ve got you.”
Uh oh. Me of two years ago would’ve demanded answers. Me of today just sat and stared straight ahead. I felt his palm on my cheek. I closed my eyes and leaned into it. It always brought my anxiety levels down when he did that and I think he knew it too, because he often did that, ever since the second day he was in Thailand.