“One of the reasons I left it behind,” he said. “That was smart of you not to call again.” She might not have made it to him if her grandma realized the information she had overheard.
“Thank you.” Her voice quavered.
Chandler crept forward in line. “Let’s change cars and then we’ll call Papa as soon as we get some distance from ‘Creepy Eyes.” He smiled at her, and she returned it.
“I should come up with a better name, but …”
“It’s a great name for a loser who would stalk a beautiful woman.”
Her eyes widened. “I’m not …” She looked away from him.
Chandler studied her gorgeous face, wanting her to accept the compliment. Was it possible she didn’t know how perfectly irresistible she was?
A loud horn blared from directly behind him. He looked up and there was a huge gap in front of him, but it was by no means the end of their destination. Him moving forward would not get the guy through the line any quicker.
He edged forward until he was up to the next vehicle’s bumper.
Looking back at Kylee, he wanted to compliment her again, find out if she was dating anyone, talk about what she’d been up to the past ten years, ask how her job was going, but he needed to stay focused with the magnitude of the threat hanging over not just the Deltas but their entire nation.
“Did they find you in the pantry?” he asked to finish out her story.
“No. I stayed until I was certain they were gone, and then I snuck out and drove home. Too upset and confused to think straight, honestly.”
“I can imagine. How’d you know you were in danger?”
“My grandpa came by late that night. He told me the security guards ratted me out and then Mimi found me sneaking into the pantry on the security cameras. She claimed I was spying on them. He didn’t give me much, so I lied and said I hadn’t heard anything or been trying to spy. That I’d just been hiding because I wanted a treat and didn’t want Mimi to catch me.” She gave him a sad smile. “Mimi hates it when I eat.”
“When you eat?” That was the weirdest thing Chandler had ever heard. His granny was in heaven now, but it had seemed to bring her great joy to feed all of them and have her grandchildren thank her and rave that she was the best cook in the world.
Her voice dropped and sounded scratchy. “He said he didn’t believe me, which made me feel bad even though I was lying, and asked me to confide in him what I’d heard. I just kept claiming I hadn’t heard anything. He finally gave up but told me I needed to get away and offered protection. I didn’t know if I dared take it, but I told him I’d think about it. I asked him why I needed protection and he said,” she cleared her throat and then squeaked out, “Mimi was sending someone after me and she would kill me if I told anyone what I’d overheard.”
His stomach clenched.
“I lied again and said I hadn’t heard anything. His eyes said he didn’t believe me and he asked me to please confide in him, but he finally gave up. He told me to call him if I saw anything out of line or was ready to share with him. He promised he’d come or send his men if I was in danger. As soon as he walked out the door, I packed and took off pretty quick.”
Another horn honk and Chandler startled. He was tempted to wave at the guy with only one of his fingers. He pulled forward instead. He didn’t need to deal with some angry driver right now.
“Your own grandmother would try to kill you?” he asked, doubt creeping in even though he didn’t want her to hear that. Yet if her grandmother had been colluding with King Frederick, she was pretty evil, maybe low enough to even kill her own blood.
“Nobody has any idea what she’s like,” she said stiffly.
“Do you think your grandfather is involved? He acted like he didn’t know what she’d said?”
“Yeah.” She shook her head. “I have no idea if he’s involved. He’s always tried to protect me and seemed like the most loyal patriot, but I don’t know what he’s endured from Mimi. Maybe she’s broken him or he’s put on blinders because he doesn’t want to know she’s evil. She runs him at home, that’s for sure.”
He pondered her words. Papa Delta was going to have a mess on his hands. Luckily, Papa was smarter and had better connections than anyone he knew. But what if those in authority who could stop Frederick wouldn’t believe what Kylee had overheard? America wasn’t involved in the conflict and many wanted to keep it that way. Papa would also have to keep the Delta secret out of anything he shared with government or military officials. What if Frederick somehow got through their defenses and actually stole the secret? Even now, he could be sending more mercenaries after it. Was he at the root of all the recent attempts?
His mind was whirling. He wanted to call his grandpa right now. Should he wait until they changed cars? He worried this couldn’t wait.
He was creeping forward in line when he caught a glimpse of movement out of his side window, a man moving fast toward his door.
He turned and looked just as Kylee gasped, “Creepy Eyes.Oh mierda!”
Chandler saw the man with eyes so pale they almost looked colorless raising a gun just outside his window. He didn’t stop to think as he clicked unlock, lifted the door handle, and then slammed the door into the man as hard as he could. The guy was flung backward and hit the pavement on his back.
Shoving the car into park, Chandler told Kylee, “Get out quick.”
He pushed out of his door and assessed. The man was stirring. The hit hadn’t knocked him out. He stomped on the hand holding the gun and the man grunted in pain, then Chandler stripped the 9mm, hit the butt of the gun into the man’s forehead, and shoved the pistol into the back of his waistband. He hated to take this filth’s weapon, but he desperately needed it. If he’d been able to go home, he’d be armed to the teeth, but as it was, all he had was his knife and this pistol, and this situation was escalating out of control.