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“Lakeshia, that’s your new name, right?” A man’s voice from behind the safety of the door says. “If you stop playing games and come with me, the boss would like a word. You’ll be safe, I promise you.”
“For how long?” she shouts.
“Keep him talking and stay here,” I whisper as I creep closer to the sliver of an opening.
“That’s not up to me to decide. Take that up with the boss. Now, are we doing this the easy way or the hard way?”
“Easy for me means you turning your ass around and forgetting my name.”
He exhales a loud, exasperated breath. “The hard way it is.”
Seconds of silence follow his statement. Tension tightens my neck. I don’t know what I need to prepare myself for, but I’m on alert. A canister flies through the gap. Wisps of smoke spray from one end. Without thinking, I cover my nose, catch the smoke bomb, and lob it back through the gap before sliding the door shut on our side.
I slam my body against the panel, trying to hold it in place despite not having leverage. The first heavy thud releases the strain on my body. A domino effect begins as more bodies hit the floor. When enough time elapses, I say, “You can come out now.”
Lakeshia launches herself into my arms, and I wrap her in an embrace.
“We’re not safe, yet. We still have to find a way out.” I grin sheepishly at her. “I may have locked us in when I closed the door.”
“No!” She rushes beside me to inspect by running her hands along the wall. After a few seconds, she rests her head against the surface and sighs. “Shinji, you have the oddest luck.”
Intrigued by her odd tone, I join her.
She twists her face up to mine. A relieved smile brightens her face, transfixing me to the spot. “There’s still a gap, too small for our fingers to push through, but something we can work with.” She straightens, her shoulders firm and determined. “Help me find something to leverage this bitch open some more before the assholes on the other side wake up.”
While searching the room, I bag guns, ammo, grenades, canisters… everything we can walk out of here with in a rush. Lakeshia finds a machete and works the door open. A couple men start to rouse, but Lakeshia ends them as potential threats with bullets to the head.
“Leave a survivor for questioning. And Evan if you see him. He gets special treatment.” I shoulder two heavy duffel bags and a hard case with the launcher, while she binds her chosen hostage with strips of his clothing.
I dash to the car, on the lookout for other enemies, and load our goods in the back. I quickly return to retrieve Lakeshia and Tomasso’s man and place him in the trunk. Evan is nowhere to be found. We make our getaway and Lakeshia calls Takeshi to inform him what occurred.
He’s on speaker and my husband’s joy at hearing Lakeshia call him transmits over the waves. Sadly and predictably, his mood swiftly changes to anger once she shares the details of ourrecent experience. “I’ll find Evan. You two get home where you’ll be safe.”
“Can’t do, Keishi-kun. We’ve got a guest who needs to answer for what went down.” I turn onto the highway, driving farther away from the strip mall that will disappear in a couple hours.
“Alright head to the valley house. It’s remote and has everything you need to question Tomasso’s man.” Takeshi hangs up, but I can tell he isn’t happy with the arrangement.
Instead of heading directly to the house, I drive around while watching for tails. By the time I’m certain no one is following us, we’re halfway to Los Angeles. I pull over to a gas station to refill while Lakeshia goes into the convenience store for snacks.
Thumping noises emit from the trunk. The asshole is awake and not happy. I surreptitiously search for surveillance cameras. There are too many for me to do what I need. Not to mention, there’s a car pulling into the station that will spell trouble for me if they get curious. Instead, I take my gun and partially open the trunk to poke the barrel into the space.
“If you want a chance to walk away from me alive, you’ll settle down until we reach our destination. Otherwise, I’ll kill you and everyone around right here, right now,” I growl the warning, making sure the people behind me can’t hear.
Taking his silence for an answer, I slam the trunk and turn only to freeze at the sight. Walking into the convenience store and passing Lakeshia on the way, is a vision from my past I’m not supposed to see.
I fled across the country to escape her and the power she has to make all the dreams at my fingertips crumble. I spin around and hop into the car, hoping I’m in time to hide my face. I can’t fall apart now.
Lakeshia will have questions I’m not ready to answer. I’ve never been prepared to explain to anyone this aspect of my past. Not even Takeshi knows.
I shudder out a breath trying to even my breathing and appear normal for when Lakeshia joins me. Of the three of us, I’m supposed to be the non-problematic one, the one who gets through life with a joke and easy manner. We’re still helping Lakeshia navigate her issues, I can’t add mine to the mix.
The door opens and closes as Lakeshia settles herself in her seat. “I got you an iced tea.” She hands me a cold bottle and I gulp the liquid without tasting it. “And we should probably head to the place Takeshi mentioned.”
I nod and start the car. As I pull out, the woman Lakeshia unknowingly crossed paths with exits. A part of me wants to memorize every line and expression on her face, but she isn’t a part of my life anymore. It’s taken ages to come to terms with this reality, so I swallow the years of yearning and shift my focus to the road.
The past has to stay there, where it can’t destroy me again.
CHAPTER 26
