Page 106 of Sheltering You

He seemed about to argue but, after a moment, did as she directed, cuddling the cheap bag she’d bought him like a stuffed animal.

“You can put your backpack down. Nobody’s going to touch it.”

He sent a narrow-eyed glare at the back of Derrick’s head but dropped the bag on the floor.

She smiled at him. “In the morning we’ll get breakfast. Do you like pancakes with maple syrup?”

He shrugged.

“You will. Trust me. And then we’ll see Basma, okay?”

That brought a slight softening of his features. She couldn’t blame Rabie for his worry. He’d been through so much.

“Where are we going now?” he asked.

“New York City!” She infused the words with enthusiasm.

His eyes widened. “To the Statue of Liberty?”

“I don’t think to that place, but perhaps Basma can take you another time.”

“Then where exactly?”

She waited for Derrick to answer, but he didn’t, just kept driving.

“We’ll see when we get there. Please, get some sleep.” She grabbed the other blanket, the one she’d folded and placed at her own feet, and covered herself. “I’m going to rest too.”

That seemed to mollify him. He closed his eyes and settled against the door.

She did the same, and they drove in silence for a long time, nothing but the sound of the classical music playing softly over the speakers.

She tried not to fall asleep. Derrick hadn’t had any more sleep than she had, and he’d been injured. She should probably help keep him awake. When she hadn’t heard anything from the backseat in a half hour, she peeked.

“He out?” Derrick asked.

“I think so.” She kept her voice low. “Why don’t you want him to know where we’re going?”

“It’s stupid, but…” Derrick glanced at her. “I was thinking about all the questions he was asking when we left the cabin about what kind of car we were driving and the license plate and where we were going, and I just…” His shoulders lifted and fell. “There’s no way he could have been in contact with Dari, right? But what if the thing that alerted his brother wasn’t a tracker? What if it was some kind of a transmitter, and the guy was hearing what Rabie was saying? Or even listening to us?”

“You think he was telling Dari where we were? You think he wants his brother to find us?”

“I don’t know. Maybe. He likes Dari, and he doesn’t put a lot of stock in his sister’s opinion.”

He wouldn’t, especially if Dari had fed him lies about her.

“Even if there’d been some kind of…transmitter”—Derrick seemed uncomfortable even suggesting the word—“it’s gone now, lying by the side of the road in West Virginia.” But by the worry in his eyes, he wasn’t convinced. “It doesn’t make sense. Rabie didn’t have a phone or any way to contact him. Michael’s probably right and there was a tracker, and it just wasn’t very good.” Derrick tapped the wheel. “If that’s the case, how did they catch up to us so fast at that gas station—in the middle of nowhere? They must’ve been following us for a while. I just hadn’t noticed.” He checked his rearview mirror, then shook his head. “They could be back there right now for all I know.” By the way his lips pressed closed, he wasn’t happy about the thought.

“You couldn’t have known. None of this is your fault.” His hand rested lightly on the gear shift, and she slid her palm over it.

He weaved their fingers together, then dropped their joined hands on his knee. “I’m glad you think so.”

“Every second vehicle on the road is an SUV, and most of them are dark. For all we know, they’ve switched to another kind of car altogether. Why this whole…flock of SUVs?”

That brought a grin. “Fleet?”

“This is the word?”

“For cars, yeah. If they attacked riding giant geese, flock would work.”