Page 53 of Sheltering You

“I think we let him sleep, if you can carry him?”

“Sure, yeah. Open this door when you’re dressed, and I’ll grab the bags.”

“All right.”

Fifteen minutes later, she followed Derrick out of the hotel room, pulling her suitcase and his wheeled duffel bag. He carried Rabie, who’d barely stirred, the red backpack slung over his shoulder.

A thirty-something woman who’d introduced herself as Marie, a friend of Michael’s, led the way to the elevators. She carried herself like a soldier, and if Jasmine wasn’t mistaken, the bulge on her side indicated a weapon.

On the first floor, they walked through the lobby and out the sliding doors to a dark sedan waiting at the curb. Exhaust streamed from the back, puffy and white in the chilly December air.

A man standing beside the car scanned the area.

The woman waited until Derrick, Jasmine, and Rabie had loaded into the backseat.

Once they were all in and buckled, Rabie’s head leaning on Jasmine’s shoulder, the man and woman climbed in, and the woman drove out of the parking lot and toward the highway.

The dashboard clock read four thirty-two.

Marie said, “You both need to power down your cell phones.”

“Why?” Derrick asked.

Jasmine pulled hers from her purse and did as she’d been told.

“Precaution,” the man said.

Derrick seemed like he might argue, then turned his off and shoved it in his pocket. “What’s the plan?”

Marie answered. “We’re taking you to a house in Harper’s Ferry.”

He nodded as if this made perfect sense to him.

“What is this, a ferry?” Jasmine turned from the people in front to Derrick. “We will get on a boat?”

“It’s a town,” Derrick said. “There’s a house there where we’ll be safe.”

“Whose house?”

He shook his head, gaze flicking to the people in front. Perhaps he didn’t want them to know, though she couldn’t imagine why, considering they were driving.

She remembered something she’d overheard on the call, something about a place he’d been told he could use anytime. Maybe that was where they were going.

“How far away?”

Marie answered. “Little over an hour, ma’am. Might as well try to get some rest.”

Derrick relaxed against the headrest, apparently planning to do just that. Rabie was still asleep.

Jasmine figured it wouldn’t hurt to try. She closed her eyes and prayed that, wherever they were going, they would be safe there.

It took Jasmine a few moments to remember where she was. She lay on the soft bed and glanced around at the room. She was not at the house in Shadow Cove or at the hotel where they’d eaten pizza the night before.

No, this was the new place.

They’d arrived just before dawn, when morning was coming but the world was still bathed in shades of black and gray.

Derrick had carried Rabie inside and laid him on the bed, then told her to rest.