Page 70 of Shattered Souls

“Such bullshit. They can’t just question me like that when I have that fucking deranged dude breathing down my neck.” He rambles, knowing I won’t answer him. Never have and never will. “He wants money, money I don’t have. And now the cops are on me like blood hounds when I know where the dude is!”

A few actors that are sheltering from the cold stare at Maverick, at the scene he’s causing, but ultimately all go back to their hushed conversations. I deposit the man in a quieter section of the room, letting him grumble to himself.

Synn comes in a few minutes later, looking tense and bored all at once. “They said they won’t question you during operating hours again. That was highly unprofessional on both ends.” Maverick rolls his eyes.

“Trying to play hero, are we now?”

“I just got them off your back, a thank you would suffice.” Synn watches the door to our house with wary eyes. We told Rayvn to lay low, our plan is going to take a little bit to be ready and she needs to keep a low profile. The new identities as well as passports are projected to take at least a week. “Not to mention I told your sorry ass not to show your face ‘til you had it figured out.”

“Well, one, you’re not the boss of me, Seek. And two, I figured out who the guy is, but he's nobody in terms of these people hunting me.” Synn told me we needed to figure this out to gauge if our cover was in imminent danger. But priorities have changed in the last few days.

“Then at least don’t go poking your head around the fucking boys in blue.”

“Guess top priority is now finding whoever’s taking all these people in Wraithridge.” Yet, they’re standing right in front of you, and you are oblivious.

“Just lay low, Maverick.” Synn barks at the doctor. He turns and storms towards the house. I follow suit, staying hot on his trail.

“Do you have a death wish, woman?” I shut the door behind me. Rayvn’s backing away from the door, eyes wide with fear.

“I just want out. I’m sorry.” Synn sighs, reaches out and pulls her close. She wraps her arms around him and gives him a careful hug, eyeing me nervously.

“Cops are asking about the officer I shot.” I sign to her, causing her to suck in a sharp breath.

“Are they suspecting anyone here?” She questions verbally. I nod, but Synn interrupts me.

“They’re not onto us, yet. But this means we need to speed up leaving here.” He releases her and spins to me. “Need you to find our destination and book the tickets. If possible, find a private flyer. We’ll be tight on money, but it might be necessary.”

“I can go with you, Hayze.” Rayvn steps between us, back straight with pride.

“You can go, but you will not leave the car.” I sign to her. She nods, flashing me a thankful smile. I tuck a strand of dark hair behind her ear and turn to leave the house and finish off the shift, most likely going to tell Rick he can shove tomorrow’s shift where the sun doesn't shine.

“No, we’re done, Hayze. It’s time to push. We focus all our energy on this, no more work.” I freeze, slowly turning to face him.

“Okay, I’ll book the flight.”

“We should go to Greenland.” Rayvn’s head is rested against the head rest, eyes closed as she mumbles about our plans. “Ooo, or Sweden. I’m thinking Europe as a general area.”

I don’t answer. Her eyes are closed after all.

“In all honesty,” She finally looks over to me. “I’m scared.” I put the black SUV in park outside the private airport and turn my body towards her.

“Nothing is going to happen to any of us, Rayvn.” Her cheeks lift but the smile doesn’t quite reach her eyes. And how can it? How can I promise safety when her gorgeous face is plastered across the news as wanted?

We’ve watched the news every night since the original airing of her new wanted status, and she hasn’t been spoken about since. But that doesn’t mean people haven’t seen the segment already.

“So,” She purses her lips. “How exactly are you going to ask for a pilot? Just hope that someone speaks ASL?”

“Was just gonna type it out on my phone.” I can taste the idea formulating in her head. She hasn’t been out of the house since our grocery shopping trip, and I can see it weighing on her.

I reach into the back, my hand finding the spare change of clothes I kept in here for after my shift at the butcher shop. I produce a beanie from the pile.

“Put this on, tuck your hair into it and stay close to me. If someone looks at you funny, you look away and tell me.” She nods, practically bouncing in her seat as she snatches the beanie and stuffs her hair into it like I asked. She’s wearing a pink hoodie, and to add to the illusion, she tosses the hood over the beanie.

The inside of the main building is barren. Nothing polished or expensive, just a few stacks of unfinished paperwork and a couple model planes laying around. There’s a desk, where an older and stockier man sits, his nose deep in a book on, you guessed it, planes.

“Excuse me,” Rayvn waves the man down. He blinks up at her, takes her in, and then straightens fully.

“Evening. How may I help you two?” He shoots me a look, calculating if I’m a threat or not.