Page 51 of Bound By Blood
“And if a new carstops?”
“Take it. Ifanything, we’ll have them take us a little further away and drop ussomewhere to throw things off more. After that, we’ll work onfinding another one.”
Caro’s shouldersslumped. All she wanted was to gohomeand sleep, but theycouldn’t accidentally lead their enemies to her house. So, shestuck out her thumb and prayed the first vehicle to come along wasan older one.
Not long afterSaber vanished into the woods, an old pickup crested a small hilland came toward her. The rust on the sides and the woman behind thewheel caused her heart to leap with hope. The woman didn’t glanceat her as she drove past and into the setting sun.
“Shit,” Caromuttered as she kicked at a rock on the road and continuedwalking.
Another fiveminutes passed, and two more vehicles. One beeped and waved; shegave them the finger. There was a lull in cars before anothervehicle finally approached.
Caro stuck out herthumb as the teen girl behind the wheel of a battered Chevy turnedin the seat to look at her. The girl’s mouth parted, and she pulledto the side of the road.
“Are you okay?”the girl blurted as soon as Caro opened the passenger side door.“What are you doing out here? Were you in an accident? Do you needan ambulance?”
“I’m okay,” Caroassured her as she used her voice and power to soothe the anxiousgirl while Saber emerged from the woods. “You shouldn’t pick upstrangers on the side of the road. We won’t hurt you, but aftertoday, don’teverdo this again.”
The girl’s eyesglazed over while Caro spoke. A flash of fear crossed the girl’sface when Saber opened the back door and climbed inside, but Carocalmed her.
“It’s going to beokay,” Caro promised. “We just need you to take us somewhere.”
Caro gave herdirections to the house, buckled her seat belt, and sat back as thegirl pulled away from the shoulder of the road.
CHAPTER 38
After the girldropped them off two miles away and Caro took the memory away fromher of the trip, she and Saber walked through the woods to herhouse. When they finally arrived, Caro punched the code into thekeypad next to the massive steel gates blocking her long, dirtdrive.
The gates didn’tmake a sound as they swung open, nor did the cameras pivoting tofollow their every move. Once inside the gate, it swung shut,effectively sealing them off from the world.
For the firsttime, Caro shivered at the prospect of being alone out here… withhim. The isolation of this place had never bothered her;she’d always enjoyed it, but the idea of being here with Saber sentchills down her spine.
She didn’t thinkhe would kill her, but she hadn’t been thinking straight for twoweeks. If he tried to kill her, she’d make him regret it. However,she didn’t kid herself into thinking she’d survive.
He was a lethalkilling machine who had spent five centuries honing his skills. Shewas… her.
Saber studied theconcrete wall surrounding the property. Every couple of inches,sharp metal spikes protruded another three feet into the air.Nothing could squeeze through them.
With the spikes,the wall was at least thirty feet tall; only a bird would easilyscale it. The cameras lining the wall monitored every inch of theoutside.
“The spikes areelectrified,” she said.
“Nice,” hemurmured.
“My father wasserious about our security.”
“How long have youlived here?”
“About twentyyears. I’m not sure anyone knows this place exists. We ownthousands of acres of woods around us, so we don’t have anyneighbors. My dad didn’t open his store until five years ago, andthe people there have no idea who we really are or where we live.They believed I was my mom’s sister who helped them at thestore.
“Beforeestablishing the store, my dad would go to random shows, events,and flea markets to sell his things. He never needed to sell them,at least not for money, but he had a lot of fun doing it.”
She had no ideawhy she was rambling on about this stuff, but she couldn’t shut up.Did he require all these inane details? No.
Did she need abed? Absolutely.
“Your father was avery talented man,” Saber said.
“I know.”
