Page 16 of Rough Night

Sage decided that while there were still a few hours of daylight left it would be a good idea to check out the car more closely so he could send information back to Fiona and Grier.

He went back to his bike, started it up and opened the gate in front of him and made it seem as if he was going out. He passed the car which hadn't moved since he had seen it in the morning and parked a little way away, out of their view. He got off his bike and walked closer, keeping out of sight so he could take the details of the number plate down on his phone and send it to Fiona. He watched as two large men got out of the car and walked over to the house. They definitely looked like law enforcement officers, Sage thought as he noticed their Oxford shirts. They walked over to the gate, although they didn't make any moves to try to break into the house. Even for them, that wouldn't be okay. They walked along the gate talking to each other as they looked at the house. It appeared as if they were discussing something but Sage couldn't be sure from his distance. He couldn't hear what they were saying. It didn't look good for them and Sage knew that. Someone had snitched on them or leaked something to the officers. They looked very interested in the house that Sage had just left. He didn't feel good about having left Mia there by herself so after waiting a good fifteen minutes he climbed back onto his bike and roared it back to life once more, and as he got closer to the house he saw the men run around a corner so they wouldn't be seen by him although it was too late. Sage already knew who they were.

He opened the gate and closed it quickly behind him. He didn't know why they were there and he didn't want to risk them being able to get into the house. As soon as he switched off his bike, his phone went off in his pocket. He looked at the name on the screen and saw it was Fiona calling. He answered as quickly as he could.

"Fiona," he said as he picked up the call, "what can you tell me?”

“Well, we're not sure why they're there but it's not looking good for us, Sage. They appear to be law enforcement officials." Sage nodded to himself, pleased he had managed to figure that out on his own.

"What do you need me to do?" he asked.

"You need to pack up and head back to Pine Hill. Both of you,” Fiona said as she included Mia. Sage already knew he wouldn't leave without her either way but he knew she wouldn't be happy with leaving Florida.

"Yes, of course,” he replied.

"We don't know all the details yet but I suggest you get out of there as soon as you can. We suspect that with you both showing up out of nowhere and the Omen ringleaders disappearing has brought a bit more attention to us than needed,” she explained. It made sense to Sage. It was only since he and Mia had arrived that things started to change rather quickly, and now it seemed it was too quick.

"That makes sense,” he replied.

"I'm glad we're on the same page, Sage. Now get your asses out of there,” she said as the phone went silent.

Sage sighed to himself. He now had to break the news to Mia. This won't go down well, he thought as he walked back into the house.

"Mia?" he called out.

"Yes?" she shouted back. Her voice coming from the kitchen.

"I have some bad news,” Sage said as he walked into the kitchen to find her sorting out food for dinner.

She stopped what she was doing as she looked over at him. She paid attention to his face, but he didn't give anything away.

"Well, what is it?" she demanded as she looked at him.

"We need to leave,” he stated.

"Leave where?" she asked. In her heart, she knew the answer but she wanted to hear him say it.

"We need to leave Florida and head back to Pine Hill,” he said with a grim smile. Her heart sank in her chest. She didn't want to leave.

"Do we have to?" she pleaded.

"Yes, Fiona’s orders," he replied. He could see the look of upset in her eyes. "We don't have a choice."

"Who are they? The men?" she asked.

"They're law enforcement officials. We can't fight them,” he replied.

"Shit, it's bad then, isn't it?" she asked.

"We don't know how bad but the fact that they're parked outside our house doesn't seem so good,” he said. The mention of their house sent a feeling into Mia’s chest. They would have to leave their house and they had just made it their own. The thought saddened her.