Page 53 of You for Her (The Edge of Retaliation 2)
I see Tanner throwing his bags into the truck, glancing around as he does. His face is busted up, dried blood on his mouth and cheeks, his eye swollen. My heart kicks up a notch and I rush outside as quietly as I can, closing the door behind me. He hears it and spins around, on guard, ready to tackle anyone that comes close.
His face isn’t in a good way, not to mention his hands are busted up. Whatever happened to him, it was intense.
“Tanner, what are you doing?” I ask, glancing around to see if he’s alone.
It’s dark out, only the light in front of the rooms and the flashing motel sign allowing us to see each other. It’s got to be two am, maybe three, and the streets around us are quiet, the office is closed, and everyone is sleeping.
Which bodes the question as to why Tanner is out here alone, stuffing his bag into the truck, all beaten and bruised.
“Go and get your things, we’re leaving.”
“What do you mean we’re leaving? What happened to your face?”
“Will you just do as I’m asking, Callie? Go get Jo, get your things, and get into the truck. Now.”
I open my mouth to argue but headlights turning into the motel distract me. I glance over in the direction of the light, but before I can see anything, Tanner grabs me and hauls me against the truck, slamming the door and pressing our bodies against it.
“Tanner?” I whisper, confused. “What’s going on?”
“Don’t move.”
My heart rate kicks up and I move closer to him, scared. I have no idea what’s happening, all I know is whoever is in that car, Tanner doesn’t want to come across.
Tanner turns and glances behind his truck, watching the car pulling into the parking lot of the motel. It turns around a corner, heading down to the back rooms, and Tanner moves quickly, grabbing me and pulling me toward the rooms. “Get Jo. Now. We have a matter of fuckin’ minutes.”
The sounds of boots crunching has our heads whipping around. Someone is walking around the rooms. Cursing under his breath, Tanner grabs my arm and we run toward the office, ducking around behind the building. My heart feels like it’s going to launch out of my chest, my breathing is ragged, and my skin is prickling. I’m terrified, worried about whoever it is that Tanner is so afraid of.
“What’s going on?” I whisper.
“Shh,” he growls, peering around the side of the building and watching for a few moments.
I can’t see anything, it’s dark behind here, but I’m terrified. How did they find him? Who are they? What do they want? Tanner is scared for a reason, and that reason is that he obviously knows these people are here to hurt him, or all of us, I don’t know. All I can think about is Jo, or Ethan, or one of the others walking out of their rooms right now looking for us and ending up shot, or worse.
“Here’s what you’re going to do,” Tanner says, his voice low. “You’re going to walk out there, casually, like you’ve just been out for the night. You’re going to walk to your room and if they talk to you, you’re going to act like you have no idea who they are. They won’t hurt you; they’re not going to cause a scene unless they see me.”
“What?” I whisper hiss. “You can’t be serious? What if they do know who I am? What if …”
“They don’t, Callie. Go into your room, act drunk, do whatever you have to do. You need to get Jo, and she needs to contact Tatum, and we need to get the fuck out of here. I’ll meet you down the road, just hurry up because if they figure out you’re all with me, we’re in a whole world of fucking trouble. Go.”
“Tanner … I’m scared,” I whisper.
Tanner stops peering around the building and looks over at me, his eyes softening just a touch. He cups my cheek in his hand and leans in close. “You gotta trust me, darlin’. Go and get everyone, the keys for my truck are in it. Get out of here, and I’ll explain everything later.”
“Okay,” I say, my voice shaky. “Okay.”
“Good girl, go.”
I glance around the building and then, with my stomach in my throat, I walk out. I’ve just reached the rooms again when I see a man. He’s tall, with dark hair and dark clothes, he’s walking along the outside of the rooms, glancing at a few of them, looking at cars, checking the area out. His eyes fall on me, and I feel sick. I have to trust Tanner, I know that, but it’s a really, really hard thing for me to do.
“You’re out late, young lady,” the man says, his voice gruff.
