Page 100 of The Lucky Heart (Jamison Valley 3)
I nodded. “Sure.”
“Okay. What else?” Sliding off her stool, she hobbled across the living room to a big window and stared into the dark night.
“Talk to her, babe,” Silas said quietly. “Going with Beau is the safest thing for her. She shouldn’t be on her own and out in the open.”
I nodded and turned to Beau. “What’s this outpost like? The truth?”
“It’s not much, but there’s water, power and heat. We use the outposts for forest-fire crews and the one I’m thinking about is really secluded. She’d be as hidden as it could get.”
Damn it. They were right but this was not going to be an easy sell. “She hates nature. She hates dirt and bugs. She gets weekly mani-pedis and spends every Friday afternoon shopping. This will be like torture for her.”
“If she goes out on her own and fucks up, she’ll hit their radar in seconds and then she’s dead,” Jess said.
I closed my eyes and wrapped my arms around my stomach. I couldn’t bear to think about what the Federovs would do if they tracked her down. She’d be tortured, raped and killed, of that I had no doubt.
This outpost was her best shot at life.
“Talk to her.” Silas rounded the island and tucked me into his side. “She’ll listen to you. When she sees how worried you are, she’ll go with Beau.”
I nodded, leaving the men in the kitchen, and went to the living room and stood next to Sabrina. Taking a few moments to stare into the dark night, I formulated my speech, then dove right in. “I think you should go with Beau.”
“No way,” she fired back immediately.
“Please, hear me out? They’ll track you down if you’re using my credit cards. The five thousand dollars I gave Kenny is going to show up as a huge red flag. They could find you here in the time it would take you to get a fake ID. It’s not like you can jump on an airplane. So what does that leave? You driving around the country like a vagabond, living out of the back seat and cheap motels?”
“That sounds better than living in a shack in the mountains.”
“Really? Are you sure about that? I’ve heard three out of ten motels have bed bugs.” That last part wasn’t true but it helped make my point. She would be miserable constantly running from one place to the next and there was no way she’d be able to afford top-of-the-line hotels for however long this lasted.
She took a deep, loud breath and dropped her forehead to press against the glass. “Fuck. You’re right. I’ll go with Goliath.”
“Thank you.” I pulled her in for a gentle hug. “He’s a good guy and I know he’ll keep you safe. Think of it like a rustic adventure. Maybe write a story about it.”
We spent the next two hours rushing around Prescott buying food, picking up supplies from Beau’s house and getting Sabrina clothes and linens from mine. By the time we came back to the ranch, it was well after midnight and Beau’s truck was packed to the brim.
Standing outside the barn, I wrapped my arms around Sabrina and held tight. “I love you. Watch your back and listen to Beau.”
She nodded. “Love you too, lady. Be safe.”
We hugged until Silas’s hand stroked the back of my hair. “Time to go.”
“Take care of her,” she said to Silas at the same time I said those words to Beau.
Both men nodded and I hugged my friend once more. Please don’t let this be the last hug we have. My silent wish floated into the dark night sky. When Beau’s truck disappeared down the gravel road, I found myself wrapped in Silas’s arms.
“Do you think she’ll be okay?”
He sighed. “I honestly don’t know, but I hope so.”
“Me too,” I whispered. Me too.
“Baby?” I gently placed my hand on Silas’s chest.
He stopped whipping his head back and forth on the pillow and shot straight up in bed. His eyes remained blank for a moment until he blinked and cleared the fog of sleep. Rubbing his hands over his face, he muttered, “Fuck.”
“Do you want to talk about it?”
“No.” Throwing the comforter aside, he swung his legs to the floor and went downstairs. When he disappeared from my sight, I listened to his footsteps pad through the living room and into the bathroom. I fell back into bed at the sound of the shower’s spray.
