The Assignment

Chapter 17

By the time nine o'clock rolled around, our burner phones were almost dead and our bloodshot eyes nearly matched the shade of red on the Ram 1500 Joey was "borrowing."

While we were hunkered down in the bushes, we'd overheard the truck's owner on the phone. She was telling someone that her husband was out of town on business as she got into her car to leave for work. This was perfect. We didn't have to worry about the husband coming outside and finding his truck missing. Unless a neighbor notice something unusual, there was a good chance that no one would report the vehicle stolen until the wife got home from work and saw that it wasn't in the driveway.

Joey made fast work of hotwiring the truck. We scrambled in so no one would see us, and left the neighborhood as fast as we could without looking suspicious. Once we were a couple miles away, I plugged in our phones to charge.

"How are you feeling?" Joey spoke up, but didn't look at me.

He kept his eyes on the road with the infamous thousand-mile-stare. His jaw was clenched tightly and he was tapping his fingers on the steering wheel.

"Was there anything in the car we left at the motel? Did you get everything out of it?" I asked, worried that we might've left something important behind.

"Nah. We were going to ditch it anyway, remember? I took everything out the night before."

Joey suggested I lean the seat back and try to nap on the way to Boston, but I couldn't shut my brain off. I was exhausted, but my mind was wired. Sleep wouldn't be happening for a while. I couldn't stop thinking about how much I didn't want to go to protective custody and lose Joey. Something was going to have to give, or I just wouldn't cooperate.

"What do you say we grab some breakfast – not burritos – and coffee on the way?" he offered. "Anything in particular you want?"

I managed a giggle at the mention of burritos. We didn't want to relive that incident.

"Honestly..."

My stomach gave a loud grumble at the thought of food. I hadn't realized I was hungry. The excitement had kept my mind on everything going on around me and it hadn't even occurred to me that I needed to eat. Breakfast sounded amazing!

"Yes. Yeah. I'm hungry." I stumbled over my words. "Anything. I don't care. I'm starving. Just get something."

"Yes ma'am," Joey chuckled.

I watched the way he weaved through traffic, changing lanes, constantly surveying our surroundings. He watched every vehicle around us like a hawk. He was ready to hop out, guns blazing, at a moment's notice. God, he was sexy. And I couldn't quite get over how nice facial hair looked on him. My fingertips itched to touch his face again.

I kept checking my side mirror. I wouldn't have been a bit surprised if the Cadillac had shown up again. It was only a matter of time until our next encounter with them.

"How 'bout this?" Joey pulled into an Arby's parking lot.

"Fine with me, but can we eat inside? The drive thru is packed," I said, eyeing the long line of cars wrapped around the building.

He shrugged. "I don't see anyone snooping around, so sure."

Joey lead me to the door with his hand on my lower back, bringing back my thoughts from earlier. I wasn't ready for us to be separated. He held the door for me and my heart did a little dance at the sweet gesture. Whoever said chivalry was dead hadn't met Joey Cavannaugh.

"What can I get you?" he asked, his hand claiming its rightful spot on my lower back again.

I wanted to sigh dreamily and curl up against his chest, but my stomach was starting to sound like I'd captured a marching band inside it with all the noise it was making. The smell of food was intoxicating and I could feel my mouth watering as I scanned over the menu.