Wednesday, November 8
Found.
I wake up on Wednesday morning to the sound of the doorbell.
Doorbell?
Sander’s arm is draped around me and it’s still dark outside the window. I sit up a little and look at the time that is flashing as the screensaver on Sander’s computer.
It’s 4:30 a.m.
The doorbell goes off again.
Huh. I thought it was just my imagination.
Sander stirs a little beside me as I start to get up.
“Where are you going?” he asks, sleepily stretching on the bed.
I’m about to answer him when the doorbell goes off again. I don’t need to answer now, because he’s sitting straight up.
“Are we expecting visitors?” I ask, though I can already tell by the look on his face that the answer is no. We are definitely not expecting visitors and whatever this is, it is bad. Really bad.
“Phoenix, we need to get dressed,” he says.
Ah, right.
That’s when I remember that I’m definitely not wearing clothes. And neither is he.
I turn my face when he gets up. Well, maybe I peak a little, but he has a nice butt.
He’s dressed before I even get out of bed.
“You get dressed, I’m going to go see what’s going on,” he says, then leaves the room.
I’m thankful he’s giving me privacy to get dressed. I mean, I know I shouldn’t be embarrassed to be naked in front of him after last night, but I am. I get up and quickly get dressed as I hear the doorbell ring again.
Who the heck would be at our house this early in the morning? Whatever it is, I know it can’t be good.
Once I slip on my shoes, I head down the stairs to see what’s going on. The front door is shut, but Sander, Hunter and Jaxon are all standing there. Hunter is shirtless and in his pajamas, but Jax at least put on a shirt.
“What’s going on?” I ask.
“Our location has been leaked to the press,” Jaxon answers.
“The press?” I ask.
What does the press want with me? I’m... nobody. Just a politician’s daughter.
“They all want an interview with you,” Hunter says. “Did you forget you’re famous now?”
Oh, right.
I guess I am ‘famous.’ At least according to them. I’m on the run from a terrorist who tried to kill me by blowing up my school. But still, even the media should have enough sense not to try and come interview me when I’m running for my life.
“We’ve got to go,” Sander says.
“Okay. Go out the back way,” Hunter says. “Jaxon and I will go out the front and follow you. We all know where we’re going, right?”
Sander and Jaxon both nod. I have no clue what they’re talking about, but I suppose I don’t need to know, I am just along for the ride with Sander.
Sander grabs my hand and pulls me away from the front door.
“Bye, Phoenix,” I hear Hunter yell.
“Bye, guys,” I yell, before I am pulled out the back door of the house.
Sander is not slow about it now. He runs, pulling me with him.
The air outside is really cold. There is still snow on the ground, but I don’t even have time to think about the snow. I am just running along with Sander. I know he’s being urgent for a reason and I want to keep up with him. I don’t even ask questions, knowing I’ll have plenty of time to question things later. Right now, I just need to focus on getting out of here.
I’m surprised by how far away from the house we run. We’ve gone a few blocks away. I see Sander messing with something on his phone and a red sports car unlocks. We’re running towards the car, so I guess this is what we’re taking. He pushes me into the passenger’s side before running around and getting in the driver’s side. He’s taking off before I even have time to finish buckling my seatbelt.
Now that we are driving, I feel comfortable asking questions.
“What is going on?” I ask.
“Somebody leaked your location,” Sander says.
“How?”
“I don’t know,” he answers. “It could be a number of things. I just don’t have information right now.”
“But it’s just media, right?” I ask.
“If the media knows, then the people who are after you know, too,” he says.
He’s right. Of course, he is.
I look at the time on the car and see that it’s not 4:35. We got out of there so quickly. I also see that the temperature is twenty-six degrees. No wonder it felt so cold.
I see bright lights behind us, so I turn around and see a black SUV.
“Is that Jax and Hunter?” I ask, knowing they were going to come with us.
Before Sander can answer, I hear a loud popping sound.
“That is not Jax and Hunter,” Sander says, then curses.
I’ve never heard Sander curse before, so now I am afraid.
I hear another pop and something loud hits the back glass.
“Are they shooting at us?” I ask.
“Yes,” Sander answers. He’s calm. Too calm.
Another bullet bounces off the back glass, but astonishingly it doesn’t shatter.
“How did that not bust the window?” I ask.
“Bulletproof glass,” he answers.
Oh, my gosh.
They planned for this. As in, they thought this could be something that would happen.
A noise sounds through the speakers of the car and Sander hits something on the steering wheel.
“Hello,” Sander answers.
“We’re behind that SUV.” Hunter’s voice comes out of the speaker. “We called for backup, so it won’t be long now. Just hang on.”
It’s such a relief to hear Hunter’s voice. Sander and I aren’t alone. Even better, we’ve got help on the way. Things are going to be okay.
Still, another shot is fired and I jump at the noise.
I hope whoever it is hurries up.
“I’m going to speed up,” Sander says.
“We’ll keep up,” Hunter says, and the call comes to an end.
Sander accelerates the car and for a moment, the SUV behind us falls behind, but it’s clear they’re not going to give up. And considering we’re driving through New York City right now, we can only drive so fast.
“We’re going to get on the interstate,” Sander says. “We’ve just got to get there. Once we do, we will lose them. This car is fast.”
“Good,” I say, feeling better at his words.
“Plus, the FBI, Secret Service, and New York Police Department are all alerted, so we just have to hang on for a little longer,” he says.
I know he’s only saying it to comfort me, but I am so glad he is. I am honestly so scared right now.
The light in front of us turns red, but Sander doesn’t even hit his breaks. He runs the light, barely keeping from hitting another car. I hear somebody hit their brakes hard behind us and look back to see the other SUV had to slow down. From their front bumper, I can tell hit must’ve hit somebody, but they hit the gas, quickly catching up to us again. I see Hunter and Jax in an SUV behind them.
Whoever is in the SUV is mad now, because I see a guy stick his head out the passenger window with a gun in his hand. He pulls the trigger and doesn’t stop until he completely empties the clip. The window in the back has a crack in it, but it seems to be holding strong.
“Don’t look,” Sander says. “I need you to get down. Just because this car is bulletproof doesn’t mean something won’t get by.”
I take off my seat belt and get down like he says.
I just really hope we don’t crash, because it would hurt a lot. We’re driving pretty fast.
I look over at Sander. He seems completely calm. Why wouldn’t he be? He’s literally trained for this his whole life. He and the guys have talked about fear training, so why would he be scared?
I should trust him to get us out of this. And I do. Fully.
“We’ve got backup,” Sander says, keeping his eyes on the road. “We’re going to get out of this soon.”
“And then where will we go?” I ask.
“Don’t worry,” he says. “I always have a backup plan. I have thirty backup plans.”
The shooting has stopped at least.
“Can I look?” I ask.
“Yeah,” Sander says.
I look behind the car and see a load of cop cars and black SUVs with flashing lights. One of the black SUVs rams into the side of them, nearly running them off the road. They somehow get the car back under control, but it doesn’t matter. A few cop cars cut them off.
We’re going to be okay.
“Put your seatbelt back on. We’ve got a long drive ahead of us,” Sander says.
“We’re not stopping?” I ask, sitting back up in my seat and putting on my seatbelt.
“No,” he answers. “We need to get out of New York as quickly as we can. We’ll be changing cars in a few hours, too.”
“Okay,” I say. “What about Hunter and Jaxon? Are they going to catch up with us?”
“I don’t know yet,” he answers. “They might be staying here for a bit. I guess it depends who was chasing us and what they know.”
“Does that mean this will be over soon?” I ask.
“Possibly,” he answers.
I sure hope so, because I am sick of always running for my life. I’m ready for things to be normal again.
A few hours later, we change cars. We get another sports car, which surprises me. It seems the only thing we usually drive are black SUVs. I thought it was their thing. But this is a black Porsche. I actually really like it.
“Can I drive?” I ask.
Sander laughs. “Nope.”
I stick my tongue out at him.
“I’m sure you’re a great driver, you just haven’t been trained. What happens if somebody finds us?” he asks. “Can you drive well enough to get away from them?”
“Yeah, you’re right. You should drive,” I say, happily getting in the passenger side of the car.
I wouldn’t know the first thing about how to drive like Sander did in New York. I know it was early in the morning and there wasn’t a lot of traffic yet, but he drove so well. I know he talked about being trained from a young age. It’s kind of crazy to think about.
Once we’re on the road, Sander gets another call through the speaker of this car. I wonder how his phone seems to be automatically synced with every car. I’ll have to ask him about it.
“Hello,” Sander answer.
“Hey, you guys safe?”
Jaxon’s voice comes through the speakers and I’ve never been so happy to hear somebody’s voice before. I knew they were okay, but after this morning, it’s good to hear his voice.
“We’re safe,” Sander says. “How about you and Hunter?”
“We are great,” he answers. “We’ve got the director of the Secret Service in custody. He was the one shooting the gun today.”
“How is media coverage looking?” Sander asks.
“Everybody knows that the director of the Secret Service is in custody and it has something to do with Phoenix, but that is all they’re saying,” Jaxon says. “Right now, we’re just trying to get this guy to talk. He’s stayed quiet so far.”
“Who is questioning him?”
“Right now, Secret Service. We told them we would let them have until noon. After that, we are taking over and we are going to get him to talk.”
“Do you think he will talk?” Sander asks.
“He will when Hunter and I are done with him,” Jaxon says. “We’re not bound by the same laws at these guys.”
Well, that sounds cryptic. And scary.
“Good,” Sander says. “Get some answers and let me know as soon as you do.”
“We will.”
The call comes to an end, and I look at Sander.
“So, this is almost over?”
“Possibly,” he answers.
“What did Jax mean by you guys aren’t bound by laws?” I ask.
He grins. “It’s probably best you don’t know, but Spy School doesn’t have to follow the same laws as US groups do. Since we’re independent, we don’t have to answer to anybody. Basically, we have countries calling us when they need answers from somebody who refuses to talk.”
“You torture them?” I ask.
“There are times,” he says. “But it usually doesn’t come down to that. This guy will probably break easily.”
“I hope so.”
I kind of don’t mind being on the road with Sander. It’s nice that we have alone time. And to know that we’re so close to this being over, it feels good.
“We haven’t talked about last night, yet,” Sander says.
My face grows warm at the mention of it.
Last night...
“I enjoyed last night,” I say, and then feel super awkward for saying it.
“I did, too,” he says. “A lot.”
Okay. Good. Glad we cleared that up.
“It doesn’t change anything, right?” I ask.
“No,” he answers. “Well, I mean, I wouldn’t mind doing that again.”
I clear my throat. “Ah, yeah. Me, too.”
“But other than that, nothing changes,” he says.
Other than that...
It’s a big that.
Or maybe it’s only big because it’s new, and in a few weeks it will just be normal.
A fun normal.
“You don’t regret it, right?” he asks.
“No,” I answer. “I knew it would happen someday, I just didn’t expect it to happen that soon, but I don’t regret it. Do you?”
“No,” he says. “Maybe it would’ve been nice if I could’ve taken you on a another date first. And if we weren’t literally in a safe house.”
“I think it was perfect,” I say. “People always want to wait for the right moment or they make a huge build up out of it. Last night it just happened and I think it was perfect timing for the both of us.”
“Me, too,” Sander says.
“Even though that was kind of awkward, I’m glad we had this talk,” I say.
Because a tiny part of me wondered if he enjoyed it. He seemed to, I just had no clue what I was doing. Not that he did either, but it felt good.
“Not awkward,” he says.
“A little awkward.”
“Maybe,” he says. “I’m glad it’s you, Phoenix.”
I smile. “I’m glad it’s you, too.”
Sometime that afternoon, Sander and I arrive at a safe house in the middle of nowhere. I think we’re in North Carolina, but I’m not sure. We don’t pull into a motel though, which surprises me. We end up at this house in the middle of nowhere.
It’s kind of hidden, actually. We turned down this long gravel road that winds up the mountain and the driveway is hidden, barely visible until you’re already turning onto the gravel driveway. I assume that’s why we’re here—because it’s really, really hidden. Nobody is going to find us here.
The driveway is narrow. I’m glad I’m not driving, because if he veered even a little, we’d be crashing off of a cliff. But eventually, we pull up to a small, log cabin.
The cabin is surrounded by trees and I can’t help but think it’s the perfect place to hide out. If the zombie apocalypse ever happens, I’m coming here. Nobody would ever find me.
“Wow. This place is...” my voice trails off as I try to find the right word.
Beautiful?
Stunning?
Creepy?
Kind of perfect?
All the above.
“Yeah, it is,” Sander says, nodding his head. “I was brought here for a few weeks during training. Basically, my team had to survive on this land for two weeks. We had the house, but no electricity or internet or food. We had one satellite phone for emergencies.”
“We get food and electricity, right?” I ask, suddenly feeling panicked.
“Yeah,” he answers, grinning at me. “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t do that to you. Or to me. It was not a fun two weeks and I never wish to relive it.”
“Sounds horrible,” I say.
Like my actual worst nightmare.
“How long are we going to be here?” I ask.
“I don’t know,” he answers. “I hope we’re not here for long, but it could be a few days or a few weeks. I suppose it depends on what Hunter and Jax are able to find out in New York.”
Still, I am confident that all of this is almost over. I’m about to be free. Until then, I can handle a few days in a creepy cabin in the middle of the woods. Especially since I’m with Sander.
We get out of the car and head inside. Once again, I am without luggage, but I figure that since this was part of a backup plan I will have some clothes here.
It’s a lot warmer in North Carolina. It’s still cool—in the 60’s, but there is no snow on the ground. And I won’t be forced to stay inside. I’m excited about getting to continue running outside.
“Do we get to run outside tomorrow morning?” I ask him, as we make our way to the front door.
“Yes,” Sander answers. “I’m excited. There is a great running trail.”
It’s amazing how excited I am by the fact that we get to run outside. I’m not sure I would’ve survived another day on the treadmill, and I know for a fact that Sander wouldn’t have survived it.
The cabin is small. Really small. The whole thing is open, from the bedroom, living room and kitchen. There is a door, I’m assuming that leads to the bathroom. I wonder how Sander and all his team stayed here comfortably, but I don’t think comfort was a concern when they put them here for their training session.
I’m also really glad Hunter and Jax aren’t with us, because this place is so not big enough for four people.
“All four of us were going to stay here?” I ask.
“Yep,” Sander answers. “Well, only if there was an emergency. Which there was.”
“Oh,” I say.
“At Spy School, we do what we have to,” he says.
“I’m ninety percent sure I wouldn’t have passed,” I say.
Sander gives me a wide grin. “I thought that a few times myself, but I persevered. You would have to.”
Maybe.
I would’ve definitely tried.
“Can I get a shower?” I ask.
“Yeah,” he says. “Somebody put clothes in the dresser.” He points to a large dresser by the bed. “And the bathroom is through there.” He points at the door.
“I guess there is no getting lost in this house,” I mumble, walking towards the clothes.
Being here with Sander isn’t so bad.
At least I get to go outside.