Chapter Eighteen
Vex wasn’t what Drew was expecting. He was easily six foot six, his presence making the apartment feel small. At a guess, he was in his early fifties, with his head shaved and a body that spoke of working out, a discipline he clearly hadn’t lost since his discharge.
“So you’re the troublemaker,” he said, looking Drew up and down.
“It’s not exactly trouble of his own making,” Sam said.
“That was always my ex-wife’s excuse. You’d better watch this one,” he said to Sam.
Before Drew could get worried, Vex broke into a grin. “Sam told you the plan?”
“He said you were going to get me out of the building without being seen.”
“Yep. I work at a gym about twenty minutes’ drive from here. I leave the same time every day. Only difference is, you’ll be in the car with me today.”
“It’s not like I can sneak you out on my bike,” Sam added. “Vex will get you out and we’ll meet at a gas station ten minutes from here. I’ll leave first, take a longer route in case anyone’s following.”
It sounded straightforward and certainly not the cloak-and-dagger antics he’d been expecting. Sam had packed a backpack with supplies, including the food Drew had prepared.
Vex walked out with him, promising to be back for Drew within half an hour. Sam had said not to leave the apartment looking like they wouldn’t be back. Drew took him at his word, cranking open the bathroom door and leaving a wet towel hanging over the side of the shower. He rinsed the breakfast things but left them sitting on the sink to drain instead of tidying them away. He left food out on the countertop, still wrapped, so it wouldn’t attract rodents or insects.
He returned to his room and unpacked his backpack, putting his clothes in the dresser and his toiletries on top before stuffing the backpack in the bottom of his wardrobe. He didn’t make the bed, leaving the bedclothes crumpled. A stark contrast to Sam’s tidiness.
That done, he stood at the door and surveyed his work. The room looked lived-in, like he’d made himself at home and had no plans to leave anytime soon.
Vex knocked on the door promptly at six forty-five. Drew followed him down the stairs to the parking garage and across to his car.
“I figure the easiest thing is for you to lie down in the backseat and I’ll cover you with this.” He held up a gray blanket. “You stay quiet and still until I tell you otherwise. Okay?”
“Okay. I appreciate you doing this.”
“Sam’s a good sort. Hard to say no to. I hope you’re not leading him down a rabbit hole.” Vex held his gaze, challenging him.
“I’ve been down that rabbit hole, I have no intention of going back or dragging Sam down with me. He thinks he can help me get out. But if it looks like I’m putting him in harm’s way, I won’t hold him to that.”
Vex nodded slowly.
“Good. Sam has the sort of generosity a person could take advantage of. He might not see it that way, but his friends would.”
Warning delivered, Vex opened the car door. Drew climbed in, stretching out along the backseat. The blanket landed across him a moment later and he pulled it over his head. The blanket was heavy and warm. He could feel Vex tugging it this way and that before the door shut, and another opened a moment later as Vex got into the driver’s seat.
“Alright, just stay nice and still back there, Drew. I’ll have you out of here asap.”
It was already growing warm under the blanket but as the car rolled up towards the exit, a wave of cold swept over him and he held himself still to hide a shiver. The car leveled out, then turned, his body rocking with the motion of the vehicle.
They were out and onto the street, he guessed, though no hint of daylight passed through the woven blanket. Another turn and he breathed a sigh of relief. No one and nothing had stopped them. Vex didn’t speak, but he did turn the radio on, music filtering through the car. Drew let himself relax, the motion of the car soothing, each twist and turn assuring him that he was making his escape.
The heat under the blanket quickly grew uncomfortable. He was thankful it was early morning, and that they weren’t traveling far. The car slowed to a stop.
“You can come out now,” Vex said, and with a sigh of relief, Drew pulled back the blanket and sat up, blinking at the sudden brightness.
A knock on the window startled him and he turned his head to see Sam.
“Out you get,” Vex said. “I have to get to work.”
“Thanks for your help,” he replied, pushing open the door and stepping out to greet Sam. Sam exchanged a few words of thanks with Vex through the open window before the other man drove off.
“Ready?” he asked, turning back to Drew.
“Ready,” Drew said, following Sam to his bike. Sam pulled a spare helmet from his backpack and Drew put it on.
“Have you been on a bike before?”
“Once, as a kid.”
“There’s not much to it. Hold on to me, lean into the turns.”
That sounded simple. Sam handed him the backpack which he slipped onto his back before he climbed on behind Sam, wrapping his arms around his waist. His hand knocked against something unexpected and he lifted Sam’s jacket, taking a long look at his holster and gun.
Sam twisted to see what he was looking at.
“Better safe than sorry,” he said, giving Drew a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, I know how to handle it, and myself.” Drew didn’t doubt that.
Soon they were zipping through the streets, a cool breeze buffeting them. Sam had said they were stopping by a friend’s house, to leave his bike there and borrow a car. The bike wasn’t going to be suitable for such a long journey. As much as Drew was enjoying it, the feel of the wind whipping by him, the smooth movement of the bike on the road, he knew it would be a very different thing if they were hours on the road, in the rain or heat.
They left the city streets, the roads growing wider, passing more schools and houses, and fewer businesses. All too soon they pulled to a stop in front of a small suburban house.
Drew clambered off and Sam followed a moment later.
As they walked up the driveway, the porch door opened and a man on crutches came out. It took Drew’s eyes a moment to work out what was wrong with what he was seeing. The man was missing his left leg from the knee down. It didn’t seem to slow him down.
“Sam, good to see you!” he greeted. Sam jogged forward and Drew held back, giving the two men a moment to themselves.
“How is the PT going?” Sam was asking when Drew got close enough to hear their conversation. PT? What could they be… oh. Physical therapy.
“I’m getting there. They’ve fitted me for the prosthetic and I get to start training with it soon. The phantom pains are something else though. Keep waking me up at night.” He stared down at his leg, aggrieved. When he looked back up, he caught sight of Drew as he hovered a few feet away.
“Are you going to introduce me to your friend?”
Sam coughed. “Sure. Jed, this is Drew. Drew, this is Jed.”
Drew stepped forward and shook Jed's hand. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You, too. You’re Logan’s brother, right?”
“Right. You know Logan?”
“Not really. Friend of a friend. How’s he getting on?”
“Doing good,” Drew hedged. The truth was, he was relying on Sam’s knowledge and not his own. He hoped Logan was okay and that his problems wouldn’t bring trouble down on his brother.
“That’s great. Do you want to come in for some breakfast or a coffee?”
“Actually, we need to be getting on the road. We have a long journey ahead of us.”
“Sure.” Jed’s face fell a little, but he rallied. “The car is in the garage. You can leave your bike in there, it’ll be safe until you come back.”
“How are Jen and Toby?” Sam asked, as they got the garage open, Jed handing Sam a set of car keys.
“Jen’s great. She’s been a real trooper with all this.” He gestured to his leg as he spoke. “Toby is the highlight of my day. There’s something magical about kids, they really give you something to strive for. I don’t want to think about what I’d be like without them.”
Sam squeezed his shoulder and Drew felt again like he was intruding. There was clearly a solidarity between them all; Sam, Matt, Jed, even Vex. A sort of language he didn’t speak.
They had the car out of the garage and the bike stowed safely inside a few minutes later.
“It’s a good choice not to take the bike. The forecast is for storms across the east and midlands over the next few days,” Jed said.
Sam put the backpack in the backseat and got in, waving goodbye to Jed as they pulled away.
“How did he…” Drew wasn’t sure it was polite to ask.
“Car bomb at a checkpoint. A piece of shrapnel tore up the blood vessels in his leg. He was lucky not to bleed out but they couldn't save the limb.”
Drew shuddered at the image. “How do you hold it together after something like that?” Jed seemed in remarkably good spirits, considering.
“I guess, first of all, you remember to be thankful that you didn’t die. And you take comfort and solace in friends and family. Life doesn’t end when you lose a limb though it can feel that way. The mental damage is often worse than the physical.”
Sam lapsed into silence and Drew didn’t break it, not knowing what to say to that. He’d seen how much Matt was suffering and as far as Drew could tell, the damage there was solely psychological. And when he thought back to his teenage years and his last few months at home being tormented daily by his father, it wasn’t so hard for him to understand what Sam was talking about.