Eric

He drove around the block and parked alongside an empty lot backing up to a house three doors down from his. Within a few seconds of him braking to a stop, the back-passenger door opened and the chassis shifted, then the door closed. He looked in the mirror and out the back window, nothing impeding his view. “Ready?”

“Yeah, I’m good,” Alace called from her position behind his seat. He couldn’t see her, but knew she’d be burrowed under the lightweight blanket placed there for this purpose. If he couldn’t get a look at her, neither could the security cameras dotted around his neighborhood.

He’d never given them any consideration until she began planning this. He’d even scoffed at her dogged insistence in employing what Eric considered extreme avoidance tactics. That was until she pointed out the cameras. ATMs, gas stations, parking lots, fast food drive-throughs, traffic lights—cameras were everywhere. They’d become so much a part of the environmental fabric, they went unnoticed. Except by people paid to monitor them, and people like Alace. He’d stopped arguing entirely when she hacked a dozen cameras and demonstrated how simple it could be to track a single individual through town.

He drove without talking, all their arguing behind them, too nervous now that things were moving to engage in small talk. He would take Alace to a used car lot where she’d pick up a vehicle purchased two weeks ago. She’d paid the lot to store the car until the plates came in, and they’d gotten the call yesterday.

She’d be going from here straight to Regg’s, and once she drove off the lot, Eric would only hear from her once everything was done. All the planning and preparation were behind them, and Eric still wasn’t on board with some aspects of what was planned, but he’d seen the wisdom behind Alace’s position.

It had to be her who went.

It had to be her who dealt with Regg.

So much revolved around what she might find in his office. The outcome wasn’t set in stone, not yet, and she was still holding out the tiniest bit of hope she and Regg could end things amicably. Eric had zero expectation this would be the case. Not after listening to Regg’s attempts at persuasion. He had dug his heels in, determined to force Alace to do what he wanted, and by now, weeks past when Regg wanted the guy in North Carolina dead, he was still gagging for it.

Alace had wavered once. Regg had sent news article images to her phone, and she’d read them after going back offline. The killings had happened, just like clockwork. Another six people dead by Alace’s count and with a sobbing cry she’d claimed responsibility. Eric had stayed up late, holding her, listening and arguing against her beliefs, the gray wash of daybreak sneaking up the walls by the time she let him take her to bed, still unconvinced.

He thought of the fear that crawled into his belly while she was in New Mexico, the hourly litany of terror-filled questions with no answers. Is she safe? Is she in trouble? Does she need help?

This would be worse, knowing who she was going up against. Knowing from all her stories and his own experience what Regg was capable of. This time the questions would be harder to keep at bay. He grimaced and told her, “Nearly there, baby.”

“I like when you call me baby. Did I tell you that?” Her response was soft, voice ragged in a broken coo, and Eric could imagine her face as she said the words: mouth pulled to one side, eyes squinted to keep pooling tears from falling.

“You didn’t tell me, but I knew.” Even knowing he couldn’t see her, he glanced in the mirror. Turning a corner, he removed a hand from the wheel, draping it over the back of the seat. A moment later, her fingers twined with his. “You get a little funny look on your face when I say it. Not all the time, but sometimes. I like that look, baby.”

She snorted, her grip tightening for a moment as she gave him a squeeze. “What do I do that you like?” Eric didn’t try to hold back at her question, letting the laugh barrel out of his throat, setting the inside of the car ringing as her hand clenched his convulsively. “Eric, you know what I mean.”

“There’s that thing you do with your mouth…” He laughed softly. “Honestly, I love everything about you, Alace. Even the parts you think are unlovable.” He stretched his fingers, reaching, and she read his need, leaning to press her cheek into his palm. He brushed his thumb across her lips, tracing along the bow of her mouth as it curved into a smile. “You are very loveable, baby.” She stilled under his touch and he forged forwards, not wanting her to question anything as she went into this upcoming battle. This one would win the war, and she needed to have all her wits about her. “I just love you, Alace. Take that how you want, but you damn sure can take it for truth, baby. I love you.”

She moved, and he felt a rustle of the blanket as she lifted to her knees, arms wrapped around his neck from behind. Eric stared at her shadowed profile, seeing her bowed head in the mirror as she rested her face against his shoulder. “I love you, too.”

“I know you do, baby.” He turned the car into the lot, steering towards the back of the building. In a matter of moments, she’d be gone. He put as much feeling as he could into his words, wanting to give her something to take with her. “I know you do.”

Her arms gave him a squeeze and then chill air crept along the flesh where she’d been pressed. The back door opened and closed, and as agreed before they left home, he drove away without another word.

He stared in the mirror and saw Alace silhouetted against the darkness behind the building for a moment, her pale face turned to follow his car, and then she whirled and jogged towards the junker, keying it open and disappearing as she crawled inside.

Eric watched as long as he could, his heart clenching painfully as he saw the brake lights flash and then the car pulled away from the lot, heading the other direction.

“Be safe, baby.” He gave voice to the fears he wouldn’t show her, unaware his voice trembled. “Keep yourself safe, Alace. Come back to me.”