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"What about the fifth person?" she asks as she stands "And are you sure you have the correct three other people and can you delete the pictures without theet thes and I risk touching her as I lay one finger over her soft lips She goes absolutely still and it takes ers in her hair and press my mouth to hers

"Breanna?" I say, and it comes out much lower than I had intended

She licks her lips My eyes briefly shut as her warer She turns red and I’ain, but on purpose and slower I clear my throat and continue, "Trust me"

I lower my hand and she breathes out, "I can do that"

Breanna: What if this first one isn’t a code? What if it’s the cipher?

I lean against the seat of my motorcycle parked on the side of the road Next to me is a stranded seht, whichto be a bitch My cut is on over ers are nuloves so I could text with Breanna

In the past month, on this same road in the mountains of the Tennessee/North Carolina border, three other rigs not under Terror Security have met the same fate of two blown tires Those trucks were jacked of their cargo at gunpoint while the driver had been fixing the proble us and the occasional flash of headlights fro cars, there’s an eerie sensation to this scenario My neck itches, like there’s a scope of a high-powered rifle trained onto take a look at the second code and see what I can do with that and leta cipher

This is the first night in teeks Breanna and I haven’t talked on the phone I even called last weekend when I was on break, but there’s tension in the air tonight The foreboding feeling of everything going to hell in a o Break’s up

Breanna: Be safe

Be safe I can hear her gentle voice saying the words and it wraps around irl has me tied in knots

Off in the trees crickets chirp, and to pen scan the area with their backs toward the driver who’s repairing the tire Pigpen has his fingers on the piece strapped to his side Eli’s hand rests on the gun holstered to his back Man O’ War is up near the front of the rig We’re rotating watch every ten minutes to stay alert

Am I safe? No None of us believe we’re safe We’re on borrowed time until someone strikes When I explained to Breanna what I do part-time for the security company, her forehead wrinkled and she fell silent I never er on the patch on my cut that informs law enforce to anyone ants to fuck with al and papered up on my weapon and that I won’t draw unless someone tries to shoot les not to ask thein her head or accept when I won’t answer Some days, I think we’ll make it Other days, I’m not sure

The door to the cab of the truck shuts Man O’ War and Pigpen hang near the front of the rig and Eli strides over to o"

I crackunease In the red taillights glowing from the back of the truck, Eli appears more like the devil than a friend It’s too daone , the better You’ve been a good man to have on this We knew this trip could be trouble, and I picked you for this run because I knew you could handle it"

It’s high praise co from him and I savor the moment

"Your dad misses you at hoe a reminder of business with the security company Stuff he’s aware Eli already told ht hi at ests he ht walk over and talk toback?" Eli asks

"Yeah" It’s an honest answer, but I leave out the rest--that I can’t return Not until I kno Moet to you, whichyour father, the club or me Each day you spend at Cyrus’s is a confiro home and pretend?" I pretended before the detective and I’rity

"No" He pauses "Have you visited with the detective again?"

I straighten and hten atto Pigpen’s warning and staying away or he’s trying o And I pro me out on my word?"

A stick snaps in the trees and adrenaline pumps into my system Eli and I turn toward the sound Instincts flare and un A shadow of round Bullets whistle past I cover him as we smack the blacktop