Chosen (7 page)

Will wasn’t sure what happened with Emma, but he could tell she was pretty spooked. It surprised him she went to sleep so quickly. He shifted his gaze to the rear view mirror and saw Jake staring back.

“You doing okay, little guy?”

Jake nodded his head.

“So, what are you, like in kindergarten?”

Jake laughed. “No, it’s summer time.”

Will shook his head. “Yeah, I guess it is. It’s been a while since I was a kid.”

“My mom home-schools me anyway. I already know how to read and I can add and subtract,” He paused for a moment then added, “I bet you were nice when you were a little boy.”

It had been awhile since Will had thought about his childhood. “Yeah, I guess I was. I was a pretty quiet kid.” He was lucky his childhood had been so ideal, at least when he was little. Of course, his father had missed most of it. He suddenly wondered how his parents were doing. He hadn’t thought of them in quite a while. The last time he saw them, when he came home from Iraq, his father made it very apparent that Will was no longer welcome.

“Did you have a dog?” Jake asked.

“A dog? Yeah, I had a dog. Rusty, some old mutt that showed up one day and my mom let me keep.”

Jake’s mouth formed a pout. “I want a dog, but Mom says I can’t have one because we move so much.”

“It would be hard for a dog to move so much. Maybe you can get a dog if the Bad Guys stop following you.” Will wasn’t sure what Jake and Emma’s future held. Why was he making friends with this kid when he was getting ready to hand Emma over to the people who hired him? Why did they want her? He had never put himself in a position to ask questions. Frankly, he never cared. “Jake, has your mom ever done anything bad?”

Will watched Jake’s confused face in the mirror. “No, Mommy’s never done anything bad.”

Just because Jake said she hadn’t didn’t make her innocent. A desperate woman trying to protect her son might have stole money from someone. The only thing she had now was a suitcase. How did someone rebuild from that? If she’d been in this position before she could have taken money and pissed someone off. And now they were collecting their debt. Only these people were pretty powerful. Will felt an unusual nagging, startled by the unfamiliar prickling of guilt. It had been a long time since he felt any accountability for what he did. He quickly pushed it away; he was just doing his job.

Jake laid his head down on the seat and fell asleep. Will drove over the Texas border into Oklahoma.

Emma woke up feeling a little better, but still had a twinge of uneasiness that something was wrong. She looked in the backseat and found Jake sleeping. Obviously, he didn’t sense anything. “Where are we?”

“Just outside of Oklahoma City.” Will’s left hand was slung over the steering wheel.

“How far are we going today?”

“Up into Kansas I think. We’ll see how it goes.”

They rode in silence until it overwhelmed her. He didn’t even have the radio on. “Never found that Tim McGraw CD?”

Will laughed. “Sorry, you pegged me wrong. I’m not into country.”

“So tell me about your consulting job.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Decided to make some small talk after all?”

“Unless you’d rather play the alphabet game. So what kind of consulting do you do?”

He shot her a wicked smile. “I’d be more than happy to demonstrate if you like.”

“I thought I wasn’t your type, with my baggage and all.” She raised her hand and waved to the back seat.

“Ouch,” He pressed his hand to his chest. “That hurts. Maybe I’ve decided to be an equal opportunist.”

“Do you ever lay off the crap or is it all bullshit, all the time with you?”

He laughed. “I work with computers. Networking stuff, nothing very exciting.”

“So you make up for it with your crappy pickup lines?”

Cocking an eyebrow, a slow smile spread across his face. “I can assure you, I’m not all talk. The offer to demonstrate still stands.”

Emma rolled her eyes. “Thanks, I’ll pass.”

They passed an exit. “Do you need to stop anytime soon? Use the bathroom?” Will asked.

“No, I’m good. Since Jake’s sleeping, I say just keep going. Unless you have to stop.”

“I’ve been trained to travel for long lengths of time without needing a bathroom stop.”

“Oh yes, that previous military training. I still think you’re bluffing on that one.”

Will winked. “I guess you’ll never know. So now, your turn. You have to tell me something about you.”

She didn’t want to tell him anything. Whatever she told him needed to be fairly benign. “I used to be an accountant before all of this happened. A CPA.”

His eyes widened in surprised. “You? An accountant?”

A smug grin lifted the corner of her mouth. “Don’t see me as the accountant type?”

“Not any accountants I ever knew. They teach you how to drive in accounting school?”

“Not hardly.” She scoffed. “I learned how to drive like that when it became a necessity. Believe it or not, I used to be a very boring person.”

“Princess, somehow I doubt you were ever boring.” The way he said it made it sound like an actual compliment. “So why aren’t you still an accountant?”

“It’s hard to find a job in the professional world when you keep leaving without notice. Employers frown on that.”

“Yeah, I suppose you’re right. You keep leaving because of the Bad Men?”

Emma realized she had been too unguarded. She straightened up in her seat. “Jake might feel it necessary to discuss it with you but I don’t.”

“Fair enough.”

Will’s sudden niceness unnerved her. He had to be up to something. “So did you learn your consulting skills in the military?”

He paused then belly laughed. “Yeah,” he choked out. “I guess you could say that.”

“What did you do in the military?”

His cocky attitude returned and he gave her a lazy smile. “I could tell you but then I’d have to kill you.”

She groaned. “Seriously? Is that the best you can do? It’s such a cliche.” Emma closed her eyes again. This was going to be a long trip.

“Ever live here?” Will asked as they drove around the outskirts of Oklahoma City.

“Fishing for information?”

“What do I care where you lived?”

“Exactly. Then why bother to ask?”

“Mommy, you need to be nicer to Will.” Jake sat up in the back seat, tears streaming down his face.

Her heart lurched. She leaned over the seat to wipe the tears from Jake’s cheeks. “I’m sorry. I’ll be nicer, okay?”

Will grunted.

She narrowed her eyes with a glare. “Don’t push me.”

“Mommy, please be nicer.
Please
.”

His face was so earnest that guilt hit her like a tidal wave. Why did he care if she got along with Will? Maybe Jake liked Will, saw him as a father figure. God forbid. Whatever the reason, she knew she needed to respect his feelings.

“I’m sorry, baby. I’ll try, okay?”

Jake nodded his head but worry still etched his face. Emma stroked his soft cheek with her fingers. Why did he look worried? “What’s wrong, Jake? Do you see the Bad Men?”

His tear-filled eyes held hers and he slowly shook his head no.

Emma caressed his cheek one last time and turned around, the gnawing feeling in her gut returning with a vengeance. Something wasn’t right.

Will wasn’t sure what to make of Emma and Jake’s exchange. Jake was obviously a sensitive kid. Against his better judgment, he was starting to like him, freak show and all. He’d make a better effort not to antagonize Emma, even if she made it hard to resist. He passed a road sign stating that Wichita was seventy-five miles ahead.

“We should hit Wichita around rush hour time. We can stop for dinner right outside the city limits and try to miss some of the traffic.”

“Sure.” Emma answered, looking out the window. She had clutched her stomach since Jake’s meltdown.

“There’s a rest stop just up ahead. Why don’t we stop for a few minutes? Jake, you have to go to the bathroom?” Will called over his shoulder.

“Yes.”

Will glanced at Emma again. She bit her lower lip, lost in thought. “You okay?” he asked, softly.

His tone must have surprised her. “Yeah, I’ll be fine,” she said, but the uncertainty in her eyes was clear. Will liked the feisty Emma better. While a feisty Emma was definitely more fun, it was also easier to dismiss. Something was wrong.

He pulled off into a rest stop. A large building with restrooms on either side stood centered on the edge of the parking area. Vending machines lined the building and concrete picnic tables were scattered off the side. The parking lot held only a few cars this late in the afternoon. He pulled into a space in the middle of the lot, separated from the other cars. Emma got out, grabbing her purse. She held it close to her body as she helped Jake out of the backseat.

“Afraid someone’s going to snatch your purse?”

Emma’s expression was as puzzled as it was guilty. “No, don’t be an idiot.”

Will got out of the truck and walked to the front, waiting for Emma and Jake. She was up to something. As he tried to decide how to handle the problem, Jake ran up and slipped his hand into Will’s. Will jerked in surprise, but Jake held on tight.

“I want to go to the bathroom with Will.” Jake told Emma in a tone that left no room for rebuttal.

“Jake, I don’t think it’s a good idea right now. Just come with me and you can go with Will next time.” Her usual anger was gone, replaced with an anxious tone.

Will tensed.”Is everything okay?” He did a quick scan of the parking lot, but saw nothing unusual.

“Something doesn’t feel right.” She clutched her stomach again while maintaining her death grip on her purse. “Jake, are you sure you don’t see the Bad Men?”

Jake tightened his grip on Will’s hand. “No, Mommy. Everything is fine.”

Will had a sinking feeling that Jake wasn’t being truthful. Looking around again, he put a hand on the small of Emma’s back and gently pushed her toward the restrooms. “Let’s just hurry up with our business and get out of here.” He checked over his shoulder as they walked across the parking lot. Both of them were acting weird, and if he didn’t have to pee so bad he’d skip the stop altogether.

Jake’s hand still had a death grip on his when they got to the building. Emma reached out to Jake. “Come with me, Jake.”

“I’m going with Will.”

“Jake, please, we don’t have time for this,” she pleaded.

Will saw fear in her eyes. “Emma, what’s going on?”

“I don’t know. I just have this awful feeling that they’re following us. I’ve had it all afternoon, but Jake says he doesn’t see them and I don’t see anything…”

Jake’s hand had more strength than Will thought possible in such a small boy. Obviously, Jake wanted to go with him and Will was curious why. “Emma, just go to the bathroom. I swear I’ll take care of Jake and make sure nothing happens to him.” Will stared into her eyes as he promised, surprising himself in the process. This wasn’t like him.

Emma looked from Jake to Will and relented. “Just hurry, okay?” She scanned the lot again before going into the restroom entrance.

A man and his two sons walked out as Will led Jake into the bathroom with him. Will did a quick check around the restroom and determined that no one else was there. Jake let go of Will’s hand and headed for a stall while Will walked over to a urinal.

“I’ll wait out here for you.”

The tile wall in front of Will did little to hold his attention so his mind easily wandered to Emma and Jake. Why did Emma seem so concerned, when Jake didn’t? He was sure Jake was hiding something.

Jake emerged from the stall as Will finished up. They stood in front of the sinks and turned on the faucets. Will decided to see if Jake would spill some information. “How do you know when the bad guys are coming?”

Jake carefully rubbed his hands together. “I can see them. I see them sitting in their truck watching us, or chasing us.”

“The next time you see them, will you give me some warning?”

Jake shut off the water and turned to watch him, water dripping from his hands onto the concrete floor. “I know about you.” His unblinking eyes bore into Will’s.

The blood drained from Will’s face. He broke away from Jake’s gaze and leaned over the sink, rinsing his hands. “What do you mean?”

“I see who you work for. When I was asleep, I saw you.”

Looking up in the mirror, Will saw Jake’s reflection, his piercing eyes staring at him in the mirror. He waited to see if Jake was going to say anything else before Will cleared his throat. “You mean my computer company?”

“No. The other bad men.”

Will froze. How could a five-year-old make him feel like he’d been caught? He reached for the paper towels and handed a couple to Jake. He began to wipe his hands. “Jake, that must have been a really bad dream. Why would you think that?”

“I know the truth about you and now you know that I do.” Jake stood still, his hands still wet and clutching the unused paper towels, his face expressionless.

Will knelt down in front of him, unsure how to handle this. Should he continue to protest? Should he call Jake crazy?

“I’m not going to tell Mommy.” Jake’s small voice echoed off the cinder block walls.

Will narrowed his gaze, his face less than a foot from Jake’s, and lowered his voice. “Jake, if you think I’m bad, why wouldn’t you tell your mom?”

A tiny smile lifted the corners of Jake’s mouth. “I never said you were bad.”

Will opened and closed his mouth, trying to figure out how to respond.

Jake spun to leave. “Mommy’s scared and waiting for us. Let’s go.”

“Jake,” Will called as he stood up.

Jake looked back over his shoulder.

“You didn’t answer my question about the Bad Men. Will you tell me if you see them coming?”

Jake’s face remained expressionless as he threw his paper towels in the trash can and walked out the door.

Will walked out of the restroom and found Jake holding Emma’s hand.

“How could you let him walk out alone?” Emma spit out through gritted teeth the moment he emerged.