Raize went to the back of the vehicle as Jake started wiping the inside of it.
We’d been told to pack light. I had a small backpack with a book and a change of clothes. Some toiletries. Raize was just as light. Cavers had nothing, and I assumed he hadn’t known we’d be traveling, because he was looking around, shifting on his feet.
At least I hoped that was the reason he was doing the nervous dance. The other reason meant a bullet in his forehead, and I did not want that to happen—not because of him, but because I lost my appetite every time a body dropped dead in front of me.
Raize handed me my bag, and I put it on my back. He did the same with his bag. Jake’s bag went on the ground, and then Raize rifled through another smaller bag.
He pulled out packets, handing one to each of us. “These are your traveling papers. These were taken care of by Carloni, so don’t get a big head thinking you have fake papers and you can head out from us.”
Whispers: Interactive StoriesMake your own choices and decide what happens next!
The warning there? These papers could be traced. Got it. Also, Carloni would be pissed about the lost investment.
I was also going out on a limb and guessing that Carloni was also Carl. It made sense.
“You sit by me,” Raize said, looking at me.
I nodded, taking my new driver’s license out.
My name was Carrie Smith. I was from Kentucky, and I was now twenty-three.
“You can call her Carrie,” Raize told Cavers.
Cavers frowned, but didn’t reply.
He also gave us new phones and took our old ones, which he put in a baggie and stuffed into his coat pocket.
It took Jake about an hour to finish with the car.
We waited to the side.
Raize was on his phone, standing away from us with his head down. Cavers was a smoker. I could smell the cigarettes on him, and wondered if he was itching to light up. Probably. Maybe that was why he was shifting on his feet. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, and I caught the bulge from his gun…which made me wonder what Raize was going to do about their guns. Unless we were checking a bag?
That proved to be the case once Jake was done.
Raize ended his call, shoving his phone into his pocket. He jerked his head toward Jake. “You’re checking your bag. Everyone, put your guns inside. Wrap them up in some clothing. Give me the keys, Jake.”
He handed them over.
Raize went to the front and ducked inside to leave the bag of phones under the seat. He put the keys in a zipped compartment behind the front seat. Then he locked the doors before giving everything a once-over.
After that, we were ready for the airport.
Raize had us each enter through different doors and different security entrances. He and I stayed together, and he sent Cavers off first. Jake went next, with instructions to keep an eye on Cavers, from a distance. He nodded, heading off to check his bag.
Raize and I moved past him and through the farthest door and the farthest security checkpoint. I used to fly, back when I lived normally, so I knew not all airports were the same. Some had different security stations set up around the whole airport, which helped cut down the lines, but others had one large security line. Those were horrible to go through—they took forever.
I was glad these were sectioned off.
“Move.”
The command wasn’t loud or even a bark, but I jerked because I’d been daydreaming. So not something I did.
I picked up my pace, settling behind a group of ladies who looked like they were off on a girls’ weekend. They looked rich, mid-thirties, and they were eyeing Raize behind me. A couple seemed already sloshed, the others ready to get sloshed. I hoped they wouldn’t be on the same plane as us.
“You nervous to fly?”
I was surprised by Raize’s question, and turned toward him.
His dark eyes assessed me, but he didn’t seem as cold as he usually did.
I didn’t know how I felt about that.
I raised a shoulder. “No, just thinking about life before.”
He stared at me, then nodded and looked forward.
The women were openly staring at him now, whispering together.
I didn’t know women could still whisper like schoolgirls, but these ladies were doing it.
A couple of them smiled at Raize, who cursed under his breath. “Come on.”
“What?”
“I don’t want attention. Let’s do another security gate.”
We shifted forward, and I said, “We’re two groups away. Ignore them.”
He glared at me. “They want to flirt with me.”
“Duh.”
“I don’t flirt.”
I almost grinned at that. He was outright annoyed.
One of the women fell back, and I knew she was doing it to overhear our conversation.
The front of her group started through the security line, and that’s when she turned back. “Where y’all traveling to?”