the camp outside.
In a few minutes, Bo knocked on the van door. A part of me wanted to tell him to just leave us alone, in our little cocoon away from the world. We could have just stayed there forever, away from the blood and the sex and the death.
But instead we opened the door. Even though everyone from the camp was occupied with discussing the scene in Carl’s trailer, he spoke in a whisper. “We don’t have time to argue about this. No one says a word about what just happened. We keep our eyes on each other. Cain is the only way out of the country. Only talk to him when we need to. Got it?”
Mom nodded.
“Is Jordyn okay?” I asked.
He nodded, but looked at Mom instead of me.
We rounded the corner and saw Cain talking to the man I had asked about the food earlier in the evening. Jordyn was by his side. They were flanked by a sea of other people from the camp. Everyone was quiet except for Cain and the man. Bo kept me and Mom behind him.
“We are very sorry that this happened to your girl, Cain. Please take the new vehicle as promised… Just be on your way.”
Cain nodded. As he calmly walked toward us, all the others moved instantly out of his way. No one said goodbye.
When he reached us, he kept his arm around Jordyn and threw the other around my mom. She stiffened. “We have to move. Now.” He kept his face still, but his pace quickened. Bo moved behind us.
The new vehicle was waiting at the other end of the camp. A good thing because it put more distance between us and the mercenaries. It sat low to the ground and had one coat of black primer covering it. We opened the door and realized it had the same amount of seats as a mini-van, except it could go much faster. I hoped we would never have to use the extra speed.
I sat in the back with Jordyn, as far away from Cain as I could get. It wasn’t that I wanted to distance myself because I was afraid. I wasn’t. I didn’t just see him as the guy who killed people right in front of my eyes. I also saw the person who was risking his life to save us, the person who told me the truth no matter how much I didn’t want to know, and the person who somehow understood when I needed a teddy bear more than anything in the world.
But I should have been scared…to pieces. And the fact that I was more fascinated with him than afraid was something I wasn’t prepared to deal with. Not yet. Not until I could talk to him without Mom hovering over my shoulder.
Mom protested when I didn’t sit closer to her, but I said it was okay and she’d be right in front of me.
Jordyn just stared out the window, leaning against the side of the car. She hadn’t even had time to change out of the torn shirt. The blood on it had dried, but the crusty brown remnants still clung to the fabric. I took off my jacket and set it in her lap. Her lips curled into a smile ever so slightly and she swung the jacket around her shoulders. Her face winced at the effort so I helped her stick her arms through. “Thank you.”
I thought distracting her with conversation might help her forget about how much pain she was in. “So, I never heard how you and Cain met.”
Jordyn sat up as straight as her weak body could. I winced in sympathy as she slowly peeled herself off the side of the car and sat upright. “I looked a lot like I do today the day he found me. I had barely been in the life for a week. I thought I had every single thing figured out…dialed in. Just when I started to think I was really hot shit, a client followed me outside a motel for a second round that he didn’t plan on paying for. I fought him off as best I could, but when I felt my skull knock against the motel wall, I figured it was all over. My world turned black, but right as I closed my eyes, I saw the blurry shadow of a second man.
“When I opened my eyes, I looked down and saw myself covered in white sheets, and next to me sat the tiniest little table with a glass of water and a sandwich sitting on top of it.
In a few minutes, Bo knocked on the van door. A part of me wanted to tell him to just leave us alone, in our little cocoon away from the world. We could have just stayed there forever, away from the blood and the sex and the death.
But instead we opened the door. Even though everyone from the camp was occupied with discussing the scene in Carl’s trailer, he spoke in a whisper. “We don’t have time to argue about this. No one says a word about what just happened. We keep our eyes on each other. Cain is the only way out of the country. Only talk to him when we need to. Got it?”
Mom nodded.
“Is Jordyn okay?” I asked.
He nodded, but looked at Mom instead of me.
We rounded the corner and saw Cain talking to the man I had asked about the food earlier in the evening. Jordyn was by his side. They were flanked by a sea of other people from the camp. Everyone was quiet except for Cain and the man. Bo kept me and Mom behind him.
“We are very sorry that this happened to your girl, Cain. Please take the new vehicle as promised… Just be on your way.”
Cain nodded. As he calmly walked toward us, all the others moved instantly out of his way. No one said goodbye.
When he reached us, he kept his arm around Jordyn and threw the other around my mom. She stiffened. “We have to move. Now.” He kept his face still, but his pace quickened. Bo moved behind us.
The new vehicle was waiting at the other end of the camp. A good thing because it put more distance between us and the mercenaries. It sat low to the ground and had one coat of black primer covering it. We opened the door and realized it had the same amount of seats as a mini-van, except it could go much faster. I hoped we would never have to use the extra speed.
I sat in the back with Jordyn, as far away from Cain as I could get. It wasn’t that I wanted to distance myself because I was afraid. I wasn’t. I didn’t just see him as the guy who killed people right in front of my eyes. I also saw the person who was risking his life to save us, the person who told me the truth no matter how much I didn’t want to know, and the person who somehow understood when I needed a teddy bear more than anything in the world.
But I should have been scared…to pieces. And the fact that I was more fascinated with him than afraid was something I wasn’t prepared to deal with. Not yet. Not until I could talk to him without Mom hovering over my shoulder.
Mom protested when I didn’t sit closer to her, but I said it was okay and she’d be right in front of me.
Jordyn just stared out the window, leaning against the side of the car. She hadn’t even had time to change out of the torn shirt. The blood on it had dried, but the crusty brown remnants still clung to the fabric. I took off my jacket and set it in her lap. Her lips curled into a smile ever so slightly and she swung the jacket around her shoulders. Her face winced at the effort so I helped her stick her arms through. “Thank you.”
I thought distracting her with conversation might help her forget about how much pain she was in. “So, I never heard how you and Cain met.”
Jordyn sat up as straight as her weak body could. I winced in sympathy as she slowly peeled herself off the side of the car and sat upright. “I looked a lot like I do today the day he found me. I had barely been in the life for a week. I thought I had every single thing figured out…dialed in. Just when I started to think I was really hot shit, a client followed me outside a motel for a second round that he didn’t plan on paying for. I fought him off as best I could, but when I felt my skull knock against the motel wall, I figured it was all over. My world turned black, but right as I closed my eyes, I saw the blurry shadow of a second man.
“When I opened my eyes, I looked down and saw myself covered in white sheets, and next to me sat the tiniest little table with a glass of water and a sandwich sitting on top of it.
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