Bennett Mafia
Chapter 46 - BENNETT MAFIA

CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

I heard the guards shouting and dogs barking just as I ran down the last hill. A rusted white minivan was pulled over on the road with only two tires on the gravel, and I knew that was my ride. As I jogged toward it, the back door opened.

Blade greeted me, a dark green blanket full of camouflage ribbons thrown over his shoulders. He waved me in, and as soon as I was inside, he gave me my own blanket.

"Hi!"

Carol sat behind the wheel. Dark red sweatpants, a banana-yellow hoodie and her hair in curls wasn't even the icing on her disguise. It was the cigarette between two of her fingers. Carol didn't smoke.

"Let me guess," I said, trying hard not to smile. "A tired, middle-aged mother." It was good to see them, both of them.

"Yep." She blinded me with a smile so I could see her yellowed teeth, and she pointed to the bags under her eyes. "And this isn't makeup. I stayed up two full nights for you." "The alarm was raised?" Blade looked into the woods behind us.

I moved to the side. "She's not coming. She rolled her ankle and couldn't make it the rest of the way."

"That's too bad." Blade reached around me, shutting the door, and then he lay down in the back. "Get down here."

There was a whole setup of boxes and bags of Christmas ornaments. Nestled in between everything was enough room for two people to lie down. I knew as soon as I got down there, he would reach up and pull the rest of the stuff over us. They'd made the back look almost like a hoarder's minivan. It was perfect.

I began climbing back. "Drive north. They'll expect you to go south or even east. Go the opposite direction. We can hit the interstate and make up time that way."

Carol shot me a look in the mirror. "Pffft. You act like this is my first day on the job." She waved me down with her cigarette. "Get down, you mafia-kept woman, and let me rescue your madamhood."

I grinned at her. It was nice to see them again.

Blade tugged me the rest of the way, and a second later he'd pulled the boxes and everything over us. A wood frame held everything in place and kept the weight off of us. We had a cozy little cocoon down here.

A second later Carol was coughing. She muttered, just loud enough for us to hear, "I'd make the worst smoker ever." Another smattering of coughing. "Okay, guys. It's about to get cold. I have to open the window." A draft hit us moments later.

Blade tucked the blankets more firmly around us.

He lay beside me. In the past he would've suggested we share a blanket to conserve heat. He didn't make that suggestion today, and I knew Kai was the reason.

There was a sadness in Blade's eyes, one I hadn't seen before and was hard to see now.

"Are you mad at me?"

He closed his eyes, rolled to his back. When he opened them again, he wasn't looking at me. "No."

"You're sad, though."

Did Blade love me? I didn't know. Kai said he did, but it wasn't my place to ask. The only thing I could control was whether I stayed with Kai at the end of all this. I should've regretted what I'd done, but I didn't have it in me. Not anymore. Not after being with him for the last week, waking up in his arms, being claimed by him. I felt all those dark and delicious sensations rolling around inside me all over again.

No. I couldn't regret Kai. At least not yet. Not until he did something so bad there was no turning back.

Was that wrong?

Even that question felt bleak to me.

Kai had a pull over me that I couldn't put into words.

"What does the Network think?"

"I don't know what-"

"Come on, Blade. Like you haven't hacked your way into those emails. This is me asking."

He was quiet a moment.

"They think you're compromised, but there are some who want to bring you back in, make you an asset."

They wanted to use me, turn me against Kai. While I stayed with Kai.

"He traffics in women, and drugs, and guns. I mean..." Blade turned to me. His words were fierce. "How can you be with him, knowing that? He is what we stand against."

I could've explained that Kai didn't traffic those in, except guns. I could've explained that he wasn't a bad man; he just did bad things. That he was the leader of his family, of the council, and he did both of those jobs to keep his family alive. But I didn't. My loyalties were now with Kai, and he would want me to say nothing. An ache formed in my chest at that realization.

I loved him. I had fallen in love with him. Even now, even as I was sneaking to follow him, I would go back to him.

I couldn't explain any of that to Blade, one of my oldest friends, who had done so much for me and was currently risking his job for me.

Wait. Was he?

"What does the Network think you're doing this weekend?"

He hesitated before responding, his voice dull and low. "They think we're at a festival in Cowtown."

He was lying.

I knew Blade. I knew his tells. He'd hesitated. Blade. Did. Not. Hesitate.

I had one guess: they were already moving forward with bringing me back in. They wanted to turn me against Kai.

Well, then.

"He has people in the Network." I rolled my head to look at Blade directly.

There was no use pretending. I didn't want that for this friendship. He and Carol were too precious in my heart. I could not be fake, letting their mission wedge even more between us.

"If you're going to try to turn me against him, you have to know that. He has people inside. He knew things even I didn't."

"What are you-why are you saying this to me?"

"You know why."

He flinched before looking back at me. His eyes were haunted. "It's the only way I could keep my job. If he has people there, they're staying quiet. The Network was furious that I tried to get you back without them." Now I was the one flinching.

The woman who helped him was dead, because of Kai.

You should get used to it. He's the mafia, for God's sake.

That voice. I hated that voice. My reason, my sanity, but also my reprimander. That voice got quiet whenever I was in Kai's arms.

"Heads-up. We're about to get tested," Carol said.

The car slowed to a stop, and her window rolled down.

"What?"

I bit down to keep from laughing. Carol had been chipper, her usual mood, moments ago. She groused at the person now. I could hear her take a drag from her smoke. "Shit," she grumbled. "Here. Hold this."

"Ma'am?"

"What?" she snapped. "It's a cig. Jesus. You were smoking one too. I can smell it on you." She rifled through something. "Fuck. Damn." A thud on the bottom of the van. "Those little fuckers. They took my wallet. Why'd the fuck they take my wallet?" she growled. "I'm going to murder my own children. Do you hear me wait." She gulped. A sweet voice now. "I mean, I'm not actually going to do that, Officer. But look..." Irritation. Impatience. "They wanted pizza last night. I bet that's when they took it, forgot to put it back. Or no... They wanted to go bowling today, and the mall! Those little shits went to the mall, when I told them specifically not to. I'm raising ingrates. Those little criminals-" "Okay, ma'am." A rapping on the top of the car. "You're free to go."

"You sure? I wasn't speeding. The traction on these tires sucks too much for me to go fast. Another thing I need to fix. I tell you-"

The guy was brisk. He was done listening to her. "Here's your cigarette. Thank you for your time."

We heard him walk past us.

Carol took a drag, still grumbling under her breath.

His car started up, and he passed us by.

"See you later, pig."

I couldn't hold back my grin. She was a piss away from being a method actor.

Another moment, then, "He has feds on his payroll and local cops. Who are you sleeping with, Ri?"

I groaned. "It's complicated."

She laughed, rolling up her window and starting forward again. "Just hold on a bit. We have a plane waiting for us. Your boyfriend ain't the only one with some connections."

"The Network?" I asked Blade.

He shook his head, his first faint smile showing. "A friend of Carol's."

"Damn straight. I heard you. Tinder's good for a few things other than a hook-up."

"Carol, are you dating someone?"

She barked out a laugh. "You're not the only one who's got someone new and exciting in their life. My guy just happens to have his pilot's license and a buddy with a plane. Took a bit of coercing, but he said he could fly you to Milwaukee." "Well." I grinned at Blade. "Hot damn."

"Hot damn, indeed!" Carol laughed again. "And hold on. I'm going to put the pedal to the metal, if you know what I mean."

...

We turned into a small airport. I didn't think it was the one Kai had flown out of since we'd driven for over an hour, but it was small. It was isolated. And there was only one plane getting ready for departure. As soon as we parked, Carol went over to a guy coming out of the hangar.

Blade got out behind me, stretching a little. We'd stayed in the back until the last ten minutes, so our legs were a little knotted up. Rifling through a bag, he pulled out some papers and handed them over. "Those are numbers to call for resources."

"Blade."

He kept going, pulling out a phone, a smaller envelope, another fatter envelope. "You can't use the phones Brooke gave you. He'll have figured out which ones were taken and have trackers on them. There's money." I had both backpacks from Brooke. If there were a tracker on anything, we already would've had guards pulling in for me. I was safe, but I took the phone he gave me. Checking the back, I asked, "Not a Network phone?"

He shook his head. "No. I didn't want to risk it. Like you said, he has people in the Network too." He paused a beat. "The Network didn't want to risk it." He looked away. "You're right. They green-lighted Carol and me to come get you, but they want to know who his people are. They're not risking anything. Everything I'm giving you is off the book so no one can find you. Even me. The envelope is sealed, and the envelope inside that envelope is sealed. No one's seen it except the manufacturer."

And the manufacturer wouldn't give two shits. They were just doing a job. I was safe.

"Where is he flying me into?"

"Not Milwaukee. You'll fly to South Riddance. It's a small airport past Milwaukee. You'll have to drive back, but a rental car should be easy for you to get."

It was a good plan. If they were looking, they might not look at flights that didn't go to Milwaukee. It'd be an oversight on their part.

"Okay."

He glanced at Carol, who was still talking with her pilot friend, before he pulled out another smaller box. "Put this in your bag. You know what it's for." My mouth dried. It was a gun box.

I doubted there was a permit for it, but I put it in one of the bags anyway.

"He could lose his license."

Blade glanced back at Carol's friend. "Don't get caught."

I hoisted my bags to my back. Blankets. Clothes. I knew what was in the backpacks: cash, credit cards, the phones to use, fake identification. I had everything I needed to start a new life. It was a bit of overkill, all this to sneak into Milwaukee under Kai's watch, but if I knew Kai, I would need it. He'd have his resources looking for me nonstop. I'd have to go all the way underground.

Carol and her friend walked toward us.

I asked under my breath, "We're certain this guy is legit? He's not on anyone's payroll?"

Blade looked at me from the corner of his eye. "You mean on Bennett's payroll?"

I didn't answer because that wasn't what I meant. I looked at Blade, and his eyebrows shot up.

"Carol swears she met him by chance, on Tinder. They've hooked up for six months."

But he could be a setup. He could be working for the Network. And maybe I was becoming paranoid? Too many times going around the block with Kai? He was making me see moves in a game that wasn't being played. Maybe. Blade came to the same conclusion. "Ditch him as soon as you land."

"That was already my plan."

The guy nodded to me as he walked up and shook my hand. "You ready for this flight?"

Carol hugged me. She hugged the guy. He climbed into the plane, and she went back to the minivan, leaving only Blade and me.

He gave me a smile, another sad one. "Until we see each other again?"

There were words to say, sentiments to express, and tears I was trying not to shed. All I did was nod and promise, "I'll see you again."

As I climbed in and watched Blade go over to where Carol was waiting, I felt the same thing I'd seen on his face.

Sadness.

Everything was about to change. I felt it coming on like an impending doom. The pilot yelled at me to buckle up, and moments later, we were hurtling down the airstrip.