going to have to foot it,” Chase told her as they headed towards a rear exit door.
“What if they follow us?” S he asked more than a little anxious at the thought of a second visit from them tonight.
“We’ll go the long way around,” he said , pulling out his phone and dialling Tupper. She listened as he briefly filled his friend in on what happened and told him they’d checked out , giving him the name of the motel up the road they were going to and asked him to meet them there as soon as he could.
T aking her hand , they ke pt to the shadows, trying to lose themselves in the Saturday night party crowds and dodging traffic to make it harder for someone to follow them. Every now and then they’d duck into a doorway and Chase would watch to make sure there was no one following and eventually once he was satisfied they weren’t being watched, they headed for the motel a lot smaller than the resort they’d stayed at before.
****
The men sat at the table in the small room, completely ignoring Mercy.
“The Island, ” Tupper said, breaking the silence.
‘Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too,” Chase nodded slowly.
“That would be my first choice. It’s getting too hard to lay low here—and at least there we’re on familiar territory—gives us the home advantage.”
“What island?” Mercy asked, interrupting the two men impatiently. Really, she was right there and they were acting as though she wasn’t!
“Hope you don’t get airsick,” Tupper said, standing to walk towards the door. “I’ll get on the transport—see what we can do.”
When the door shut behind him, Chase looked down at Mercy and gave a long sigh. “Do you trust me?”
“I think we’ ve already established that,” she said quietly, but her rising anxiety over what these men were deciding to do to keep her safe was beginning to make her nervous. “What island?”
“There’s a place we know. It’s called Los Cavernas. It’s remote and more important, it’s safe . We can stay there until we work out what to do about all this.”
Mercy silently mulled this bit of news over for a few moments before realising maybe he was right—they couldn’t stay here indefinitely and she’d already tried to do the out on her own thing and failed miserably. At least away from here, they might be safer . She was more worried about the others getting hurt than about herself now. She wasn’t sure she could handle the guilt of knowing someone trying to help her had gotten hurt…or worse . “But won’t they be able to track us if we travel overseas? The damn immigration department has people involved up to their eyeballs in all this mess. They’ll know where we are.”
“They’ll know we left Australia—there’s not much we can do about that, but once we get to Bali, we can disappear.”
“Disappear?” Why did she not like the sound of that so much?
“Trust me—it’s probably best not to ask too many questions,” he smiled gently. “Just know that you can trust us, okay?”
When he looked at her like that with his gaze so damn steady and promising safety, how could she not trust him? She managed a nod, and tried to smile, but it came off as wobbly feeling as she felt inside.
****
Mercy felt her gaze constantly scanning the departure lounge as they sat and waited for their flight to Bali the next day. At any moment she was sure they would be all dragged off into an interview room and interrogated by immigration officials. S he was sure their whereabouts would be well and truly known by now and reported back to Nikkos. Surely he’d do everything in his power to prevent them leav ing the country ? Once they left Australia—Brisbane in particular —h e’d lose a lot of his advantage. The thought made her more than a little uneasy.
She jumped as a warm hand cover hers and turned her head toward Chase. He was reading the paper, seemingly cool, calm and not the least bit anxious. “Just relax. Everything is going
“What if they follow us?” S he asked more than a little anxious at the thought of a second visit from them tonight.
“We’ll go the long way around,” he said , pulling out his phone and dialling Tupper. She listened as he briefly filled his friend in on what happened and told him they’d checked out , giving him the name of the motel up the road they were going to and asked him to meet them there as soon as he could.
T aking her hand , they ke pt to the shadows, trying to lose themselves in the Saturday night party crowds and dodging traffic to make it harder for someone to follow them. Every now and then they’d duck into a doorway and Chase would watch to make sure there was no one following and eventually once he was satisfied they weren’t being watched, they headed for the motel a lot smaller than the resort they’d stayed at before.
****
The men sat at the table in the small room, completely ignoring Mercy.
“The Island, ” Tupper said, breaking the silence.
‘Yeah, that’s what I was thinking too,” Chase nodded slowly.
“That would be my first choice. It’s getting too hard to lay low here—and at least there we’re on familiar territory—gives us the home advantage.”
“What island?” Mercy asked, interrupting the two men impatiently. Really, she was right there and they were acting as though she wasn’t!
“Hope you don’t get airsick,” Tupper said, standing to walk towards the door. “I’ll get on the transport—see what we can do.”
When the door shut behind him, Chase looked down at Mercy and gave a long sigh. “Do you trust me?”
“I think we’ ve already established that,” she said quietly, but her rising anxiety over what these men were deciding to do to keep her safe was beginning to make her nervous. “What island?”
“There’s a place we know. It’s called Los Cavernas. It’s remote and more important, it’s safe . We can stay there until we work out what to do about all this.”
Mercy silently mulled this bit of news over for a few moments before realising maybe he was right—they couldn’t stay here indefinitely and she’d already tried to do the out on her own thing and failed miserably. At least away from here, they might be safer . She was more worried about the others getting hurt than about herself now. She wasn’t sure she could handle the guilt of knowing someone trying to help her had gotten hurt…or worse . “But won’t they be able to track us if we travel overseas? The damn immigration department has people involved up to their eyeballs in all this mess. They’ll know where we are.”
“They’ll know we left Australia—there’s not much we can do about that, but once we get to Bali, we can disappear.”
“Disappear?” Why did she not like the sound of that so much?
“Trust me—it’s probably best not to ask too many questions,” he smiled gently. “Just know that you can trust us, okay?”
When he looked at her like that with his gaze so damn steady and promising safety, how could she not trust him? She managed a nod, and tried to smile, but it came off as wobbly feeling as she felt inside.
****
Mercy felt her gaze constantly scanning the departure lounge as they sat and waited for their flight to Bali the next day. At any moment she was sure they would be all dragged off into an interview room and interrogated by immigration officials. S he was sure their whereabouts would be well and truly known by now and reported back to Nikkos. Surely he’d do everything in his power to prevent them leav ing the country ? Once they left Australia—Brisbane in particular —h e’d lose a lot of his advantage. The thought made her more than a little uneasy.
She jumped as a warm hand cover hers and turned her head toward Chase. He was reading the paper, seemingly cool, calm and not the least bit anxious. “Just relax. Everything is going
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