Running by Calle J. Brookes

she wished she had something more than hand sanitizer
and a manicure set from her purse. “I don’t think there’s anything
in the wound. Maybe a tiny bit of glass. But I do think you need to
go to the hospital. I can’t do stitches.”
    “ We are not going to the
hospital. Go inside. See if they have anything you can wrap the
wound with. Bandages. Even paper towels. We need to get out of this
town, and fast. How bad is Red’s car?”
    “ You trusting
me?”
    “ Do I have any other
choice? And baby, please be careful. I’d hate it if something
happened to you.”
    “ Gotcha. Don’t bleed to
death on me in here.”
    “ I won’t.”
    Al did as he instructed,
hoping the blood on her clothes wouldn’t draw too much attention
her way. She grabbed shop towels from the automotive section. They
were designed to be disposable, but where stronger than regular
paper towels. She grabbed a box of clear plastic trashbags and a
roll of duct tape. Not ideal. But it would cover the
window.
    She grabbed a bottle of
peroxide and some painkillers from the small section of groceries
and quickly paid.
    She returned to the
restroom.
    He was pale, too pale. The
bleeding was slowing, but had it happened in time? She wrapped his
arm as tightly as she could. “I really wish you’d let me take you
to an urgent care, or something.”
    “ Baby, I’ve had worse. I’ll
show you the scars some time. Let’s go. I don’t want to be out in
the open for too long.”
    “ At least drink this.” She
gave him the orange juice she’d grabbed inside.
    “ Thanks.”
    “ Drink it. All.” It would
help; she hoped.
    “ I’m going to survive,
toots. I promise. Then you can kick my ass when we’re done.” He
grinned. She forced him to let her help him back to the
SUV.
    “ I’ll hold you to
that.”
    “ How bad did they mess up
Red’s car?”
    Al looked at it. “Not too
bad. Body damage mostly. But you’re going to be in to your brother
for at least five hundred.”
    “ I can handle that.
Alessandra…”
    “ What?” She looked at him.
Saw the regret in his eyes. “Don’t even think it.”
    “ Mind reading one of your
skills?”
    “ My
mother is one of the leading psychologists in the country, you tell
me. You’re feeling guilty for what almost happened.”
    “ Shouldn’t I?”
    “ Maybe a
little. But remember this—I chose to come along on this journey. And the one thing
my parents made sure to teach me was to own
my own actions. Let’s go. We need to put
some miles between us and this town. Before they come back this
way.”
    Because she seriously
doubted they weren’t going to meet up with those guys again.
    They needed help, and fast.
“You rest. I’ll drive. Amarillo by morning, and all that
jazz.”
     
     

Chapter
Thirty-One
    ***
     
    She let him sleep. What she
should do was find the nearest police station and surround them
both with some sort of protection. Then she could call Ed Dennis or
Malachi. Even Mick.
    She passed the next exit.
She looked at the man sleeping beside her and made a quick
decision. They needed help. And a safe place to regroup. And like
it or not, they were plastered all over the national
news.
    Someone had tracked them to
Gainesville—who’s to say that someone didn’t already know where
they were headed? And if that someone was high enough up the Bureau
ladder like Seth seemed to think, wouldn’t they have alerted the
hotels and motels in the possible travel area? It’s what she and
Sebastian would have done. Even if it meant having a junior agent
or two on the phones all day and night.
    So they couldn’t stay in a
hotel anymore. And they needed cleaned up if they weren’t going to
stand out when they fetched the contents of that p.o. box. Where
could they do that? She didn’t want to risk a truck stop again.
That wouldn’t be a good idea.
    But Wichita Falls might
have a solution. It wasn’t ideal and it could bring everything
crashing down around them. She looked at the man