Drive (12 page)

             
“Fish doesn’t need you here staring over his shoulder. Besides, I wasn’t asking. Let’s go,” she said sternly.

             
Surprised by her tone, he lifted his head in her direction.

             
“Maybe you’re right.”

             
Relieved, Jordan watched as some of the tension in his hands disappeared. He flexed his fingers repeatedly until the red and white marks that had been left in his hands from squeezing them so tightly faded. Then, as had become habit, he reached out for hers. He felt a comfort in having her palm pressed to his that he had never known before. It was such a simple gesture and yet it did wonders to set his soul at ease. Sawyer couldn’t help but wonder if he was having the same effects on her. Jordan had certainly left her marks on him.

              It wasn’t long until their bare feet were walking alongside the water, soft sand between their toes and a cool breeze against their skin.  The sun was directly overhead already, casting a comfortable warmth upon them they hadn’t felt in months up north.

             
“So, does Fish know…?”

             
“That I’m a cop?” Sawyer finished for her. “Yeah, he knows.”

             
Jordan felt an instant sensation of gratitude. Job or no job, Sawyer valued honesty among his friends.

             
“Then how come he’s so willing to commit crimes with you watching?”

             
“Probably because he knows I’d never turn him in.” Sawyer gave a half-smile, but he did so uncomfortably. Fish swam in murky waters and anyone with half a brain knew he had already broken at least a dozen laws before lunchtime. The fact that he was doing so on Sawyer’s behalf didn’t really make it any more legal. Nor did it negate the fact that he had a tendency for illegal activities in general, at least when it came to his knack for cruising the internet.

             
“I realize this makes me the biggest hypocrite on the planet…not to mention a lousy cop, but Fish is my friend. Whatever else he does with his time, he’s good people…and regardless of who hires him, he never takes a job that will cause him to lose sleep at night. It may not be as loud as yours, but the guy does have a conscience.”

             
Jordan just nodded. As much as she usually enjoyed the view from up on her high horse, she wouldn’t be seeing much of it when it came to Fish. She barely knew the guy, but even she couldn’t fathom the idea of sending him to prison. He just didn’t belong there.    

              Back at the house, Fish was making a lot of headway now that the other two weren’t staring holes into him anymore. His fingertips flew across the keys as he searched and manipulated the world wide web of information to garner him the clues he needed to pull together the pieces of the puzzle they had already uncovered. He scanned page after page with his trained eyes, waiting for the evidence to reveal itself. When it did, the search continued, leading him on to find more.

             
Nearly an hour had passed already. Fish had successfully accessed two bank accounts and three credit card statements when he finally found a trail that was headed in the right direction. Only problem was, it was leading straight for him.

             
“Bloody Hell.”

             
With no way to get a hold of Sawyer, Fish activated a clean sweep of all of his computers except for the laptop and then threw all of his essentials into a bag and tossed it into the back of his car along with Jordan’s duffel bag. Thirty minutes later he was pacing the beach in search of the other two.

***

              “Hey, is that Fish?” Jordan had to squint to make out a face, but the ginger waves of windblown hair gave every indication that it was him.

             
“Yeah, that’s definitely him,” said Sawyer. “This can’t be good.”

             
He broke into a jog, dragging Jordan along as they hurried to meet their friend.

             
“How far did you two walk? Miami?” Fish huffed loudly once they were within earshot.

             
“What’s wrong? Why are you here and don’t tell me it’s for a tan, you know damn well no one will believe your skin is capable of that.”

             
Fish shot Sawyer a momentary dirty look before explaining, “We need to leg it
now
or we’re all done for!”

             
“What are you talking about?”

             
“Yeah? And what do you mean by leg it?” Jordan wasn’t sure what had sent her into a bigger panic, the idea of being done for or the possibility of having to experience a repeat of the nature hike through West Virginia.

             
“I did what you wanted me to, followed the money trail and I wound up
here
!” Fish was screaming, but it didn’t matter. Aside from a few stragglers, the beach was abandoned and the heavy ocean wind easily masked the sound of his elevated voice if anyone was close enough to hear.

             
“What are you talking about? How did it lead you here?” Sawyer was getting frustrated with Fish’s heightened emotions and lack of information.

             
“Hathaway’s credit cards. He’s been using the same visa card since he came after you in the abandoned lot. He’s switched rental cars and then stopped for gas several times going south. Last stop was this morning at a gas station just past the Florida State line. He knows you’re here, mate. So, I think it would probably be better for all of us if
we
weren’t!”

             
“Sonofabitch!” Sawyer swore loudly. Then he turned away from the other two and toward open sea, releasing his frustrations, “Aahhhhhhhhh!” It took several deep breaths to calm himself down again.

             
“Feel better now?” Fish asked.

             
“Yeah, sorry.”

             
“No worries. I mean, for a moment there I thought maybe you’d gone completely mad, but now that I know you’re not, could we possible start putting some distance between us and Justus Hathaway?”

             
Jordan turned to Fish, still needing verification on one thing, “Did you bring your car?”

             
“I wasn’t planning on walking, were you?”

             
Following Fish’s lead, all three of them quickly made their way back to their starting point. The ’98 red Jeep Wrangler Fish had maintained in remarkably good shape in spite of its age, was sitting in the parking lot across the street from the beach ramp just waiting for them. Jordan automatically reached for the driver’s side door at the same time Fish went to unlock it.

             
“What you think you’re doing then?” Fish asked.

             
“I think I’m driving,” said Jordan.

             
Fish turned to his friend for support, but Sawyer just shook his head.

             
“Probably be best to just hand her the keys, buddy.”

             
Still demonstrating his disbelief, he added dissatisfaction to his expression as he handed over the keychain. Fish and Jordan rushed getting into the car and it took them a second to realize Sawyer wasn’t doing the same.

             
With the key already turning in the ignition, Jordan rolled down the passenger side window and called out, “What are you waiting for?”

             
“For you to get the hell out of here!” Sawyer shouted back.

             
Instantly Jordan killed the engine again.

             
“What the fuck are you talking about?”

             
Fish was too stunned by the turn of events to say anything at all.

             
“I’m going to stay and deal with Hathaway.”

             
“Then we should all stay! Three against one definitely puts the odds in our favor.” Jordan was already climbing out of the car again and walking around the front of the hood toward Sawyer. He met her halfway.

             
“Under no circumstances are you staying here with me, do you hear me? You and Fish need to get on the road and get as far away from here as possible. Let me deal with Hathaway. This is what I do, remember?”

             
Jordan felt a sense of panic rise within her, bringing with it a nauseating feeling that made her want to curl over. Tears were fighting their way to the surface and it took all she had, to hold them at bay. If Sawyer saw her crying now, he’d never be convinced that she was tough enough to handle a face-off with Justus Hathaway. 

             
“I think you’re the one who’s forgetting what
I
do! I deal with the aftermath of your job all the time! Who’s supposed to swoop in and save your ass if you send me away?”

             
Sawyer grinned. She was such a stubborn ass. He took a step closer to her until their bodies were almost touching. Then he leaned in until his forehead met with hers and whispered, “Let me save
your
ass this time.”

             
“I can’t,” Jordan choked out the words. The tears had won and she didn’t care anymore.

             
“You have to.” Sawyer cupped her tear streaked face in his hands and tilted it upward. Using his thumbs, he gently wiped her cheeks before pressing his lips to hers and kissing her deeply. Jordan pulled back.

             
“Don’t kiss me like that,” she said under her breath, Sawyer’s mouth barely an inch from her own.

             
“Like what?” he murmured back.

             
Jordan looked up and their eyes met.

             
“Like you’re saying goodbye.”

             
Sawyer exhaled loudly. His emotions were getting the better of him. Leaving Jordan was turning out to be a lot harder than he had thought.

             
“Then how do you want me to kiss you?” His voice was strained from trying to swallow down the lump in his throat.

             
Jordan reached up for his collar and began to draw him back in.

             
“Like you’ll come back for me.”

             
The kiss that followed was nothing like the first. It was raw and intense, fueled by pain and the burning need to express all that remained unsaid in one single gesture.

             
With the ghost of Sawyer’s lips still lingering on hers, Jordan stood in his embrace with closed eyes, warding off reality for as long as she could. She felt him brush against her cheeks and nose with his mouth, leaving traces of his kisses all over her face. When he reached her ear he quietly said, “I will. I’ll come back for you.”

             
And Jordan believed him.

             
It was the sound of a car door slamming shut that brought them both back to the present.

             
“As much as I hate to interrupt a good snogging, perhaps it could wait until a less pressing moment, when we’re not running from a killer?” Fish was staring at the both of them with wide eyes.

             
“He’s right. You can’t waste any more time. You need to get on the road and get out of here,” Sawyer said, planting one last kiss on Jordan’s forehead before releasing her from his embrace and taking several steps back. There was a finality about the distance between them now and Jordan knew better than to try to take the steps to close it.

             
As she climbed back into the driver’s seat and prepared to close the door she said, “Wait, how are we supposed to find out what happens to you? How are you going to get in touch with us?”

             
Sawyer tilted his head toward Fish and gave him a nod.

             
“Fish’ll figure something out. In the meantime, get as far away from here as you can. If you don’t hear from me, call Gary again. He’ll tell you what to do next.”

             
It wasn’t nearly as solid a plan as Jordan had hoped for, but she accepted it and started the engine.

              With nothing better to do and an uncomfortable tension settling in, Fish slid his laptop from the bag and in a few clicks and plugs set up a mobile office in the passenger side seat. Using his cell for internet, he got to work searching the traffic cameras nearest his house in search of Hathaway.

             
Jordan craned her neck to get a glimpse of what Fish was doing beside to her.

             
“So, do we know what we’re on the look-out for?” she asked.

             
“Hathaway traded in the black Camry for a White Fusion.”

             
Jordan pressed her lips together trying to perfect the same stony expression Sawyer’s face took on whenever he didn’t want anyone to know what he was thinking or feeling. Thoughts of Justus Hathaway and Sawyer pointing guns at one another kept flashing through her head in various scenarios, one more unnerving than the next, but the more engaged she became with the road ahead, the more she began to tune them out. Since south was quickly turning into a dead end, she only headed that way long enough to keep from accidentally crossing paths with Justus Hathaway. As soon as she felt it was safe, she would change course and go west. Once they hit the opposite coast, she intended to travel alongside it going north. She hadn’t exactly discussed any of this with Fish, but since Sawyer’s plan seemed to have expired, Jordan figured now was as good a time as any to take over. Clearly, whoever was behind all of this had familiarized themselves with Sawyer well enough to know that he would turn to Fish in his time of need. The question was, how much did they know about her? How much could they know? If they had someone on staff with Fish’s particular skill set, there wouldn’t be many aspects about her life they couldn’t access; except one. Jordan slammed both hands down on the rim of the steering wheel triumphantly.

             
“What’s wrong?” Fish asked, startled by the sound.

             
“Nothing is wrong! In fact, I think I just figured out where we can go and hide out while Sawyer deals with this Hathaway guy.”

             
“Great! Where’s that?” Fish was looking at her with an expectant gaze.

             
“You’ll see.” Jordan grinned. It felt good to be in control of something again.

             
“Hold on, I think I’ve got ‘im!” Fish suddenly changed the subject. He turned the screen so that Jordan could see while she was driving. “Look, right there. White car, second at the light. That bloke wearing the dark glasses and baseball cap – that’s gotta be Hathaway.”

             
“Where was this taken?” Jordan asked anxiously, examining the image while repeatedly glancing back at the road.

             
“Few blocks down from my place…three minutes ago.”

             
Jordan inhaled sharply and held it, trying not to show how unnerved she felt by that bit of information.

             
“Think Sawyer knows yet?” she asked without turning her head to face Fish this time, afraid that he would see the fear in her eyes.