I glanced over at him and was surprised by his look of concern. He indicated my cheek and I touched it to find that I had been crying. I hadn't known I had been crying.
"Thank you for coming for me." I said heartfeltly.
His jovial demeanor restored, he smiled back at me, "Don't mention it. Me and Tyre save maidens from gang raping hordes every day." He said it as a joke, but in reality that's just what they had done.
After several more minutes of driving Galloway pulled the truck over to the curb. "It would be a little conspicuous to drive this truck any further as bad as its shot up. The safe house isn't far from here. Tyre will take you there while I ditch the truck."
I nodded and got out.
Tyre was by my side directing me in an instance. Walking wasn't what I wanted to be doing right now, the way my feet felt, but I had to play by their rules. We walked several blocks and I got a lot of, 'What happened to you looks?' Tyre pointed ahead at a town house door.
"That's it. The doors open and it will lock behind you. Flint should be along any minute. I'll stay around the area just to make sure everything stays okay."
He turned to go, but I stopped him with a hand on his arm. "Thank you for what you did for me back there."
He'd lost his hat, but he touched the air where the brim would have been anyway. "Anything for a lady." He said softly, before continuing on along the sidewalk.
I limped up the stairs and turned the knob, halfway believing that the door wouldn't open and that I'd be left exposed here all by myself. The door opened and with a sigh of relief I stepped in and closed the door. Bars clanged shut out of the wall and steel mesh slid down from the ceiling as I shut the door. Breathing heavy I stepped back from the door. They'd warned me.
It would take an explosive charge to get through the locked door now. I was further off grid at the moment than I had perhaps ever been since growing up on the island. Just what had I stumbled into?
The house was elegantly furnished and immaculately clean and I, in comparison, felt dirty and disgusting. Light streamed into a sitting area and I sat down on the corner of an ottoman. Everything seemed to catch up with me in that moment. My angst over visiting my father, Rafferty's death and now the fear I had experienced today. It was all too much to hold onto and I fell apart in the quiet sanctity of this safe place.