“I’m safe wherever you are,” she said, looking me in the eyes. “Take me with you, please.”
I nodded, understanding the message behind her blue eyes. Driving north on the city streets again, I got back on the Interstate, this time intending to go south toward Laguna Hills. “No,” Alix said as she saw which lane I was getting into. “Not Laguna. Derek and Mom can’t know about this. Please, Kade.”
“Where?” I asked, looking at her. “And why can’t they know?”
“Syd was blackmailing me,” she said, shame creeping on her face. “He and I . . . he has photos of me that would destroy Derek. If those come out, there’s no way he’ll get elected. It’s also why there can’t be any cops. I can’t go to them, not unless we want the photos to come out.”
I nodded and drove on, skipping the off-ramp south. “Okay. Well, you mentioned never being to Portland. What about visiting with me for a few days? Think you can do it?”
Alix nodded, then grinned sheepishly. “I don’t have any clothes though.”
For some strange reason, I found the comment hilarious. Leave it to Alix. We were driving away from a blackmailing asshole of a man, who had evidence (I didn’t know what at the time) that would ruin my father’s political ambitions, and I had no idea if Alix had work lined up or not, or if this situation with Sydney would hurt her career. Still, her first concern was that she didn’t have any clothes to wear. I chuckled and pointed toward her bag. “Tell you what. Pull out your cellphone and find us the closest place to buy some clothes. We’ll get you something to wear that will at least last until we can get to Portland. It may not be the most fashionable thing in the world, but you’ll be comfortable.”
Alix blinked and looked at me. “My bag . . . my phone!”
Chapter 11
Alix
The next morning, Kade and I were cruising on fumes as we pulled into Portland. Other than the promised stop at an all-night shopping center, we’d driven all night, Kade powering through with the help of a few energy drinks, exceptionally loud music, and two ten-minute naps while I did the refueling at truck stops.
For my part, I had trouble falling asleep. Part of it was initial adrenaline as I explained to Kade about my downloaded app on my phone. My earpiece was gone, most likely falling out at Sydney’s, but my phone itself was fine. In fact it was still recording when I took it out of my bag, although it was down to less than half a charge. “Here, plug it into my car,” Kade instructed me, pointing toward the docking port.
“We might be able to use that file. I got some pretty damning commentary from him, as well as assaulting me on audio. We could ruin him more.”
“We’ll see if the file is good when we get to Portland,” Kade replied. “If we can, we’ll see what our options are. By the way, don’t forget to text Layla and Dad that you’re coming with me, I don’t want them concerned.”
We found clothes for me soon after, and by midnight I was starting to crash. The stress-induced adrenalin had worn off long before, leaving just exhaustion. Even with Kade’s music, a lot of which I remembered from his visits before, I was nodding. “Jesus, Kade, don’t you update your music collection?”
“Not often,” he admitted. “Usually I’ve been too busy doing other stuff. Besides, good driving songs only come out once or twice a year. And this is the sort of drive that requires good driving music the whole way.”
I couldn’t disagree with him, but still I was nodding off. Kade noticed and patted my arm, reassuring me. “Alix, take a nap, it’s all right.”
“But you’d be driving by yourself then,” I countered, yawning. “That’s not good for driving safety.”
“True, but I’ve done all-nighters before, so my body is used to them. Besides, I have a six pack of drinks, plenty of sugar and caffeine to get me all the way to Portland,” Kade said. “So go ahead, take a nap. Don’t make me order you around.”
“Yes . . . sir,” I said sleepily, smiling at the comforting weight of that sound in my ears. I did nap some, only to wake up what felt like minutes later, a scream barely cut off behind my lips. Kade, who was draining what turned out to be the third of his drinks, swallowed quickly and put his can in the cup holder.
“You were having a bad dream,” he said quietly. “I didn’t want to wake you up, because your body needed the rest even if it was unpleasant rest. Want to talk about it?”
“No, not really,” I answered. “Kade, can I ask you a question?”
“Sure, if you’re intent on staying up,” he said. “By the way, we just passed through Hilt. Welcome to Oregon.”
“What time is it?” I asked, wiping at my eyes. “And how’d you get here so fast?”
“It’s four thirty-six, and I told you, at night the CHP is relaxed. I can cruise without anyone giving me grief since we spend so much time in rural areas. Speed limit’s seventy out here.”