Canary by Tijan
Carrie
“You got family here?”
I was surprised at the question and also who was asking. It was Jake.
Looks wise, he was six feet. Not as tall as Raize, but not short. Medium build. I’d guess that he worked out, or lifted on a regular basis. He was black. Dark eyes. His face was a little round and high cheekbones.
Did I mention he lifted? Because his shoulders were defined. He wore baggier clothes that didn’t show the definition, but I knew it was there. I saw it when he was lifting a body one time. He was a bit bulkier than Raize, but both were defined. Cut.
I didn’t know much about Jake. He came in and he was quiet.
He never said anything to me, and now he was asking questions like that?
People didn’t ask questions. Nosy snitches and all that.
He turned around as we waited outside yet another house. Raize had gone inside, and he’d been in there for a good long time.
I was getting restless. Also, I needed to piss.
“Shouldn’t you be in there?” I motioned with my head toward the house. “Since you’re security.”
Jake snorted, hiding a smile. “Raize doesn’t need my help. I’m more the take-out-the-body guy and the driver. But between you and me, I’m hoping he gets a new guy that’ll do the driving. I get antsy, want my hands free in case we need to shoot, you know?”
I’d have liked to say I didn’t know because needing to shoot a gun at a second’s notice wasn’t normal. But it was for us.
So I nodded, settling back in the seat. “What’s he doing in there, anyway?”
I wasn’t looking at him, but I could feel Jake’s look sharpen. “You never ask questions. This because I asked about your family?”
I met his eyes, and no words were needed. It was the reason, or most of the reason. I might have had a small trace of worry about Raize, since I now knew he was the reason I wasn’t with Bronski again. It would suck if I had to go back to him. I’d probably have to kill him, and then who the fuck knew what would happen.
I had an agenda. There was a reason I was sitting on my ass in the cold car, or at least I hoped there still was. I wanted in with the Russians—just not through Bronski—and if we went to Texas, there were no Russians down there.
“You got family up here?” There might’ve been some attitude with that question.
He grinned. “Nah. My parents divorced. Mom’s gone—left our asses long ago. She’s got a new family out in Oregon or somewhere.” He turned back to looking out the front, his head bobbing. “And good for her, you know? My old man and me...we ain’t close.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Why are you telling me this?”
“You asked.”
I shifted again. It was getting hot in this damn car. “You know what I mean.”
He didn’t answer right away.
I started to think he wouldn’t.
Then, still facing forward, he spoke. “I’ve been here a bit. You more. And I don’t know… We’re going to Texas, and it’s obvious we’ve all hitched our wagons to Raize, and he’s hitched his to you, so I figure what’s the harm in getting to know each other a bit? It’s not like any of us are leaving any time soon, you know?”
Yeah… I knew.
Still, I didn’t like talking about family. My mouth was tight, my answer even tighter. “No family.”
“Yeah.” He sounded tired and sad at the same time, but then he glanced at the house. “Raize got a new man.”
I looked.
Raize was headed our way, a big guy right behind him. The new guy looked uncomfortable in an oversized suit. But his face was bland—no tattoos, no scars. He was white, with some redness on his face like he’d been out in the sun too long. He had dark-blond hair that was flapping all over the place in the wind. He was a good five inches taller than Raize, who was over six feet, so the dude was big. He had a slight stomach on him, but that could’ve been muscle. The big clothes might’ve been picked on purpose, to trick anyone assessing into thinking he was chunky and not big and muscular. You couldn’t tell from his face, though his neck was just huge.
We were in Philly, so it was effing cold—a smattering of snow on the ground, chilly air. But as Raize walked toward us, it was like nothing touched him. His dead eyes met mine, lingered, and then he motioned to the guy. His words were muffled through the glass, but I heard him say “front seat” as he walked around the car and got in behind Jake.
Raize glanced my way once, then sat back. “Airport, Jake. We’re flying.”
Jake looked in the rearview mirror. “Papers?”
“I got ’em.” Then, “This is Cavers.”
Jake nodded to him.
Cavers nodded back.
“Jake, you’ll continue to be driver,” Raize added.
Jake’s eyes flicked to mine, but I looked away.
Cavers turned to look at me.
“She’s none of your business,” Raize said.
Cavers’ face closed up, and he faced forward like he’d been slapped.
He’d just been expecting the same introduction he got for Jake. Raize must’ve sensed this, because he didn’t say or do anything the whole way to the airport.
“Park in the long-term lot. We’ll be leaving the vehicle here. And, Jake, wipe it down.”
That meant we’d never be coming back to this car, ever.
I felt a whole new foreboding feeling, an itch down my spine, but what else was new in this world? I needed to get used to it.
No. That wasn’t true.
I never needed to get used to it. When I did, that’s when I’d be dead. I suppressed the tension that created, stuffing it to the back of my mind.
Could not go there.
Would not go there.
Jake pulled in, and we all got out.
Raize went to the back of the vehicle as Jake started wiping the inside of it.
We’d been told to pack light. I had a small backpack with a book and a change of clothes. Some toiletries. Raize was just as light. Cavers had nothing, and I assumed he hadn’t known we’d be traveling, because he was looking around, shifting on his feet.
At least I hoped that was the reason he was doing the nervous dance. The other reason meant a bullet in his forehead, and I did not want that to happen—not because of him, but because I lost my appetite every time a body dropped dead in front of me.
Raize handed me my bag, and I put it on my back. He did the same with his bag. Jake’s bag went on the ground, and then Raize rifled through another smaller bag.
He pulled out packets, handing one to each of us. “These are your traveling papers. These were taken care of by Carloni, so don’t get a big head thinking you have fake papers and you can head out from us.”
The warning there? These papers could be traced. Got it. Also, Carloni would be pissed about the lost investment.
I was also going out on a limb and guessing that Carloni was also Carl. It made sense.
“You sit by me,” Raize said, looking at me.
I nodded, taking my new driver’s license out.
My name was Carrie Smith. I was from Kentucky, and I was now twenty-three.
“You can call her Carrie,” Raize told Cavers.
Cavers frowned, but didn’t reply.
He also gave us new phones and took our old ones, which he put in a baggie and stuffed into his coat pocket.
It took Jake about an hour to finish with the car.
We waited to the side.
Raize was on his phone, standing away from us with his head down. Cavers was a smoker. I could smell the cigarettes on him, and wondered if he was itching to light up. Probably. Maybe that was why he was shifting on his feet. He stuffed his hands in his pockets, and I caught the bulge from his gun…which made me wonder what Raize was going to do about their guns. Unless we were checking a bag?
That proved to be the case once Jake was done.
Raize ended his call, shoving his phone into his pocket. He jerked his head toward Jake. “You’re checking your bag. Everyone, put your guns inside. Wrap them up in some clothing. Give me the keys, Jake.”
He handed them over.
Raize went to the front and ducked inside to leave the bag of phones under the seat. He put the keys in a zipped compartment behind the front seat. Then he locked the doors before giving everything a once-over.
After that, we were ready for the airport.
Raize hadus each enter through different doors and different security entrances. He and I stayed together, and he sent Cavers off first. Jake went next, with instructions to keep an eye on Cavers, from a distance. He nodded, heading off to check his bag.
Raize and I moved past him and through the farthest door and the farthest security checkpoint. I used to fly, back when I lived normally, so I knew not all airports were the same. Some had different security stations set up around the whole airport, which helped cut down the lines, but others had one large security line. Those were horrible to go through—they took forever.
I was glad these were sectioned off.
“Move.”
The command wasn’t loud or even a bark, but I jerked because I’d been daydreaming. So not something I did.
I picked up my pace, settling behind a group of ladies who looked like they were off on a girls’ weekend. They looked rich, mid-thirties, and they were eyeing Raize behind me. A couple seemed already sloshed, the others ready to get sloshed. I hoped they wouldn’t be on the same plane as us.
“You nervous to fly?”
I was surprised by Raize’s question, and turned toward him.
His dark eyes assessed me, but he didn’t seem as cold as he usually did.
I didn’t know how I felt about that.
I raised a shoulder. “No, just thinking about life before.”
He stared at me, then nodded and looked forward.
The women were openly staring at him now, whispering together.
I didn’t know women could still whisper like schoolgirls, but these ladies were doing it.
A couple of them smiled at Raize, who cursed under his breath. “Come on.”
“What?”
“I don’t want attention. Let’s do another security gate.”
We shifted forward, and I said, “We’re two groups away. Ignore them.”
He glared at me. “They want to flirt with me.”
“Duh.”
“I don’t flirt.”
I almost grinned at that. He was outright annoyed.
One of the women fell back, and I knew she was doing it to overhear our conversation.
The front of her group started through the security line, and that’s when she turned back. “Where y’all traveling to?”
“None of your business.” Raize’s hand touched the small of my back, and I almost jumped into the lady. But then I settled back and felt his hand open up, his fingers spreading wide.
His touch didn’t make my skin crawl. That was a shock. I pasted a smile on my face as the lady gasped. “We just got bad news from a family member. You’ll have to excuse my…”
“Husband,” Raize announced.
“Husband.” Seriously? Husband?
The lady stepped back at my statement, but her eyes darted to our fingers. No rings. She frowned, and I saw more questions coming.
I got there first. “Where are you all headed?”
“Oh!” She lit up as we progressed through the line. “My friend over there, Sadie, she’s getting a divorce, so we thought a trip down to Mexico would be the best way to celebrate. We love to go down there. We go once a year, sometimes more. You ever been?” She was asking me, but her eyes had returned to Raize, who shifted farther behind me.
I had to smother my grin. I shouldn’t be enjoying this reaction from him, but I couldn’t stop myself.
It was so…normal.
That was it.
This was a momentary escape from our lives, and I was going with it.
I moved forward as the woman did, after introducing herself as Mary. She asked our names, but the guard called for her. It was perfect timing. After that, she and her friends went down the right lane, and after handing over our identification and showing the tickets on Raize’s phone, we were sent to the left lane.
I didn’t have anything to pull from my bag, so I left it the way it was. No computer. Nothing like that. I didn’t have any liquids, so I toed off my shoes and put them next to my bag in the same bin. Raize did the same, putting his leather jacket in a separate bin.
“Did you send the tickets to the guys?” I asked as we waited our turn.
He nodded, touching my back again, and as the guard waved me forward, he gently pushed me ahead.
Going through, I spread my legs and put my hands above my head, barely letting myself think how this would be how I’d stand to have handcuffs put on. Nope. I wasn’t going there. When I got the clear, I moved forward and grabbed my stuff from the bin.
The ladies were waiting a few feet away. Mary migrated over, giving me a small smile as we watched Raize get waved through. They took longer checking him, waving him to the side for a further inspection. I kept an eye on his bin as Mary asked, “So where are y’all heading to?”
I started to answer, but realized I didn’t know. Shit. That was something I should know, but Raize had the tickets.
“We’re headed to Texas.”
“Really? We’re not flying into Mexico. We’re heading to Texas for a few days first. One of our girlfriends has a house down there, in Corpus Christi. Where in Texas are you going? Maybe we’re on the same flight.”
Fuuuuck. I needed to stall, but then I felt a familiar presence behind me. Raize’s hand touched my back as his rough voice answered for me, “Excuse us. We’re meeting some people.”
So abrupt, but so perfect.
He pushed me forward, still gently, and Mary stepped back. “Sure. Yeah… Have a good trip.”
He didn’t respond, directing me toward a busy walkway as he pulled his backpack back on.
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“We’re flying into San Antonio and then driving down.”
“Down where?”
As the crowd swarmed around us, Raize moved to walk beside me. He dropped his hand and gave me a look. “Since when do you care about that shit?”
Right.
I’d forgotten. I was an employee, nothing more.
My moment of normalcy was gone.
“I don’t.” I shrugged it off, feeling the usual cold, numb wall sliding over me. Once it was locked in place, I could feel the distance between myself and these other travelers. I was standing almost shoulder to shoulder with them, but they had no idea how far away I actually was.
When we got to our gate, Raize had me wait in the open area just outside it. Jake and Cavers were already there, sitting in opposite sections from each other. I didn’t look at them after an initial glance to see they were there. I tuned out my surroundings.
“Do you have any headphones?” I asked Raize.
He frowned, but dug into his bag. He held them out, and I took them, not saying thanks.
I slid down to sit on the floor and took out my new phone. This life or a different life, I could still enjoy music.
