Heroes (Jerod's Fourth Tale - Part 3)

Tania gave me her best ‘are you out of your mind?’ look. “Are you suggesting that we go on a holiday now?”

“Not at all. I want you and the kids out of the house. They know where I live. The next step might be to torch the house. Or ram it with a truck. Or, who knows?” I grabbed her hands. “It’s not safe here.”

“We could accommodate your family at The Company headquarters. Probably more comfortable then camping,” suggested Ted.

“I don’t know how much they know about me and my habits. But I’m going to have to assume that they know some. So The Red Rendezvous is out, the band plays there regularly. Simtastic Imports is out, I’m listed as the owner. The Company buildings are out, I hang out with too many of you. The safest thing I can think of would be to leave town entirely until this blows over. Tania, honey, it’s really weird to ask after all this time, but do you have family you could visit?”

She shook her head. “When I was a child, we were driving somewhere and there was a horrible crash. It killed everyone but me. My parents, my brother, my twin sister all died. My foster family? Let’s just say we can’t live far enough away from them. What about you? Do you have family?”

I nodded reluctantly. “My parents died of old age a few years back. My little sister never did get her life together as far as I know. But if we really had to, maybe my little brother and his husband could look after you for awhile. I haven’t directly contacted any of them since the day I left home though, so it would be a massive shock for them.”

“I’d rather not impose on someone that doesn’t know I exist,” Tania said quietly.

I could see the shivers starting again. “Tania? Where’s my bitch? Remember that bad-arsed bitch that was my protection in France?” She nodded. “I need her back. I need that bad, brave protector. Remember the attitude, remember the feelings,” I let go of her hands and took a small step back.

Tania closed her eyes and began to focus. Her breathing deepened for a minute. When her eyes snapped open, I knew she had found her inner bitch. She took a step toward me. “Why?” Her voice was lower and her eyes narrowed. Ted moved back a little as he felt the difference. He and Marta glanced at each other.

“You, and only you, I trust with my family. I have a plan how we can get you and the kids somewhere safer. But I’m going to stay right here in plain sight. If they are only after me, you’ll be safe. If they want to get at me through my family, first they have to find you. If they do find you, I want you to be ready.” She glared at me and then nodded once.

“Know this, Jerod. You better survive this. I do not want to go through the effort of training a new spouse.” Suddenly she pulled me into a tight hug. Her lips locked on mine so hard it nearly hurt. After a minute, she let me go. “You understand me?”

“I will do my absolute best. But I can’t do that until I’m sure you are as safe as possible.” I nodded toward the house. “Let’s go make some plans.”

Marta and Ted followed us into the house. I found a detailed map of Twinbrook and spread the map on the table. “We can’t be sure how many are involved. It might only be one but my bet is 2 to 4 people.”

“Why?” asked Marta.

“One would have written ‘I’ not ‘we’ on the note. More than 4 strangers in this town at once? Surely someone would have noticed.” They all nodded. “So the plan is simply for Tania and the kids to go *through* a few buildings around town. Tania, you drive our car to the Red Rendezvous and go in the front. Keep on going, use the side door and come out here,” I pointed on the map. “Ted can meet you there and drive you over to the Company building. Now that place has 3 extra exits that I know of.”

“It’s 5 now and we nearly have the 6th one ready,” chimed in Ted. “We’ve been busy.”

“So Ted takes you through the building and one of the other exits. There is another car there,” I paused.

Ted stabbed at the map. “That would be a good exit. We can have Wyatt waiting there.”

I nodded. “Wyatt drives you to City Hall. That place has a ton of entrances and exits. Go out the east exit and go here.” I pointed at the map. “Marta waits for you there and drives you to Hollowlog Springs Park. That’s where you and the kids stay.”

Tania looked at me. “So I ring you, text you?”

I walked over to our little bookcase, pulled out a book and opened it. Then I dumped the small phone into my hand. “Just in case, this phone should be safer than yours. It’s never been used, turn it on, send the message and turn it off. Never leave it on for more than 5 minutes at a time. We can set times to ring each other briefly. Phones can be traced, so not long.”

“You have a burner phone? What other things do you keep?” asked Marta.

“That would be telling. But I do have some emergency equipment stashed around the place. Including another burner.” I turned back to Tania. “I’m hoping that we can find a way to leave a car somewhere near so you and the kids can get out if you have to. It will be an old clunker, something that will look abandoned. So unless there is a lot more people involved and they are mostly on the streets watching for you, they should lose track by the time you leave the Company building.”

“I would think leaving the car outside of Red Rendezvous would probably be enough,” said Ted. “By the time they work out Tania’s left, it would be too late for them to follow.”

“I’d agree with Shrimp. Better safe than sorry. By the time she’s gone through a few buildings, there’s not a chance they’d still be following.”

“Shrimp, I appreciate that this place isn’t terribly close to the road or any houses. But I’m going to have two toddlers, supposed they start crying too much?”

“Hmm, bribery should do it.” I went to the kids’s room and picked Toby up. “Come on Lana, let’s go say hi to your godfather.”

Lana bolted for the living room. I got there in time to hear “Sorry, honey. I don’t have a toy today.” Lana was about to go into pout mode. Maybe full toddler tantrum if we didn’t head it off in time.

“Kids, for the next couple of days, you and your mom are going to be out in a park. And while you are away from home, she might tell you to be quiet. If she does, I want you to be so quiet, even a mouse is noisy in comparison. She might also tell you to hide. If she does that, you hide and don’t come out until your mom or me or your godfather tells you to come out.” I grinned at them. “If your mom says you did well, I’m going to get you two toys each. But you have to do what she tells you. Lana, you might have to help Toby with this, like a good big sister. Okay?”

“Toys? Oh, yes Daddy. We’ll be good. We’ll be so quiet, you won’t even know we are there.”

“That’s my girl, Lana.” I winked at Tania and one eyebrow went up in response. Then her mouth curved upward. “How long do you think it will take to pack a bag of necessities for a week and be ready?”

“A week? I can’t possibly pack one bag for all three of us for a week. We don’t have enough food for the little ones in the house,” Tania said.

“Point taken. We’ll have to figure out how to get you some supplies if it goes more than a couple of days.”

“I can take them,” replied Marta. “No one will follow me. No one ever notices me at night. That’s what I do.”

Marta, the master thief, delivering groceries. Damn, I have some very good friends. “Ok, so packing for just a couple of days, how long?” I asked.

“I can have two bags ready in half an hour.”

“Two bags? Sweetheart?” it was my turn to raise an eyebrow.

She smiled at me. “Bag one holds a change of clothes for the three of us. We go in with one look and come out a different door looking different and only one bag. We leave the one behind.” She sighed. “Guess I’ll have to hope that no one steals the bag with our clothes.”