The security guard’s light finally made its way to Allie, then the two men behind her, before resting on the side of the black and red trailer.
“All of you together?” the guard asked. He had turned in her direction, and in doing so gave her a good look at the belt around his waist — he had a radio on one hip and a revolver on the other.
So he wasn’t unarmed after all, which made the odds slightly better. Slightly, but not by a whole lot. However she wanted to look at it, it was still two guns against four, and what were the chances the stranger wasn’t going to react badly when he saw her drawing her sidearm?
Not yet. Not yet…
“Yep, we’re together,” Reese was saying to the guard.
“What’s in the trailer?” the man asked.
“Furniture.”
“You guys movers or something?”
“Just those two,” Reese said, nodding at the big rig’s drivers. Then, without missing a beat, “We didn’t know this was private property.”
“You didn’t see the sign across the entrance?”
“Afraid not. If we had, we wouldn’t have thought it was okay to park here for the night.”
Reese wasn’t lying. She hadn’t seen any signs, a gate, or anything that would indicate this was private property when they turned into the entrance, either.
“Dammit, kids must have stolen it again,” the security guard said. “They’ve been getting drunk inside the building,” he said, indicating the empty structure next to them. “We found everything from beer cans to half-smoked joints to used condoms in there. That’s why we’re here now, to keep an eye on the place. Owners have big plans for the area; they want to put up some kind of strip mall or something. Last thing they want is some stupid kids to OD or drink themselves to death on the property.”
Even as the man was talking, Allie saw the recognition flashing across Reese’s face: The security guard had said we. Which meant he wasn’t alone.
Maybe…
“We had no idea,” Reese said. “Sounds like a real headache.”
“Nothing we can’t handle,” the security guard said with more than a little hint of pride. “But you folks still have to move on. Can’t have people using this place as a rest stop, you understand.”
“I completely understand, but would it be okay if we stayed here for just a few more hours?”
“Sorry, no can do. Like I said, private property.”
“One hour—”
“No, sorry,” the man said, cutting Reese off. His voice rose slightly when he added, “You guys gotta go, or we’ll have to report you. Owners are real strict about this, and that means we gotta be, too.”
Reese and Dwight exchanged a wordless glance. It was very brief — not even a second as far as she could tell — but it was apparently all they needed.
Oh, dammit.
“You guys have to go,” the guard said again. He had casually switched the flashlight over to his left hand while resting his right palm on the grip of his holstered revolver. It wasn’t a very subtle move, an attempt at intimidation if she had ever seen one, and Allie thought, You have no idea what you’re up against, you poor bastard.
“Are you sure we can’t talk about this?” Reese asked.
“Sorry. I’d let you stay as long as you needed if it was up to me, but it’s not.”
“We understand,” Reese said.
He held out his right hand — for a handshake — and took a step toward the guard, and at the very same instant she glimpsed Dwight reaching behind his back.
No, no, not again.
Allie started reaching for her gun, praying the two men behind her didn’t take that as an indication to do the same. If she could grab a brief moment of surprise, maybe — just maybe — she could find a way to save the security guard and herself, and then Sara and the girls. She might have laughed out loud at the odds against her accomplishing any of those things if she took even a second to actually think about it, but thank God she didn’t have the luxury at the moment—
Bright headlights came out of nowhere and washed over Reese and the guard before it moved over to the Ford and Dwight, who winced at the sudden brightness and turned his body to protect not just his eyes, but also the sight of the gun still in its holster behind him. Allie gripped the Sig Sauer at her back but didn’t draw it, even if her chest tightened.
She turned toward the source of the lights — a golf cart, its motor whirring in the darkness — gliding smoothly across the parking lot floor toward them. The security guard with white hair glanced over his shoulder before turning and waving.
Reinforcements?
She looked back at Reese and Dwight and saw another quick exchange between the two men before Dwight casually brought his right (gun) hand out from behind his back. Allie did the same thing, then glanced over at the two men behind her. They hadn’t moved from their spots, and their hands remained exposed at their sides.
Allie looked back at the approaching golf cart and saw a single head bobbing behind the steering wheel. She couldn’t tell if it was a man or a woman, not that it mattered. It was one more gun, which meant the odds had improved significantly.
Or had they?
They were security guards. What were the chances either one of them were ex-law enforcement and had any experience? What were the odds they could stand up against Reese and Dwight in a gunfight? Both Reese and Dwight were killers. Reese, in particular, was going to be a handful.
Kill him first. Then Dwight. Then…the two behind you.
She was wrong. The odds weren’t any better. As soon as she shot Reese or Dwight, the two behind her would open up…on her. Could she really count on the two security guards to back her up? Maybe, maybe not. The only thing the guard standing in front of her right now knew for certain was that she was a part of Reese’s group. To him, she wasn’t a potential ally. To him, she would just be a stranger with a gun.
Not yet. Not yet…
The decision was easier for her to stomach because Reese and Dwight weren’t going to act. If there had been just the one guard, they wouldn’t have hesitated. But with two, and potentially more out there somewhere…
“I guess we should get going,” Reese was saying to the guard. “We’ve got a lot of miles ahead of us.”
“Sorry about this,” the guard said, and Allie thought he actually did sound sympathetic. He had also removed his palm from his gun. “But you know how it is — what the bosses say, goes.”
“No worries,” Reese said, and turned around and nodded at Dwight, then over at her.
Dwight climbed into the Ford as Allie walked over.
“Sorry, miss,” the older man said to her. “I would if I could.”
Then we’d probably both be dead, and God knows who else.
She gave the man a half-smile then climbed into the backseat.
In front of her, Reese closed his car door and glanced up at the rearview mirror. “You good?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
Dwight started the car and turned them around using all of the empty parking lot space, then pointed the sedan back toward the way they had come. Both Dwight and Reese checked their side mirrors the entire time to make sure the semi, which took longer to get moving, not to mention turn, was still behind them. It wasn’t until they were back on the interstate and moving with the flow of traffic that Allie finally allowed herself to breathe a little easier.