The 13 of Hearts by Kay Springsteen

Author:Kay Springsteen [Springsteen, Kay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Astraea Press, LLC
Published: 2014-10-25T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nineteen

Play the Board

Never step onto transport with your left foot first. ~From the Deployment Survival Journal of Pete “Rabbit” Kincaid

Rabbit lowered the trunk lid on the Camaro until it clicked, blowing out a breath of relief that it had even closed. Emerging from their motel room, Lin sent another quick glance toward the other end of the parking lot, just as she had done every time she’d come outside since they’d started loading. Without asking and without going to check out the compact SUV parked there, Rabbit had no good guess as to exactly why she seemed so spooked. Of course, she might be merely concerned about disturbing what apparently was the Tidewater’s only guest.

Lin pulled the door to their motel room closed and double checked the lock, while Nathan secured JR in the little blue car. Then, without a word to his mother, the kid walked over to the Camaro and climbed in. Rabbit shifted his stance and stared across the parking lot to cover his bewildered surprise. The atmosphere had been tense between the two of them, but they’d remained civil and worked well as a team, quickly packing and emptying the motel room.

How they’d managed to even breathe in the tiny room with so many possessions between them, Rabbit had no idea, though it wasn’t lost on him that the bulk of the things he helped stow in the trunks and back seats of the two cars were labeled with the kids’ names. Lin appeared to have an ancient hard-sided suitcase that looked like it had time-warped itself from the 1950s, a medium-sized box filled with photo albums, and a battered leather bag overflowing with what looked like important papers. Not too organized, it seemed.

Lin touched her fingers to the center of the motel room door then, with a heavy sigh, she turned and walked toward them. Her eyes flickered with an indefinable emotion as they fell upon Nate in the other car, and her lips briefly pressed into a thin line. But she shrugged and lifted her hand in a feeble attempt at a wave.

“That’s it. I need to stop at the office and leave Mrs. Dalton a note.”

Rabbit checked his watch. Nearly oh-five-hundred. So they’d just about pulled an all-nighter. “Hey!” He bent and tapped on her passenger side window. “I need coffee for the drive,” he said through the glass. “You know Devil Dog’s Donuts on Lejeune Boulevard?”

Lin angled her head and drew her brows together. Then her eyes popped open, and she smiled. Her words were muffled through the glass, but she sent him a thumbs-up. “Lead the way,” she mouthed.

The stop at the office was quick as she shoved a folded piece of paper through the nighttime key depository. After a final look around, she settled into her car again, and they headed out.

The drive-through at the donut shop was already lined up to the boulevard, so Rabbit jetted into one of the open parking slots off to the side.

“You drink coffee, kid?”

“Huh?” Slumped in his seat, Nate regarded Rabbit through sleep-hooded eyes.

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