Broken Chains

Chapter 7

Over the next four days we stayed in four different hotels despite the fact that I didn’t see any hint of Derek Carl seemed to be acting as if we were under a constant attack. The hotels and Guesthouses were generally very nice and our cash supplies could take it right now, eventually we would have to get more but that shouldn’t be a problem, Darius was obviously pissed with me right now. After all most of the time he was pissed at me. But he wouldn’t cut my money off as he knew as well as I did that me and Carl being out of Pack territory was dangerous, especially for me. As long as I had a little money that would enable me and Carl to have a degree of safety. He could have tried to cut me off and almost starve us back home but Darius knew me well enough to know how stubborn I could be and so through sheer pig-headedness I might still refuse to go home even if 50p was all I had in the world. Carl had stitched up the open bleeding wounds on my shoulder, back and neck that Derek had inflicted on me that night. He booked us into a twin room whether he knew or just he was trying to be frugal I don’t know, but I do know that night I didn’t like being alone, Derek abrupt arrival and departure like that hurt, and I just felt so alone. Carl didn’t ask what had happened with Derek I think he probably could have guessed but I was glad he didn’t ask. After a few hours of fruitlessly trying to sleep. Carl growled from across the room and then silently laid himself down on my bed pressing himself into my back slinging an arm around me gently, although I noticed he was lying on top of the covers, I was his brothers mate after all.

“Go to sleep.” Carl whispered into my hair, “Your constant tossing and turning is annoying its interrupting my counting.”

“You counting sheep?”

“No why would I count sheep? I was counting supermodels in bikini’s that were jumping over a fence.” I giggled, loving the instantly lightening of the tension around us.

The daytimes in between playing Musical hotel rooms were basically full of nothing. Carl had taken the opportunity on his money acquiring trip to buy himself a new laptop. So we spent the day times in various locations where free Wi-Fi was available, Carl frantically searching police records for the correct type of crimes that would indicate the rogues were around. While I half-heartedly flipped through the local papers (and once or twice flirted with a local reporter) in a similar effort for information. Aside from this we spent several hours simply roaming around in the hopes of picking up any hint of a vague trail. The first course of action produced some leads while the second course produced no leads, but it made me feel better than I did sitting on my hands in the hotel. We investigated (translation: suck our noses into) the crimes that seemed to be rogue related, mainly petty crimes: thefts, break ins, and several bar brawl related assaults. We found the scents of Mainly Daniel and Christian in many of the crime scenes, but by the time we arrived the scents were to jumbled and polluted to be used to track them, and the scenes were too scattered too be able to make out any kind of pattern, or even narrow them down to any part of the city. They just seemed to be running around on a whim causing little pockets of havoc in their wake, with me and Carl a step or two behind.

It was our fifth morning in this city when I was awoken by Carl pushing himself out of the bed where he had been laid curled up next to me. I stretched slowly reluctantly savouring the warm semi awake sleep I was in as the head of the bed was located in a late morning sunny patch. And this was late morning we were out late into the night and so we didn’t do early mornings. I sighed and listened to Carl pad across the room, I liked these noises they were comforting like home. I heard Carl clearing his throat noisily as he disappeared into the Bathroom. I pushed myself up to sitting as Carl reappeared brushing my hair back from my face. Carl padded across the room and I heard a sharp intake of breath.

“Carl?” I asked vaguely turning to look at him, he sighed rubbing a hand across his forehead. "What is it” he sighed again before removing his hand and striding over to me dropping a single sheet of white paper on top of my Duvet. I picked up the paper and unfolded it inside there was a short note scrawled in a hand I instantly recognized.

Hey Carl,

Just wanted to make a point that I know your still here . I tried to impress on Jessie how important it is for her to go home, I guess it didn’t work. I know your following us always a step or two behind but I still know. Brother I don’t have a clue how you find me but you have to stop. If they weren’t so f*****g self-obsessed they would know your there and you would be hunted mercilessly they would find you and you know what that would mean. They may not be working with a single focus to f**k with the pack right now but that doesn’t mean that they won’t take the chance to if the opportunity presents itself, and believe me Jessica is like Target number one. You have to understand that losing her would destroy the pack and you know that! Besides she may not be mine anymore but you still know I will tear you limb from limb if you dragging her here allows any harm to come to her. Take her home. Stop trying to save me. And before I decide that I have to do something about it- stop sleeping in the same f*****g bed as her!

Derek

p.s Jessie I know Carl would let you read this so I just had to say I love you, but go home. I don’t want to live in a world where you don’t exist, it’s better if your in the pack you may not be with me but your still alive. Please do that for me my love.

You have my whole heart forever

xxx

“Oh.” I said vaguely folding the paper back up and gripping it tightly in my hands. “So what does this mean for us?” I asked my eyes locked on the folded paper as if expecting it to give me more information. “Carl?” I said lifting my eyes he was sitting across the room frantically tapping away on his laptop and pulling out a police scanner at the same time. “Carl?” he turned to look at me.

“It doesn’t mean anything.” He said turning back to his laptop and continuing to click away “except that were moving hotels again.” I groaned and collapsed back in to bed pulling a pillow over my head.

“I think he’s gone?” I said picking the chocolate chips out of my huge double chocolate muffin. As we sat waiting another afternoon in a coffee shop, I hated these places as I serious begrudged paying this ridiculous amount for coffee that all tasted the same and just came in different shaped cups. I half suspected the half these places just shoved instant coffee in the pot when you blinked. It had been two days since the letter had arrived and since then we hadn’t found even the slightest hint of a lead.

“Yeah one of your psychic link things?” Carl asked not moving his eyes up from the screen for even a second. I shook my head as I licked the chocolate smears off my fingers,

“No I think he was trying to bait us with that letter.” Carl raised his eyes from the screen to frown at me. I shrugged,

“You think he’s doing reverse Psychology on us or something like that?”

“No I think he’s just making sure we don’t forget about him, when we can’t find anymore leads.” I said absent mindedly crumbling the muffin. A young man walked past our table flashing a hopeful smile at me as he walked towards the counter. I smiled back (in what was purely a friendly way) Carl frowned and looked over his shoulder to see who I was smiling at and spotting Mr Blue eyes he gave a loud growl. The Guy looked horrified and all but bolted out seeming to forget his coffee.

“What was that for?” I said, Carl snapped back round to face me,

“Exactly Jessie what was that about?”

“Easy up Jesus I smiled at him, it’s hardly an offense that deserves a hanging! And anyway it’s not your damn business to f*****g act that way anyway I don’t belong to you.” I said folding my arms haughtily.

“Right you don’t. You belong to my f*****g brother remember him?” I glowered at him.

“Don’t ever do that.” I snarled locking my eyes on him; the gaze was clearly a challenge. I was a girl but still entitled to do this if I wanted, this gaze was a battle of wills and if neither of us yielded, it could very possibly lead to violence. The typical yield was too the one who held the higher pack status, or sometimes just the one who cared more but no generally status to us was the most important thing. But in this case it didn’t matter as Carl’s eyes slid down in submission, I kept my gaze locked on him for a few more seconds until it was confirmed and then returned to my muffin which I didn’t fancy so much anymore.

“I think your right.” Carl said after a few seconds of clicking on his keyboard.

“Yeah?” I asked wishing I could stop my voice sounding quite so grumpy.

“yeah.” he said turning his laptop around to show me the screen. “See car got stolen here two days ago. Was founded abandoned the next morning a hundred miles from here another big city and it was burnt out. I think its them I mean obviously they don't seem to causing havoc here anymore.”

“So what are you suggesting Carl?” I asked scooping up muffin crumbs with my fingers. He sighed heavily,

“We’re not making progress here so I suggest we go.”

“Okay.” I said slowly “Go as in go home or-.”

“No I suggest we go find them. Unless you want to go home.” Carl said plainly, and I knew that if I wanted to go home if I asked him to take me home Carl wouldn’t hesitate to take me back.

“No not yet honey not yet.” Carl nodded and returned to his laptop his fingers flying across the keyboard at an incredible speed.

“So your suggesting we go there?”

“no.” he said and I frowned “give me a second.”

“When did you become such a techno geek?” I asked playfully his eyes flicked up for a second and he smiled before his eyes snapped back down to the keyboard. “Geoff’s been teaching me. He’s still better but somebody has to learn just in case, besides since we increased security we need at least two in operation who can work the system. Who else was there? I mean Derek caused a fire when he tried to use a microwave.” I smiled,

“He only did that once.” I said defensively, Carl smiled.

“And Dean is very interested in how much porn is available on line but not a lot else. I like the computers anyway they have rules they have procedures and you comply with the procedures and they will tell you anything you want. Anything in this world if you only know how to ask.” He said his fingers continuing to fly across the keyboard “Yahtzee.” He said proudly,

“What?” I asked

“Clever git.” He snapped his fingers continued to fly “no…” he said slowly “of course not you’d have to explain that.”

“What the hell Carl.” He looked up beaming.

“They stole a car drove away a hundred miles ditched it set fire to it and….” He turned the laptop around to face me as he pointed at the screen which I squinted at, “they stole another car and drove back.”

“What?”

“It was found yesterday at a little town just thirty miles from here. From there.” he shrugged.

“Why?”

“He’s clever he knows we’ll go looking so he did a dummy run a sort of a fake run.”

“You think that’s where he ended that close.” He nodded, “Your sure?”

“Swapping cars once and backtracking can be justified, hell its even a good thought to cover your tracks. But they are all in neutral territory so he can’t justify laying five or six dummy runs without telling them why and I believe that they don’t know we are here and that he wants to keep it that way. So he had to hedge his bets they probably did one dummy run to humour him, and probably would have seen through it if he’d made them carry on.”

“So your sure?” He smiled

“Look at where the last car was abandoned.” he said twisting the screen around allowing me to squint at the police report.

“Oh.”

“You get it now?”

“You think he’d go there?” Carl nodded,

“He has very little left you have to take help where you can get it.”

“And you think going there will help him?” Carl shrugged,

“I think Derek thinks going there might help him.”

“Okay so you got something to put in the satnav?”

“Well yes but we’d don’t need a satnav.” Carl said taking his laptop back and began clicking sedately.

“Huh? “ I said brushing the crumbs from my fingertips as I stood up. Carl smiled,

“Don’t be such a snob there’s no hurry we’ll take the bus.”

“What? Why?”

“Safer than stealing cars maybe and nobody can track it.” Carl said folding up his laptop and sliding it into the one piece of luggage we had acquired a single backpack that held a single change of clothes for both of us and one big t-shirt for emergencies that would do for either of us, as well as the laptop rolls of cash and more than a little collection of snacks.

“Is it that or is it because you don’t want to let me drive?”

“Partially.” He said with a smile “as you know Driver gets to pick the music.” I chuckled as we both left the coffee shop, my head vaguely swinging round looking for a bus station as if expecting to see a neon sign directing me there, as the bus wasn’t something I generally had been required to take.