CANARY Read online

  “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 had us 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.

  4

  Carrie

  The divorce-party ladies were on our flight.

  I was ten minutes into enjoying my music when they showed up. Raize immediately moved away, bending and telling me to watch his bag. I smiled because seeing Raize uncomfortable was just funny at this point. I was starting to like these ladies.

  They continued looking him over, and I tried to see it.

  I did.

  I mean…

  No. I didn’t see it.

  He might’ve been attractive, but Raize was just cold, too dead on the inside.

  Mary saw me and came over, bending down and taking a seat beside me. “Hey.”

  Headphones. Did she not see the headphones in my ears?

  I pulled one bud out. “Hey?”

  She jerked her chin up toward Raize. “It looks like we’re on the same flight. How awesome is that? Where are y’all sitting?” She pulled her ticket out, showing me. “We’re in the comfort zone. Sabrina didn’t want to spring for first class, but are we close?” Her head bent toward me. She lowered her voice. “Are you two really married?”

  Her eyes dipped down, lingering on my finger. The one that did not have a ring on it.

  “Uh.” I needed to up my game on lying. “We are, but we just had an anniversary, so we’re getting a little update on them.” I gazed over at Raize, making sure the look seemed loving and warm.

  As if sensing it, he turned toward me and then halted, his eyes narrowing.

  I pasted a big, wide smile on my face. “He’s so romantic. He won’t tell me what’s being done to the ring, but then we got the call about our family, and now we’re here.”

  She sighed, fanning herself. “Oh my. That’s just swoon-worthy.” Her eyebrows dipped down, and she tensed for a second. “He seems a bit cold, though. Doesn’t he?” Her voice fluttered, literally fluttered.

  I could feel the excitement from her, and I suddenly understood.

  The more of a dick Raize was, the more intriguing he was to her. Turn him into a good guy, a nice guy, and their whole group would lose interest. I could make the recommendation to Raize, but that wasn’t something he could fake. It’d be painful to see him try.

  Women weren’t something Raize ever needed to work for, but I always figured it was because of what he did. Those women wanted drugs, or so I’d assumed, but maybe not. Maybe they just wanted Raize.

  It was a weird sensation, looking at him the way normal women viewed him. Then again, he hadn’t shot someone in cold blood minutes after they met him. And they hadn’t seen him continue to murder people for the sole reason that they might be a problem in the future.

  Mary sidled a bit closer to me. “He seems dangerous. Ruthless.” She was eye-fucking him, but glanced to me as she asked, “What’s the worst thing he’s done?”

  This woman was deranged. But then I noticed a white line above her top lip. It was faint, but it was there. I could only see it because she’d scooted so close to me.

  Ah. Now it made sense.

  Could she sense he dealt drugs?

  I reexamined her gaze. She’d gone back to eye-fucking Raize, and the lust was palpable.

  Maybe it was the danger Raize gave off?

  Or could she sense he was a killer? Was that it?

  She drew in a sharp breath and moved back, her head straightening as if she’d been struck. She blinked rapidly, looking past my shoulder, and a pair of shoes came to my other side.

  “They’re calling our seats,” Raize said.

  I hadn’t noticed the announcements, but he was right. A line had started to form to board the plane. Cavers and Jake were already in line, five passengers between them. Cavers stared blankly forward, but Jake glanced back at us.

  I flashed him a look. He grinned before facing forward. A wall slid back in place, and he was a stranger once more.

  Raize bent, grabbing my bag. “Come on.”

  I had my phone and his headphones in hand.

  Mary had jumped to her feet, smoothing her shirt and running her hands over her skirt. “Hey there. Fancy seeing you guys again.”

&
nbsp; Raize gave her the chilliest of chilly looks ever, ignored her, and touched my back. He herded me forward. “Let’s go.”

  “Hey—”

  He stopped, twisting around. “Don’t, you fucking coke skank.” She gasped, but he wasn’t done. “Walk away and forget we exist. Got it?”

  “Oh, come on.” A nervous laugh hitched in her voice. “Don’t be like that.”

  “Keep looking at me or her, and I’ll put a bullet in your forehead.”

  Her second gasp sounded more shocked. Reality had started to set in for her, but still, she murmured, “We’re going to be on an airplane. No guns.”

  Joking.

  She was joking?!

  I went back to my first thought. Forget the coke habit; she needed to be in a mental hospital.

  Raize’s voice was low, and filled with warning. “I’ll improvise.”

  The line began moving forward, so I went to stand behind a lady. A second later, I felt Raize’s presence at my back.

  “Don’t talk to her or any of them. They’re trouble,” he said quietly.

  Uh, yeah. I was getting that.

  I didn’t respond, but he didn’t seem to care.

  The line progressed and when we came to our row, there was a guy in the aisle seat. He looked up, and his eyes widened.

  Raize leaned around me. “You just got the window seat.”

  “But…” Panic flashed on his face, but he was smarter than Mary. He shut up, grabbed his tablet, and moved to the window seat.

  I took middle and Raize had the aisle.

  I glanced back once and saw Jake laughing, his head shaking before he ducked down in his seat.

  I felt myself starting to grin with him.

  This whole thing was just nuts.

  At one point during the flight, Mary needed to go past us to use the bathroom. She averted her eyes as she did. That made me smile, too.

  5

  Carrie

  When we deplaned, Mary and her group got off before we did.

  We walked past them on the jetway where they were waiting for their bags. Mary averted her gaze, same as on her bathroom trip. I noticed another less-faint white line over her lip, but that was for her friends to handle. It might even be picked up by drug dogs, if this airport had them. One of her friends noticed my look and realized what I saw. Her eyes went big, but then we were past them and up the ramp.