Guarding Your Heart

Chapter 4

This was it. This time it was official.

Lucy wasn't very fond of motorbikes to begin with, but now she officially hated them.

Why couldn't he drive a car like a normal person?

Fíli had been driving his bike as if someone was chasing after them, which was of course very likely even though she tried not to think about that too much, but that didn't mean she would've appreciated it if he respected the speed limits for one. Ever since they left her condo her stomach had been in her throat, her eyes closed and her arms wrapped tightly around his waist, terrified she would fall off every time he took a turn.

He still hadn't told her where they were headed. Not that they could maintain a conversation with the way he was driving, she could hardly hear herself think over the noise of the engine and the tires on the asphalt.

After what felt like almost an hour, Fili finally slowed the bike and pulled up to a long driveway that seemed to be leading to the middle of a field. Where the hell were they going?

If he didn't look out, the bike's tires would get stuck in the mud and then what? Lucy didn't feel like trying to dig it out when they were on the run. She didn't even know how exactly they got compromised, for all she knew Fíli had received a serious threat or this could be all based on a hunch. It wasn't like he was telling her anything...

And then her eyes fell on an old, small, has-definitely-seen-better-days rusty trailer, hidden beside a treeline leading into a forested area. The upcoming sun made the scene a little more inviting, giving it a warmer look, but it was still an old trailer...

It was secluded, there was no doubt about it, but just this first glance at it made her miss her condo already.

Fili eventually slowed the bike to a complete stop when they were a few yards away from the trailer and put the kickstand down with his foot.

He turned his upper half to glance back at her and mumbled through his helmet.

"This is home for the foreseeable future."

"I don't mean to sound ungrateful, but what is this place?"

Fili chuckled as he worked at unbuckling his helmet, having lifted his visor up so she could hear him more clearly.

"It's my cousin Nori's trailer. He works for EPIC as well and his home functions as one of our safehouses. No one is going to look for you here."

Now that she could believe. But wait... if this is his home, that means he lives there too?

"You're telling me there's going to be three of us holed up in that tiny camper?" Lucy asked in alarm. Just having Fili in her condo with her made it feel a lot smaller, and this trailer was a fraction of the size. Maybe she could convince him to go back to her place, who knows, the danger could be gone by now.

"You'll survive, I promise," he smiled, getting used to her antics by now. "He's never here much anyway and will probably make himself scarce if you have anything to do with it."

Lucy smacked him on his shoulder and started to carefully swing her bad leg over the bike using him for support, when Fíli noticed some movement in the trees behind the trailer.

He reached behind him, placing his hand on her thigh to stop her as he stared intently at the area where he thought he saw someone.

"What is it?" Lucy mumbled through her helmet as she began taking it off.

"Leave your helmet on," he warned.

"Why? Are we not going inside? It looks like it's about to rain and I don't feel like getting wet."