Race against time

Tasha

I wake up to the smell of apples and I turn my head to the right.
I smile down at the girl laying next to me, with her strawberry-blonde curls that run down her back.

I reach down and run my fingers through the curls that caught my attention yesterday.

She came to my shop in a third gen Mustang. Black on black, four inch cowl hood, outlaw wheels, Supercharged and cammed out so gnarly it sounded like actual hoof beats. She brought it in to my shop because she was intrigued by mine, and she needed an oil change. The oil change was suspect, the automotive sleeve that consisted of things like a spark plug, 10mm socket ( love the irony there), gear shift that matches the pattern of her pony.
Yeah, she changes her own oil, but okay, I'll bite.

She drooled over my Mustang so I offered take her for a drive. Honestly I didn't expect her to get in. She wasn't afraid and she's the first girl that didn't lose her entire mind over the way I drive. She had balls, they just so happen to sit on her chest, and I admired that.

"Morning, GT." She says as she turns over. She smiles and pushes herself up on her elbows to peck my lips. I snake my hand through her hair and give a playful tug. "Morning, Hailey. How about a shower and I'll make us some breakfast?"

She snickered and said something that made me seriously reconsider my single life. "If you mean masticating like wolves on some bacon and waffles, I'm in."
Well, shit...

Carson comes into the kitchen looking like a literal zombie.
"Man, you have got to chill on them energy drinks. You're the walking dead right now. Come get some, you know, real food."

He sighs and he plops his corpse into a seat, at the table and does a double take. "Who's this beauty?" He whispered, wiggling his eyebrows.

Without missing a beat she turned to face him. "I'm assuming you're referring to me since you already know Tasha. I'm Hailey and you're not packing the right kind of heat down there, sorry." She shrugged.

Well, double shit...

Carson looks over to me, eyes wide. "She's the one. The only woman on the planet, that's not your sister, that can handle you."

I roll my eyes at his antics. "Okay, Sylvia, the medium, just finish your breakfast, check for any updates and mommy will be up to put my lil man down for a nappy-nap."
I got the one finger salute for that one.
Worth it.

I follow Carson up to the desk and he pats the bed. "Let's have a seat and we'll catch up on the gossip. So, from what I seen,  Awan's boys showed up for a visit, which is pretty standard practice. They went in and scoped the goods, all that. When they came out, they stayed grouped for roughly 20 minutes before heading back. They must have had a disagreement and sorted it out before leaving. They usually are out in the open five to seven minutes,tops. While I haven't heard from Daniel, which is good, I'd say extraction in the next twelve to eighteen hours."

Nodding thoughtfully, I couldn't help this odd, hyper aware feeling that shot through me. Carson must have caught on.  "Hey, it's fine. They're in position and waiting for the handlers to meet. They'll take out the bad guys and free the kids, get your mother, and come home."

I shook my head. "I don't know,man, something isn't sitting right." I couldn't say why or what, but I felt sick to my stomach.

Carson sets a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, listen to me. Everything has went as planned so far, I have eyes on them 24/7 and it's synched to my phone in case I miss something or I'm taking a "nappy-nap", it'll set an alarm off. The only time you need to panic is if I panic. I only panic if Daniel does and all my years working with him, I've yet to see him do so. Go back down to your girl and try not to wake me up with your sexcapades."

I couldn't help but laugh at that melodramatic last part. "I'll wake you at 1300, and Carson? Thanks, for everything."

Carson's cheeks turned a little pink as he pointed to the door.

Hailey cleared the table and cleaned up the kitchen by the time I got back. It made me smirk. Yeah, time to distract myself.