Starting Over

Chapter 36- Road Trip

“Luke, be prepared for anything. You never know when he’s going to show up,” Caroline warned me.

“I know. I’ve got to get Bridget to the Deer Camp. She’ll be safe there,” I told her.

“You are going to have to protect yourself too. None of you are going to be fully safe until he’s caught,” Caroline advised me.

“Why me? He’s after Bridget and the kids. He’s never said anything about me,” I questioned her.

“Luke, just because he hasn’t mentioned you doesn’t mean you’re not on his list too. You have more to lose than anyone else. He could try and take your career away from you. And your family. He could cause you to lose everything that matters,” Caroline explained.

“How Caroline? How can he take everything away from me?” I asked.

“Just remember to protect everyone, including yourself. Be prepared for anything. Get to the Deer Camp as soon as possible. You will be protected there. No one knows where you are unless they need to know. That’s best for everyone,” Caroline said as she faded into the distance.

I sat straight up in bed. I knew in that moment that Caroline was warning me that something bad was coming. I had to get everyone to the Deer Camp at first light. I grabbed our suitcases out of the closet and started shoving clothes into mine and then Bridget’s. I went downstairs to the kitchen and called Jason.

“Hello,” Jason said groggily.

“I need you and Brit here now,” I said to him.

“Luke, it’s four in the morning. Can’t this wait?” Jason asked me.

“No, we’ve got to be heading out at first light,” I told him.

“What the hell is going on?” Jason questioned.

“I can’t explain it. I just need you here. Pack a bag and grab your gun,” I told him.

“We’ll be there soon,” Jason told me before hanging up the phone.

I immediately went to the gun safe in my office upstairs. I got my Glock 9 and Bridget’s 9mm Smith & Wesson. I grabbed our holsters before returning to the kitchen. I sat both guns on the table and grabbed the bullets off the top of the cabinets. I loaded mine and positioned it comfortably in the hostler making sure the safety was on first. As I started to load Bridget’s I heard a car around front. I walked to the window to see who it was. Jason and Brit were walking up to the door. I went to open the door.

“Whoa!” Jason said as I opened the door, “This is bad if you have your gun and you’re loading Bridget’s.”

“It’s not good. I have a bad feeling. I want to get everyone out of here as soon as possible,” I informed them.

“Does Bridget even know yet?” Brit asked me.

“No. I woke up and just had that feeling. I packed our suitcases and grabbed our guns after I talked to Jason,” I answered.

“I’ll deal with Bridge. You wake up Tia and the kids,” Brit said as we headed towards the staircase.

About an hour later we were loaded into the trucks and off to the Deer Camp. It was going to be an all-day drive. If we were lucky we should be pulling up to the Deer Camp in ten hours, but I’m betting more on twelve hours or more. We hit I-65 in record time and before we knew it we were crossing the state line into Kentucky. We hadn’t been across the state line for more than 30 minutes when I saw blue lights flashing in my rearview mirror.