Free Long Road Home by Maya Banks Page B

little noticeable.”
    He looked like he wanted to question the reason for ever dying it red, but she fixed him with a silencing glare. His lips tightened and he exited the freeway and then pulled into the parking lot of a grocery store.
    “Let’s make it quick,” he said in a low voice.
    A few minutes later, they returned to the car, everything Jules needed in a small bag.
    They drove up a few exits before Manny pulled off again and into the parking lot of a small airport hotel.
    He drove under the awning of the front entrance then turned to look at her. “Can I trust you to stay here while I check us in or do I need to haul you inside with me?”
    “I’m not going anywhere.”
    He stared at her for a long moment then opened his door. He pulled the keys from the ignition and stuffed them into his pocket before stepping out.
    She sat and waited, taking in the immediate surroundings. Her eyes soaked in every detail, the proximity to the interstate, the number of cars in the lot. Anything to let her know what she was up against.
    A few minutes later, Manny slid back into the car and started the engine. He drove a few feet forward and pulled into a nearby parking space. “Let’s go,” he said.
    She collected her bag and got out, stretching her aching body. She followed behind Manny as they entered the hotel from a side entrance.
    The room was nothing fancy, the bedspreads and draperies faded and thin. Manny locked the door and bolted it behind them. She sat down on the edge of one of the two beds and let the bag slide to the floor at her feet. “So what now?”
    “We’ll catch the earliest flight I can book to D.C. I didn’t want to hang out at the airport. It’s too open, and we’d be visible for too long.”
    “So we just sit here in the meantime.”
    “Yes. You can take a shower if you want,” he offered. “I have clothes for you in the car.”
    She looked up in surprise.
    “You asked for clothes when you were in the hospital. You just didn’t stick around long enough to collect them,” he said pointedly.
    “Thank you,” she murmured. “I’ll go climb in now.” The mere thought of a shower made her positively weak-kneed. She needed to fix her hair color anyway.
    Once inside, she stripped off her jeans and shirt, wincing at the vivid bruises across her abdomen and chest. She made the mistake of looking into the mirror and gasped at her reflection. In a word, she looked bloody awful. The dye job looked cheap, and deep shadows marked her eyes.
    She pulled out her supplies, lined them on the counter and then stepped into the shower. She turned on the water as hot as she could make it and stuck her head underneath the spray.
    Manuel waited until he heard the flow of water before he relaxed his guard. He needed to call Tony and get the flight information…and any other information Tony had been able to dig up.
    He took out his phone and began the arduous task of routing his call through the backup network, one Tony himself had devised. A few moments later, Tony’s low voice came over the line.
    “I’ve got your flight info. Bad news is, I couldn’t get you a flight until tomorrow morning even with pulling strings. The weather in Chicago has the afternoon schedule a complete cluster fuck. I would have booked a flight, but I wasn’t sure about Jules’s reservation. You need to see if she has any ID, because if she doesn’t, you’re both fucked. You also need to use one of your aliases. Sanderson would know in a minute if you booked the flight as Manuel Ramirez.”
    Manuel sighed. “I have no idea. She’s in the shower now, but I’ll check on it when she gets out, then I’ll get back to you so you can make the reservations. You find out anything else?” He held his breath as he asked the question.
    “Not yet. Hopefully by the time you get here.”
    Manuel thanked him and hung up, letting out a long breath. He felt so goddamn guilty about deceiving Sanderson. The man had been very understanding