Force of Nature Series Boxed Set (Books 1 - 4) (11 page)

“CJ, don’t. You’ll only make him madder if you try and protect me,” Isaac whispered near her ear. “Step away from me and I’ll settle this with your mate.”

“He’s not my fucking mate,” she shouted. “Christ, I wish you people would stop calling me that. I. Am. Not. His. Mate. I’m going alone or with you. I’m so fucking sick of this.” She turned back to her truck and started stalking toward it. If one person said the word “mate” to her again, she was going to kill them all. She got into the rig just as Austin came up beside it. She hit the locks and started the thing up before she realized Dallas still sat in the passenger seat.

“You going to California with me? If not, then get the hell out.” She was doing a quick check of all the stuff she needed when he spoke.

“I’m not going, but thanks for asking.” He didn’t move, but stared at his brother. “This isn’t the way to handle him. You’re only going to make him madder.”

Of course she didn’t answer, but continued with what she was doing. Like she gave a shit what his temper was like. CJ was just pushing in the clutch to shift into drive when Dallas put his hand over hers. She looked up at him. “Get out,” she said. It was all she could manage if she didn’t want to go screaming into the night. “Just get out.”

He seemed to know she was close to losing it, so he nodded and put his hand on the handle. He turned back to her before he got out. “I like you Charlie Jane. Very much so, as a matter of fact. I’m going to enjoy watching the two of you come to terms with this. Because you will have to eventually.” With that, he got out. Before she could move on, Austin got in.

Without a word, she put it in first gear and moved to the line of trucks where the Preston truck was sitting. She thought if he wanted to come with her, she’d not speak to him.

~
Chapter Ten
~

Austin watched her drive the big semi up the lane. He had an idea what was going on, but didn’t get all the details before she stormed off in the direction of the rig. Isaac had said he was going with her so that he could drive part of the way, but Austin told him that wasn’t happening. The older man seemed to think that was funny, but Austin failed to see the humor in it.

He watched her back up to the trailer. She did it with ease and expertise. Austin was impressed with the way she seemed to just know when to stop without hitting the trailer, and when she grabbed a pair of heavy gloves and got out, he wasn’t sure if he should follow. He was sort of afraid she meant to leave him, and he wasn’t going to let that happen.

She was standing on the back of her rig hooking up some wires when he came around to where she was. It looked like she was putting in the electrical harness from the trailer to the rig she was driving. When she hopped down instead of waiting for him to help her, he knew that he was going to have a long ride ahead of him.

“Here, let me do that.” Austin tried to move her out of the way so that he could wind the heavy looking bar that she was moving. A sharp growl from her made him step back. She finished the job ten minutes later.

The bar she had been turning seemed to lift the large leg-like things just under the front of the trailer. He was amazed that when she finished hooking the trailer to the rig, it had been so seamless; trailer standing alone, to semi and trailer as one. When she went to the back of the trailer and practically stepped under it to do something, he nearly grabbed her and pulled her out but she was back out from under it a minute later. She did the same to the other side. When she got back in the truck, he hurried to the other side and climbed in. He watched as she moved the truck back until he felt something slam into them from the rear. He looked out the mirror in time to see Isaac moving to the side he was on and knocking on the door.

“Here you go, kid. There’s over two grand in there for gas and food.” She took the envelope from him. “Your tandems are back and your lights all work. There will be another five grand when you get to the drop.” He handed her a bag. “There’s a cell in there and also a list of phone numbers. Leo or I will call you every two to see where you are. You are gonna see a bunch of cops, but you won’t be stopped. They are on the watch for you. Got it all?”

She nodded, but Austin had questions. “Where are we going, and who will be watching over her in the mean time? Where will we be staying and how will we get back?”

Isaac just grinned and shut the door. Austin felt the truck lurch forward, and they were suddenly moving toward the highway.

Austin thought he’d give her a little while to calm down before he talked to her. He knew they were going to California and that the load they were taking was stolen. What he didn’t know was why she had been chosen and why she had disobeyed him. He’d nearly broken his promise to himself by starting to ask her some of his questions when a ringing sound startled him. She reached over her head and turned something. Suddenly, there was another voice in the truck with them.

“Hey, CJ, I have some news on that property you asked me about. Is it okay to talk or have you left yet?”

Austin recognized Phil’s voice. He looked over at CJ when she answered. He wasn’t thrilled at being ignored, but he might find out something if he let her hang herself.

“I have a passenger. But as I could care less what he does or thinks, go ahead. Was it as good as I said it would be?”

There was a bark of laughter then Phil spoke. “Hello, Austin. I didn’t know you drove a rig.”

“I don’t. I’m along because she doesn’t have the sense to learn to listen to what she’s been told. I needed to drop everything I was doing to make sure she didn’t get into any more trouble before I could claim her.”

He knew the moment he said it he’d hurt her. And he knew from the silence on the other end of the phone, Phil knew it too. Before he could say anything—not that he knew what to say—CJ spoke again.

“Did you get it? The property, I mean? And please tell me you got a good price.” Some of the enthusiasm had gone out of her voice, Austin noticed. “I want it, but not for much over what I said to offer.”

“I got it for twenty percent less than you offered. They were just glad to get rid of it.” Papers rattled around as Phil continued. “The closing is on January tenth. I figured you could work around that.”

She glanced his way before answering. “Sure, that’ll be fine. Set up the rest of the…you can set up the other stuff on the same day, right?”

“Sure,” Phil answered. “It’s already done. And the rest of it starts as soon as the ground thaws. I have the trust set up the way you said. The mayor wants to be there, of course. I have a few people lined up already to start the hiring process. I figured maybe thirty to start.”

“Yeah, okay.” Another glance at Austin before she continued. “We’ll talk more later, okay? I think…it’s too much over the phone.”

They talked for a few more minutes before they disconnected. Austin wanted to know what was going on that involved ground thawing and trust funds, but figured she wouldn’t tell him even if he asked. He stared out the window and realized they were turning into a Walmart. As they parked, she explained.

“I need supplies. You can come or not, I could care less.” She got out and left him there. She was walking to the entrance when he caught up with her. He grabbed her arm to stop her when she stalked past him.

“You have no right to be pissed at me. You brought this all on yourself.”

She didn’t say anything, but jerked free and walked inside.

He needed clothes if they were going to California and back in a truck. He didn’t have a clue how long that would take, but figured it would be at least a week. But he didn’t trust that she wouldn’t leave him either, so he asked her for the keys to the truck. 

He wasn’t sure she’d give them to him, but when she reached into her pocket and handed them to him without a word, he didn’t feel any better about himself. If she planned to not speak to him for the entire trip, it was going to be a very long one.

Grabbing up several pairs of jeans, underwear, and socks, he was standing in the shirts area when his phone rang. He wasn’t sure what Dallas wanted, but knew it couldn’t be good.

“I have some information on Isaac. He’s on an undercover project with the Feds to find out about a ring of thefts of trailers over the past few months. Mostly it’s been liquor and cigarettes, but some of the merchandise has been high end electronics.”

“How did CJ get involved then?” Austin grabbed up three packages of shirts and then went to find some heavier shirts while he waited for his brother to answer.

“Wrong place at the wrong time mostly. She put out the word that she was looking to make some hauls, and for whatever reason, ended up in the truck stop here to see Solomon and his crew cut a seal off a load.”

Isaac had explained what a seal was. It was a plastic strip that secured the back of the trailer doors when transporting merchandise. It didn’t prevent anyone from breaking in…it was just a way for the destination where the load was going to ensure that the load or merchandise hadn’t been tampered with. The seal was stamped with a number or code that matched paperwork for the company to compare with. A load with the wrong seal number was generally turned away.

“And she knew Isaac and confessed all to him? Why didn’t she go to the police? Why him?” Dallas laughed and Austin knew he wasn’t going to like the answer.

“He said he saw her parking and went to say hello. He said he smelled that she’d been marked and congratulated her on it. He said he felt like her dad explaining just how you marked her and what it meant.” Dallas sobered a bit before the final bomb was dropped. “Mom isn’t happy about that either. She’s really pissed at you right now. It’s probably a good thing you’ll be gone a while.”

Austin was standing in Health and Beauty when he saw CJ going toward the ladies’ department. Her cart was full—bottled water, canned goods, apples, paper plates, and other sundry filled most of it, along with some clothes that he couldn’t identify. He wondered if he should offer to pay at least half and decided she wouldn’t take it, but he’d see that she got it.

“Tell her that I’m sorry and I didn’t mean for her to find out that way.” Austin threw a deodorant and some liquid soap in his cart before heading to the front to check out. He was walking by the pregnancy tests when he looked up at CJ again. “Dallas, can you look into something for me? I would like to know what CJ is setting up with a trust fund. The closing is January tenth.”

Austin told him everything he’d heard before his brother asked why he didn’t just ask her himself. “She’s not speaking to me,” was his reply.

After hanging up, Austin threw a box of condoms in the cart. He wasn’t sure where he’d left the ones Dallas had given him and if he was honest with himself, he wasn’t sure if he wanted his brother’s. Austin went to check out and tried not to think about why he was buying them.

~~~

CJ had managed to cram all her stuff into one cart. She usually had most of these items with her, but with another person and a long haul, she didn’t want to stop and refill. She was going to be cutting it close anyway. By the time she got to the truck, Austin was already there. She ignored his offer to help her load it in the truck, and put it all on her seat to stash away when she got in the sleeper.

Everything in the sleeper part of the cab was bolted down. What wasn’t bolted was in things that she could close off or in most cases, stash into stuff. She looked around at the area. 

There was no floor. The bed took up most of that bit of the space. She had decided that a larger bed superseded a twin because she wanted comfort, not standing room. She had a microwave that worked off its own battery, a small refrigerator, and also a hot plate. The television was a nineteen-incher with a DVD player under it. She had some movies, but seldom watched anything but the news when she could get Internet service.

She had a set of drawers under the bed and emptied one of them for her rider. She also moved a few of her hanging things in the small closet. The food went in the bottom of the closet, and the bottled water went between the seats in the small electric cooler she kept there for it. She was wadding up the bags and putting them in the drawer when she heard the door slam. 

CJ didn’t speak to him when she got in the driver’s seat. She had to work on how much he needed to know. She started the truck and looked over at him as he buckled in.

“I don’t want you here, but since you are, you’re on my turf. My rig, my rules. I drive for twelve and sleep eight. I don’t have time to stop when you get a whim, so if you have to take a break, tough. I have less than five days to get across the country. There’s food and water if you want it. If not, then you’ll starve. When I stop for gas, you can shower or whatever, I don’t care. I use what they offer and I won’t, contrary to what you think, leave you stranded.” She put the truck in gear and looked back at him. “Oh yeah, I sleep alone.”

They were getting on the highway when he finally spoke. She was actually surprised he’d waiting that long. She was sure she’d pissed him off, but frankly, didn’t care.

“May I speak, or is that against your rules too?” She shrugged her reply. “All right. I would like to pay for whatever half of the stuff you bought costs. I know you got money from Isaac, but that is for you, not me.”

“No. I don’t want anything from you.” She looked down at the speedometer and decided if she could maintain this speed for the next few hours, she could make St. Louis, Missouri by the time she needed some sleep.

“CJ, I have to insist that you—”

“Insist all you want. I’m not taking anything from you. Now, if you don’t have any other pressing matters, I’d appreciate it if you shut the hell up. I have over four hundred miles to eat today before I can stop for the night.”

Austin sat there for another hour and for the most part, didn’t say anything. He had several calls, but she ignored them and concentrated on the road. This trip might have come at a good time, but with him there, it wasn’t going well. When he got up and went to the sleeper, she sighed. This was going to be a really long trip.

By the time she pulled into the truck stop on I-44 West, she was both exhausted and starving. Deciding she could use a hot meal and a shower, she turned to tell him what she was doing and he came through the door.

“Showers cost about five bucks. I suggest you get one here. Tomorrow I’m going a bit further, about five hundred miles and with only a couple of stops. I’m getting a shower and dinner.” She got out before he could comment.

The shower was stingy with its spray and hot water, but it felt good. She dressed in her sweats so that when she ate she could just go back to the rig and climb into bed. She didn’t care what he did tonight…she just hoped that he stayed out of her way. By the time she was dried and dressed, she felt she could almost eat a horse, and she hated that she felt a little disappointed when Austin wasn’t in the diner when she came out.

She was just looking over the menu when her phone rang. Smiling for the first time in hours, she answered. Phil had been her friend too long for her to stay mad for very long.

“Hey, buddy. What’s going on? Please tell me that there is nothing wrong with the buy. I need that area to finish the project.” She noticed the silence and knew something more had happened. “What it is? Are you all right?”