Thirteen hours.
To Kristi, that seemed like an eternity.
* * *
Malik turned onto the street,hoping he’d bought them some time. They had a long drive ahead of them, and so many things could go wrong along the way. All these Sky King assholes had to do was connect Kristi to this rental vehicle, which surely had anti-theft technology and was traceable. “Are you ready for a road trip?”
“I guess so. Do you know how to get to Parakou?”
“Yes.” He knew Kristi was afraid, and he couldn’t blame her. He reached over, took her hand, tried to reassure her. “We’re loading up on supplies first—water, food, gas cans, and sunglasses for you if you don’t have them.”
“Good idea.”
“If there’s anything you need, you should make a list.”
She answered without hesitation. “Chocolate. Lots of chocolate. A woman can only take so much bullshit before she needs chocolate.”
She was so serious about it that Malik was tempted to laugh, but his survival instincts, honed through a decade of warfare and experience with two older sisters, warned him against that. “Chocolate. Got it. Anything else?”
“Hand sanitizer. Wipes. Soap. Do you have a first aid kit?”
“Yeah. It’s in my bag.” He drove them to Best Choice Supermarket, parked, and retrieved one of David’s SIG P320s from his duffel in the backseat. He’d kept both pistols, along with the M4 carbine. “You stay in the car with the windows up and the doors locked.”
But she’d seen the pistol. “I thought the guns belonged to David.”
“They did. He donated this and the carbine to our cause, along with some spare ammo. He just doesn’t know that yet.”
Kristi gaped at him. “Youstolethem?”
“Stoleis a strong word.” He tucked the SIG in the rear waistband of his jeans, covered it with his T-shirt. “Iborrowedthem. There’s a difference.”
“How did you plan to get them onto the plane?”
“Airport security here is notoriously lax.”
“Don’t get me wrong. I’mgladyou have them. I just don’t want David coming after us, too, or you getting arrested.”
“Don’t worry about that. I’ll square things with David when you’re safe.”
He climbed out, locked the vehicle behind him, and walked into the store. He worked his way down a mental shopping list that included everything Kristi had mentioned, as well as a pair of sunglasses for her, two cases of bottled water, and two five-gallon plastic gas cans that he would fill on their first refueling stop.
The cashier didn’t bat her eye at the two dozen chocolate bars.
Malik bagged their supplies and paid with the Cobra card once again. He gave the cashier a nod, and left without speaking, rolling the cart out to the vehicle. He loaded everything up, returned the cart, then climbed into the driver’s seat and handed Kristi her chocolate. “Is that enough?”
She glanced inside, a look of relief coming over her face. “Oh, thank God! Snickers! Twix! Baby Ruth! Dairy Milk bars!”
Malik got them back on the road, working hard to keep the smile off his face as she ripped into a Snickers bar. “How long has it been since you’ve had chocolate?”
“Almost nine months.” She moaned, a sound of pure female pleasure that hit him square in the groin. “Mmm.”
It’s the chocolate, dude.
His brain knew this. His dick didn’t.
He ignored his dick and switched on the vehicle’s navigation system, choosing English for the language and tapping in their destination. He excluded toll roads and asked it to reroute around heavy or stalled traffic. He hoped that would steer them clear of any surprise roadblocks.
He glanced over, saw that Kristi had devoured that Snickers and was now licking her fingers.