The Debt 6 (4 page)

“We’re going to take care of this,” Jake said to Danny, as Raven finally broke away from her mother.

Danny looked skeptical.
 
“I don’t see what you can do about it.
 
Our house is gone.”

“I’ve started making arrangements,” Jake said.
 
“I’m putting my security detail on this fulltime.
 
They’ll be accompanying the three of you for a while.”

“Security?” Raven’s mother said, looking startled.

Jake turned to her.
 
“This fire was no accident.”

Raven saw her father’s face lose even more color.
 
“You’re saying someone intentionally set that fire?” he said.

“Yes,” Jake told him.
 
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“And why would someone do that?” Danny asked, glancing at Raven, as if it was all her fault and he knew it without even asking the question.

“It’s complicated,” Jake told him.

“I think we deserve an answer,” Danny replied.

Jake was direct and simple, his eyes unwavering in the face of her brother’s aggression.
 
“You do deserve an answer, but right now I can’t give you one.
 
What I can do is make sure you’re protected to the best of my ability from here on out.
 
That’s why my security team will be watching over things for the time being.
 
And I’ve got somebody looking for a suitable place for you three to live in the short term.”

“Jake,” Raven gasped.
 
“This is too much.
 
You can’t—“

“I can and will,” Jake told her calmly.
 
“Your family will have a more than adequate place to live and it will be completely secure,” he said.

“And what about the two of you?” Raven’s father asked, his voice weak and his cheeks blotchy as he spoke.
 
“I imagine the two of you face the greatest risk of all of us.”

“I’m going to deal with that too,” Jake replied.

“She’s our daughter,” her father said, sitting forward in his wheelchair.
 
“We need to know—“

“Trust me,” Jake told him, his voice firm.

Her father stared at him a long time and then nodded, and his eyes shifted to Raven.
 
He gave a faint smile, as if he’d seen something inside of Jake and approved of it.
 
“Take care of
yourselves
,” was all he said to her.

She went to him, leaning down and hugging him.
 
He smelled faintly of Old Spice aftershave, which he’d always worn, but beneath that was the scent of age and sickness.
 
His health was failing and this newest development wasn’t helping him any.
 
“Dad, you need to take care of yourself, too,” she told him.

“I always do,” he laughed, and then began coughing heavily.

Raven backed away from her father.
 
Danny was watching her now.
 
“So where are you two going to go?” Danny asked, almost an accusation.

“I don’t know.”

Danny smirked and looked up at they sky, which was heavy and gray.
 
“Whatever, Raven.
 
You don’t owe me any explanations, I guess.”

“We’ll be in touch, Danny.
 
For now, just let Jake’s people take care of things for awhile.”

Danny shrugged.
 
“Why not?
 
I don’t have any choice.
 
We lost everything in that fire.
 
It’s all gone.”

“It will take time,” Jake said, “but these things can be fixed.
 
It’s not irreparable.”

“Have you seen our house?” Danny said, turning and pointing.

“I’ve seen much worse,” Jake said, his tone getting more pointed.
 
“And I’ve seen families survive and thrive in the wake of tragedy.
 
We’ll make sure that you’re one of those families.”

The two of them locked eyes as if engaged in some invisible standoff.

Finally, Danny lowered his gaze.
 
“Whatever you say, Jake,” he muttered.

“Unfortunately, we can’t stay longer,” Jake told everyone.
 
He grabbed Raven’s hand and squeezed it tightly.
 
“We’re leaving and going somewhere to lay low for awhile, but I promise you all that this situation will be dealt with in short order.”

Danny watched Jake speak with hooded, mistrustful eyes.
 
“We await your return, then.”

The security team had surrounded them by now.
 
“Sir,” a smaller man with a graying mustache said to Danny.
 
“We’d like you and your mother and father to come with us.”

“Why do I feel like I’m the one who committed a crime?” Danny said, getting behind her father’s wheelchair and starting to push.

“I’ll have one of my guys push him,” the security team leader said.

“No, I’m staying with my father,” Danny snarled.
 
He glanced angrily at Raven and then the entire group began moving away, towards the fleet of cars that awaited them.

“Where are they going?” Raven asked Jake.

“Somewhere safe,” Jake told her.

“And us?
 
Shouldn’t we go with them?”

“No,” he said.
 
“Come on.”
 
He pulled her gently back to the car, where their driver waited.

They got back inside and closed the door.

“Jake, shouldn’t you at least tell me what the plan is?
 
I have no idea what’s going on.”

“Trust me,” he said, staring into her eyes.
 
“Will you trust me, Raven?”

“Of course,” she whispered.

Everything in her was alive with fear and sadness and terror, but also delight at the way Jake Novak had taken charge and finally showed his true feelings.

Maybe it’s all worth it, she thought, ashamed at herself for being as happy as she was in the midst of this chaos and tragedy.

But maybe it will all turn out all right.
 
Maybe in the end we’ll all be closer for it.

***

They were driving for a long time, into the woods of upstate New York.
 
Jake refused to tell her exactly where they were headed.
 
A few hours into the trip they stopped at a small diner and had a cozy meal, just the two of them.

Raven had coffee and looked out the window at the pick-up trucks pulling into the lot, and the burly drivers getting out, some of them congregating and chatting beside the entrance.
 
Occasionally a large semi would fly by on the road beside, and the sky overhead was a light charcoal color, and Jake was sipping coffee too and watching her with a smile on his lips.

“What?” she said.

He just shrugged.
 
“Nothing.”

“Your expression doesn’t look like it’s nothing.”

He started to grin slyly.
 
“I suppose I’m just surprisingly happy.”

“And why is that?”

He looked at her.
 
“My whole life’s falling apart around me and I’ve never felt more myself, more free, more relieved.
 
And I think it’s because of you.”

“I’m sure that’s not true.”

He nodded, his expression growing serious.
 
“No, it’s true, Raven.”
 
He lifted the cup to his mouth.
 
“As long as I have you in my life, I really could give a shit what happens with everything else.”

“What about your tour, Jake?
 
You can’t just cancel it again.”

“Can’t I?” he asked her, lifting an eyebrow.

“I don’t know.
 
It would seem to be a big risk.”

“Losing you is a risk I’m not willing to take,” he replied.
 
“Losing my career, on the other hand…well, maybe that doesn’t concern me as much right now.”

Raven couldn’t believe what she was hearing.
 
Her cheeks flushed.
 
“You still won’t tell me where we’re going?”

He pointed towards the window and she looked out again.

In the parking lot, there was another sedan beside their car now.
 
Someone she didn’t recognize was unpacking luggage and boxes from the new car and Jake’s driver was taking the luggage and boxes and packing it into the trunk of their car.

“What’s going on?” she asked him.

“That’s our clothing and supplies,” Jake told her.
 
“Everything’s been arranged, Raven.”

“By who?”

He laughed.
 
“By me, of course.”

“We’re going into hiding,” she said, finally turning from the window to look at his face, watching his reaction.

He looked at her and his sly grin had returned.
 
“Think of it as a well-deserved vacation.”

Raven shook her head, but her cheeks were still flushed.
 
“Will there
be
anyone else staying with us?”

“Do you want there to be?” Jake asked, his eyes twinkling mischievously.
 
“I can make some calls, get Cirque Du Soleil to swing by or order up some tourists to stay on the property.
 
You name it.”

“Of course I want it to be just us,” Raven told him.
 
She shivered a little, but it was a pleasant shiver, as she looked around at the quaint environment.
 
A waitress was picking up a few empty plates from the counter and a couple of old men were arguing politics with the chef, who stood nearby with a stained apron, his grizzled face a testament to a lifetime of hard work.

Outside, the small congregation of truck drivers had started to make their way into the diner.

They entered and sat down in a couple of booths not far away from where Raven and Jake were seated.

Jake had fallen silent, seeming content to just sit and sip his coffee.

Raven felt the same way.
 
Somehow, despite everything, she’d never been more secure and happy than she was at that very moment.

And it was because of Jake.

A few minutes later, he paid the bill in cash and then they left and got back in the car.
 
Jake gave the driver an egg sandwich and a coffee in a Styrofoam cup, and the driver seemed grateful for it.

Before long, they were driving again.

They went deeper into the country, and the towns got smaller and the houses spread further apart.

Before long, they were traveling on roads that were unpaved and the car bounced along like they were driving on railroad tracks or something.
 
Eventually, they were going into the forest on a road so narrow the car could hardly pass though.

The trees were thick and dense and the road grew narrower still.

“Is this even legal?” she asked Jake.

He just laughed.

Finally, the road—such as it was—came to an end.
 
The driver parked and turned the car off.
 
There was nothing in sight.
 
They were at a dead end.
 
“Jake, I’m starting to get scared,” she told him.

He turned to her and smiled, putting his hand on her thigh.
 
“Don’t worry, Raven. We’re close.”

“There’s nothing here.”

“It’s a little hike, nothing more.”

“A hike?” she said, her stomach rolling anxiously.
 
“We’re in the middle of nowhere.”

“That’s kind of the point.
 
Come on.”
 
He opened his door and slid out, and beckoned Raven to follow.
 
She got out of the car and her feet stomped on a bunch of wet leaves.
 

The driver was already starting to unload their baggage from the trunk of the car and placing it to the side of the rutted path.

Jake helped him with the last of the boxes and bags and then they shook hands.
 
“I really appreciate all of your help, Russell,” he told the driver.

“My pleasure, Jake.
 
You got my number if you need anything else.”
 
The driver then got in the car and started it up.
 
He needed to perform a very difficult turn, and Raven thought for sure he was going to get himself stuck, but he executed it perfectly and managed to turn the car around.

She watched with mounting dread as the car disappeared down the rutted path. Then she looked at the pile of luggage and boxes.
 
“What do we do with all this?”

Jake leaned down and picked up two pieces of luggage, one suitcase in each hand.
 
“I’ll take care of it.”

“Jake, I’m not letting you carry this stuff all by yourself.”