14 Ou

I could see my breath in Johnny's car. The heater didn't work so the bitter morning cold still touched us inside. I still thought he got a raw deal with the car, but he liked it well enough. The Cadillac wouldn't be putting down times at a drag strip any time soon, but that didn't bother Johnny.

Right now, he was shivering under two layers turning into a small dinner parking lot. Even near death from cold he couldn't be happier. He was driving his own car and it was a Cadillac. To him it was perfect, and who was I to say anything about it?

We left the car in the lot and crossed the pavement as quick as possible. Snow was lightly drifting down blanketing over everything. A soft quiet fell over the usually quiet little town. It made it silent. Every noise was muffled by the smothering blanket of white. It felt oddly calming to me.

"I hate winter."

Johnny said offhandedly when we entered the heated dinner. I followed him to a booth at the back and settled in comfortably. The comfort I felt the day before with Jessica was still lingering in me. Having Johnny around helped that too. I missed feeling comfortable. Being able to just feel normal in day to day life.

"I like winter. The air gets all fresh and crisp"

"Yeah but I don't think it's worth freezing my nuts off"

"Well I also don't mind the cold as much. I was raised a little farther North so it's kinda in my blood."

A waitress came by. A nice lady in her early thirties. Hair done up in a ponytail and makeup caked on like she didn't like what she saw in the mirror every morning.

I ordered tea and Johnny ordered coffee. He drank it black which was insane to me. I had my tea with sugar, lemon, and honey. Once we had settled in with our drinks Johnny started again.

"How far North?"

"North Dakota. Winters up there are no joke"

Johnny scoffed and kicked his legs up on the booth.

"No kidding. I was born in Texas and moved up here because of my Dad's mom. After she died we kinda just got stuck here."

"I ended up here when my Mom married my Dad. Before that I was in North Dakota with my grandparents."

"Crazy how we still met up even after starting out so far away"

Johnny slurped loudly from his coffee before stripping off his jacket and tossing it over his legs splayed out on the booth seat next to him.

"Why did you need me to call you yesterday and lie to Jess?"

I waved it off.

"I just talked myself into a corner. You really had my back there"

"Not like I don't always have it Fox"

I paused just like I had outside the ice cream shop.

"You just called me Fox out in public"

"Is it a problem? It just kind of slips out since I call you it so often."

"I guess it's not. I don't see why it would be unless we had some real heat on us"

"We do have real heat. Ricky isn't police, but he sure is a real threat"

"Ricky already knows us though. Using Fox and Hound in normal conversation won't give him anything he doesn't already know... Speaking of Ricky I wanted to talk about that"

"About him?"

I finished off my tea just as the waitress came back with another round of drinks. I ordered two eggs, bacon, and toast. Standard breakfast fair. Johnny ordered two omelets and asked for a bottle of hot sauce with it.

"Not him specifically. About our situation"

"Well go on then"

"I want to stop running"

Johnny's face went through a wide range of expressions ranging from surprised to understanding.

"That last run was hell..."

"We had a brush with death. Not everyone gets to walk away from that like we did. We keep pushing our luck and we could be the ones in body bags"

"I've been thinking the same thing honestly. I didn't want to be the one to say it though"

Johnny looked up to me with the sincerest look I'd ever seen him give. His eyes where dark and tired. Bags were starting to form. The signs of someone not sleeping. The eyes give away a lot.

"If you want to walk away from this Fox then I'll walk away too. I'm sure Adal won't hold it against us"

I reached over the table for his hand and we clasped together. I hadn't been with Johnny for very long. Before the first run with Ricky I had only talked to him once a week at best. After that he was a permanent fixture in my life. Even if the running had been the stupidest thing I had ever done at least I got Johnny out of it.

Our food came minutes later. It wasn't the best. My mom made a mean three course breakfast so they had a lot to contend with. That being said it surely wasn't bad. Just not like Mom made.

Johnny and I left together headed right for Adal's house. Again, with no heater so the ride over was a constant fight with hypothermia.

Snow covered the road now making the drive more treacherous then it needed to be. Johnny was fairly green when it came to driving, so navigating the weather wasn't easy for him. I nearly asked him if he wanted me to drive, but I felt like that might be a bit of an insult to his skills.

Our focus was taken off the snow when three black Chevy Silverados passed us coming from Adal's direction. The vehicle of choice for his men.

"That seems odd doesn't it?"

Johnny nodded and pointed to the glove box in front of me.

"Load it for me"

I slipped the clip into his gun with ease like I had a hundred times. Because at this point I likely had loaded my own gun a hundred times. That creeping dread leaked back into me for the moment. That comfort I had before was chased away by it.

Thankfully we had no reason to be ready. We came to Adal's house shortly after, and were greeted by his predatory smile on the front steps. A few other trucks had been parked around the circle driveway. These had furniture strapped down in the beds.

Adalwolf's dangerous eyes locked on us as we climbed from the car. That smile glimmered against the white snow swirling around the blonde's face.

"My two favorite runners! What can I do for you?"

His sentence was punctuated by the sound of his front door opening. A bigger man exited carrying a kitchen chair over each shoulder.

"First you can tell us why you're moving"

"Ricky Knows where I live. I'm getting my valuables out before he decides to come after me"

"Where the hell are you going then?"

Adal descended the steps with a spring in his stride. As if he wasn't affected by what was going on in the least.

"Oh, I'm staying here. I want my furniture and personal belongings gone in case he tries to torch the place. That's Ricky's MO."

"You're telling me you aren't safe? If you aren't safe how can we be safe?"

Johnny had come around the car now and was sitting on the hood next to me. Adal dropped his cheery smile for a serious glare.

"Things have gotten infinitely more complicated since Chicago. Like I told you before you are no longer innocent children in this. You are runners and on Ricky's radar. My people are still watching you."

I suppressed my frustration because after all Adal was right. We gave up the right to be frustrated over this when we decided to keep running. Johnny offered up no protest either.

"Fine I get that. Johnny and I came by to say we want out"

Adalwolf shrugged and slipped his hands away in his pockets.

"I figured. Consider yourselves out. However, you can tell Ricky all day long that you're done running but that won't stop him from putting a round through your skull"

"I trust you and your men. Unless this is you telling us we shouldn't"

Adal met my eyes this time. His green eyes gave glints of something more dangerous under the surface. They always did. Adal always felt like a wolf in sheep's clothing. Way more dangerous under the surface than his looks gave away.

"I won't say not to trust me, but I will say you should always trust your own gun more."

I wanted to let loose with a torrent of swears, but I settled for a tired grumble.

"Do you really think we are in real danger?"

"You always are in this line of work. You do have more help than most however. My men will be around, and I'll be here at my house when you need me"

The familiar dull buzz in my jacket pocket sounded off. I answered quickly putting my conversation with Adal on hold.

"Jack, where are you?"

My mom's voice came through the other end.

"Getting breakfast with Johnny. Why, what do you need?"

"I don't need anything. Someone stopped by with a package. Said he was a friend of yours. Bald and a bit on the older side"

My blood froze over and I hung up before she could say anything else.

"Johnny give me the keys we need go"

Johnny gave me a confused look but handed over the keys anyways. He trusted me enough I suppose.

"What's wrong?"

"Ricky just left a package at my house."

I sprinted around the car as Adal called after me.

"I'll have a truck follow you!"

I leapt into the driver seat as he began shouting orders to his men. Johnny slipped into the passenger seat just as I was turning the car over. It started up begrudgingly and groaned in protest when I put my foot down.

It went despite it's clear reluctance. I threw snow up behind me and narrowly missed one of Adal's trucks on the way out as I slid on the ice. One of the trucks fell in line behind me barreling through the snow-covered street.

Johnny hung on for dear life as I pushed his car past the safe limit for the weather conditions. I wasn't too focused on how safe I was keeping us however. As a matter of fact our safety was the farthest thing from my mind.