"Address?" Anders asked, apparently reverting to his man-of-few-words persona.
Jo gave it to him and then leaned her head back and closed her eyes, hoping that relaxing a little on the drive would help ease the headache some more.
When Ernie's van pulled into the gas station, Nicholas scanned the street, spotted an open parking spot, and managed to maneuver into the tight space. He then glanced toward the gas station. Ernie obviously hadn't stopped there in search of gas. He'd parked on the edge of the lot and was now staring at the restaurant parking lot across the street.
While it was Ernie he had set himself the task of watching, Nicholas couldn't resist looking toward the restaurant himself. He was rewarded with a perfect view of Jo, Bricker, and Anders getting out of the SUV they had driven there in and heading into the restaurant. They disappeared through the front door, only to reappear a moment later in the large front window as they claimed an empty booth there.
When Nicholas then glanced back to Ernie, it was to find that the other rogue had shut off his van and looked like he was settling in for a wait. It seemed he could no longer deny the obvious; while he was following Ernie, Ernie for some unknown reason had set himself the task of following Jo, Bricker, and Anders. Mouth tightening, Nicholas shut off his own engine and sat back to wait as well, but it wasn't long before he was shifting uncomfortably in his seat and wishing he had the little foam cushion he liked to place at his back. Unfortunately, that was still in his old van, which he suspected was now in enforcer hands. At least the damned thing had been gone by the time Jo had broken him out of his cell, and he'd ridden out on the undercarriage of the SUV. He'd dropped to the pavement as it had raced past the spot where he'd left the van, taking a damned good road burn in the process, only to find his van missing.
It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Mortimer had sent men out to find his vehicle after he'd been captured. He had no idea where they'd taken it to. They hadn't brought it back to the enforcer garage before he'd left, so he supposed they'd taken it somewhere to search it. Perhaps Argeneau Enterprises where Bastien Argeneau's science geeks could go over it with a fine-tooth comb.
It had been a great disappointment to Nicholas to find his vehicle gone. Aside from the fact that it held all of his meager belongings, it had meant a rather long walk for him. Had a car with some slightly drunken teenagers returning from a party not come by, he would have been forced to run all the way back to the city. Fortunately, he'd barely started out for town when they'd roared up the road in his direction. Nicholas had immediately taken control of the driver and brought the vehicle to a halt, then had gotten in to hitch a ride into town.
Nicholas holed up in a motel until morning and then headed out to purchase some supplies: clothes from a secondhand store, tools, and weapons, as well as this new van. Well, new to him, he supposed. It was used, but then he'd had to pay cash and didn't exactly have access to his previous wealth. Used or not, it had four wheels and ran. It would do for a while, he thought, watching as Jo laughed at something Bricker had said.
The sight was rather disturbing to him. Nicholas didn't like that Bricker was making her laugh, but it took him a moment to recognize what he was experiencing as jealousy. He wanted to be the one sitting there with her, making her laugh… and it was all his own fault that he couldn't.
Sighing, Nicholas shifted unhappily in the driver's seat. He couldn't claim Jo as his life mate. There was no way he would force her to live a life on the run, but fate wasn't helping him to stay away from her. After buying the van, his first instinct had been to go find where Jo lived and wait there for her, but he'd subdued that less-than-sensible idea and instead had headed after Ernie, following the tracker he'd placed under the man's van several days ago.
Nicholas had been rather shocked when trying to do the right thing, rather than what he'd wanted, had led him straight back to the enforcer house. Or at least to the neighboring house. He'd spotted Ernie's vehicle parked in the trees and glimpsed someone in the driver's seat.
Secure in the knowledge that his own windows were tinted and that Ernie wouldn't be able to tell it was he in the van, Nicholas had pulled into the driveway of a house on the opposite side of the road. It had been nearly noon when he'd shut off the engine to wait and see what unfolded.
He hadn't had long to wait before the SUV Ernie was presently following had driven by him. Nicholas had spotted Jo in the backseat as the vehicle passed, and his heart had lurched just to see her. It had lurched again when Ernie's vehicle had suddenly pulled out to follow the SUV. Nicholas had immediately started the engine and followed as well, worrying all the way into town. The only thing he could think was that Ernie had decided that going after Dani and Stephanie was too risky and so was making do with Jo instead. Perhaps he hoped to punish Nicholas for interfering last night by taking her. Ernie had probably heard him murmur that he couldn't read her when he'd tried and failed last night.