Penelope tried to pick out foods she thought Alex would eat when she joined her, though she ended up a little carb heavy on her own plate, as if she had wanted to subconsciously fill one craving with another. Letting out a little sigh, Penelope dug into her bowl of cereal, finding her mind still distracted by the tumultuous feelings swirling around in her brain. She tried to focus, since she knew that it would do Erin no good if they were at odds when tracking her down.
"You forgot your tablet, and we still need to go over a few last minute details."
Her head quickly shot up to look into Alex's face, the warm feeling of her hand slowly bleeding into her senses as she nodded slowly. "I guess that my mind was a little distracted at the moment. I'll try to do better, I have to do better, for Erin."
"We will, Penelope." Alex took a seat across from her, picking up the orange and quickly peeling it before popping a segment into her mouth. "So, we should probably put in our route before we leave, because I'm not certain how long we'll have coverage for. His property is located deep in the woods, after all." Penelope nodded as she continued to eat, watching as Alex typed in the address and loading up directions for them before digging in to her breakfast.
They ate quietly, and once Penelope was finished, she picked up the tablet and looked over the directions. "Give me a few minutes, and I'll be back."
Alex nodded absently as she scrolled through her phone, and Penelope let out a little sigh as she got to her feet and went over to the front desk. The woman there glanced up, giving her a small smile. "May I help you?"
"Yes, I need to print off directions before we head out for the day, just in case I lose cell service. Could I send this to your printer? The library isn't open yet, and we really wanted to get under way soon." The woman nodded, and Penelope smiled as she sent the directions to the printer via the hotel's Wi-Fi. It didn't take long to get that done, and then she was heading back over to Alex's side, coming up behind her. As Penelope draped her arms around her shoulders, Alex leaned back and looked up into her eyes, giving her a longing smile before Penelope dipped her head down and kissed Alex's forehead. "I have our directions, so as soon as we finish breakfast, we can be underway," she whispered before slipping over to her chair and picking up her coffee, taking a few gulps before picking at the rest of her food, suddenly wanting to be under way.
Alex seemed to be of the same mind, since she picked up the pace of her eating until she pushed the plate away. "All right, I'm ready, Penny."
She nodded as she rose to her feet, picking up her coffee cup before heading from the room, allowing Alex to clear the table as she rummaged through her to find the keys to the car. It was a bit odd to be driving James's vehicle, but it fit the story that they were trying to sell, and so she tried to act like she was more comfortable than she was being behind the wheel. Finally, her fingers touched the keyring, and she pulled them out just as she felt Alex come up behind her, her hand caressing Penelope's side before looking into her eyes. "I'm glad that I have you as my navigator, Alexandra."
The older woman nodded before taking firm hold of her hand, pulling out into the slowly brightening day. "Today is going to be a hard day, no matter what we find. I really don't want to stop until we are able to know exactly where Gideon is living. Time is a luxury that we don't have in this case, because Erin needs to be safe."
"I know." They walked over to the car, and Penelope opened the passenger door for Alex, leaning in and kissing her softly, wanting to comfort her in that moment, even though she knew it was an entirely bad idea. She returned it a bit hungrily, and it took everything in Penelope to not bury a hand in Alex's hair and pull her close, to deepen the kiss and make her mark on Alex. Sighing a little, she pulled away to look into her eyes, and she saw that there was a sweetness in her gaze that caused her heart to lurch in her chest. "I'm sorry," she whispered before letting go of Alex and scurrying over to the driver's side and slipping behind the wheel.
There was a brief moment of silence as she turned the car on before plugging in her phone and starting the navigation to the place where they thought Gideon was living. Before she backed out of their space, she turned to look at Alex, noticing that the open look she had been wearing had quickly faded away. "I'll be fine. I know, we keep pushing the boundaries that we set for ourselves, and I also know that that is a result of our quest and latent feelings that we have uncovered in this little drama we've created for ourselves."
"I know. Um, I was thinking that we should probably ditch the car about three miles away from the house, since it would be rather noticeable, since the property is so secluded. I, I just don't want to lose Erin when we're this close to her?"
Alex nodded. "I think that you're right, Pen. There appears to be a copse of trees close to the property line, so we could find a safe place to pull over and leave the car before forging our own path to the house." Penelope smiled at her before starting to drive, listening to the voice of the GPS guide her ever closer to their destination. Occasionally, she heard Alex humming under her breath, the sound a welcome break in the monotony of the silence, and she would just as infrequently reach over and brush her fingers across her arm, to let herself know that everything was all right. The closer they got, though, the more nervous she became, and Alex seemed to pick up on her unease, as she turned her body slightly so that she had her entire being focused on Penelope. "My stomach aches, too," she whispered, and Penelope gave her a tight smile as she slowed the car, grateful that there were no vehicles behind her.
"Would you check the paper map a second? If I remember correctly from my cursory glance, this is an access road, and we might be able to safely leave the car here and not be noticed." Alex nodded before taking a look at the map in her lap. "Am I right?"
"It appears so, Penelope." She nodded and turned down the road, pulling far enough off the main road so that they wouldn't be noticeable before getting over to the shoulder and turning the car off. "I don't know if I'm ready for this."
"We have to be, Alexandra. Erin is depending on us to make certain that she escapes him. We can't abandon her now."
"I know that much, Penelope, but this is a different sort of apprehension. I don't know if I am ready to see Erin in peril. I wasn't there when she was in Aaron's arms, and I wasn't in a good place to mourn her then. That's all changed these last few weeks, and I don't know if I'm ready for what comes next."
"Oh." Penelope felt her eyes well up with tears, and she plucked the keys from the starter, shoving them into her pocket before doing the same with her phone and escaping from the car, finding everything too close in that moment. Alex joined her moments later, and she wrapped her into a tight hug before they orientated themselves to the way they needed to go. "I didn't think of bringing clothes with me."
"We need to find her first, we can bring something when we have evidence that she's there, and can bring back up with us. Because there is no way on God's green earth that I am allowing either one of you to be hurt by Gideon." The vehemence in her voice took Penelope aback a little, but she was touched by the ferocity as well, knowing that Alex would do everything in her power to keep them both safe.