by Kay Marie
He tugged his jeans back on and quietly unzipped the tent, inhaling sharply as the cool breeze hit his bare skin, erasing the last vestiges of womanly warmth. That offensive pink collared shirt was still bunched on the ground outside, glistening with a layer of morning dew. Thad wanted nothing more than to bury it in the dirt. He quickly closed the tent to keep the heat in for Addison, then stepped over to the car. After pulling a black V-neck over his head, Thad turned toward that vacant cabin on the other side of the clearing and resolutely started marching. The door was locked—hardly an obstacle. He was inside within seconds, scoping out the meager surroundings. A bed. A desk. A fridge that might have some fresh food. A coffee pot—score! And the one thing he’d been looking for—a phone. He didn’t know exactly what he was going to do yet, but he knew he needed to talk to his partner.
She picked up on the second ring. “Hello? This is Jo Carter.”
“It’s me.”
Click.
Thad sighed. She is so dramatic.
A few minutes later, the phone rang, loud against the background of chirping birds, rustling leaves, and that gentle hum of peaceful silence. She was talking before he even lifted the receiver to his ear.
“Sorry about that! Nate was literally half-asleep right next to me. Do you have any idea how early it is? I told him I was going out for coffee and doughnuts—which really, he’s a cop, right? You’d think he’d be a little more excited about the idea. But noooo.” She snorted. “Anyway, what’s up? I can’t believe you didn’t email me. I taught you how to scramble an IP address for a reason!”
“I forgot,” Thad cut in smoothly.
She huffed over the line. “I honestly don’t think you or Dad ever paid attention when I spoke.”
“Jo Jo, that’s not fair,” Thad countered, unable to stop the grin coming to his lips. “We tried. It’s just as soon as you say things like code, or firewall, or encryption, my mind goes blank.”
“Thaddy, I showed you how to access my VPN in like two steps and how to hide behind a proxy server. We’re living in the digital age. You need to get with the times.”
“You say VPN, but I hear V-P-what now? Besides, a phone call works great. We’re talking right now. Much easier.”
“Yeah,” Jo commented snidely, “except for the small fact that the Feds are tracking my incoming calls and are probably wondering why I’m getting a call from— Where the hell are you, anyway?”
He sighed. “The Grand Canyon—”
“The Grand Canyon?”
“Addison wanted to go, and, well, it’s sort of a long story that we don’t have time—”
“Is there something going on between you two?” Jo pried, as was her nature. The curiosity practically dripped from her tone, sweet and thick, like honey.
“Jo Jo—”
“There is, isn’t there?” He could hear her impish grin in her voice. “Why else would you be at one of the most popular tourist attractions in America? What’s going on?”
“Jo—”
“If you hurt her, Thad, I swear I’ll— I’ll— Well, I don’t know what I’ll do, but something. Something terrible.”
“I’m not going to hurt her.” Am I?
“Good, because she’s not like the girls I know you get with all the time. Addy’s sweet, and funny, and one of my best friends. At least, I hope after all this she’s still one of my best friends. So I don’t need you screwing it up for a quick fling!”
“It’s not…like that.” Thad sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, roughing it up. “I’m calling because I’m trying to keep her safe.”
Jo paused. Thad imagined she was narrowing her eyes and peering suspiciously at her phone. “Go on…”
“You were right, Jo—”
“I’m sorry, I’m not sure I heard you correctly, Thaddy Bear.” He flared his nostrils and ground his teeth at her smarmy tone. “I was what?”
“For the first time in twenty-five years, you were right. Don’t let it go to your head.”
“What exactly was I right about?”
So many things.
Too many things.
You were right that I never should’ve accepted the deal with the Russians, he thought, rubbing the back of his neck. You were right that your father and I should’ve gone straight to the Feds. You were right that we were idiots for thinking if we just followed along, somehow we’d all be safe. You were right that they’re evil men who need to be stopped. You were right about all of it, except one thing. You were wrong to ever put your faith in me.
He squeezed his eyes tight, as though he could hide from the truth if he just pretended it wasn’t right there, staring him in the face. “I’ll be in Scottsdale in about four hours, and I’m prepared to hand myself over to Agent Parker on two conditions. One, I get to see Emma first. To explain…everything, before she hears it from someone else. And two, you’ve got to be there too. I don’t trust handing Addison over to anyone else.”
Jo was quiet for a moment.
His heart thundered in his chest.
“I think I can arrange that,” she said softly, then coughed under her breath. “I, um, sort of assumed you would eventually come to that decision, so Nate and I have been in Scottsdale for the past two days, waiting for you to arrive.”
“You’ve what?”
“I know,” she said, a cringe evident across the many miles between them. “I know. But a team of agents was already here surveilling the house. They’ve been watching her, been watching both of them ever since you went missing, just in case you made contact. I didn’t tell them anything, I swear, not about her. But, I mean, come on, it wasn’t that hard to figure out. And I just thought, if Nate and I got here before you, maybe we could stop you before you walked into a trap. It’s much better to hand yourself in than to let them catch you. At least, that’s what Nate said.”
He swallowed a tight block lodged in his throat. “They’ve been watching the house?”
“Secretly,” Jo said, sympathy adding weight to her quiet words. “In case the Russians did anything—which they haven’t, not yet. Nate said they’ve spotted a few suspected operatives in the area, but so far, everyone’s been waiting for, well, you.”
“It’s tough to be popular,” he said with mock moroseness.
Jo laughed, a sad, airy sound, but it was something, a little lightness in an otherwise dark conversation. “How’s Addy doing?”
“She’s, um…”
Satiated? Thad rubbed at his scruff, trying to smooth out his dimples as a satisfied smile rose to his lips. At least, I hope she is. For a while there, last night, he honestly wasn’t entirely sure he was up to the task. For a little thing, she had stamina, but the challenge was half the fun. Well, maybe not half, but…
He cleared his throat. “She’s good. Hanging in there.”
“Not as traumatized as the last time we spoke?”
“No, she adjusted to life on the run pretty well. We’ve sort of been pretending it’s all one big cross-country road trip to help ease her mind.”
Jo sighed. “Thad.”
“What, Jo Jo?”
“Have you warned her at all about what’s coming?”
He winced. “It’s, um, never come up.”
“Thad,” she growled. “Does she understand that she’s a media sensation right now? Reporters will be calling. Talk shows too. I mean, people can’t get enough. It’s sort of sick, actually. They won’t stop playing the clip of her parents crying, begging you to let her come home safe.” Oh, God. He hadn’t seen that one. “I mean, life as she knows it is over. For a while, at least.”
“I know, Jo.”
“Do you?”
“I know.” I ruined her life, like I do every time. The past few days had been like living in a dream, in a bubble. But that fragile peace was about to bust open in a big way. Because Jo was right. No matter how the dust settled, Addison’s life would never be the same. He’d shattered the small-town existence she’d been living. There
was no going back. Though a tiny voice in the back of his mind whispered that somehow, she’d be better off for it. “I’ll talk to her. I’ll explain.”
“Okay.” He could sense the hesitation in her tone, so he waited silently. “It’s just…”
“Say it, Jo.”
All he heard was steady breathing on the other side of the line.
“Say it.”
“It will be better for her if she hates you.”
His shoulders dropped, heavy with the weight of her words, because they were true.
“The Russians can’t think of her as leverage. Until the trial is over, they have to think she hates you. That you mean nothing to her, and she means nothing to you. It’s the only way she’ll be safe.” Every word was like a punch to the gut. He leaned against the wall for support as Jo continued talking, unaware. “I’ll teach her, when she gets here. I’ll tell her how to lie and what to say, how to paint you the villain. It’s what America already believes anyway, so they’ll take her words at face value. But the Russians, they’ll be studying her answers. They need to believe her. They need to think she hates you.”
Just like that, he finally had a plan.
She’ll hate me, Jo.
Soon enough, you both will.
After days on the road, and countless hours of brainstorming, he knew exactly what to do. Talking to Jo had always had a way of clearing his mind, of setting things straight. The pieces came together swiftly, forming a map he knew he could follow. He didn’t care what happened to him, truly he didn’t. Right now, all that mattered was her. And Emma. And Jo. And keeping the few things he held dear safe.
But he kept his mouth shut.
Because for the first time in his life, he was acting solo.
No Jo. No partners.
It was better that way. It meant he couldn’t hurt anyone.
“I’ll see you in a few hours, Jo. Just you and Nate—no other Feds. Keep it between us for now, until we figure out what to do with Addison.”
“Nate won’t want to keep it secret,” she said cautiously.
“Then don’t tell him I’m coming.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
“You can, Jo. For old times’ sake, you will.”
She sighed. Within that sound he heard a silent promise, for her father’s memory, for Addison’s safety, maybe for all the love between them too, she’d do him one last favor. Then she was through. “Here’s the address of the safe house.”
She rambled it off and they hung up.
Thad left the cabin and went straight to the car, sparing a quick glance to make sure the tent was still closed and that Addison was still sleeping. He pulled his duffel out from underneath the seats and dug through its contents for everything his plan might require—his trusty pick, a slim bendable wire, a small razor blade masquerading as a key, and a few other miniature gadgets that easily fit in his pockets. Not his jean pockets, of course, but the hidden pockets he’d sewn into the lining ages ago. Then he took a deep breath of clean forest air, not sure he’d ever smell anything so fresh again, and readied himself for this final con.
When he crawled back into the tent, there was nothing he wanted more than to wake Addison with a gentle kiss to her shoulder and soothingly whispered words. But that time had long passed. In fact, it never should have come at all.
He shook her roughly awake and murmured, “Time to go.”
And then he left before he’d have to meet her confused gaze, worried that like always, she’d see the truth lurking in his eyes.
- 22 -
Addison
He was different. Cold. Quiet. He’d barely even looked at her since they got in the car, staring straight ahead at the road with his lips drawn in a thin line and his jaw muscles clenched. Normally, her mind would spin in circles, wondering what she’d done. But she knew this wasn’t about her. He was nothing more than a fraud to most of the world, but no one could’ve faked what had happened between them last night. Addy hadn’t done anything wrong. She hadn’t done anything to upset him. Thad was in his own head, and she knew why.
Emma.
She’d tried not to let herself ruminate over those two syllables she never should’ve overhead, but in the silence stretching between them, as vast as those canyons, Addy had no other distraction.
Who was she?
What did she look like?
Why did he need to see her so badly?
Emma.
It was one of those odd names that could fit almost any person and any time. Had her name been Patricia or Susan, she would’ve guessed it was his mother. If her name were Dorothy or Florence, maybe a grandmother. But Emma? It could be a child. It could be an ex-girlfriend. It could be a wife.
Wife?
Addy shook her head, staring out the window at the desert landscape stretching across the horizon, speckled with green shrubs and broken every so often by the sudden upshot of a jagged hill.
He’s not married.
He can’t be.
She peeked to the side. There was no ring on his finger, and he was her age. He couldn’t be married. He just couldn’t.
Well, why not? Plenty of people my age back home are married. They even have kids!
Her brows pushed together. She sat a little straighter.
…Kids.
Does he have a child?
Is Emma his…daughter?
It was the first guess that reverberated in her gut with a little ring of truth. A daughter. Which would explain the mix of love and anguish she kept seeing in his eyes. He’d no doubt been reckless in his youth…and his adulthood. With his looks and his attitude and his upbringing, it wouldn’t exactly be a huge surprise. Heck, Edie was the most responsible person Addy knew and she’d accidentally gotten pregnant. It wasn’t that unusual. With everything she’d learned over the past few days, Addy wouldn’t be surprised if Thad thought any baby of his was better off without him. Not a deadbeat dad so much as a determinedly absent one. Until now, when he was fleeing the country, meaning this was his last chance.
Addy turned, staring at him, seeing him not so much in a new light but a brighter one, one that made all the cracks that much deeper and darker and permanently engraved in his heart.
“Thad?” she asked softly.
But her tone came out too hesitant, too empathetic. He immediately shut down. “We’re almost to our exit. Can you read off the turns?”
She did.
The silence between each brief direction was stifling. He didn’t glance her way, not once the entire time, not until they pulled onto a little side street and eased to a stop outside a small one-story house. When the engine stopped running, he finally turned toward her. The ache in his eyes made her heart skip a painful beat in her chest.
“Addison, there’s…” He paused and licked his lips, glancing away to run a hand through his hair before turning back toward her. Bed head was a distractingly good look on him. Then again, it seemed like everything was. “I’m leaving soon, and I need to make sure you understand the world you’ll be returning to.”
Addy swallowed, trying to clear the lump in her throat, but it stayed there, stubborn, making her chest burn. It took all her effort to get out a single hoarsely spoken word. “Okay.”
“The Feds are immediately going to bring you in for questioning.”
She shook her head repeatedly. “I won’t say a word.”
“No.” He turned to her sharply. “Tell them everything. Everything. Even what I’m saying right now. Don’t give them any reason to think you’ve lied. Any reason to think you might be covering for me. That’s important, okay?”
She couldn’t speak, so she just nodded.
“But it’s more than the Feds,” he kept going, staring at her now, intently, studying her reactions to make sure she heard every word he was saying. The scrutiny made her flush after being ignored for so long. “Reporters are going to stalk you for a little while. Take pictures. Follow you around. Shout out questions. Talk sho
ws will call. Radio shows will call. Magazines and newspapers too. And when they do, you’ll have to talk to them, but you’re going to have to lie. And it’s going to have to be convincing.”
“What do you mean?” Her voice was hollow. Her lungs felt the same, as if there was no air to breathe. “Lie how? Why do I have to say anything?”
“Jo will coach you,” Thad went on as though he hadn’t heard her, talking faster than ever before, as though he were in a rush for the first time in his life. “She’ll tell you what to say and how. She’ll know what to do. Tell the world I kept you tied up and gagged. That I hardly gave you food and water. That I was an asshole and I barely spoke two words to you. That I’m a monster. Tell them—”
“But,” she cut in, unable to believe what he was saying. He would never have done any of those things, not in a million years. “But, Thad—”
“No,” he interrupted and grabbed both of her hands in his, forcing her to listen. “This is important, Addison. The world wants me to be a villain, so they’ll believe you. They’ll eat up every word of your story, and it will keep you safe. No one except the Feds and Jo can ever know what actually happened between us—not your family, not your friends. If the Russians suspect you might mean something to me, they’ll— They might—” He squeezed his eyes and shook his head. “No one can know. To the rest of the world, I kidnapped you, kept you tied up and blindfolded for a few days, and used you as leverage to gain access to Jo, and that’s it. That’s everything. Okay?”
Addy was trembling. She clenched her fingers into a fist, but her arms still shook. She flattened her palms against her thighs. Finally, his steely eyes softened, warm as a downy fur in a frozen winter tundra, a look she was used to. He lifted his hand to her face and brushed a stray hair behind her ear, letting his fingers linger on her skin.