Watched from a Distance

by Allison B Hanson

  “It’s normal,” she said as she kicked off her shoes and crawled in her own bed with her clothes still on. He might have suggested she use his T-shirt so she’d be more comfortable, but he didn’t want her to think he wanted her to take off her clothes.

  “It definitely wasn’t because I was thinking about you,” he grumbled, not sure why he felt the need to call even more attention to the situation.

  “Of course not.” She reached up and clicked off the light between their beds.

  He lay there in the darkness thinking about how different things might have been if she hadn’t worked for Kulakov. If they’d had a chance to be the people they’d pretended to be at the bar.

  His leg felt better. Her touch had been amazing, and now he was able to rest easier.

  After debating for a few seconds, he let out a quick breath and did the right thing. “Thank you,” he managed, though he couldn’t help it came out somewhat grudgingly.

  “Don’t mention it,” she answered, and he thought he heard a smile in her voice.

  At the memory of her pretty smile, his body reacted again.

  Christ.

  Chapter Eighteen

  The next morning, Dane woke to the sound of the shower. It was only five a.m. and he wished he could sleep a little longer while he could still manage it.

  It would be another long day on the road. To his surprise, his leg didn’t feel too bad. He reached over to the night stand between the beds and turned on the light. His meds were sitting there, and he opened the bottle to get one out.

  He didn’t know what do to about Lena. He wanted to hate her for what she’d done, but it seemed to take more effort than he cared to expend. She’d done something nice for him last night, despite his animosity toward her.

  He felt like he needed to do something to put them back on the same level. He didn’t like feeling indebted to anyone. Especially evil vixens with massage certificates.

  He was drawn from his dilemma by a strange sound coming from the bathroom. The water in the shower was still running, but he heard something else. A soft whimper.

  Was she hurt?

  He was out of bed before his leg was ready to hold him. Stumbling, he righted himself and moved for the bathroom. His hand was on the knob ready to push in the door, when he heard the sound again and realized what it was.

  She was crying.

  He let his hand drop and stepped away. He didn’t know what to do. If he had feelings for her, he might have gone in and offered a hug or some futile words. If they were friends, he might have tried to cheer her up by making a joke.

  In this situation, he thought the best thing he could do was to give her some privacy and send her silent wishes of comfort.

  When she came out, he shifted and pretended to wake. She wouldn’t know he’d heard her crying in the shower where she thought the sound of the rushing water hid her sobs. That was the best he could do.

  Though he did wonder what kind of sorrow had caused her tears.

  Evil women didn’t usually cry. Did they…?

  Chapter Nineteen

  Dressed in the same clothes from the day before, Lena felt slightly better being clean underneath. She’d needed a moment alone to deal with…everything…and now she felt better prepared to face the day. Even if she knew today was destined to be every bit as sucky as every other day for the last eight months.

  They’d just made it to the door of the restaurant for breakfast when her phone rang. The familiar photo and number caused her heart to flutter with equal amounts of joy and dread.

  “I have to get this. Go on ahead. I’ll be right in.” She took a steadying breath and smiled before connecting. “Hey, baby.”

  Chapter Twenty

  Dane watched Lena as she paced by the side of the restaurant. She waved and smiled into the device as if she didn’t have a care in the world. Seeing her laughter made him hate her all over again.

  Here he was with his guts tied up in knots, worrying about his kid, and she was making gooey eyes at her boyfriend. Hell, maybe she had a husband. She didn’t wear a ring, but she might have taken it off while she was deceiving Dane.

  She’d taken his phone back, but from the clock on the wall above the counter he could see she’d been on the call for fifteen minutes when she hung up.

  She transformed right before his eyes. The second the phone was tucked into her back pocket, she slid down the wall of the building to sit on the wet pavement. Her head fell to her knees and her fingers clenched painfully in her shiny, brown hair.

  The man in him urged him to go to her, to offer something to ease her obvious pain.

  The marshal in him sat back in his seat and frowned. While he wished he could say he was happy to see her suffer, he wasn’t. But that didn’t mean he was able to offer her comfort, either. What had brought about the abrupt change?

  Nope. He didn’t care. He focused on his breakfast.

  It was some time before she slipped into the booth across from him. She smiled even though her face was red and blotchy, her dark lashes spiky with tears.

  “I got you pancakes. They’re cold now,” he said, not mentioning her breakdown. He didn’t want to know what upset her. He didn’t want to care.

  “Thank you,” she said with a thick voice. He watched as she wolfed them down.

  Twice, his mouth opened to ask if she was okay. It was an automatic response to tears. But he swallowed down the urge.

  “So, you gave up on massage therapy to take on a life of crime?” he asked before taking a sip of his orange juice.

  She shook her head. “This wasn’t a choice.” She tossed her napkin on her plate and looked out the window. “I was a manager at a salon. I loved it. I’d finally found something I was good at.” She shrugged and took in his empty plate. “Are you ready to hit the road?” And just like that, the storm clouds that had collected in her eyes dispersed and she offered him a shaky smile.

  He didn’t know what this woman’s story was, but it was becoming clear there was more to her than he’d thought.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  The alarm on Lena’s phone went off when they were leaving the restaurant.

  “It’s time to call Viktor. I’ll meet you back at the room,” she told Dane with a calm she didn’t feel. Every time she was forced to speak to Viktor was another moment she felt powerless and weak.

  She walked around the building, feeling the sun on her face as she took a breath to prepare herself to speak to Satan himself. It was such a beautiful day, she hated to ruin it so early in the morning.

  “Lena, how are you?” he asked as if he really cared.

  “Fine.”

  “I trust you had a nice chat with Mackenzie this morning.”

  She swallowed down the blinding pain at the reminder, as well as the urge to scream at the man. “How is Tobey?” she asked instead, not sure if she would believe him if he granted her an answer.

  “Fine, fine. I just checked in with my associates, and they assure me he is comfortable.”

  Comfortable. By whose standards? Viktor Kulakov would probably say her ex-husband was comfortable, even though she was pretty sure he was sleeping with the fishes, or whatever Viktor did with people who didn’t pay him the money they owed him.

  “How is our friend?”

  “Pissed off, but I’m dealing with it.”

  “Keep watch, Lena. He will probably try to get you to side with him. He’ll pretend to be your friend so he can get you to drop your guard. I need Robbie Vanderhook, or whatever his real name is. You need to make sure Dane finds him.”

  She almost laughed at the idea of Dane Ryan pretending to be her friend to get her cooperation. She actually wished he would pretend not to hate her. Maybe just a little. One look into his hard eyes, and she knew he would have killed her by now if he didn’t need her to make these phone calls to Viktor.

  “And if I help, you’ll give—”

  “We’ll discuss it once you bring me Vanderhook.”

&
nbsp; Discussing wasn’t the same thing as doing. “But you said—”

  “Let’s not play this tedious game. We both know you’re in no position to negotiate or make demands. Bring me what I want, and I’ll give you what you want. That’s how it works.”

  Except, he wasn’t to be trusted. “How can you be sure Vanderhook is even still alive?” she asked. She’d heard the story of his untimely demise. Weller had assured Viktor he’d shot him six times and he’d been as good as dead when they left him there.

  “I have my ways. Find the man and bring him to me. Call me back at three p.m.”

  “Yes, okay.”

  She set the alarm to go off before the next phone call, and tucked it in her back pocket. She felt the familiar tightening of her throat and hot tears filled her eyes.

  Instead of giving in to them, she took a few deep breaths and looked up at the blue sky. Crying never helped. She didn’t know how much longer she could keep going like this.

  Every time she got her hopes up and thought this nightmare would come to end, Viktor needed her to do some other impossible task.

  She had no leverage, which meant things weren’t bound to change anytime soon. She glanced up at the hotel and let out a breath. Viktor had warned her not to trust Dane. That he might try to get her to side with him.

  She’d laughed it off, but now she wondered if maybe that wasn’t her only option. Not the befriending part, because she didn’t think that was possible. But siding with him might be a step to ending this repetitive cycle she was caught in. She needed to do something. And he was a marshal, wasn’t he?

  In the room, he was sitting on the edge of the bed waiting for her. There wasn’t anything to pack.

  “What did Kulakov say?” he asked.

  “He said Tobey is comfortable.”

  The only answer was a glare and a snort of disbelief. Right. Why would he believe anything she said? Especially when she was passing on information from a diabolical madman.

  When they checked out, there was a box waiting for Dane. He tucked it under his arm and headed for the Jeep.

  She wasn’t sure how to approach him about switching her loyalties. He probably wouldn’t believe her even if she had the courage to bring it up. He didn’t trust her, and she didn’t see that changing anytime soon.

  She put the key in the ignition, but waited as he opened the box and pulled out a manila envelope with IDs, credit cards, and a new phone. There may have been other things in there, hell he might have pulled out the Hope Diamond and she wouldn’t have noticed.

  Because all her attention was focused intently on the gun he pulled from the box.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Dane felt so much better having a weapon. Not a sentiment shared by his travel companion, if her sharp intake of breath was any indicator.

  “If I wanted you dead, you’d be dead already,” he reminded her. He didn’t need a gun to take out a hundred-and-ten-pound woman.

  “Then why do you need a gun? You won’t get close to Viktor with it. Butch and Weller will just take it.”

  “Relax. I’m not going to shoot you. I need you.” He needed her to keep making those phone calls so no one hurt his kid.

  He pulled a GPS unit out of the box and secured it to the windshield once he’d turned it on and selected the first saved location.

  “Follow the directions it gives you,” he told her.

  An hour later, he spotted a sign for a department store and tapped her on the arm to get her attention. “Take this exit. We need new clothes and supplies.”

  She signaled and took the exit without any fuss. As far as guard dogs went, she was of the Chihuahua variety. She walked behind him into the store and followed him to the men’s section.

  Inside the store, she seemed reluctant to leave him.

  He rolled his eyes. “Look. We’re going to have to trust each other at least enough to know the other person isn’t going to run off. Of the two of us, I’d be the one who’s screwed if you leave. If I were to bail, you would just look bad to your boss.”

  “Yes, because Viktor Kulakov is the epitome of patience and understanding when it comes to the failures of his employees,” she muttered.

  He knew that. Colton Williamson had been shot six times in the chest and left for dead because Viktor had been unhappy with him. No, Kulakov didn’t hold back when displaying his disappointment.

  “Fair enough. I promise to meet you at the checkout in ten minutes.” He held out his hand in a gesture of goodwill.

  She frowned for a moment, then took it. “I promise not to leave without you.”

  He didn’t know what motivated her. He’d seen her with Viktor and it was clear they weren’t in a romantic relationship. She’d also said she had no choice. What did that mean? Was she trapped, too?

  He would work on figuring out why she was working for Kulakov and, if possible, attempt to win her over to his side. He just needed to wait for the right time.

  As promised, they met at the appointed time at the front of the store. Standing there as she approached, he was once again struck by how pretty she was.

  He hated that he still found her attractive. It didn’t matter how nice she looked on the outside when her soul was a dark, slimy pit. If it weren’t for her, he wouldn’t be in this mess.

  He knew that last thought was somewhat unfair. She wasn’t running the show. This hadn’t been her idea. She’d actually seemed upset when she saw Tobey. And if she weren’t here, he’d be shopping with Weller or the other lump who worked for Viktor.

  Having her here instead might prove to be his good fortune. She didn’t seem skilled as a guard, and he knew he could overpower her if needed, even with a bum leg. But force wouldn’t get her to share any information he might need for his mission to save Tobey.

  He would have to find a way to win her trust.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  It had taken every bit of strength Lena had to walk away from Dane to go select her clothes and supplies. Instead of getting easier, it was more difficult each time they split up.

  When would this plan of his kick in? Not that she had a clue what the plan was. She knew his team was involved in some way. Would they be waiting for her in the parking lot? Would she be arrested?

  She had been given the task of making sure Dane brought in Robbie Vanderhook. But they were apparently friends. And she had no way to force him to do it. Now that he was armed and in touch with the authorities, she was completely at his mercy.

  And mercy was not something Dane had a lot of when it came to her.

  Stowing their purchases in the car, they stopped for fast food before getting back on the highway. She glanced over to see he had a bit of ketchup on his full bottom lip.

  She remembered kissing his lips. His kiss had been soft, but strong. Like he would do what he wanted, but make sure she was taken care of, too.

  God. She shouldn’t have been thinking about sex. At this point, she was surprised she even remembered how it was done. It had been a while. Other things had taken precedence. But now, sitting next to this man, things were tingling in places she’d thought had died years ago.

  While it was nice to find out she was still a woman with normal desires, it was impossible to have those desires for someone who hated her with a fiery passion.

  And crap. Now she was thinking about passion.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Dane stared out the Jeep window as they passed a truck. He needed to do something. He was going stir-crazy. He pulled out his phone. “What’s your number?”

  After her reluctance to leave him in the store, he thought it might be a good idea if they exchanged numbers in case they accidently became separated.

  “You’re asking for my number?” She grinned at him in the same way she had that night. “I’m not sure I’m ready for that. I’m not really looking for a relationship right now.”

  Her joke brought a slight smile to his face, despite not wanting to react.

  Keepin
g her eyes on the road, she dug her phone out and pulled up the number in the settings. Clearly, this wasn’t her personal number since she didn’t know it by memory.

  He entered it in the contacts of his new phone. Then he also sent it to Angel along with a text.

  Angel was his best friend, and a whiz when it came to computers and phones. She could make it look like someone was calling from Portugal if she wanted to. She could also make it look like they were heading west when they were actually going east.

  He sent the text, let out a sigh of boredom, and stared out the window again.

  “Do you want to drive for a little while?” she asked.

  “What?” He turned to look at her. Surely, she was playing him.

  “Did you want to drive? To be honest, I’m getting sick of it. I could use a break.”

  “You’re going to let me drive.” His voice was as flat as the highway they’d been on all day.

  “I know you don’t trust me, but I’ve made a decision to trust you. One of us needs to go first. I don’t think you’re going to plow us into a tree. Nothing good would come of that. You need me to call Viktor. You’re not going to do anything to make that impossible. So, yeah, do you want to drive for a little while?”

  “Okay.”

  He wasn’t sure if it was a trick, or if she was that desperate to be relieved of the duty, but he climbed into the driver’s seat and pulled back onto the road. With both of them driving, they would be able to cover more ground.

  “Thank you,” he muttered as he merged onto the highway.

  He changed the radio station and turned it up. He almost felt relaxed. It was easy to imagine this scene in a different way. He and Lena heading off for a weekend getaway. Her hand in his, and them singing along with the radio.

  But that would never be possible. She’d ruined whatever they might have been when she betrayed him. He flipped off the radio and kept his gaze locked on the road in front of him.