by Jane Jamison
“I’m sorry?”
“Who are you running from, honey?”
At first, she couldn’t answer. “How’d you know?”
“I recognize the expression. Not to mention the heartache in your eyes. Plus, you were saying something about someone named Frank while you were asleep. You’re running from him, aren’t you?”
She’d lied before, but she couldn’t do it again. Glancing around, she checked the other four passengers to see if they were listening in on their conversation. The two teenagers had earbuds in their ears, one man was on his cell phone, and the other man was fast asleep. “Yes. Frank is my boyfriend. Or, rather, he was. But please, don’t tell anyone.”
“Don’t worry none. Your secret’s safe with me.” She reached across the aisle and patted her hand. “I know how it can be. But why run?” Her face darkened. “Unless he’s hurt you. And I don’t mean just your heart.”
She couldn’t tell her. If she did, she’d not only be putting her life in danger, but Lena’s, too.
“Okay, I get it. But when you’re ready to talk, you can count on me to listen and keep my mouth shut. You remember, okay?”
“Thanks. I will.”
“Say, how about you getting off in Warner with me? My sister lives there. You could rest up and get your head together.”
“I thought you were going to Twisted.”
“Eventually, yes. But the bus only goes into Twisted once a month. The next time it goes through isn’t for another two weeks. My grandson’s coming to pick me up later tonight and take me on home.” Her smile was telling. “You two might hit it off.”
Well, hell. She hadn’t wanted an invitation, much less a blind date. “Thank you for the offer, but I’ll stick on the bus for a while.”
“Suit yourself. If you change your mind, though, you’re more than welcome at my sis’s. Then in Twisted, too. The folks there are really nice. Not in such a rush like people in a big city like Wichita are. I think you’d like it.” She smiled, spreading her fading lipstick farther. “Once you get used to the locals.”
The locals were probably like other small-town people. Wary of strangers. God knows she knew worse people than that now.
“I appreciate your help, but I’m fine on my own.”
“Okay, hon, but the offer still stands. And if you ever get to Twisted, you be sure to look me up. I own The Rocking Porch, the best bed and breakfast around. The fact that it’s the only bed and breakfast in town doesn’t make it any less true. I tell you what. The first couple of nights will be on the house.”
“Wow.” After all, who knew what lay ahead of her? “I might just look you up after all. My mother always told me not to look a gift horse in the mouth.”
“Honey, I’m more like a cat than a horse.” Lena leaned back and pulled a ball of yarn and knitting needles from her purse. “You’re welcome in Twisted anytime you want.”
Talking to Lena made her feel better. Knowing there were still kind people in the world helped. She leaned against the window and stared at the road passing swiftly by.
What would she do? She’d had to leave everything she owned behind. Anything other than what she had in her suitcase was gone. Her job. Her students. Her friends. Thanks to Frank, she was starting her life over.
She sensed the car pulling up beside the bus before she saw it. Slowly, the car edged next to the bus. Dark tinted windows hid the occupants of the shiny black sedan. For a while, she merely watched it as she had other cars on the highway.
Why isn’t it passing the bus?
She sat up, her body tensing. The car stayed even with the bus, only pulling back whenever another car came up behind them and wanted to get past. Then, again and again, the black vehicle would ease back into position at their side.
Kylie slunk lower in the seat. Her heart beat faster and it grew harder to take a breath. She no longer had a doubt. Whoever was driving the car was trailing the bus.
Could it be Frank?
The car wasn’t his, but he might’ve called for help. Wasn’t that how crime organizations worked? All he would’ve had to do was to send out a message and the rest of them would come to his aid.
Had he put out a hit on her? He would’ve killed her if she hadn’t gotten away. He wanted to get rid of the only eyewitness to the murder.
Alarm broke a line of perspiration out along her brow. If they shot at the bus, they could end up killing the other people on board. She had to get off, but how?
“Lena, what’s the next stop?”
“Hmm.” She looked up from her knitting. “The bus gets off the highway and makes it to a couple of the smaller towns this trip. The next town up is Crosston where we can get off and stretch a bit. Then it’s on to Warner and down the line is Lubbock. If this was the day the bus ran to Twisted, we’d be there before you knew it.”
She’d never heard of Crosston or Twisted. Hopefully, neither had Frank.
“We’re so close you could probably walk if you had a mind to. Personally, I don’t like hoofing it when I can see my sister and catch a ride. Plus, it seems downright silly to go all the way down to Lubbock, but that’s the way the bus line made the route. Kind of like having to fly up to Salt Lake City from Las Vegas and then go south to Dallas. Doesn’t make much sense, but it’s the way it’s done.” Her smile died away as her gaze intensified. “Why? Is there a problem?”
The last thing Kylie wanted to do was to put anyone else in danger. She wouldn’t have Lena taking on her problem. “Nope. Just hoping to grab something to eat.”
Lena studied her a little longer then, seemingly satisfied, tucked her chin and went back to her knitting. “Sounds good to me. I could use a bite to tide me over.”
She scooted across the seat, putting her farther from the window. At least if it really was someone out to get her, she wouldn’t literally be a sitting duck. “Can you show me how to knit? I’ve always wanted to learn how.”
Another lie, but she didn’t have a choice. Keeping low, she didn’t wait for Lena to answer. Instead, she moved as fast as she could to the seat next to Lena.
“Sure I can. It’s not hard at all.” Lena pulled another ball of yarn and two more needles out of her large bag. “I always carry an extra set with me. You never know when you might need them.”
“I agree. It’s always better to be prepared than to end up sorry,” added Kylie. She took the needles and started listening. But most of her concentration was on the black sedan still tagging along with the bus.
* * * *
Thirty minutes later, the bus pulled into the parking lot of a small town grocery-slash-convenience store. Kylie scanned the area, hoping against hope she wouldn’t see the black car. Her heart sank when it pulled into one of the parking spaces.
“Everyone, we’re here for ten minutes. If you’re not back on the bus by the time it leaves, we go without you.” The driver cranked the door open, then made his way outside.
“You coming, Lucy?”
Kylie peered out from behind the back of the seat in front of her. No one had gotten out of the car, but she had an awful feeling that if she put one foot on the steps leading outside, she’d be dead within a minute.
“Lucy? Are you coming, honey?”
She jerked her head toward Lena. “What?”
“I asked if you were coming. Didn’t you want to get a bite to eat?”
“I am. You go on. I’ll be there in a minute. I want to make a phone call first.”
Lena gave her a once-over, and Kylie was sure she knew she was lying.
“Okay. But remember, we only have ten minutes.”
“Got it.” She forced a smile. “Maybe you could grab a sandwich for me? I’ll pay you back.”
“Sure thing, honey.”
Once Lena was safely off the bus and into the store, Kylie grabbed her purse and, keeping bent over, headed for the rear of the bus. If she was right, whoever was in the car wouldn’t be able to see her exiting the bus through the emergency door.
Taking a deep breath, she pushed the door open just enough for her to squeeze through it. She landed on her feet and waited, half expecting to get shot. When nothing happened, she closed the door, then looked around. A small cluster of trees stood off to the right of the building. If her luck held, she could make it to them without being noticed.
Taking a couple of steadying breaths, she gave a silent prayer and started running.
Chapter Four
Kylie ran, then walked, then ran for at least a mile before she finally took a break. She’d stayed off the road, moving over the rough land as quickly as she could. As far as she could tell, no one had followed her.
But where the hell was she?
Lena had said they weren’t far from Twisted. Could she walk the distance? Or, if she was very careful, maybe she could hitch a ride there? She’d have to hang out and wait for Lena to make it home to the B&B, but heading to Twisted was better than having nowhere to go. Staying in a small town, especially one not even listed on a map, sounded like a good idea. Unless Frank and his cohorts started going to every town in Texas, he’d have no clue where to find her.
She started walking again.
She’d gone from bad to worse. When she’d left Wichita, at least she’d had a suitcase full of clothes along with some cash. But she’d had to leave her suitcase on the bus. All she had left were the clothes on her back and around fifty dollars in her purse. Hopefully, it would last her long enough to give her time to think. Provided Lena’s offer to give her a free room still held.
Walking wasn’t her thing. She preferred an air-conditioned car to pounding the ground. The cute tennis shoes she’d been wearing didn’t have any cushion in them, and it wasn’t long before she was groaning with every step. Each stone, each pebble pierced the bottom of her feet.
She glanced up at the sun starting to set on the horizon. If she hadn’t come upon Frank and seen him coldly murder a man, she’d be sitting at a restaurant ready to break up with him. Could she have done it? And how would he have reacted? Now that she knew what kind of man he truly was, she couldn’t help but wonder if he would’ve gone into a rage and killed her in front of other people.
“This so sucks.”
She paused, then laughed. She’d used the same expression when Mr. Harding, the principal of the elementary school where she worked, had assigned her to recess duty. Oh, how she’d welcome doing recess duty now!
You, girl, are a mastermind of understatement.
Her life was in danger and, yet, she was strangely in a good mood. Maybe she just needed to think of what happened as a kick in the ass. She’d thought about changing her life, finding a different place to live and work, but had grown complacent and content where she was.
She laughed again at her incredulous idea. “Yeah, there’s the silver lining. I see a man get whacked, but it’s a good thing because it forced me out of my rut. How sick am I?”
But laughter, no matter how weird it was, could only get a girl so far. By the time the sun had disappeared behind the horizon, she was bone-tired and positive she’d die lost in the wilds of Texas. One day a hiker would find her sun-bleached bones, picked clean by a pack of coyotes.
Do coyotes travel in packs?
By the time she reached another small grove of trees, she was too exhausted to put one foot in front of the other. Plopping to the ground, she tugged off her shoes and counted the blisters on her feet. She rubbed her sore feet, then slipped on her shoes. If her poor feet got any more swollen, she wouldn’t be able to get her shoes back on.
Why did this happen to me?
She looked skyward for an answer, but not even the man in the moon answered back. Leaning against the tree trunk, she closed her eyes and drifted off to sleep.
* * * *
“Better pick it up or I’m leaving you behind.” Braden jogged along the path leading away from the ranch house. He was sure Mrs. Rillerton had seen a few men shift into their cat bodies before, but it still irked him to think she might be seeing his ass flash under the moonlight. After all, she was like an honorary aunt.
“Don’t get your panties in a bunch.”
Braden checked over his shoulder. Heath kicked his jeans free and picked up his speed. Leaving their clothes scattered around the yard wasn’t the way they usually handled changing, but they couldn’t have gotten undressed with the babysitter watching. They could’ve undressed in a bedroom and climbed out a window, but it was easier shucking the clothing where they could retrieve it before entering the house.
Damn, it’s about time. I need this run so bad I can feel it in my bones.
He kept moving away from the house, the world around him slowly changing to an amber hue as his tiger roared to life. The beast whipped its tail and growled, eager to take control. As it always had from the first day he’d shifted after hitting puberty, pain hit him in the stomach and traveled outward. He dragged in air, keeping a nice steady pace with his breathing. Like other shifters, he’d learned how to get through the initial pain.
Fur spread over him, making his skin tingle as it covered soft human flesh. He opened his hands, allowing claws to replace fingernails. His tail swished, the excitement that had started in his gut traveling to the very tips of his cat body. The sound of bones breaking and reforming was like music to his ears. The air changed as his sensitive scent of smell picked up the aromas no human nose ever could. Animals scurried away, running from a predator that didn’t belong under a Texas moon.
Heath dropped onto all fours beside him then took the lead. He followed his brother, stretching out his long legs, reveling in the way his muscles seamlessly worked. Picking up speed, he ran faster, his mouth open enough to catch the air, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the ground ahead of them.
Running was dangerous, but necessary. There was always the chance that humans who were outsiders might see them. Unlike the werewolves of Forever who could take their wolf forms and not worry too much about humans seeing them, the tigers had to be extra careful. How could anyone explain seeing a white tiger in the middle of Texas? Even the werebears of Shatland had it easier than they did. At least bears were more accepted, even if they were Grizzlies.
But run they must. Staying too long in their human bodies would drive their inner beasts insane. No matter how hard they tried to keep them suppressed, eventually their animal sides would be forced to come out. If a beast got loose without the human side taking control of the shift, the animal would go wild, forgetting everything else. Not only would the human population of Twisted and the surrounding towns be in danger, but other shifters could get hurt as well.
Braden turned his tiger free and retook the lead. They could run for miles, but to keep it safer, they’d make a large circle around Twisted. Their strong legs could carry them all night, racing over the land, jumping over ditches, and leaping into the air simply for the joy of it.
Only one thing could make running with his brother even better. He growled, the inner turmoil hitting him and taking away some of his pleasure as he thought about their mate, her location unknown.
She was beautiful. Long dark hair flowed down her back, cut in a way as to form a point in the middle of the cascade of silkiness. Her blue eyes, so much like Heath’s, had haunted him in his dreams and during the waking hours. She’d held a hint of wonder and challenge in those cerulean oceans that had tugged at the tiger inside him. What would her eyes look like after they changed her? The blue mixing with the amber would be spectacular. She wasn’t a large or tall woman. Instead, she’d been the perfect height for him, standing almost a foot shorter than his frame. Her curves still beckoned to him, even after holding her for only the one time so many months before.
She’d been human, another intriguing aspect of her. Although a tiger could take another tiger for his mate, he’d always wanted the responsibility and challenge of changing a human female into their mate.
Why couldn’t he find her?
The night they’d met was both a gift and a curse
.
Why hadn’t he held on to her? He shouldn’t have let her friend drag her away. Hell, he’d been right behind her, ready to follow her wherever she went. If Heath hadn’t called him back, he wouldn’t have let her out of his sight.
He shook off the stiffness setting in. Heath pulled in front of him as they jockeyed for position again, glanced back once to give him a cat-grin, then bounded ahead.
They’d find their mate. They had to. If not, they’d face a miserable future.
* * * *
Kylie was trapped. Frank, his evil grin shining in the dim lighting of the building, stalked closer.
“You thought you got away, didn’t you, bitch?”
“Frank, please, don’t hurt me. I promise I won’t tell anyone. I swear it.”
He slid the knife over his thumb. A bright red line formed along his skin. “Look at this.” He held up his thumb. “I love seeing blood, don’t you? When it first comes out, it’s bright red like a fire truck. Then, as you sink the blade in deeper, it’ll change and get really dark. Like a fine wine.”
The blade was at least a foot long with serrated edges giving it the terrible appearance of a shark’s teeth. He held it toward her, sticking it ever closer to her face.
“Maybe I won’t kill you.”
She exhaled, the briefest of hope daring to come. “Thank you.” She gasped as he laid the blade against her cheek.
“Maybe I’ll cut you instead. I could make a real pretty design on your skin. Every man who sees you will know you’re used. No good any more. Just an old sloppy pussy no one else will ever want.”
“Nooo.” She closed her eyes. The cold steel slipped along her cheek. Her eyes flew open and she gaped at him. Had he cut her?
“Don’t worry, Kylie. I didn’t break the skin. Yet.” He eased behind her, dragging the knife gently along her neck.
She shivered, his touch repulsing her. Bile rose in her throat. He lifted her hair, his warm breath sliding like a snake over the nape of her neck.
“I love your hair. Long and shiny like melted dark chocolate.”