Unbreakable (Heart of Stone #7)

by K. M. Scott

  The problem I was running into was that I couldn’t find the motivation behind the lie. Why would Justin lie about her ratting us out if he knew it would make me angry? Maybe he was more afraid of Hailey than me. She was psychotic, so that would be a real concern since Justin had obviously been screwing things up for her. Odds were that he knew I wouldn’t kill him unless truly provoked or out of self-defense.

  It must have been clear to him that I would do anything to protect Jordan, but he and I both knew that I couldn’t do that if I was behind bars for murder. As I put the car in gear, I looked back at him and couldn’t help but wish I’d gotten more information.

  It could have gone better, but the important thing was Jordan was still safe. Hurt, yes, but safe, and when I found Hailey I would make her pay for every single pain Jordan had been made to suffer at her hands.

  “You ready?” I asked Jordan as I began to drive away from the cabin.

  She nodded and even though she was bruised to hell, I couldn’t get over how stunning she still was. It was like something about her just radiated a goodness and kindness I craved. Added to those was an undeniable strength within her that I hadn’t always been aware of. She might have thought of herself as weak and helpless, but not many women could hold it all together as well as she was after all the shit she’d been through.

  “Gage, I think I know where we can go,” Jordan said as she turned the radio up just enough to make it seem like we were trying to talk without Justin hearing our conversation.

  I liked having her as my partner in crime. While I didn’t enjoy the constant danger we were in, it was nice seeing how quickly her mind worked in a situation like this. There was nothing like a beautiful woman who was smart too.

  “Well, we’re going to have to do something with this one. It’s not like we can trust him if he’s out of our sight or not,” I said just loud enough for our friend in the backseat to hear.

  “I thought you were going to just drop him off in the middle of nowhere,” Jordan said.

  A quick glance in the rearview mirror told me Justin was listening intently, and the news that we might leave him stranded in the mountains terrified him. “I haven’t decided what to do yet. One minute I think I’ll do that, but every time I look at those bruises on your neck, I can’t help but want to shoot him.”

  Justin made a whimpering noise behind me, and I couldn’t help but smile. Fucking weasel. He deserved for me to do my worst. “We need to find someplace to regroup and figure out what we’re doing next. Where do you have in mind?”

  Jordan turned around to look into the backseat and then leaned over toward me like she was trying to keep what she had to say from Justin. “I have a friend in San Francisco I think could help us.”

  “San Fran it is. Drive or fly? The nearest airport is a few hours away,” I said, feeling Justin’s stare on the back of my head as he listened to every word we said.

  Jordan pretended to think about my question and then answered, “Fly. That’ll be quicker and once we get to the city, she’ll never find us.”

  I lifted her hand to my lips and kissed it. Justin had heard the whole conversation. In a few miles, I’d leave him off on the side of the road to fend for himself, which would buy us time since he’d be more concerned about saving his own hide than finding some way to contact Hailey to tell her where we were headed. Hopefully, she believed him.

  We stayed silent for the rest of the drive down the mountain and away from my home town. I drove until I knew we were about ten miles outside of a nearby town and stopped the car on the side of the road.

  Turning around to look at him, I glared at Justin and said in a low voice, “This is where you get off.”

  His face registered his terror. “No, please! I told you I didn’t lie! Please, you told me you wouldn’t kill me if I told the truth!”

  I sort of enjoyed watching him frantically struggle against the ropes holding his wrists as his knees pressed against the back of my seat and he craned his neck searching for some way out of his impending punishment.

  But I wasn’t interested in torturing him anymore, so I rolled my eyes, sick of hearing the same damn thing, and got out of the car.

  Justin looked up at me with tears rolling down his face. I held the gun and opened the door, gesturing for him to get out of the vehicle. He had difficulty because of the restraints holding his arms together, but with a little steadying he stood in front of me, still begging for his life in the afternoon sun.

  “Shut up, Justin. I swear if I have to hear another word out of you I’m going to lose it. Shut the fuck up.”

  Silence. Nothing but the wind blowing through the yellowed grass on the side of the road and the idling car made a sound as we stood facing each other. I knew he thought I was going to kill him, and I would be a liar if I said I wasn’t enjoying the power I held over him. Since the moment I had laid eyes on him, I knew he wasn’t right for Jordan and now after all the pain and damage he had helped cause, he stood crying before me. It was a blissful moment of victory.

  “Slowly turn your back to me, Justin. I’m going to cut your ropes and we’re going to part ways. They say three’s a crowd anyway.”

  Justin looked confused, but he did as he was told. I cut the rope and he turned around to face me, staring at the gun and looking like he didn’t know what to do next.

  “You…you aren’t going to kill me?” he stammered out. His eyes darted from the gun to my face, back and forth.

  “Let me make this perfectly clear to you. The next time I see you is the time I kill you. Understand?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you tell Hailey, that bitch’s time is running out. I’ve got Jordan protected, so it doesn’t matter what she sends at us. You tell her from me that if she knows what’s good for her she’ll go run and hide somewhere where I can’t find her, because when I do, well, let’s just say she won’t get the reprieve I’m giving you now.”

  He chose not to reply and I said to Jordan, who sat watching us with the window down, “Please hand me a bottle of water.”

  She paused for a moment, and I had the distinct impression she was deciding whether or not to disagree about us leaving him to die of thirst there on the side of a desolate road in Wyoming. Jordan was a good person, though, so after a few moments she handed me one of the bottles we’d taken from the cabin.

  I kept the gun pointed and with my other hand tossed the water at him.

  Justin stared at me, clearly confused. “Why are you doing this?” he asked.

  “Because I’m a good guy.”

  Knowing what lay ahead of him on a hot August day on a deserted Wyoming road, I might not be considered good. “Well, at least not someone like you. By the time you get into town, you’re going to be blacking out from hunger and dying of thirst, so I’d pray to God you see someone willing to give you a ride. Since only about twenty cars a day ever drive up and down this road, I wouldn’t count on it, though.”

  “I didn’t lie back there.”

  With the gun still pointed at him, I walked around the car and leaned up against the side to take one last look at Justin or Brock or whoever he was. “Remember, the next time I see you is when I kill you.”

  And with that we left him standing there in the hot, summer sun miles away from the nearest town with just a bottle of water. He was lucky I didn’t shoot him, but I didn’t want his death on my conscience. Jordan and I had a future to get to, and that didn’t include being taken away from her for anything.

  We may have left Justin behind us. The rest of our problems were still front and center, unfortunately.

  I stowed the gun safely under the seat and looked over at Jordan. “You think he bought the San Francisco bit?” I asked.

  She turned to look at me with a big grin. “I wouldn’t have left him with even a bottle of water. You’re nicer than I am, Gage Varo.”

  “I thought we might need some good Karma points for the future. I promise the next guy I keep hostage at gunpoi
nt won’t get such nice treatment.”

  Jordan leaned over to lay her head on my shoulder. “What do you think of us never doing that again? Do you think we can arrange that?”

  Pressing a kiss to the top of her head, I smiled. “I’ll see what I can do. For now, we need to decide where we’re really going.”

  She nodded and sat up. “I think we need some help. We need to touch base with someone who knows the situation.” Pulling out my phone, she said, “And I know just the person.”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Gage

  A few moments later, Jordan was holding the phone out between us with it on speaker and Nina was answering.

  “Hello? Jordan? Is that you?” Nina asked as she answered the call, her voice frantic and full of worry.

  “Yes! It’s me and Gage, I have you on speaker phone. We’re okay,” Jordan replied, trying to mask the pain in her voice from her near strangulation.

  “Oh, Jordan, you don’t sound okay. What’s going on? I’m so glad to hear you’re both safe. Tristan and I have been worried sick!”

  I knew Nina had likely been pacing back and forth for hours as Tristan had done what he always did—rallied the people he had who could help us.

  Jordan looked at me and I spoke up. “Hey, Nina. We’re fine. Jordan got hurt when Justin attacked her, but she’s going to be okay. I promise.”

  “What do you mean Justin attacked her? What happened?”

  “Justin must have been waiting for me because he grabbed me and tried to shove me into his car. He choked me. That’s why I sound like this, but we interrogated him and got away, so I swear we’re good.”

  The phone fell silent, but finally Nina said, “I don’t like any of this, but you’ll have to tell me more about that later. What are you doing now? What happened to Justin?”

  “We left him on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. We’re driving away from Gage’s hometown right now. We’re still in Wyoming, but we need to move fast since we don’t know how far behind Hailey is.”

  “Nina, is Tristan with you?” I asked, hoping he was nearby.

  We heard a click on the phone as Nina turned her speaker phone on, allowing us to hear Tristan.

  “I’m here, Gage. I’m glad you’re all right, though it seems like things could be better. How can we help?” There was concern in his tone, but he seemed calmer than Nina was. Tristan knew how to handle a situation, even if that usually meant hopping on a plane rather than getting his boots too dirty.

  “We’re not sure where to go next. They were able to find us somehow so Wyoming isn’t safe, but now we need to figure out where to go.”

  “What about one of the hotels, Tristan? I know it isn’t perfect, but it might be a start,” Nina chimed in.

  “It’s a good idea, but unfortunately, the police have been all over them looking for you two since the concierge in Hilton Head admitted that she’d seen Jordan that night. I’m not sure if they’ve figured out you’re helping her by now, Gage. I don’t know if you told Daryl to cover for you, but he’s got your staff saying you’re visiting family in California.”

  “I owe Daryl big then. And I’ll need to start giving some raises out soon too. So I guess the hotels are no good.”

  Tristan thought for a moment and said, “I think you two need to head to a bigger city. The small town idea was fine at first, but you need to be able to get lost in a sea of people if you need to. It would also help to have some witnesses around if Hailey catches up to you. She may be less likely to attack you when she knows she’ll get caught.”

  It was a sound idea. Hailey was surely less likely to try anything if there were people around. She may have wanted Jordan dead, but I had serious doubts about her risking her own freedom by being seen doing it.

  “That’s a good idea,” Jordan agreed. “It can’t be California, though. We laid a fake trail for Justin that would lead him to California. At least I hope so.” With a smile, she joked, “Luckily, we don’t know where we’re going, so neither does he.”

  “Well, if you can’t go west and you can’t come east, you have the south or north to choose from,” Tristan replied.

  There was a long pause and Jordan and I looked at each other. We were out of answers and starting to run out of time. We needed to make a decision fast but I hadn’t spent much time in the south and knew next to no one there, and the idea of running to Canada didn’t sound like the answer either.

  “Wait. Tristan, didn’t your father have a house in New Orleans?” Nina asked.

  There was an excited buzz in the air as Tristan replied, “Actually, he did in the Garden District. We’ve only been there once. It’s listed as Stone company property, but we essentially pay the taxes for it to sit there and collect dust, though I do think someone is paid to clean it twice a year, so the dust wouldn’t be that bad.”

  “That could work. That could really work, Tristan,” I said, my voice brimming with excitement. Jordan reached across the middle console and held my hand as she smiled at me.

  “I’ll send someone to the house to open it up for you. Just call me when you get closer to the city and I’ll make sure it’s taken care of.”

  Jordan beamed her happiness that once again we had a plan. “It sounds perfect, Tristan. Thank you both so much. I don’t know what we would do without you.”

  “Of course. Do you have a pen and paper for the address? I’ll give it to you now.”

  “I’ve got a pen and napkin, so close enough,” Jordan replied, fishing a pen from her bag.

  As Tristan rattled off the address of the home on Prytania Street in the Garden District, I turned the car around to head south.

  “Got it. Thank you so much, guys. As usual, you’re life savers. We’ll call you again when we’re closer to New Orleans, Tristan. Nina, can you call my mom and dad and let them know I’m okay. Don’t tell them what’s going on because they’ll be worried to death, but tell them I’m okay and I’ll call as soon as I can.”

  “Of course, honey. Don’t worry, Jordan. We’re always here for you guys. We love you two. Be safe and if you need anything else, call,” Nina said in her usual sweet way.

  “Thanks, guys. I can’t tell you how much I owe you two,” I said somberly, knowing it was a risk for both of them to help us.

  “Stay safe, Gage. As Nina said, let us know if you need anything else. I’ll tell Daryl what’s going on so he can be in the loop too.”

  “Thanks, Tristan. Talk to you soon.”

  Jordan pressed END and set the phone down on the console between us. “I don’t know what I’d do without Nina, you know that?”

  “They’re good people. People like that don’t come around every day.”

  Tristan was one of the best men I had ever had the pleasure of knowing and Nina was his perfect match. The two of them lived to see others as happy as they were and they had a family any man would be a little jealous of. I had to admit I’d had more than one moment of wishing I had all they had, especially in those days when I didn’t have Jordan in my life anymore.

  “Do you think it will work?” Jordan asked, squeezing my hand gently. There was a slight edge to her voice and I knew she was wondering the same thing I was.

  Was anywhere really safe now?

  I thought about it for a moment and tried to figure out a way Hailey would know we were in New Orleans. “I do. There’s no reason Hailey can know we’re there,” I answered, bringing her hand to my lips to lightly kiss it. “Hailey is the kind of a woman who you think is smart, but take away her edge, and she’s nothing.”

  That there should have been no way for her and Justin to find us in Wyoming remained unspoken. I still had no idea how Justin had found us. For me, there was no doubt of Denise’s innocence. However, I had a sinking feeling Jordan didn’t see things the same. She hadn’t mentioned it after I told her Denise doing anything to hurt us wasn’t something I’d even consider, but I knew her well enough. She wasn’t convinced.

  And at some p
oint I’d have to find out what really happened and if my sister had betrayed me.

  Jordan gently moved her hand and mine to her lap. “Have you ever been to New Orleans?”

  I turned to look at her and smiled. “Me? No, never saw the allure really. Parades and large groups of drunks don’t usually appeal to me unless my job requires me to be there. And even then, they aren’t my kind of fun,” I joked.

  No matter what I’d seen about Mardi Gras, it just wasn’t my style. I was always more of a one-on-one kind of guy when it came to having a good time.

  She playfully rolled her eyes, “You do realize there’s more to New Orleans than Mardi Gras, right? There’s a whole culture to New Orleans. The food, the music, the feel of the place. I hear it’s all so unique down there.”

  I wished we could enjoy all the city offered instead of using it as a place to hide out until we found out what was behind Hailey’s plans.

  That was what I really wanted—the ability to whisk Jordan away to places like New Orleans, Greece, Paris, all over the world. She was a woman who deserved to see so much more than the concrete jungle of New York. She deserved to stare in wonder at the world around her, not run from place to place like she’d had to since we left Hilton Head. I wanted to hold her hand as we explored new places together with joy and wonder, not fear.

  “Then I guess we’ll have to get you as much of the New Orleans experience as possible,” I said, pretending like we were heading off on one of those vacations happy couples in love got to take. “You mentioned food. I’m always on board for some food,” I joked.

  In truth, I was starving. I had grabbed a pack of peanuts on the way out of the cabin, but my stomach was starting to pinch from hunger.

  “I hear it’s incredible! A coworker got to go for a convention and she said as soon as they would break for the day she would rush out into the city and soak in everything she could.”

  “Did she come back with a bunch of beads?” I teased, earning a playful slap.