by Sharon Dunn
She gripped the armrest. “Where are you going?”
“To the police.” He set his jaw. “I’ll take you there.” She saw then that he wasn’t going to give up. His sense of duty meant he wouldn’t let her go if he thought she was in danger. His goodness might get him killed. She had to get away from him as quickly as possible. But just walking away wouldn’t work, not with Alex.
She closed her eyes. At this point, going to the police seemed the only viable solution. Brendan was severely wounded or dead. She could call the marshals in St. Louis from there. Alex would be safe in the police station. She could walk out of there and out of his life.
Her heart squeezed tight. “You didn’t ask me who those people were.”
He stared at the road ahead as traffic grew even heavier. “I knew you wouldn’t tell me,” he said.
“The less you know, the better.” She craned her neck. Josef’s car had slipped in behind them. “We have to lose these guys first. There are people who can help me. But we have to get away from these men.”
* * *
Alex gripped the steering wheel and checked the rearview mirror. These guys acted like hired killers. Just what had Morgan gotten herself involved with? There would be a time for explaining but for now they needed to get to a safe place.
He came within blocks of the police station but the car was right behind them. He’d seen what they were capable of. They’d shot one man in broad daylight. They probably wouldn’t have any qualms about shooting them on the police station steps.
Alex turned suddenly onto a side street. His turn was so abrupt that Morgan slammed against her window. “Sorry about that. We can’t seem to shake our tail.”
Morgan gripped the dashboard. “Maybe if we went out on the highway and got up some speed. We could double back to the police station.”
“I don’t know if that will work.” He zoomed up a wide boulevard where the speed limit was higher than city streets. He checked the rearview mirror. The dark car was still behind them. “Why don’t you tell me what would work? Do you know what is going on?”
She stared out the window. “There are people who can help me,” she said again. “I would need to make a call.”
He came to a freeway entrance and took the exit. Their pursuers followed. He touched his shirt pocket where he kept his phone. It was empty. He must have dropped it during the assault at the stadium.
Morgan’s face registered disappointment. “We have to get to a phone.”
“We can go back to The Stables,” he said. He increased his speed and passed several cars.
Morgan craned her neck to look at the cars behind her. “They’d be expecting that.”
Why were these guys after her? He watched the signs on the highway. “I have a friend who owns a hobby farm not too far from here. It’s down a bunch of unmarked country roads. We might be able to throw these guys off that way. We can call from my friend’s house.”
“It’s worth a shot, but we have to make sure they haven’t followed us.”
Alex drove on the highway for another twenty minutes before turning off into a wooded area. They passed plowed fields and several barns and farmhouses.
Morgan stared out the window not saying anything. The only thing that gave away the level of tension she felt was her tightly laced fingers resting on her lap.
He had a dozen theories why these men were after her. She’d assured him that she wasn’t involved in criminal activity. After what he had seen today, doubts had begun to creep in. He wanted to believe her, but he also didn’t want to be anyone’s chump ever again.
She looked over at him. “You didn’t have to do this. To help me.”
“I did have to. I saw what those guys were capable of.” He turned onto a long straight road. There wasn’t so much as a dust cloud behind them.
“After we get to your friend’s house and my help comes, you’re off the hook.”
He shook his head. “Is that what you think I want, to be off the hook?”
“It’s the way it has to be.” Her voice was tainted with hurt or maybe it was regret.
His friend’s farm came into view. Still no sign of the pursuer’s car. “Tell me one thing. Do you care for me at all?”
She remained silent for a long time. “A great deal, Alex.”
And yet she couldn’t get away from him fast enough. She didn’t want his help. He didn’t understand it. He parked the car in front of a single-level home and turned to face her. “I would have wanted to be with you even if you could never tell me about your past. I just wanted to be with you.”
Her eyes glazed. She turned away. “Let’s go make that phone call.” Her voice had become robotic, as if she was trying to hide her emotions. She was pushing him away with her words.
He opened the car door. He walked up to the house and knocked on the door. Morgan came up behind him. He knocked a second time. Morgan peered through a window. “I don’t see anyone inside.”
He tried the door, which was locked. “His truck is here. He might be in the barn or out in the field on his tractor.”
They walked across the grounds toward a barn that was at least a hundred yards from the house. When he looked over at her, her long dark hair had worked loose of the braid. He froze a picture of her in his mind, the soft angles of her face and that contemplative look she had. He knew in that moment that he loved her, but he could not make her stay no matter what he said. She simply would not or could not let him in.
He opened the barn door and hollered for his friend. “Clarence.” The barn contained mostly farm equipment, a motorcycle and a pen with several sheep in it. Dust twirled around in the light that streamed in from the roof.
Morgan came up behind him. “How far away from the house is this field that he might be in?”
“Can’t see it from here.” He moved toward the front of the barn.
“I don’t think it’s a good idea to stay put.” Fear permeated her voice.
He rubbed his eyes. “Let’s check around the property a little more.” He walked around to the far side of the barn and stared out into the field. He didn’t even see a dust cloud that might be a tractor stirring up things.
When they came around the other side of the barn, the pursuer’s dark-colored truck was parked by theirs. Alex drew a protective arm toward Morgan as a gasp escaped her mouth.
A rifle shot zinged through the air. He pulled Morgan to the ground and threw his body over her. There was no time to process what was happening. A second shot broke through the silence. Where were the shots coming from?
He rolled away from her, scanning the area. The shooter was perched in the bed of the truck, resting his rifle on the cab. “Seek cover.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward a pile of unstacked firewood.
They half ran, half crawled toward the firewood, then dove behind it.
“We can’t get back to the car.” Her voice faltered. “What do we do?”
He stared at her, fear etched across her face. “I’ll get you out of this.”
She shook her head. “I’m so sorry. I never meant for you to get involved.”
He angled his head around the wood. Another shot hit a log above him, inches from his head. He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward the field. “This way.”
Morgan kept up with him as they ran for tree cover. He willed his legs to pump harder.
He didn’t know the area around his friend’s house that well, but they had passed farmhouses on the twisted road in. He glanced over his shoulder. The assailant’s truck crossed the grounds, coming straight toward them.
As the truck charged toward them, he wondered if they would make it to one of those farmhouses.
* * *
Morgan ran hard to keep up with Alex. The overturned field they ran through was muddy from
the excessive rain, which slowed the truck down. She said a prayer of thanks for that. They ran toward a fledgling forest. The truck would have to go around the trees, which bought them a little more time.
They ran until the trees thinned and the land around them was flat. There was nothing to use for cover. That made them sitting ducks. In the distance, the sun glinted off the metal of the truck.
Alex stopped and waited for her to catch up with him. “We need to get to a trail where he can’t follow in that truck.”
By now the marshals must have been informed that Brendan had been shot. They’d come looking for her, but they wouldn’t know where to look. Would they mount an all-out search for her or be more covert?
Alex veered toward a part of the landscape with more growth. He grabbed her hand and pulled her behind a bush that was just beginning to leaf out. She heard the rumble of the truck before she saw it. She peered out between the branches as the truck slowed to a crawl.
Her heart pounded so violently she thought it would break her rib cage. The truck drove off away from them, then stopped. The shooter jumped out of the bed of the truck and walked straight toward them.
She tugged on Alex’s sleeve. “We have to go.”
Alex pointed at the bare landscape around them. “No cover,” he whispered.
The shooter drew closer, still walking directly toward them. Did he see them? She crouched lower, grateful that both of them were wearing colors that blended with the surroundings. The shooter’s gaze darted around as he turned side to side. He hadn’t spotted them yet.
Then Josef got out of the truck.
The shooter drew within twenty feet of them. He was the same man who had chased them outside at the stadium. Morgan held her breath. The raging beat of her heart surrounded her. Alex pressed close to her. His shoulder warmed hers. Even though she knew it was wrong to have dragged Alex into this, she was grateful that he was here. She didn’t have to face this danger alone.
Josef shouted something. The shooter stopped, turned and trotted back to the truck. A moment later, the truck started up and drove parallel to where they were hiding.
When the rumble of the truck faded, Alex tugged on her shirt and they ran out into the open. Both of them glanced over their shoulders from time to time. They kept running as the sky grew darker. Morgan fought not to give in to despair. They had no weapons, no phone, no car and no food. The marshals didn’t know where she was and neither of them knew this area at all.
“Do you think we should try to go back to your friend’s house?” she said.
“We’ve been running for hours,” said Alex. “My guess is if they don’t find us, they’ll wait for us to go back that way. It’s too big a risk.”
As it grew dark, they came out on what looked like a country road that was no longer used. Grass and bushes sprouted out of the flat area where cars used to drive.
“Up there.” Alex pointed.
She could see the silhouette of a building. They ran toward it. Even before they got close, the condition of the overgrown yard told her the house was abandoned. A door hung on its hinges. Windows were broken out.
“I’ll look around the property. Maybe there’s a pump or some sort of water source.”
“I’ll see what’s inside.” The wooden stairs creaked as she went up them. Before going inside, she turned and scanned the area. No sign of a truck anywhere. She stepped past the dangling door. Bile rose up in her throat at the smell. The place was probably crawling with mice. In the dust-laden cupboard, she found a chipped mug, a ceramic bowl and a sealed plastic container with a few pieces of macaroni in it. The other rooms of the house revealed grimy clothes and a mattress. A bottle of mouthwash had been left in the bathroom medicine cabinet. She also located a back entrance.
She heard footsteps in the house. Alex poked his head into the room where she was. “There’s a creek not too far to the east.”
She held up the cup and the bowl. “I found these. And if you like pasta, I have three pieces of macaroni that we can cook.”
He laughed. “At least we have water.”
She followed him outside through the dark. The creek trickled over rocks, creating a simple melody. She kneeled by the rushing water and handed him the plastic container. “This is probably the cleanest since it was sealed.”
He dumped the few pieces of macaroni on the ground. “Maybe we’ll have that pasta feast some other time.”
His joke served to lift her spirits. Why was he so willing to go through all this for her without complaint? This was not his battle. As she splashed water on her face, she thought about what he had said earlier. That he would accept her if she never told him a thing about her past. If a man was willing to accept her on those terms and he was willing to go through all that he had gone through.... Alex had shown how much he cared about her through his actions.
He washed the container, filled it and handed it to her. The cool water was like honey to her dry throat. She handed the container back to him, and he refilled it.
She held up the bottle of mouthwash. “Maybe we can rinse this out and take some water with us.”
“I think we should stay here for the night.”
Morgan tensed. “But they might find us.”
“They went in the opposite direction. If we keep going, we could end up running into them. I say we stay here for the night and get rested up. In the morning, I’ll have a clearer idea of where we’re at and how we can get to a place that has a phone, so you can call for help.” A silence settled between them. When he did speak, his voice had slipped into a lower register. “Who is it you are calling for help anyway?”
She knew what he was asking. He wanted the truth from her. He had risked everything and nearly lost his life for her. All without knowing who she was or why she had pushed him away. They might not live to see the morning. He deserved to hear the truth. “Why do you think those men are after me?”
“A crazy ex-boyfriend wouldn’t go to all this trouble. Either you’re tied up with the mafia or you’re in some sort of witness protection program.”
“Which one do you vote for?”
He scooted toward her. Moonlight washed over his face. “The second one.”
She nodded.
“So Morgan isn’t even your real name.” He sounded angry. The angles of his face were taut and his mouth was a hard straight line.
Of course he was angry. She didn’t blame him. She shook her head. “My name is Magdalena.”
“Magdalena.” He repositioned himself on the grass. He crossed his legs and leaned back, resting his weight on his hands.
She had longed to hear him say her name, her real name. But not like this. She couldn’t see his face clearly anymore, but she could feel the heaviness between them. His silence was not unexpected. He had been caring and kind and she had deceived him.
She should have left the day she felt her heart opening up to him.
He rose to his feet, turned his back to her and leaned a hand against a nearby tree. Why didn’t he shout at her? The silence was harder to take than overt anger.
“Not everyone in the Witness Security Program is innocent,” he said.
She understood what he was getting at. He was trying to figure out what kind of a person she really was, what part of her was real and what part was an act. “I haven’t committed a crime. I wasn’t lying when I said that earlier. I witnessed a crime.” She could only imagine the gut-wrenching pain he was going through right now after what his ex-wife had done to him. “I’m sorry. I should have left when I—”
He whirled around. His words filled with accusation. “When you what?”
“When I started having feelings for you,” she said.
He nodded but didn’t say anything.
“What I did was wrong. If I had just left, you wouldn’t
be here in this mess.” Regret ate at her gut.
He took his time in responding. “We should find a safe place to rest for the night.” He walked toward the house.
She followed behind, staring at his back as her heart broke for the turmoil he must feel. He stepped into the kitchen and looked around. He then slipped to the floor, using the lower cupboards as a backrest.
She came and sat a few feet from him. Even though she was exhausted, she didn’t think she would be able to sleep. His anger was palpable. She drew her knees up to her chest and stared at the ceiling.
Gradually her eyelids became heavy and her muscles relaxed. Right before she drifted off, he placed his jean jacket over her shoulders. It was still warm from his body heat. Alex couldn’t help but take care of her and protect her despite the hard feelings she had created. Caring was instinctual for him. Again, sorrow surrounded her. How could such a perfect man enter her life at the perfectly wrong time?
She laid her head on the hard floor and sleep came.
SEVENTEEN
Alex slept in short fitful increments. He awoke several times, rose quietly to his feet and checked for movement or light through the broken windows. Blackness stared back at him. Wind caused metal to creak and rustled the grass.
Morgan looked peaceful as she slept, though the hard floor couldn’t be that comfortable. Or should he call her Magdalena? He clenched his teeth. He’d been angry when she’d finally come clean. Her deception had been a grand one. What bothered him more than anything was that even after her revelation, his feelings for her still smoldered. But who was he even attracted to? She wasn’t who she said she was. Had she been pretending about everything, or had some of the moments between them been genuine? She had said that she cared about him.
He paced through the house, treading lightly. Still, he understood why she needed to hide who she was. If the men who had come after her were any indication, her life was under extreme threat.
He sat down in a kitchen chair that had the back broken off. Her secret was safe with him. He wouldn’t have told anyone. Why didn’t she trust him in the first place? The anguish he felt over Morgan was worse than dealing with the two hoodlums who were chasing them. Hopefully, he could get Morgan to a safe place and then, what, say goodbye to her? Obviously, she couldn’t stay here.