by Violet Howe
“I can’t afford to get distracted and get us both killed. Hurry up, okay? I want to keep moving.”
Seven
He was on the phone when I came out of the restroom, and he ended the call in hushed tones as I walked toward him.
“Everything okay?” I asked.
“Yeah. Tristan’s been by your folks’ place and Amy’s a couple of times so far, but no sign of anyone. He’ll keep checking. Don’t worry.”
“So, where are we headed?”
“In a few more circles for right now,” he said as we made our way back to the car. “I want to make sure we’re not being followed before I land somewhere for the night.”
His face looked haggard under the bright fluorescent lights of the canopy over the pumps.
“You worked today, right?” I asked, and he nodded. “Were you up early?”
“Four.”
“Damn. Yeah. That’s early. You must be tired.”
“I’m okay. Adrenaline works wonders to keep you awake when you need to be.”
He wasn’t kidding when he said he intended to drive in circles. He made so many twists, turns, detours, and U-turns that I didn’t even know where we were, and we were driving roads I’d known my whole life.
“So, what about you?” I said after a while. “You never married, huh?”
“Nope. Always been a bachelor.”
“Did you ever come close?” Though it was unfair and not my right, I felt a pang of jealousy toward any unknown woman who had held his heart in that way.
He flashed a weak smile in my direction and shook his head. “No.”
“Really?” I found it hard to believe such a great guy hadn’t been close to the altar. He was handsome, hardworking, honest, loyal, funny, affectionate, and not a member of the Mafia. Always a plus. “C’mon, no one tempted you to take the plunge? What about that girl—what was her name? It was a car name. Oh, Nova! What about Nova?”
His eyes were wide as he looked at me. “How do you know about Nova?”
“Amy told me.” I smiled and looked away. “I might have asked about you from time to time. Curiosity, I suppose.”
He chuckled, and I turned back to him with a grin.
“What? Are you gonna tell me you never asked about me? You knew I got married and that I was divorced, and you said you knew Victor had never been back here to visit with me. So, you must have been keeping some kind of tabs.”
“Like anyone can escape the news in Cedar Creek. I had, like, fifty people tell me the minute you were back in town.”
“I guess we’ll always be linked in everyone’s mind, huh?” My heart beat faster at the thought.
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“Spill the beans. What about this Nova chick? Why didn’t you want to marry her?” Part of me didn’t want to hear about his relationship with another woman, but a bigger part of me wondered why he’d stayed single all this time.
“Nova’s a nice enough girl. She’ll make someone a great wife someday, but she wasn’t the one for me. I’m thinking you might need to turn your phone back on. Victor said he’ll call in an hour, and it’s been longer than that.”
“I told you I don’t want to talk to him.”
“I know, but he may have left a message. We need to know where Victor is and if he plans to come here to meet you.”
“I’m not meeting him. What do I have to say to convince you that’s not what this is about?”
“I believe you, but he said he’d explain when he saw you. You might not intend to see him, but evidently, he intends to see you. If you’re right that he escaped federal prison to come to you, he’s not going to give up easily. The good thing is he’ll be hunted, if he’s not being hunted already. We need to lay low until he’s caught. In the meantime, I’d feel better knowing where he is and where he thinks you’ll be, so I can get you as far away from that as possible.”
“But don’t you see? Even if they catch Victor, even if they send him back, I’m still in the crosshairs. He said these people are angry with him, and they intend to hurt me to get revenge. If we elude whoever it was tonight, they’ll just send someone else. I’m never going to be safe.” My voice cracked with the realization. “It won’t ever be okay for me to go back home, will it? Not without putting the people I love in danger.”
Seth took my hand and squeezed it. “I won’t let anything happen to you, and Tristan won’t let anything happen to your family.”
“But you and Tristan can’t always be there, Seth. What are we going to do? Run away and hide forever?”
“We don’t have to hide forever, just until this blows over. Just until Victor is caught.”
“But Victor isn’t the one trying to kill me! Did you forget that?”
He grimaced, and I sensed there was something he wanted to say but was holding back.
“What? Tell me. If you know something, you have to tell me, Seth. What is it?”
“I’m not so sure there’s someone after you.”
“What do you mean? Victor said my life was in danger. He said—”
“And yet, we haven’t seen anyone. No one. No one was waiting outside your house. No one followed us out of town. We’ve been driving for hours with no sign of a threat.”
“Yeah, but you yourself said you’ve been going in circles so no one could find us. You got us away from whoever it was.”
“Then why hasn’t Tristan seen anyone unusual near your family or near your house?”
I pulled my hand from his. “What are you saying?”
He shrugged. “The only person who stands to gain from you leaving in a panic and not telling anyone is Victor.”
“You think he lied to get me to leave my house? Why? Why would he do that?”
“Well, from what you’ve told me, he has no qualms with lying to you, or with hiding things from you, at the least. If he planned to make a break from prison, he’s likely planning to leave the country or to go underground and change his identity. Either way, I think he wants you to accompany him.”
“What? That’s ridiculous. There’s no way I would do that.”
He shrugged again. “Unless you were scared. Unless you feared for your life and your family’s life. Unless you thought he was the only one who could protect you.”
Victor might have kept the truth from me about his nefarious alternate life, but he’d never done anything to harm me. I couldn’t conceive of him doing something so manipulative, so vile.
“He wouldn’t do that. He wouldn’t scare the crap out of me to make me take him back. He wouldn’t make me think my family was in danger, that I was in danger. You didn’t hear his voice, Seth. He was frantic. He sounded terrified for me. There was such a sense of urgency in his tone.”
“Which makes sense when you consider that he’d just escaped prison and needed to set things in motion as quickly as possible.”
“No.” I shook my head, unwilling to believe what seemed to be true. It had been hard enough believing my ex-husband was a killer. Believing he’d kept an entirely different life hidden from me. It had been painful to consider that our love wasn’t what I thought it had been, that our life was likely a cover. A sham. But I couldn’t believe he would willingly lie in order to take me from my family and make me come to him out of fear. I couldn’t accept that he would knowingly hurt me after all he’d put me through.
“Think about what this guy is capable of,” Seth said. “The level of dishonesty he’s capable of.”
“You don’t know him. You didn’t hear the way he apologized as they led him away. The way he kept screaming that he loved me over and over again. He wouldn’t do something like this to me. He wouldn’t. He hid that life to protect me from it. He called and warned me because he thought my life was in danger. He loves me,” I declared, even though I’d questioned whether it was true since the moment I found out about Victor’s other life.
“I have no doubt that he does,” Seth said. “If the man has the contacts and the resources to
pull off a bust out of federal custody, and he chooses to make a detour for you, then obviously, he feels like life on the outside isn’t worth living without you. But that makes him all the more dangerous, because he’s got limited options. He doesn’t have time to convince you to come with him. He has to make you come by whatever means necessary, and then convince you to forgive him later.”
I pressed my palms against my eyes, trying to shut out the truth and keep the tears at bay. I refused to shed another tear due to Victor Gallo, but my wounded heart felt as though it might cave in on itself. Another betrayal. Another layer of lies. Another manipulation of my feelings and my trust.
Then another thought popped into my head, something I’d almost forgotten in the madness of the night. I still didn’t know for sure who Metro Man was or his purpose in Cedar Creek.
“Wait, wait, wait. Victor said someone had been watching me, and I think that’s true. I’ve gotten that sensation several times, and strange things have happened. Nothing major, and nothing concrete, you know? Stuff like, I’d come home one day to find the creamer out on the kitchen counter, even though I was certain I’d put it away that morning. Another time, I left the house before the newspaper got delivered, but when I came home, it was out of its plastic sleeve and folded on the dining table. Both times, along with a few others I can’t think of specifically right now, I’d been distracted. Busy. Not sleeping well. So, I convinced myself I’d simply forgotten doing it or had been mistaken in my memory of things. But then there was Metro Man.”
“Who?
“Metro Man. That’s not his name, of course. I don’t know his name. He’s this guy I saw in the grocery store a week or so ago, and then again tonight in the bar. He stood out to me because of the way he was dressed. Definitely not from around here.”
“Oh, are you talking about the dude in the corner with the man bun and the high-water pants?”
“Yeah!” I turned in the seat, excited at his immediate recognition. “Do you know him?”
“No. I saw him at the bar, and like you said, he stood out, but I’ve never seen him before tonight. When you saw him at the grocery store, did he approach you? Say anything to you? Follow you out to your car?”
“No, nothing like that. It was more of a feeling than anything else. That eerie sense that someone is watching you. That they’re only there because you are. I brushed it off when I didn’t see him again, but then tonight, he was in the bar, sitting alone and not drinking what he’d ordered.”
“Did he make any contact with you tonight?”
“Not really. He bought me a drink, but he left before I even got it.”
“What do you mean?” Seth’s brows furrowed. “So, you met him? You talked to him?”
I shook my head. “No. We made eye contact a couple of times, and he lifted his drink in, like, I don’t know, acknowledgment that we kept looking at each other, I guess? Then, Shannon came over and told me the guy wanted to buy me a round. I figured then he’d gotten the wrong idea and thought I was interested, but when I turned back, he’d gone. He left and didn’t come back in.”
Seth twisted his hands back and forth on the steering wheel and drew in a deep breath as he considered my words.
“What?” I asked when his silence lingered. “What are you thinking?”
“Is that why you came over to talk to me? You felt threatened by this guy or wanted to throw him off?”
“What? No! Of course not! He’d already gone when I came over to talk to you, and if I’d still thought at that point he was a hitman, I wouldn’t have involved you. In fact, that’s part of the reason I told you not to sit by me. I didn’t want you to get caught up in this mess if he was what I thought.” Frowning, I rested my elbow against the door and propped my head in my hand. “A lot of good that did. I ended up getting you involved anyway.”
“I don’t think this changes anything. If, um—what did you call the guy?”
“Metro Man.”
“Okay, if Metro Man had been following you or out to get you, why would he buy you a drink and bring attention to himself? Why wouldn’t he be waiting at your house? Why wouldn’t he follow us when we left? The guy’s probably an investor looking for real estate in the suburbs like every other yahoo with money to burn, and he thought he was about to get lucky and score. So, he bought you a drink, saw your reaction when Shannon told you, and left without being rejected.”
“You may be right, but even if Metro Man wasn’t a bad guy, I still believe Victor was telling the truth when he said they’d been in my house. If anything, he only confirmed what I already suspected and didn’t want to face and acknowledge. I’ve got a Mafia target on my back.”
“Maybe, maybe not. It’s possible you were being watched, but the people watching you were doing so for Victor, not because of him.”
I turned toward the window and covered my face with my hand, trying to fight back tears but too overwhelmed to keep them all from escaping.
“Hey,” Seth said, reaching to rub the back of my neck. “I’m sorry. I don’t know whether it makes it easier or harder for you to think this Victor guy is pulling all the strings. I wish I knew for sure, and I wish I could make it all go away for you. But I can’t ignore what my instinct is telling me on this one, and I can’t protect you if I’m not being realistic about who I think is the greatest threat we’re facing.”
“I’m okay,” I said, moving my hands away from my eyes as I blinked rapidly and nodded to convince myself. “I’m fine. Hey, this makes things easier, right? We just have to wait it out until the authorities catch Victor, and then once he’s back in prison, I’m safe, right? So, where do we go to hide?”
He kept his hand on the back of my neck, his thumb lightly stroking my hair line as he stared at the road ahead of us.
“I think we should let Tristan in on everything. I think we let him use the system and the resources he has to put things in motion, to find out for sure if Victor has escaped, and if so, to put out a high alert. If Victor’s planning to get to you as soon as possible, he’s likely flying, and he’d use a smaller airport.”
“His uncle has a private jet. He had planned to fly me to New York City for Christmas, but he was arrested before the holidays came.”
Moving his hand back to the steering wheel, he nodded. “Okay. He told you to drive north, and that he’d give you more instructions in an hour. Based on the distance from Cedar Creek, I’m thinking that means he intends to land in Ocala. If we can figure out where, maybe we could have people ready to greet Victor and put him back in handcuffs when he lands.”
My thoughts and emotions jumbled together in a mental train wreck as I tried to sort through it all and determine what was valid.
Had Victor lied to me? Had he threatened my life and the lives of my family to make me do what he wanted? Knowing I would never come to him willingly, had he used the people I loved to manipulate me? And if I still refused to accompany him, what then? Would he take me against my will?
My anger at being used and my frustration with my gullibility in believing him was only tempered by the very real possibility that he was telling the truth.
“Okay,” I said to Seth, pressing my fingers against my temples to try and stop my mind from spinning. “So, best-case scenario, my ex-husband busted out of jail and is on his way to pick me up, and he lied to make me run away with him. In that scenario, my family isn’t in danger, but I could possibly be kidnapped and taken out of the country against my will.”
“I won’t let that happen.”
I ignored him and continued with my situation inventory.
“Worst-case scenario, my ex-husband busted out of jail and is on his way to pick me up, but he was telling the truth, and hit men from one of the world’s most powerful organized crime families are after me and might kill my family if they can’t find me.” I turned to look at Seth as my entire body began to tremble again. “Are there any options I’m not seeing here? Anything where I’m not likely to die or get som
eone I love killed?”
He reached to cup my cheek in his hand. “I won’t let him take you. I won’t let anyone take you. And if they intend to hurt you, they have to come through me.”
I tilted my head to press my face into his hand as I tried to smile. “I appreciate that, and I have no doubt you would put up the most valiant effort that’s ever been waged. But Seth, the truth of the matter is, it’s just the two of us against the Mafia in both of those scenarios, and the odds don’t seem to be in our favor.”
“Not if you let me make that call. Let me get my team on this. Let them work to find Victor and nullify that threat.”
“And what if you’re wrong? What if Victor was telling the truth and he really was trying to save my life, and in return, we lock him up and send him back to prison, but I’m not any safer?”
“Yet another reason we need to get more people involved. We’re driving blind here. We don’t know what we’re up against.”
I took in a deep breath and held it as I closed my eyes, wishing I could click my heels together and be someplace else. Someone else. But when I opened my eyes, I was still Dani Ward. And I still had to live out the consequences of my choices.
“What do you need me to do?” I asked, ready to move forward since there didn’t seem to be any other option.
“Turn on your phone, and let’s see if there’s any message from Victor.”
He had called exactly one hour after the initial call, just as he said he would.
His message was cryptic, as one might expect from an escaped convict not wanting to be caught.
“Your phone went straight to voicemail, so I hope you’re okay. I understand if you’re mad at me, sweetness. Really, I do. You have every right to be. But what matters most now is your safety. Hopefully, you’ve been driving north for the past hour. Call me when you get this and let me know your location. I can have someone come to you and make sure you’re protected. Start the sand.”
“What does he mean about the sand?” Seth asked as the message ended.