Mountain Hideaway

by Christy Barritt

  Leo had fit right in with that side of her. She’d loved the luxuries he’d provided; she’d even reveled in them. But looking back, she’d felt hollow inside during that time. All of those things hadn’t brought her the satisfaction she’d hoped for. All it had done was to leave her wanting more and more.

  When she’d gone on the run and everything had been stripped away, Tessa had to come to terms with who she was as a person, without the fancy clothes or perfect hair or admirable career.

  She hadn’t liked the image that stared back at her. Her changes had happened so slowly that she hadn’t even realized they’d taken effect. Sin was like that: people could dip a toe in and before they knew it be fully immersed.

  But those were things she’d think about later. Her thoughts turned to Trent. Despite her doubts, he’d been kind. He could have left her in the middle of the craziness, like most sensible people would have. But he’d stuck by her, even risking his life.

  Her family trusted him. Maybe she could, too.

  As she turned over in bed again, unable to sleep, her mind drifted from Trent to Chris. Why had her boss had such a strange reaction to her? Of course it was strange that Chris had found her here. Tessa couldn’t deny that. But there was more to it.

  Did Chris think that Tessa was up to no good? That almost seemed to match her reaction.

  She and her boss had always had a peculiar relationship. Chris didn’t really need to work or generate income. Her late husband had left her with a lot of money, enough to own three houses and take vacations whenever she wanted. But the woman liked traveling so much that she’d decided to open her own travel agency in town. They hardly ever had any clients. Tessa hadn’t complained because the job helped her to pay the bills and the lackluster business kept her isolated.

  Chris was in and out, though—more out than in. She basically trusted Tessa to run the business from the little storefront in downtown Gideon’s Hollow. It was a nice, quiet job with very little interaction with those in town—ideal for Tessa.

  Now she wondered if Chris had bought Trent’s story. He’d told the truth. But Tessa knew that despite their best efforts, they’d been acting suspiciously. She’d never been a good liar. Even though Trent had sounded calm, one look at Tessa and Chris would have known that something was off.

  She wished she could stop fretting about it, though.

  As she started to drift off to sleep, she heard something downstairs. Just as she jolted upright in bed, her door flung open.

  “Freeze! Put your hands up!” A police officer stood there, his gun drawn and aimed at her.

  * * *

  Trent kept his hands raised in the air, his gaze quickly surveying the men around him. Five men had burst into the house from both the front and back doors. They wore SWAT gear with helmets and carried military-grade weapons.

  He’d taken one look and known he had no chance of taking them all down. So he’d risen from the couch and tried to keep his cool instead. But his thoughts clashed inside his head.

  How had these men, whoever they were, found them here? He had his suspicions.

  Chris had stepped out of her bedroom fifteen minutes ago, said she needed some air, and five minutes after she returned the men had invaded the house.

  At the moment, Chris appeared unbothered. She stood by the front door with her arms crossed and a look of worry on her face. She’d been the one who led these men here. But why would she do something like this? What would her motive be?

  A moment later, Trent saw one of the officers leading Tessa downstairs. Her arms were raised also, and terror stained her eyes. Anyone would be scared in this situation. Her gaze met his and he saw the questions there. He wished he had answers to give her.

  A man—the one who appeared to be in charge—strutted up to Trent and got in his face. The man stared wordlessly, waiting for Trent to flinch, to break his gaze. Trent refused.

  When he got no reaction from Trent, the man took a step back and glowered. “Arrest both of them.”

  “On what count?” Trent asked.

  “Conspiring with terrorists, for starters.”

  “What evidence could possibly prove that?” None. There was no way they had any proof.

  “Tessa has been on our watch list for quite a while. Unfortunately, you’ve proved to be her accomplice,” the man continued. “We take threats like this very seriously.”

  This wasn’t making any sense, not by any stretch of the imagination. “What agency are you with?”

  “The West Virginia State Police. We’re bringing you in, but I’m sure the FBI will want a piece of you, also. You two have a lot of explaining to do.”

  Something still wasn’t settling right in his gut. There were six men altogether and four had guns trained on Trent and Tessa. There was little he could do at his point.

  One of the men pulled Trent’s hands down and cuffed him. Another officer did the same for Tessa.

  “You have the right to remain silent,” the officer started.

  Tessa struggled against the man. It was just the distraction he needed. As the man in front of him looked away, Trent reached back and grabbed an upholstery tack from the breakfast bar. Chris must have been re-covering one of her chairs. Working carefully, subtly, Trent pressed two tacks into his leather belt, praying no one would notice.

  Just as he secured the second tack, his captor jerked his arms back and began leading him outside.

  Tessa swung her head toward Chris as she passed.

  “You did this, didn’t you?” Hurt and betrayal were evident in her voice.

  The woman shook her head, sorrow in her eyes. “I was already on my way home when they called me a few hours ago and told me what you’d been up to. I had to do my part to help. I always thought your background sounded kind of suspicious, Tessa. I just never imagined you were capable of this.”

  “I’m not. I’m not guilty of anything here,” Tessa said, squirming as the office behind her shoved her forward. “Chris, you have no idea what you’ve done...”

  The woman raised her chin. “I’m just being a patriot.”

  With another rough shove, the officer pushed Trent outside to a police cruiser. His eyes soaked in the unmarked car. It must have pulled up after the men got inside the house. Otherwise, Trent would have heard the car approach. After all, he hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep. His mind was too busy turning over things.

  He glanced around. Four men still had their guns in hand, ready to use. And Trent was handcuffed. This was no time to make a move or try to escape, especially if it meant that Tessa would be in the line of fire.

  Right before he was escorted into the backseat of the cruiser, he let one of the tacks drop from his hands. With any luck, the tip would pierce the tire and maybe buy them some more time.

  Thankfully, Tessa tumbled into the backseat beside him. He’d prayed they wouldn’t be separated, because that would only make things more complicated.

  The door slammed shut but no officers climbed in. They stayed outside in the lingering darkness, talking quietly among themselves. Chris stood on the porch, watching everything with her arms crossed and a look of both anxiety and pride across her face.

  “I’m scared, Trent,” Tessa whispered.

  “You should be.”

  “Do you think they’ll let us go if I tell them the whole story?” Her voice trembled.

  He wanted to say, to do something to comfort her. But he had to tell her the truth. “Tessa, these men aren’t the police.”

  Her eyes widened. “Then who are they?”

  “My guess? They’re men your ex-fiancé sent.”

  EIGHT

  Tessa felt as though she might pass out. She’d thought she’d been anxious before, but what she experienced now was beyond any of her earlier apprehensions. She was downright panicky, to the point of fearing she might hyperventilate.

  “What do you mean?” she whispered. “They had uniforms on.”

  “You can buy anything online. SWAT uni
forms, fake badges. You name it.”

  A shiver raced through her and didn’t cease. Her body continued to tremble and cold washed over her. “They’re going to kill us.”

  “Listen, don’t let on that you know anything. Okay? We’ll figure a way out together. But we need to play it cool.”

  “So you have a plan?” She desperately hoped he did.

  “Considering I have no idea what’s going to happen, it’s really hard to create a firm strategy of how to escape. So I’ll do the next best thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “I’ll wait for the right opportunity.”

  “Here they come,” she whispered.

  Two men climbed into the front seat. The other four climbed into another cruiser. Tessa cast one more glance at Chris as they pulled away. How could her friend think that she was guilty? Didn’t she know her any better?

  Of course, Leo could be convincing. He could talk the most intelligent person into believing whatever lies he wanted to sell. Besides, if there really had been something suspicious, it was Chris’s duty to report it. The woman had no idea the web of deceit that had been spun around her.

  Okay, God, I’m listening. Maybe that’s been the problem. It’s not that You’ve been silent. It’s that I haven’t been ready to hear. I’m ready now. I’m sorry that it’s taken this moment of absolute desperation to get me to this point.

  The sun started to peek over the mountains as they headed east. Tessa assumed that meant it was probably approaching seven. The sun was coming up later now that it was getting cooler outside.

  She tried to focus on the things she knew. The definites were more comforting than the uncertainties. That was why she watched the landscape out the window as they passed. That was why she concentrated on the sunrise. Why she listened to the men’s voices in the front seat as they muttered quietly to each other. Glass separated them and she couldn’t make out their words. But they definitely didn’t have West Virginia accents. Trent was right.

  She glanced at him then. She could see from the look in his eyes that he was mulling the situation over and running through possibilities. As strange as it might seem, she was glad he was here with her. Even though the situation felt practically hopeless, he was the reason she had a small grain of hope that they’d survive. Alone, she’d be dead by now.

  He caught her looking at him and sent her a questioning look. “You okay?”

  She shrugged. “Depends on how you define okay. I’m sure you’re regretting taking this assignment, huh?”

  “No, not at all.”

  “You could die because of it.”

  He leaned closer, close enough that she could feel his breath on her cheek. “Tessa, if what you’ve told me is true, this family needs to be exposed. I’m going to do everything I can to fight for justice.”

  Something welled in her—she wasn’t sure what. Pride? Gratitude? He had the heart of a soldier, of a fighter, and she could appreciate that. The world needed people who weren’t afraid to battle for what they believed in, to fight for the rights of others.

  She wished she had some of that same resolve. Maybe she wouldn’t be in this situation. Maybe she wouldn’t have retreated in the first place.

  Suddenly, the car lurched. It jerked to the right so hard that Tessa tumbled into Trent. Had one of the tires been shot out?

  As the car pulled over to a stop on the side of the road, Tessa held her breath and waited to see what would happen next.

  Was this the moment of opportunity Trent had mentioned?

  * * *

  “Stay here,” the driver said gruffly.

  Trent watched every move the bogus police officers made. It appeared the tack he’d thrown down had finally wedged itself into the tire and led to a blowout. Thankfully, the other car had gone ahead of them. That meant that it was just Trent, Tessa and the two men escorting them. However, Trent and Tessa were at a disadvantage because of their handcuffs. But hopefully that wouldn’t be a problem for long. He’d been subtly trying to work the second tack he’d pressed into his belt into the lock mechanism of the handcuffs.

  Finally, he heard a soft click. He’d done it.

  Now he had to figure out how to reach Tessa without drawing any attention to the fact.

  The driver jerked the door open. “You’re going to have to get out while we change the tire.”

  He grabbed Tessa first and dragged her outside. Before the man could reach for Trent, he scooted from the car, making sure his handcuffs stayed in place for the time being.

  “Guard them while I change this,” the driver mumbled to his partner.

  The other man—the slighter of the two—aimed his gun at Trent and Tessa. He appeared youngish—maybe in his midtwenties, and he was both scrawny and obviously outranked in this merry little group of bandits. The driver had called him Grath once.

  “Stay over there,” Grath said. “Don’t make a move or you’re dead.”

  “We’re dead anyway, aren’t we?” Trent said.

  A gleam appeared in the man’s eyes, and he nodded toward Tessa. “Not until the big man sees her. He wants to handle this personally.”

  That must be Leo. He wanted to make sure Tessa suffered. Trent didn’t like the sound of that.

  Immediately, visions of Laurel appeared in his mind. He couldn’t let that happen again. Laurel had been his whole world and made him feel like the luckiest man alive. Sure, they’d had their problems. But they’d been happy together.

  Until one of his supposed friends had stabbed him in the back. He’d been tasked with guarding Laurel while Trent was testifying in court.

  The gang he was trying put away had threatened Trent’s life if he proceeded with his investigation. He’d known Laurel would be in danger, as well. That was why he’d taken the extra precautions to keep her safe. He didn’t want to be bullied.

  But then one of his own friends, Richard, had been bought off. Richard hadn’t pulled the trigger on Laurel himself, but he’d taken money and given away her location to men who’d been bent on revenge toward Trent. Those men had shot Richard in the shoulder, an injury that looked more serious than it was. Then those thugs had killed Laurel.

  His friend had denied his involvement for weeks—months. But Trent had begun to trail him. He’d caught him meeting with a gang member. A check of his bank account had proved Richard had been paid off. When he’d brought the evidence to his colleagues, they hadn’t taken him seriously. They’d thought he was obsessed and desperate to find someone to take the blame.

  That was when Trent had left the police department and struck out on his own. Eventually, he’d taken his evidence all the way to the top and gotten some results. He’d pressed charges and Richard had gone to jail. But the whole thing had left Trent disillusioned.

  He wasn’t going to let the same thing happen to Tessa that had happened to Laurel.

  Moving quietly, wordlessly, Trent slipped the tack into Tessa’s hands. She felt it for a moment before looking up at him with confusion.

  Subtly, he motioned toward his handcuffs. Her eyes widened with understanding and she nodded.

  As Grath looked away for a brief second, Trent swung his leg through the air. His foot connected with the man’s gun and sent it toppling to the ground. In that moment, the driver reached for his own gun and aimed it at Trent.

  In a flash, Trent grabbed Grath and pulled the man in front of him to use as a human shield. The driver discharged his gun, and Grath let out a groan as the bullet hit his shoulder.

  Before the driver had a chance to realize what was happening, Trent shoved Grath on top of him. The action afforded Trent enough time to grab the driver’s gun.

  The two struggled with the weapon. In a battle of strength, the barrel of the gun volleyed back and forth from the driver to Trent.

  Despite the chill in the air, sweat sprinkled across Trent’s forehead. The man was tougher than he’d given him credit for. Their struggle continued in what felt like slow motion.


  “Give it up,” the driver mumbled, his face red with exertion.

  “Never.” Trent used all the strength in him to aim the gun back toward the driver.

  Both men grunted, bared their teeth. Their lives were on the line. Whoever was the strongest would live.

  That man had to be Trent.

  Suddenly, a gunshot filled the air. The driver let out a howl of pain. Trent’s eyes traveled to the man’s shoulder. A spot of blood grew there.

  Trent jerked his eyes behind him. Tessa stood there, gun in hand. She looked shell-shocked, but okay.

  She might have just saved his life.

  With half of her handcuffs still around her wrist, she tucked the gun into her waistband and hurried toward Trent. “Are you okay?”

  He took a step back from the driver, who was still alive but moaning with pain. “Yeah, I’m fine. We need to go.”

  “I’ll get the tire. You move these guys out of the way?”

  Trent stared at her a moment, unsure he’d heard her correctly. But she was already at the tire, unscrewing the lug nuts. “Got it.”

  He grabbed the driver and pulled him off to the side of the road. The man would be okay. His partners would come back to check on these two when they realized they were no longer responding. Grath would also be okay. He’d been hit in the shoulder, but it wasn’t life threatening.

  That meant it was even more urgent that Trent and Tessa got out of there fast.

  “They’ll...find...you,” the driver muttered, teeth bared.

  “We’re going to make that as hard as possible,” Trent said, patting the man’s cheek. He reached into his pocket and grabbed the man’s phone. Then he snatched the extra gun and some cash. He and Tessa were going to need whatever they could get in order to survive this.

  He got back to Tessa in time to help her slip the new tire on. “A girl who knows her way around a car. Impressive.”

  “My dad insisted I know how to take care of myself.”

  “It’s really paying off now,” Trent said, helping her finish. “Come on. Let’s go.”