“I’ll see you at home,” Trent said, just as they’d rehearsed.
They’d discussed abandoning the fake police cruiser a little farther down the road, hopping into the sedan and taking off.
Trent had walked four steps toward the cruiser when Jim called his name. His fake name. Had Jim realized what they were up to? Trent prayed that wasn’t the case.
Trent froze, his skin pricking. He turned around, plastering on a fake smile. “Yes?”
Jim held out a bag of apples. “Here, take these. I have several trees on my property, so I like to give them away to everyone I can. No way I can eat all of them.”
Trent slowly let out his breath. “Thank you.”
He took the apples and smiled as he turned away.
* * *
“The town is about five miles from here. We’re going to need to stop for some gas,” Tessa said.
Just then, her stomach let out a grumble.
Trent tossed her an apple. “See if this will hold you over. We’ll need get something to eat soon, too. Our energy will run out before our adrenaline.”
“I could use a quick bite.”
“We’ll get it to go. We’re not far enough away to feel comfortable.”
Tessa shrugged her shoulders back. “I just can’t relax. It’s as if I’m waiting for a deer to pop out in the middle of the road at any minute. Only it’s not an innocent deer. It’s worse. But then I think—how would these guys know where we are?”
“They’re pretty smart, so I’m not putting anything past them. Soon they’ll realize that the two henchmen we left on the side of the road aren’t answering their phone. They’ll check things out. The men will be found on the road, taken to a hospital and they’ll check in with Leo. We’re basically on borrowed time here.”
She shuddered again. “It almost feels like a no-win situation.”
“It’s not. You’ve handled yourself well so far. Your work with the gun was impressive, to say the least.”
“All those lessons are paying off, I guess.”
“I’d say so.”
A few minutes later, a little town came into view. It looked like a classic mountain community with one main street filled with old buildings that could use some renovation. Still, the storefronts served the purpose they were needed for. There was a post office, a convenience store, a hardware store, deli and gas station.
While Trent got gas, Tessa hurried inside and cleaned herself up in the bathroom. She eyed the deli right beside the gas station, her mouth watering at the thought of a nice warm sandwich. Instead, she opted to grab some of the premade ones at the gas station, along with some bottles of water, crackers and a prepaid cell phone. She feared Leo would trace the one they used earlier, so they’d left it in the abandoned car.
She paid using the cash Salem had given her. She’d had to leave her backpack at Chris’s, but at least she had this money, as well as what Trent had taken from the man who’d abducted them. She’d also kept Grath’s gun, just in case.
One day, she’d repay Salem for all of his kindness. She had a lot of people to repay, for that matter. At the top of her list was Trent.
As Tessa left the store, she froze in her tracks.
Emerging from the deli were the four other men who’d been at Chris’s place. They’d ditched their fake police uniforms and had fountain drinks in hand, talking merrily as if they were just some friends out for a good time.
She had to get Trent and get out of here.
Now.
TEN
Seeing the alarm across Tessa’s face, Trent followed her gaze and spotted the men from the other SUV. He instantly turned around before they recognized his face. Tessa dropped behind a gas pump and pretended to tie her shoe.
Their gazes connected and no words were needed. This was a very precarious situation, and one wrong move would throw their entire plan into upheaval.
From where Trent stood, he could hear a phone ring. One of the men answered.
“What do you mean he’s not picking up?” the man barked. “They were right behind us.”
Trent motioned for Tessa to hop in the car. Remaining low, she climbed into the front seat and sank down. Trent finished pumping gas and screwed the lid back on the tank. He moved at a normal pace, remaining casual but keeping his back toward the men near him.
“We’ll go check it out and make sure nothing happened,” the man continued. “We know how important this is to you. You want the girl. Alive. Or, at least, alive enough that you can deal with her yourself.”
A glance from the corner of Trent’s eye showed that the men were creeping closer, walking toward their vehicle, which must have been parked out of sight on the other side of the station.
One of them glanced his way as he passed. Trent tugged his hat down lower. He had to keep a cool head.
Something seemed to register in the man’s gaze.
“Trent?” Tessa questioned.
“Put your seat belt on.”
“Okay...”
Before any more time could pass, Trent cranked the engine and pulled down the street. He glanced in the rearview mirror just in time to see the men turn and stare.
They were on to them.
It would take Leo’s men some time to get to their car, which meant that Trent had to move quickly and carefully.
The thugs would most likely assume Trent and Tessa would take the road out of town, in the opposite direction from which they’d come. That was why Trent decided to hang a left and head around the block. They’d go back in the direction they came, but take a different route, one away from Leo’s henchmen.
“They’re still following us,” Tessa said, peering behind her.
Spontaneously, Trent turned left and swerved into a side street. He wasn’t going to lose them as easily as he’d hoped. He had to make a split-second decision.
Seizing a window of opportunity, he pulled into an open garage bay at an auto shop. As soon as he threw the car into Park, he hopped out and lowered the garage door.
“What are you doing?” someone said behind him.
Trent ignored whoever was speaking for a moment and remained beside one of the windows, holding his breath as he waited.
“Sir?”
Trent raised a finger, begging for the man’s silence. Two minutes later, the car chasing them squealed past, not even glancing in their direction.
His heart slowed for a moment. Maybe they’d lost them. He had to be patient, though, and make sure they’d really lost them. His hope was that the men would assume Trent and Tessa had headed toward the interstate instead of hiding here.
“Now, would you care to explain what’s going on?” the voice behind him asked.
Trent turned and spotted a kid—he was probably in his late teens—staring at him, a wrench in his hand. An old Camaro was on a lift beside the boy.
Trent pointed to the garage door he’d lowered. “Sorry about that. It’s just cold outside. I was wondering if you’d mind checking my oil?”
The kid still stared at him. “You don’t know how to check oil?”
“I’m a little out of practice.” Trent shrugged and did his best to look sheepish. Of course he knew how to check the oil. That excuse had been the first thing that came to his mind, though.
“Look, I get it. You’re trying to hide something,” the kid said.
Trent glanced out the window again. Still no sign of the men pursuing them. But they were on borrowed time. “What do you mean?”
The boy pointed back and forth between Trent and Tessa. “Are you two sneaking around, like in some kind of forbidden love story?”
The kid didn’t seem like the Romeo and Juliet type. Obviously, he watched too much TV.
“No, no forbidden love,” Trent said. “But if you must know, we are playing a little game of hide-and-
seek. You caught us.”
“Please don’t rat us out,” Tessa said, sticking her head out of her window.
The boy smiled. “As long as you’re not here when my boss gets back, I couldn’t care less. It’s kind of fun to see adults your age having fun.”
Trent ignored his remark and continued watching out the window.
“Any sign of them?” the kid asked, obviously having no idea just how dangerous this game was.
If those men came back, Trent would have to get the teenager out of here and quick. “Not yet.”
“I can open the door on the other side and you can sneak out that way. It leads to an alley that ends right on the edge of town.”
Trent stared at the boy a moment, surprised at his willingness to help.
The teen shrugged. “I play a lot of video games where I pretend to be hiding from the law. I’ve thought this through a few times.”
Trent glanced out the window again and saw no one. Maybe—just maybe—his plan had worked.
“Thank you,” Trent said.
They climbed back into the car, snapped their seat belts in place and waited as the boy opened the other garage door. He rolled down his window and handed the kid a twenty-dollar bill.
“Good luck!” the boy called.
Trent pulled out slowly and scanned his surroundings. There was still no sign of the other car. He started the opposite way from which they’d come, on guard in case it appeared again.
“I’m glad the boy was the only one in the garage,” Tessa said.
“Tell me about it.”
“Do you think we lost them?” Tessa asked, still slunk low in her seat.
Trent glanced in the mirror again. “I hope so. But we’re not out of the woods yet, so to speak. They’ll canvass the area for us. We need to get somewhere we can disappear for a while.”
“Leo has a lot of resources. He’ll utilize whatever he needs.”
Tessa looked so alone as she said the words. Betrayal could do that to a person—make them unwilling to ever trust again. He knew the feeling all too well.
“It sounds as if Leo really hurt you,” Trent said, pulling out of town and remaining cautiously optimistic.
She snapped her head toward him. “What?”
“Leo. It sounds as if he really hurt you.”
She pulled herself up in the seat and frowned. “We had one of those whirlwind romances. I thought he walked on water.”
“So that made it even harder when his true self was revealed.”
“Exactly.” She crossed her arms. “I never in my wildest dreams thought that this would happen. I saw a wedding in my future, kids, the perfect house. I went from being in the art world and wearing business suits every day to this.”
She waved her hand up and down, showcasing her worn jeans, flannel shirt and sloppy ponytail.
“I actually think that’s a pretty nice look on you,” Trent said. Then again, he’d always preferred women who looked comfortable in their own skin to women with bleached hair, overdone makeup and uncomfortable-looking clothes.
Even though Tessa’s face turned a tinge of red, she continued as she if she didn’t hear him. “The man I thought I loved is now trying to kill me. It’s possibly the worst ending to any fairy-tale romance that I could ever conjure up in my mind.”
“I can only imagine how hard that was on you.” His and Laurel’s story hadn’t supposed to have ended the way it had, either. But sometimes life just didn’t work out the way people planned, and all one could do was make the best of the circumstances given.
She nodded. “Eye-opening to say the least. Definitely made me realize that I’m better off alone than I am trusting other people.”
“You mean, trusting the wrong people.”
She shook her head. “No, people in general. These months on my own have been kind of nice. There’s been no one to let me down.”
“Come on, you can’t tell me that being alone is better than being with your loved ones. I hardly know you, but I can tell that much about you.”
“I miss my family. I trust them. But I can’t ever see myself having faith in others. Not after Leo.”
“That’s a shame. You’ll be missing out. Life is much better when you share it with other people.” He’d told himself that so many times. He felt like a hypocrite saying it now, because he certainly hadn’t lived it out. He still held people at arm’s length.
“And whom exactly do you share your life with?”
He swallowed hard. That was a good question. “I have friends.”
“But you’re probably married to your career, right?”
He swallowed hard again. She’d nailed him. No doubt, there was truth in her words. He had pulled away since Laurel died. He’d tried to keep his mind occupied with anything other than his pain.
Tessa didn’t push anymore, and he didn’t say anything. He continued driving, trying not to let her words bother him. At one time, his life had been full, as well. He’d had his friends in the police academy, and their comradery was unmistakable. Then he’d become a detective and been engaged to Laurel. Her family had lived close and they’d spent endless weekends having barbecues and cookouts and watching football games on TV.
All of that had changed when she’d died. Her family still blamed Trent, and he couldn’t argue against their feelings. If Laurel hadn’t been associated with him, she’d still be alive now.
He’d given up his career as a detective, started this PI practice and in the process become somewhat of a loner himself.
No, he didn’t have any room to talk.
As they traveled farther down the road with no sign of the men behind them, Trent finally allowed his foot to ease off the pedal some. The day was gray with thick clouds above them, and the temperature was dropping by the minute.
He could really use some coffee, but no way was he stopping for any. “Did you buy any water?”
Tessa pulled a bottle from the bag, twisted the top and handed it to him. “I also have some crackers, muffins and a sandwich. Anything tempt you?”
“I’ll take the sandwich. You should eat something, too.”
She peeled back the plastic on the ham and cheese and handed it to him. Then she fished out some peanut-butter crackers for herself.
“How’s my family doing?” she asked, her voice cracking.
“Your mom has been having some heart problems, if you want to know the truth.”
Tessa rubbed her chest. “Really? My poor mom... I wanted to spare her all of this.”
“Leo spun a pretty convincing tale about you,” he said. “I didn’t go into all of the details earlier, but he said he broke up with you after he caught you stealing money from the gallery.”
“What?” Her eyes widened with shock.
Trent nodded, knowing the story was only going to become harder to swallow. “He said you needed the money because of all of your credit card debt.”
“I don’t have any debt. I only had one credit card in case of an emergency!” She shook her head and leaned back into the seat. “He had it all worked out, didn’t he?”
“He was convincing when he told your family he’d do anything in his power to help find you.”
“Of course he did! He wants to find me so he can kill me. They didn’t believe him, did they?”
Trent shrugged. “The truth is, Leo brought in paperwork—evidence—to support everything he told them.”
“He manipulated people or paid them off in order to get them on his side. He has people on his payroll who can create false backgrounds and financial histories. I can’t believe this, yet at the same time it’s not surprising.”
“I know this is tough to hear, but you asked and I thought you should know everything.”
“Thank you.”
Trent stared ahead at the windshield.
“Is that snow?”
It had been gray and especially cold all morning. But snow? He’d hoped it would hold off.
Tessa nodded. “They were saying a snowstorm was headed this way.”
“What did they predict?”
“A foot of snow in a five-hour time range. That was the last I heard.”
His gut churned. That wasn’t a good outlook. They were not in a car suitable for any kind of snowstorm or bad weather.
“It’s only the beginning of November.”
She nodded. “I know. The brutal weather is getting an early start this year.”
They needed to make it as far away as possible before the storm arrived. Because there was no way they’d make it otherwise.
Tessa’s stomach still didn’t feel full, but at least she had some food to settle it. As she watched the snowflakes come down harder and faster, a ripple of anxiety shuddered through her. Driving these roads in the snow was hazardous, even for the most experienced driver. Trent had purposely stayed on back roads. By all appearances, they’d lost the men who’d been after them, but Tessa had a feeling this wasn’t over yet. Leo would indeed do everything he could to find them.
Trent had a white-knuckled grip on the steering wheel. The roads were getting slippery, Tessa realized. And the steep drop-offs on one side of the stretch of asphalt made this all the more treacherous.
“Any idea where we are?” Trent asked.
She shrugged. “I think we’re north of Gideon’s Hollow.”
“Any small towns up this way? I’d even take a big one.”
“We’re in mountain country. I didn’t take much time to explore during my stay here, but you can go miles out here without running into much except cliffs, rivers and inclines.”
He didn’t say anything.
She studied his stoic expression a moment. “This isn’t good, is it?”
He shook his head, his gaze remaining focused out the front windshield. “If the snow comes down any harder, I won’t be able to see. It’s practically a whiteout.”
“Should we pull over?”
Deadly Mountain Refuge: Mountain Ambush ; Mountain Hideaway Page 29