The dog yipped as his agile body changed course. He circled around, leaping up, plastering his feet against the chest of their pursuer. The man was prepared. He braced himself so the enormous dog didn’t take him down. One hand gripped the dog. The other hand gripped a firearm.
Roscoe’s massive form blocked Claire’s view of his face. But she’d caught a glimpse. Just a glimpse of that bronzed skin, the charcoal hair and those coffee-colored eyes.
Her mind had to be playing tricks on her. Maybe the stress she was under was messing with her mental state. Had she finally cracked under the pressure? Was she hallucinating? She felt she had to be.
Now that she’d skidded to a stop, her legs felt like rubber. She willed them to move. Taking a step backward, she didn’t take her eyes off the dog and man. Only a few seconds passed but it felt like an eternity before the man gently pushed the dog aside.
Roscoe landed on all fours with a disappointed whine.
She had been prepared, as prepared as she could have been, for Xavier’s men.
But as the weeks dragged by, she hadn’t prepared for herself for this. Hadn’t been prepared for him. His presence stole what little was left of her breath, leaving her gasping. Her already wobbly legs threatened to give out and send her toppling.
She might as well have been looking at a mirage because Alex Vasquez was the absolute last man she’d expected to see.
* * *
“Alex?” Claire gasped for breath as she pressed a hand against her chest. Her gaze slid over his shoulder, scanning the woods behind him. “What are you doing here? How...? Why...?”
“Your sister sent me.”
Her eyes widened at the mention of Beth.
“I don’t have time to explain.” He cast a glance over his shoulder, as well. He’d seen Claire take down two men. He couldn’t have been more impressed. But he knew they wouldn’t be down indefinitely. He would’ve liked to have incapacitated them, tied them up, let the law deal with them, but in doing so he would’ve lost Claire. He’d had to make a split-second judgment call. Chasing after her had definitely been the right choice. If he’d lost her, he was certain he wouldn’t have found her again. “We need to get out of here.”
Claire pivoted and took off again. He jogged after her.
“I have a vehicle parked back there,” he explained. “We need to loop around the cabin, keep a wide berth and head to the west.”
“And risk running into Xavier’s men again? No.” Her tone was firm.
“What do you suggest we do?” He wasn’t really expecting an answer, but he was on board with putting more distance between them and the men. It would be dark soon. Nighttime would offer them the cover they needed to skirt back around, as he’d suggested.
He easily kept pace with her, though she was moving at a steady clip.
She shot him a look that was full of questions. He was relieved she didn’t press him for answers. He’d give them to her eventually, but at the moment they had more urgent matters to deal with.
They had to get out of these woods.
“I’m not going back that way. We don’t know that those men were alone. More could be coming.”
He’d thought of the possibility, as well, but hadn’t wanted to mention it.
She slowed as the woods thinned. Seconds later they emerged from the trees. Claire cut a sharp left and he followed. Their feet pounded in unison against the hard-packed trail. He scanned the area, always on the lookout.
Up ahead he spotted a gray tarp draped over a hulking object. It looked out of place this deep in the woods.
“Is that part of your getaway plan?”
“Yes.”
Alex had no doubt the tarp covered a vehicle. He reached it first and tugged the covering to the side. A rusted-out Jeep Wrangler appeared. At one time it must’ve been a vibrant shade of red. Now what was left of the faded paint was barely visible. The thing had to be at least a quarter of a century old. It had a canvas top rather than a hard top. The sort that could be removed, convertible style. The canvas was tattered but in good enough shape to offer protection from the elements.
“I hope this thing runs,” he mumbled.
“Of course it runs.” She tugged a key chain holding a single key out of her pocket.
Claire, he realized, was incredibly resourceful. Accused of killing her husband of nearly a year—the man she’d married after Alex had broken off their engagement over three years ago—she’d managed to evade law enforcement for weeks. Maybe that wasn’t an attribute he should be proud of, but he was.
He knew now was not the time to be struck by her beauty, yet he couldn’t help himself. He hadn’t seen her for years. She hadn’t aged, not that he could tell. If anything, she looked younger. Her face looked gaunt, probably from the stress she’d been under. Her cheeks were rosy. Her long auburn hair had been chopped into a shaggy cut and dyed black. Fire flashed in her green eyes when she caught him staring.
She nudged him to the side as she reached for the driver’s door. He blocked her way and held out a hand.
“Give me the key.”
“No.” She tried to reach around him.
“Hand it over, Claire. We don’t have time to argue. If we get pulled over, do you really want a cop to see your name on the license?”
“Do you plan on getting pulled over?”
“Did you plan on being framed for your husband’s murder?”
The words seemed to echo as they hung in the air. He wanted to take them back. He hadn’t meant to sound so callous. Before he could apologize, Claire clenched her jaw and slammed the key into his palm.
He opened the door, allowing Roscoe to leap into the back seat. He slid into the driver’s seat as Claire flung open the opposite door and scrambled in.
Alex jammed the key into the ignition. True to Claire’s word, the old beast roared to life. With one final visual sweep of the woods, he put the vehicle in gear and sped down the rutted trail. If the men had followed, there was a chance they’d gotten themselves lost in the thick woods. The Jeep’s engine would alert them to what direction their quarry had headed. He left the headlights off, not wanting to make it any easier for them.
Claire braced her hands against the dash as the Jeep bounced over the rough terrain.
“The gravel road intersects around the next corner. Take a left,” she instructed. “Taking a right will bring us back to the hunting shack. If we head the other way, it’ll lead us to the interstate.”
The Jeep slid to a stop as they emerged from the tree line. Alex did a quick scan for oncoming traffic before tearing onto the deserted road. The Jeep fishtailed on the gravel, but he easily kept control.
A vehicle turned onto the road ahead of them. Its headlights sliced into the night. The Jeep’s headlights were still off. Alex knew he was taking a risk. It was one he was willing to take.
“I have a bad feeling about this.” Claire’s tone was tense. “There’s almost never traffic on this road.”
The vehicle barreled toward them. With its headlights shining, it was impossible to determine the make.
In the past, Alex had wronged Claire in more ways than he could count. He wasn’t about to add another mistake to that list.
“Hold on tight.”
“I am,” she said through clenched teeth.
His spine stiffened as he gripped the steering wheel. Claire wasn’t the only one who had a bad feeling. When the oversize SUV swung into their lane, skidding sideways, blocking both lanes of traffic on the narrow road, Alex was ready.
He had only an instant to decide if he was going to crash into it, cut in front of it or loop around the back. He hit the gas. The Jeep sped forward as he cut behind it. The driver likely expected Alex to stay in his own lane, cutting down to the ditch in front. If he did that, the driver would only have to hit the gas to take them out.
<
br /> Alex did the opposite. He cut into the other lane, tore down into the ditch and passed on the backside. By the time the driver wrenched into Reverse, they had cut back onto the road.
Claire’s head whipped around to look out the back window. “He’s trying to turn around.”
Alex glanced in the rearview mirror. The SUV had angled into the oncoming lane as it tried to cut the Jeep off. The driver backed into the ditch but had to pull ahead again. He’d be tied up with the back-and-forth motion as he tried to turn around.
Taking advantage of the other driver’s incompetence, Alex sped toward the interstate. He wasn’t sure it was the best plan of action. This time of night, traffic would be pretty light. As they reached a crossroads he wrenched the steering wheel to the right. This stretch of road was lined with thick pines.
It was dark now, but in the glow of the moonlight he could make out mailboxes intermittently dotted along the road. He glanced in the rearview mirror.
“They haven’t turned yet,” Claire said. “They will any minute, though. They’d just turned around when you turned off.”
“Perfect,” Alex said under his breath.
They passed another crossroads. Alex split his gaze between the road in front and the road behind. He knew Claire was right. Any second now the other vehicle would be barreling after them. They had an impressive lead, but he’d rather lose the men for good sooner rather than later.
He made a decision he hoped he wouldn’t regret. He wrenched the steering wheel and whipped into a long, winding driveway. Alex thought he glimpsed headlights slicing around the corner that was now a good distance back. He coasted down the driveway, grateful the house wasn’t visible from the road.
“What are you doing?” Claire’s panicked tone was laced in fear.
“This is our best chance at losing them.” He performed a quick three-point turn with finesse the driver of the SUV did not possess. He kept the Jeep back far enough so that it wasn’t visible from the road.
He withdrew his gun and reached for the door handle.
Claire clutched his arm. “Are you going after them?”
He couldn’t make out her features in the dim moonlight. It didn’t matter. He didn’t have to see her to know what she looked like. He had her face, her expressions, memorized. He knew she was staring at him with wide eyes. Her lips would be pressed into a frown. A worry line would be etched between her brows.
“I need to see which way they go.” He gently pulled his arm from her grip. “I don’t think there’s any chance they saw us turn here. But if they did, I want to have the element of surprise.”
Before she could launch a protest, he leaped out.
Staying close to the tree line, he ran to the road.
Dim headlights grew brighter by the second as the vehicle raced toward him. He moved into the foliage and crouched down. The SUV slowed as it reached the crossroads. Alex hoped it would turn but it rolled right through, speeding up again. He pressed himself against a tree, knowing his dark clothing would blend in.
The chances that the driver would realize this was the driveway he’d turned off on were slim. He was prepared regardless. They sped past. He squinted, hoping for a glimpse of the license plate. It was a fruitless attempt to gain information. It was too dark to make out anything. The vehicle continued on with no sign of slowing down.
He raced back to Claire. Flinging the door open, he slid inside.
“We lost them?” Claire demanded as they took off.
When they reached the edge of the driveway, taillights glowed red in the far distance.
“Looks that way.”
Alex maneuvered onto the gravel road. He backtracked to the crossroads their pursuers had avoided. He took a right, not sure where they were headed but not really caring. Once on this deserted stretch he flipped the headlights on.
He felt Claire’s gaze burning into him.
“You have a lot of explaining to do,” she said.
He shot her a wry look. “I could say the same for you.”
Copyright © 2019 by Amity Steffen
ISBN-13: 9781488040375
Undercover Jeopardy
Copyright © 2019 by Kathleen Tailer
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