Jen didn’t waste any time snuggling against her, trembling from the chill night air and her exertion.
Sally brushed Jen’s hair as she spoke soothingly. “We’re almost there. I remember this road from hiking with Rachel. It meets the lodge road not too far from here and then it’s just a short walk.”
“What about Luke?” Jen’s face was pale and etched with fatigue.
“He’ll be okay, honey. He’ll find us. Or maybe he’s waiting at the lodge.” Luke had to be all right. Sally couldn’t give any thought to anything else—not after everything he’d done for them tonight.
Suddenly, Jen sat up straight. “Mom, I saw a light through the trees…there.” She raised her arm and pointed across the overgrown road, her voice low and urgent.
Sally’s heart hammered erratically as she searched the area Jen had indicated. After a few seconds, the flickering light appeared, bouncing up and down as though someone carried it and then disappeared again.
“Quick. Follow me.” Sally pushed Jen to her feet and clutched her hand as they moved off the open roadway into the shadow of the trees.
“What if it’s Luke?” Jen whispered.
“Even if it’s Luke, we need to stay out of sight until we know for sure.” As soon as they were within cover of the trees, Sally kept Jen moving, stopping only when she found a close grouping of young pines with needles scraping the ground. She pushed her way through the supple fronds and dropped to her knees, pulling her daughter down beside her. Silently, she placed one finger in front of Jen’s lips, then positioned herself so she had a view of the road. It was so dark within the forest, the only way she’d see anything was if it moved or carried a flashlight, but she settled down to wait. The only sound in their enclosure was the wind rustling the pine needles and Jen’s soft breaths, both of which calmed her frazzled nerves.
Several minutes passed before the bobbing light came into her line of sight. Sally studied the figure who held it. Hope plummeted at first glance. It wasn’t Luke. This man was taller and broader across the chest and shoulders. Was it one of Clive’s men? How had they found her? The federal witness protection program was supposed to be secure, if nothing else. Marshal Lambert would have to explain this before she’d agree to anything more…providing she survived the night.
The big man stopped when he reached the spot in the road where Sally and Jen had rested. Slowly, he turned in a circle until he faced back the way he’d come. “Do you smell that?”
Startled, Sally realized he was talking to someone who was following—someone she couldn’t see. Her gaze darted back to the man with the flashlight. Something about his voice…or was it just wishful thinking?
“I don’t smell anything. What is it?” The breeze carried the second man’s words to her, distorted by the sudden stomping sounds of deer or some other four-legged creatures obviously made unhappy by the proximity of humans in their territory.
The first man turned slowly again, stopping when he faced directly toward her. Sally ducked down as though it might be possible for him to see them through the thin moonlight and the tree branches.
The man looked back toward his companion. “Perfume. I smell perfume. I think we’re close.” The echo hadn’t died from his last words when frenzied barking broke out. “See. Cowboy smells it too.” He turned back and cupped hands around his mouth. “Sally! Jen!”
“It’s Jonathan and Cowboy!”
Sally still whispered, despite her relief, and hot tears welled in her eyes. Determined not to let them fall, she pushed Jen through the pine boughs, then took a moment to compose herself. Jonathan worked for Luke’s Aunt Peg at the lodge. Besides Rachel, he was Sally’s only close friend. What was he doing out here looking for them? Was he with Luke? Eager to know Luke was all right, Sally stepped out of the trees just as Cowboy, the former military K-9 Luke’s brother had brought back from Afghanistan after they both were wounded, bounded to Jen and danced around her excitedly. Jonathan laughed warmly as he scooped her daughter into a bear hug.
He stopped when he saw her just standing there. “Sally? Are you okay?”
“Almost.” She strode toward him, suddenly self-conscious of Luke’s T-shirt and her disheveled hair. “I didn’t expect to see you out here.”
Jonathan grinned. “Well, I didn’t really expect to be out here looking for you either.”
“Is Luke with you?” From the corner of her eye, she caught a movement and turned, expecting to see him smiling at her. The smile was familiar, but it was worn by Luke’s brother, Garrett, as he covered the last few feet to join them.
He placed his cell phone to his ear. “We got ’em…yeah…see you in a few…yep, here she is.” Garrett extended the phone to Sally, and he didn’t have to tell her who it was.
Knowing Luke was alive turned her knees to rubber, and it was all she could do to force herself to take the phone. Somehow, she rasped out Luke’s name.
“Are you and Jen all right?” He sounded exhilarated and relieved at the same time.
“We’re fine, Luke. Are you okay? Where are you? What happened? We heard gunshots.”
“Slow down. We’ll catch up later. I’m not far from you. I called Garrett as soon as I crashed my ride. He and Jonathan came to help me find you.” He paused, and Sally got the feeling he was listening to her erratic breathing. When he spoke, he was dead serious. “I told you I’d find you, babe.”
Sally nodded but didn’t know what to say to that. “Is your truck history?”
Luke snorted. “That gutless piece of shit? It’s time I bought a new one anyway.”
They laughed together and, for the first moment in a very long time, Sally felt whole. Was it possible to go back? Recapture something that had died such a resounding death? Sally shook her head and squeezed her eyes closed. She’d never know unless she opened herself up to the possibility, but the thought of trying and failing again scared her to death.
Chapter Six
Luke reached the abandoned logging road, where Garrett had told him the vehicles would be parked, before anyone else arrived. His brother’s Jeep and the lodge’s old beater pickup that Jonathan drove glimmered in the starlight ahead. Approaching cautiously, Luke focused all his senses to discern whether any unwelcome visitors waited there. Satisfied the area was deserted, he dropped his duffel—saved from the doomed pickup at the last moment—and knelt in the shadows by one of the Jeep’s wheels. Still on high alert, he was anxious to see with his own eyes that Sally and Jen were unharmed.
He didn’t have long to wait. Quiet voices drifted to him, and he studied the darkness until he caught sight of the beam from the flashlight moving through the trees. Cowboy loped into the clearing first, followed by Jonathan, carrying Jen. Luke rose silently and moved a step away from the Jeep. Jonathan evidently spotted him, bent at the waist and set Jen on her feet.
The little girl jogged toward him. At the last second, Luke dropped to his knees and caught her in a hug.
“Luke!” Her voice was low, yet filled with excitement and joy.
He held her tightly, picking her up as he got to his feet, her heart beating rapidly against him. She wound her arms around his neck and her quiet sniffling gave away her tears. Strong emotions formed a lump in his throat.
Damn. He loved this little girl and he wouldn’t handle it well if anything happened to her. “It’s all right, Jen. You’re safe.”
Luke couldn’t read Sally’s expression when she finally stepped into the feeble light cast by the moon. Worry was obvious and understandable. The axis of her world had just tilted several degrees. He’d fix it if he could, but it wasn’t within his power. All he could do was give his life if that was what it took to keep them both safe.
He settled Jen on one arm and held his other out to Sally. She hesitated a moment, searching his eyes, then shuffled toward him. Luke reached for her when she paused and pulled her in for a thre
e-way hug. Once she was beside Jen, Sally relaxed against him and her stuttering sigh yanked at his heartstrings even as her warmth reminded him of comforts he’d not thought of for a long while.
Jonathan strode toward his pickup, and Garrett was futilely trying to control a pleased grin when Luke frowned at him over Sally’s head.
Garrett cleared his throat, propped his hands on his hips and became the serious big brother. “Mission accomplished. Now let’s get you back to the lodge. These two young ladies are asleep on their feet.” He walked to the Jeep and opened the driver’s door.
Luke released Sally, then set Jen on her feet next to her mother. “We won’t be going to the lodge.”
Sally’s surprised gaze darted toward him.
Garrett’s raised eyebrows clearly said he thought Luke had lost his mind. “What? It’s the safest place. Where else would you go?”
“Those jerks trying to run us off the road changed everything. I don’t know the whole story…yet.” He met Sally’s gaze before turning back to his brother. “What I know is if they find out Sally didn’t die in the crash, you can bet they won’t give up. If we go to the lodge, they’ll come after us. Think of Aunt Peg and Rachel.”
The muscle flexing in Garrett’s jaw told Luke he’d made his point.
“What makes you think they won’t come anyway?” Jonathan stood at the rear of his pickup, concern evident in his stance.
“They might, but you’ll be ready for them, and when they don’t find any sign of us, they won’t have any reason to stick around.” Luke glanced between Garrett and Jonathan, their silence signifying they didn’t like his idea one bit, but they apparently agreed with his reasoning.
Sally turned, her hand on Jen’s shoulder. “I can’t ask you to do this, Luke. You’ve done enough. You should stay here with your family.”
Luke tousled Jen’s hair and weighed his words carefully. “I’m aware you haven’t asked me to go any farther with you, but like it or not, I’m not letting you go by yourself.”
Sally shook her head sadly. “You don’t know everything.”
“Then fill me in.” Luke leaned back against the Jeep and crossed his ankles as though he had all the time in the world.
Sally’s eyes took on that deer-in-the-headlights look, darting around the small clearing, finally landing on her daughter.
Jen smiled with maturity beyond her years. “It’s okay, Mom. We’ll keep your secret.”
Sally allowed one sob to escape as she hugged the girl, and it was a moment before she found her voice. “I’m in the witness protection program. I have to assume whoever blew up my home and tried to run us off the road was sent by the man I testified against eleven years ago. The marshal in charge of my case is on his way to pick us up and find us a new place to live…and new identities.”
Luke did the math in his head. They’d celebrated Sally’s twenty-eighth birthday before his deployment. That made her twenty-nine now. She’d been only eighteen when she testified and gave up everything she knew to go into hiding. No wonder her scumball boss hadn’t been able to dig up anything on her.
Her story also made those thugs who evidently wanted her dead a whole lot more serious than they’d been a few minutes ago. International espionage or organized crime could be behind the attempt—something he hadn’t considered until now.
Sally’s guarded expression made it clear she expected him to change his mind. No chance of that happening. “All the more reason we shouldn’t hang around in familiar territory. We need to disappear tonight, before they regroup and come back to check their handiwork.”
She started to interrupt, and Luke held his hand up to stop her. “Your problem became my business when my truck went over the cliff. Those men were trying to kill all three of us…not just you.” He glanced toward Garrett. “Can I borrow your Jeep?”
The keys were already in Garrett’s hand and he tossed them through the air. “Where will you go?”
Luke caught the keys easily. “A place the people looking for Sally won’t know anything about. It’s better if you don’t know either.”
Garrett’s lips settled into a firm line. He obviously wasn’t happy with that answer, but he knew it was the right move. “Check in when you get where you’re going.” It wasn’t a request.
Cowboy whined, his tail moving slowly from side to side, clearly reacting to Garrett’s change of mood.
“We will.” Luke studied his brother’s concerned expression for a silent moment before his gaze swept to Sally, trying to gauge how much argument was left there. He was pleasantly surprised when she slid an arm around Jen’s shoulders, stepped away from him and guided her daughter to the Jeep.
His brother stepped toward him, and Luke shook his hand with a firm grasp meant to convey he had this under control, knowing full well his big brother would worry about him anyway. When they turned away from each other, Luke shook hands with Jonathan before tossing his duffel in the backseat and climbing behind the wheel.
“One more thing, Bro. If you could call a tow truck and get what’s left of my ride out of the canyon before those creeps climb down there and find out there aren’t any bodies or footprints, we might stop them right here.”
Jonathan, returning from his truck, shoved a blanket through the window into Luke’s hands. “Jen might need something comfortable to lay on.” The big guy had such a soft spot where the girl was concerned. Luke could identify.
“Thanks, man.” He accepted the offering and placed it between the seats, then started the Jeep and listened to its quiet purr as the two men stepped away from the side. With one last wave, he shifted into reverse, backed a tight horseshoe and crept slowly down the mountain. After turning right on the county road, where he’d ditched his truck, he drove without benefit of lights, watching the mirrors carefully for another mile or so before he flipped on the headlamps.
An audible sigh of relief came from Sally as the lights lit up the area in front of the vehicle. It was the first sound she’d made since she buckled her seat belt. Jen, bless her heart, knelt between the bucket seats with a hand on each of their shoulders. She should have been in her seat belt too, especially on this damn road, but Jen apparently needed their contact as much as Luke needed hers. In a minute, I’ll ask her to sit down and buckle up. For right now…he reached around her head to pull her close for a kiss on the cheek.
She grinned in delight. “Did it work just like in the movie?”
A tiny sound that might have been a laugh came from Sally’s half of the cab. Luke glanced her way, but she was still concentrating on the view out in front of them.
He swept his attention back to Jen. “Not quite. I revved the truck up and headed for the edge of the canyon.” He made the sound effects and waved his arms in the air, letting loose the steering wheel for a second, chuckling as Jen got into the story. “Then I remembered my duffel…containing the only clean clothes we’d have until we could get to a store. I grabbed it, along with a couple other things I thought we might need, and jumped out at the last minute, like we planned. The duffel broke my fall, which was good, but the bad guys were too close. I didn’t have time to cross the road and get into the trees.”
Sally swung around to stare at him. “What did you do?”
“Well, there I was, hanging over that cliff, with that heavy canvas bag in one hand, while my truck ground and scraped all the way to the bottom and then started on fire. Those clowns—there were four of them—got out of their vehicles and looked over the edge as though they were afraid of heights or something. I could tell they weren’t about to climb down and make sure we were all dead. But I didn’t know how long I could hold on either.” He paused for dramatic effect and smiled at Jen’s impatient sigh.
Sally was halfway grinning now, and damned if it didn’t seem like all the ugly stuff that had gone between his leaving her and his coming home no longer existed. Intere
sting that he thought of this place as home.
“A couple of them began shooting down in the canyon. I guess they thought they might get lucky and hit something. Then one of them started talking. It wasn’t English, but I couldn’t hear well enough to recognize the language. And, thankfully, they didn’t stick around much longer.”
Jen giggled, jumping up and down on the floorboards in her excitement, and Luke laughed…until the stricken expression on Sally’s face pulled him up short. His first instinct was to comfort her, but when he touched her shoulder, she tensed.
“Where are we going?” Jen yawned through the question.
“To stay with a friend of mine for a few days, until the heat is off here. Then we’ll get busy finding you and your mom a new place to live.” Luke wrapped his arm around her slender shoulders. “How’s that sound?” Providing the heat did die down in Huntington. There was a good possibility it would never be safe enough for Sally and Jen to return and resume their lives, but he’d break the bad news to Jen when it became necessary.
“Good.” She leaned close enough to whisper in his ear. “Mom needs a job too.”
Luke nodded his head. “Right. A job.” Hopefully, one where she wouldn’t be persuaded to date the boss. He now understood her reticence to have the sheriff question Emmett Purnell, because it was highly unlikely he was involved in the destruction of her house. If Luke had known her history, he’d have been okay skipping that step. It stood to reason Purnell wouldn’t take his implication in the crime lightly.
Jen clutched her blanket, pushed herself onto the backseat and wiggled until she apparently found a comfortable position. The seat-belt buckle clicked into place, making Luke smile. She unfolded the blanket and draped it over her body. When Luke glanced in the rearview mirror next, all movement had stopped. Soon her breathing slowed and deepened into a peaceful sleep. Luke lit up the face of his watch. Zero five hundred hours. Hell, it’s morning.
His gaze swept to Sally. Her long brunette hair hid most of her face, but he could tell by her crossed arms and stiff spine she wasn’t asleep. Not even close. “We need to talk, Sally.”
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