Fiancé by Friday

by Catherine Bybee

  Then he remembered the lack of condoms in his wallet and cursed under his breath. He stopped her playful fingers. “I’m out of condoms.”

  She shook off his hand and ran her fingers up his length. “Good thing I bought a whole box.”

  His brow drew together. “When did you do that?”

  “At the store with the hair dye and the shampoo.”

  He grinned. “You planned on this the whole time?”

  “More like hoped.” She crawled over his body, her firm ass stuck in the air, as she dug into her bag on the floor. Sure enough, a box of premium condoms appeared in her hand. “See.”

  “When you told me you picked up the essentials, I should have known.”

  She grinned, and tossed her now brown hair over her shoulder. “So what do you say, Neil? Want me to chase away the dreams?”

  Gwen sat back on her bent knees, her body bare for him to touch, to taste.

  He reached for her. “Dreams are overrated.”

  They drove to the next one-horse town and ate at a dive. Gwen hadn’t stopped smiling at him since they left the motel. For the first time in a long time, he felt like smiling back. She had a unique way of chasing away the darkness. If he turned his mind to his dream, his nightmare, he’d fall into the black abyss again. He didn’t want that.

  It didn’t take a shrink to tell him his brain was working through the trauma of his past. Things he’d brushed away long ago and forced himself not to think about. He’d blamed himself for not calling the shot when he had a choice. Boomer, Robb, and Linden were dead because of it. And now Billy. And Gwen’s neighbors.

  “You’re calling the detective this morning, right?” Gwen placed a dainty bite of eggs into her mouth.

  He glanced at his watch. Still too early in California. “I am.”

  “Will that pinpoint our location?”

  “I don’t see the need for Dean to trace our location, but you can’t be too careful. The conversation will be short.”

  Gwen swallowed her food. “So long as Blake knows we’re safe. He’ll worry otherwise.”

  They would all worry. Neil knew he asked a lot of them when he told them to do nothing for three days. It would have killed him to wait. In three days you can disappear into Mexico, Canada…or fly out of the continent altogether. He needed a week to get them where they were going…to keep Gwen safe. Then Neil could set his trap. Give Rick enough time to join him.

  Right before he’d left, Neil sent a message to Rick telling him he’d have complete radio silence and that there had been a change of plans. If Rick moved on to the Smokey Mountains without him, he’d have to double back.

  All of which would give Neil a little more time with Gwen alone.

  After they’d made love a second time, he’d fallen into a restful sleep. He’d considered two safety zones for Gwen. One more indestructible than the other. Getting her to stay there without him…that would be the trick.

  “I’ll need you to make a phone call to Karen in the morning.”

  Gwen questioned him with a look.

  Neil looked behind him. The morning crowd at the restaurant stayed close to the front door, giving them some privacy.

  “You’ll call. Just to assure her you’re OK. Tell her where we’re at.”

  “I’ll what?”

  “You’ll tell her we’re close to the Canadian border.”

  Gwen set her fork down. “We’re nowhere close to the border.”

  “If our guy is listening…which I think he will be, that will buy us time.”

  She sipped her tea. “Time for what, Neil? What do you have planned?”

  Trap the motherfucker and get him before he gets us. But Neil couldn’t exactly tell Gwen that.

  “Setting a trap.”

  “Isn’t that hard out here like this? Shouldn’t we find a place to stay?”

  Neil shoveled a pancake in his mouth.

  Gwen tilted her head to the side. “You already have a place in mind.”

  He nodded.

  “Would this place have a bed and a hot shower free of wildlife?”

  What a trooper Gwen turned out to be. “I think I can arrange that…eventually.”

  “Brilliant.” She started to pick at her food again. “The bed last night was surprisingly comfortable.”

  “Food always tastes better when you’re starved.” Like the buttermilk pancakes he was putting away.

  Gwen watched him bite into his food. She sucked in her lower lip and hummed. “Much better.”

  Her seductive stare took hold of his body.

  “You’re insatiable.”

  “Been called worse.”

  Was it getting hot in here? “Put that thought away, Gwendolyn. We need to put some miles between us and this dive today.”

  She lifted her glass of ice water to her forehead and placed the two together. “We need to stop…eventually.”

  He should probably be putting a filter over his actions with this woman, but he couldn’t bring himself to.

  Twenty minutes later, he turned on the prepaid cell phone and made the one call he would from it.

  Dean picked up on the second ring. “Neil?”

  “We’re OK. Safe.”

  “You should have stayed here. We could have—”

  “You can’t protect us from this one, Dean. Your force isn’t big enough. This guy is smart. Military, if I had to guess. Let Blake know Gwen’s safe.” He smiled at her over the hood of the car.

  “Can I talk to her?”

  “No time. You’ll hear from one of us in twenty-four hours. Then we’re silent for three days.”

  “Jesus, Neil. Tarzana PD is asking questions. I can only hold them off for so long.”

  Questions? What kind of questions? He didn’t have time to ask.

  “Twenty-four hours, Dean. Trust me. I know what I’m doing.” He hung up and tucked the phone under the wheel of the car. Cell phone towers could pinpoint the call within a few miles. Hopefully Dean didn’t look for a day or two.

  “Ready?” he turned to Gwen and asked.

  “Ready!”

  Between the media attention after her marriage to Michael and the dead neighbors at the Tarzana house, Karen hadn’t had a private moment alone in weeks. She didn’t like the fact that Gwen had run off with Neil, regardless of what everyone else thought. Neil was a bit quiet for her taste. Hard to read. It wouldn’t take a lot for Gwen to jump in the Neil truck because of her unrequited desire for the guy. But what happened when the sex grew stale and Gwen realized that Neil was running from the shadows of his past and dragging her along with him?

  Karen reminded herself that if Neil was actually overreacting to the neighbors’ final dip in the hot tub, then there was a real possibility of someone watching her…someone trying to scare her.

  It worked. Karen was scared.

  Then again, now that she and Michael were married perhaps the birds would stop.

  Karen turned onto the street of the Boys and Girls Club for the first time since she said I do. She picked a quiet day as to not cause too much of a stir with the kids. Until they grew used to the fact that she was married to a movie star, she would keep her visits brief. Sooner or later, they’d realize she was the same person. Just one who hung around with the rich and famous.

  She parked her car in her usual spot and twisted the key out of the ignition. Her gaze fell on the ring on her finger. Not overly huge, but not a chip off the diamond block either.

  So far, the temporary marriage thing was a breeze. She didn’t even feel guilty about saying “I do” when she clearly didn’t. Michael described it as a yearlong role where they’d both get a payout in the end.

  His publicist had shown up shortly after they arrived from France to congratulate them on their marriage. And then Michael’s agent made a house call, too. His producer sent flowers and champagne and some of his actor friends insisted they have a reception. Karen agreed to do whatever Michael wanted. As she told him…this is his movie, I’m on
ly acting in it.

  She only wished that Gwen was back and all the dead bird crap was over before their party.

  And what about Aruba?

  What was wrong with her? People were dead, a couple were running from God only knew who or what, and here she was thinking of engagement parties and trips to Aruba.

  Karen pushed out of the car. The Hollywood lifestyle is already getting into my veins.

  Inside the walls of the club, the kids noticed her one at a time. The girls jumped up first and rushed to her side. “Oh my God, Miss Jones. I can’t believe you’re married.”

  “It’s Mrs. Wolfe, now,” said one of the kids.

  Karen wasn’t going to correct them. They decided not to change her name. Actors almost never changed their names for their spouses. If the reporters in the tabloids found out that Karen didn’t make the change, they wouldn’t think anything of it.

  “Hi, girls.”

  Amy hugged her with open arms and Nita piled in, too.

  “Is it true you went to France in a private plane?”

  “We did. It was amazing.”

  “You’re in all the papers. I told my teachers that you were you…Mr. Jenkins didn’t believe me until the news van showed up here the day after you guys ran off.” Amy’s eyes brightened as she told her story.

  By now, the boys started to meander closer. In typical teenage fashion, they listened with one ear in and the other on the buzz of their cell phones.

  “Are you just here for a visit, or are you sticking around?” Steve asked.

  “Trying to get rid of me, Steve?”

  He pulled his eyes away from his cell. “Just wondering.”

  “I have to get a few things settled, but I’ll be back. Think you guys can stay on top of your homework without me for a couple of weeks?”

  Steve shrugged and several kids said they’d work hard.

  Jeff walked from one of the back offices, grinning as he approached.

  “I can’t believe you actually married him!” Jeff hugged her.

  “Think I should have held out for someone else?”

  The kids started moving away. Still she felt their eyes on her as she and Jeff moved to the back of the room.

  “Not sure if there is anyone who can compare to Michael Wolfe.” Jeff lowered his voice when they were away from the kids. “You just met him, Karen. You sure about this?”

  Ahh, how sweet. Who knew Jeff cared? Karen lifted her left hand and wiggled her fingers to flash her wedding ring. “Little late now to have second thoughts, Jeff. But I’m sure.”

  “I guess this means you won’t be around anymore.”

  “Are you kidding? I’ll be here more. Sure, I’ll be taking a few more vacations…or trips. Michael has some shoots in some great locations this year. But I won’t have to work at my day job. I told them I’d help out remotely for a while. Let’s face it, Michael can afford me.”

  Jeff’s smile fell. “Living in someone else’s shadow gets old after a while.”

  Had she married Michael for love and forever, she’d do things differently. That wasn’t the case…and therefore not something she needed to worry about. “I won’t forget who I am. I’ll be OK.”

  “As long as you’re happy.”

  “Thanks, Jeff. I’m happy.”

  Jeff nodded to a back room. “There’s something else I want to ask you about. Have a minute?”

  “Sure.” She followed him to a private room. “What’s up?” she asked when he closed the door.

  “I heard about your neighbors. I don’t think the kids recognized the house on the news…then again, I don’t think any of them watch the news.”

  Karen rubbed the chill in her arms. “Yeah…it’s scary. They aren’t sure if it’s a homicide or a bad accident.”

  “Thank goodness you weren’t home when it happened.”

  “My roommate wasn’t so lucky. Actually, that’s part of the reason I’m going to be MIA around here a little longer.”

  Jeff sat forward. “Why’s that?”

  “Some strange things happened before the neighbors ended up…well, you know. The police are looking at all angles. One theory is a fan of Michael’s wanted to scare me.”

  “You’re kidding?”

  “Wish I was. The media hasn’t heard that yet. And please don’t be the one to tell them, Jeff.”

  Jeff looked offended. “C’mon, Karen. I’m not a sellout. Do you really think someone’s out to scare you?”

  “There were dead birds found by the bodies of the neighbors…another dead bird or two has made its way close to me since I met Michael.”

  “We know how much you love birds.”

  They’d arranged for a zookeeper to visit the kids six months ago. The zookeeper thought it would be fun to have a macaw in their animal mix. Every kid and every volunteer learned just how far Karen’s disdain for birds went on that day. There had been screaming, cowering…feathers and the need for therapy by the time they zookeeper left. If Gwen had witnessed that scene, she wouldn’t have concluded that Karen never cracked. Oh, she’d cracked plenty on that day.

  “I hope to hell that’s a mistake.”

  “Tell me about it.”

  “Shouldn’t you have some kind of police protection?”

  There had been some talk about that. Karen agreed to stay close to Michael’s home and when she wasn’t, she wouldn’t go near the Tarzana house without an escort. If any more dead birds turned up, Dean and Jim would assign someone to her.

  “I’m OK. But until we know all the details, I’ll be keeping my distance from the kids.”

  “Much as we’ll miss you, I have to agree.”

  Karen stood and swung her purse over her shoulder. “That means you need to stay on top of my math group.”

  He walked her out of his office. “I will.”

  Karen talked with the kids for a few more minutes and then made her way to her car. She’d started looking around her vehicle before getting inside. With the pavement free of dead crows, she unlocked the doors and opened the driver’s side.

  “Miss Jones?”

  Karen turned to a familiar voice.

  “Hi, Juan.” She hadn’t seen him inside but thought maybe he’d just missed the day. “How ya doing?”

  As Juan came closer, the smile on his face started to fade. “So, you really married that guy?”

  The way he said “that guy” made her pause. “The news got it right. Michael and I eloped last week.”

  Juan’s eyes moved to her hand. “Everyone knows actors are all phony.”

  Hookay, looks like Juan didn’t approve. “You met him, Juan. He’s a nice guy.”

  “Didn’t mean you had to marry him.” Juan shoved his hands in his jean pockets and stared at the ground.

  Damn, Karen. You’re a fool. The last time she’d seen a crush on a teenage kid, she’d been one. How had she missed Juan’s feelings?

  Time to remind Juan that he was a teenager and she was a grown woman. “Michael and I are both adults, Juan. I married him for more reasons than he’s just a nice guy.”

  “You can screw without getting married,” he bit out with anger.

  “That’s out of line.”

  “Whatever.” Juan twisted away from her and walked to the street. Away from the club.

  That went well.

  Chapter Nineteen

  They stopped in a small town just inside the Colorado border and picked up camping supplies.

  “I don’t camp,” Gwen whispered in Neil’s ear. The closest she’d come to camping was sleeping in the backseat of the car they were dragging across the country.

  Neil blinked in response, put the tent in his cart anyway, and continued down the aisle.

  What did she expect really? That they would hit a hotel every night now that they’d enjoyed one? And how many days and nights were they going to be doing this anyway? So far Gwen hadn’t pressed Neil for any details. She’d hoped that he would have opened up to her about his plans, but he h
adn’t. Not much anyway.

  Gwen walked faster to keep up with him as he found the sleeping bags and started looking at them. “I’m not kidding. Lying on the cold ground holds no appeal to me.”

  Neil reached for a two-man sleeping bag, fixed his eyes to hers, and tossed it in the cart.

  Maybe camping with Neil wouldn’t be so bad. There wasn’t room in the backseat for both of them.

  With one side of her mouth curled up, she found a double mat to place in the bottom of a tent and added it to their supplies.

  “I want a campfire.” Cozy firelight and Neil? What could be better?

  For a moment, she thought he’d veto her suggestion.

  Then he added a bag of marshmallows to the cart.

  In silence, they moved through the store. She added sweatshirts for both of them. His was triple extra large and hers a medium…both with a picture of the Colorado Rockies on them. Neil added a small pan and several cans of pull top food, soda, instant coffee, and water.

  The clerk at the checkout chatted as he rang them up. “Looks like you guys are going camping?”

  Gwen smiled, and remembered to stay silent.

  “Looks that way,” Neil said.

  “You have bug repellant?”

  “We’re good.”

  “We try and go a few times a summer.” The clerk looked beyond Neil to her. “Where you headed?”

  Gwen noticed the muscles on the back of Neil’s neck tense. “We’ll figure it out when we get up there.”

  “Those are the best trips.” The kid told them the total and bagged up their purchases.

  “Have fun.”

  Neil grabbed the bags. “We will.”

  Gwen offered a smile and followed him out the door.

  Once in the car she finally felt like she could talk. “Next time you go through the checkout without me. Who knew staying quiet could be so difficult? Not sure how you do it all the time.”

  He opened the door for her. “Practice.”

  As the road stretched out in front of them, so did the silence. And Gwen wanted a few answers.

  “So how much longer are we going to go on like this?”

  Neil narrowed his eyes. “Like what?”