Run, Hide

by Carol Ericson

  In case something went wrong.

  After fiddling with the radio to find a station, Jenna tapped his wrist. “I can do some driving. You’ve been at it for hours.”

  “I’m not tired.”

  “Maybe not, but you could stretch out your legs on this side.”

  “We can stop for lunch.” He checked the clock on the dashboard. “We have time.”

  “You never mentioned which part of Arizona.”

  “Didn’t I?” He yawned. He knew Jenna hated it when he kept her in the dark, but he always figured the less she knew at any given time, the safer she’d be. “Down south, south of Tucson.”

  “Was it their idea to meet at night?”

  “I wanted to make sure we could get there by the end of the day.” He tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “Don’t worry. This is what we were waiting for, remember?”

  “I just wonder why it took Prospero so long to get back to you after Jim murdered his coworker.”

  “Maybe we’ll find out tonight. Maybe it doesn’t matter.” He pointed to a sign for gas and food. “Do you want to stop for lunch?”

  “Only if you let me drive after we eat. This is not the most comfortable car in the world, especially for a guy your size.”

  “But it sure looked good sitting by the side of the road, didn’t it?”

  “Like a limousine.”

  “You should know. You traveled in a lot of those.”

  Jenna stuck out her tongue. “Don’t remind me. My parents were so ostentatious, but then so were all their friends, so it didn’t matter.”

  “Have they wondered where you’ve been? Do they know about Gavin?” He turned down the radio. Jenna had always hated discussing her family.

  “I haven’t contacted them at all.” She crossed an ankle over her bouncing knee. “They’re not my favorite people, but that doesn’t mean I want arms dealers and terrorists paying them visits. It just seemed for the best that they not know about Gavin or about my life.”

  “Have they made any attempts to track you down?”

  She lifted a brow in his direction. “Who hasn’t?”

  “Seriously.”

  “Seriously, I don’t know. Maybe—” she waved her hands around the car “—someday I’ll introduce them to Gavin. They’re the only grandparents he has...now.”

  Cade’s jaw tightened. “I wouldn’t honor Kevin with that title.”

  She drew invisible patterns on the window. “I’ve been thinking, Cade. What if Zendaris’s men killed Kevin because he wouldn’t give you up?”

  His stomach flip-flopped. Had that thought been in the back of his mind, too? He didn’t want it there. He didn’t want any more hope associated with Kevin. He’d burned out all the hope he had.

  “That’s giving the old man the benefit of the doubt. He’d already told me he was willing to play let’s make a deal with Zendaris.”

  “He could’ve had a change of heart.”

  Cade snorted. “That would mean he had to have a heart. I thought we were talking about your family.”

  “From one dysfunctional set to another.” She sighed and rubbed her figures from the glass.

  “At least your parents aren’t criminals.”

  “Oh, I don’t know. They sure love money. In their own way, they love it as much as Kevin did.”

  “Not enough to sacrifice their only grandchild.” Cade’s palms felt slick on the steering wheel, and he turned the heat down in the car.

  “I still think Zendaris’s men killed Kevin because he wouldn’t deliver.”

  “Or couldn’t deliver.” He took the next off-ramp, and the little car shuddered as he reduced his speed around the curve.

  He pulled into the parking lot of a halfway decent diner that sported a few Peterbilts on the fringes. “You know what they say about dining with truckers.”

  “Let’s just hope it’s true. I’m starving.” She twisted in her seat to jiggle Gavin’s leg. “Wake up. Time for lunch.”

  It took her a few more tries before Gavin peeled one eye open. “Park.”

  “Not yet, but we’ll go to another park soon.” She smiled at Cade. “He must’ve been dreaming about our day at the park.”

  He wasn’t the only one. Cade would never forget that day, even though he planned to have many more. “We’ll have a lot of days at the park, Gavin.”

  “Swimming pool.” Gavin rubbed his eyes and yawned.

  “Yeah, that, too.”

  “Don’t start asking your daddy for too much.” She winked at Cade. “I don’t think he could refuse you anything right now.”

  And why should he? He’d already refused him so much.

  They ate and got back on the road, this time with Jenna behind the wheel.

  Cade shoved the seat back and stretched his legs as far as he could in the small car. He closed his eyes but knew sleep would evade him. He hadn’t had a good night’s sleep since...hell, he didn’t even know.

  Yeah, he did. Since two nights ago, after he and Jenna had made love. Then he’d slept like the dead—while his father was dying.

  As the pale, wintry sun said its farewell to the day and dark blue night suffused the sky, they sped through Tucson. They were able to shed their parkas and gloves again. Jenna was right. They’d been speeding back and forth across the Southwest so many times that Cade felt like a yo-yo.

  He’d taken over the driving duties again, and Jenna was on the lookout for a hotel.

  She squinted out the window. “So, we want to be close to the meeting place, but not too close.”

  “That’s right. Anyplace around here should do it. Extra points for finding a place with a pool.”

  Jenna put her finger to her lips and glanced over her shoulder at Gavin pressing his nose against the window, oblivious to their conversation. “Don’t get him started.”

  They found a hotel with an indoor pool. Because they had a few hours before their meeting, Cade took Gavin into the pool while Jenna watched from the deck.

  “I’d join you, but I don’t have any shorts, and I think I’d get arrested if wore my underwear in the pool like Gavin.”

  Cade wiggled his eyebrows up and down. “I wouldn’t arrest you.”

  Gavin squealed and splashed as Cade held on to his arms and pulled him around the pool. “See? He’s a natural.”

  “Looks like a natural splasher to me.”

  “Your mom doesn’t understand the finer points of swimming.” He launched Gavin into the air, and he splashed Jenna when he landed.

  “Flying.” Gavin’s screech echoed in the enclosed area.

  “You like flying?” Cade tossed him up a few more times until Jenna interrupted.

  “We’d better get going. Don’t want to keep—” she looked both ways at two bunches of families in the pool and cupped her hand around her mouth “—Prospero waiting.”

  Cade pulled Gavin onto his shoulders and swam to the edge of the pool. Whatever happened tonight, wherever Prospero sent them, he’d turn this life with his family into a reality.

  Back in the room after a quick shower, Cade yanked a black beanie over his ears, and Jenna crept up behind him and ran her finger between the cap and his head. “You look...stealthy.”

  “Habit. I want to blend into the night.”

  She hugged herself and hunched her shoulders. “Will we come in with you or wait in the car?”

  “Wait in the car at first, but you’ll have to come inside the warehouse. They’ll need pictures for the new IDs.”

  She caught his eye in the mirror. “What happens if it’s some sort of trap for you?”

  “Even if Prospero does suspect me of having the plans and this is a trap, they’ll still do right by you and Gavin and get you settled.”

  “Without you.”

  “I can convince them I don’t have the plans if that’s what they believe. Once I do that, they’ll release me and I’ll join you and Gavin.” He turned and kissed the lines forming between her brows. “Don’t worry.
This is going to be a piece of cake.”

  Jenna pulled a sweatshirt over Gavin’s head, and they packed their bags and loaded them in the car in case Prospero wanted them to leave Arizona immediately.

  Cade’s neck tightened as he drove across town to an industrial area. He’d rather be meeting in a hotel room, but at least he could enter this abandoned warehouse with his weapon drawn. No chance of doing that in a hotel.

  Not that he believed he’d need his weapon. Not against Prospero.

  He pulled around a corner housing several warehouses plunked in the middle of a semi-lit parking lot, deserted except for a rusty car in the front and a truck along the side. Must be Curson’s truck.

  “This is it?” Jenna’s voice quavered and she cleared her throat. “This is it?”

  “This is the place.” He pulled into a parking space several feet away from the truck. A sliver of light razored across the asphalt where a door to the warehouse had been propped open.

  That was a good sign, wasn’t it?

  “They must be in there. Looks like some kind of office attached to the warehouse.”

  A noisy sigh escaped Jenna’s lips. “Okay, you first.”

  “Do me a favor.” He cut the engine and reached for his weapon beneath his seat. “Get Gavin out of his car seat and duck down with him.”

  “To dodge the bullets?”

  “Just to be on the safe side.” He flicked the keys still hanging in the ignition. “I’m leaving these here, too.”

  “Just to be on the safe side.”

  “That’s right.” He pinched her chin, opened the car door and then leaned back in to kiss her. Just to be on the safe side.

  He locked the car doors before he planted his feet on the ground, and then shut the door behind him as quietly as he could.

  Holding his weapon in front of him with both hands, he crept toward the propped-open door. His nostrils flared. Was that gunpowder?

  His grip tightened on his gun and he threw a glance over his shoulder at the dimly lit parking lot. No other cars squealing into the lot, no stealthy figures creeping around—except him.

  He tapped the barrel of his gun against the door, leaned his shoulder against it and eased it open. The smell of gunpowder permeated the air even more in this enclosed space, and his heart thudded against his rib cage.

  Long-forgotten papers and registers littered the gray, metal shelves lining the office. A single green-shaded lamp burned on the battered desk and more papers, neatly stacked this time, were lined up in a row on the desktop.

  Pushing the door wider, he stepped into the room. The door creaked, announcing his presence, so he called out. “Hello?”

  A moan answered him.

  His mouth dry and his pulse racing, Cade stepped around the desk and froze.

  The body of a man lay sprawled across the cement floor, blood meandering away from his head.

  Now he knew why it smelled like gunpowder.

  Chapter Fourteen

  The man was dead. Cade could tell that from here. The moan hadn’t come from him.

  Cade shifted his gaze to the figure of a woman crumpled against the wall, her head tilted to the side. One leg, stretched in front of her, jerked and she moaned again.

  Cade backed up against the wall, his gun tracking from side to side in the small office. A window in the office faced the darkened warehouse. The grubby door next to the window sported a dead bolt. Nobody would be coming in from the warehouse.

  He turned back to the entryway to get a clear view of the parking lot and his car. It looked empty. Jenna was doing a good job of keeping herself and Gavin hidden from view, but he didn’t want her out there on her own.

  Not with a killer in the vicinity.

  He glanced at the woman—must be Beth. He’d help her once he secured Jenna and Gavin.

  He jogged back to the car, his gaze constantly darting around the parking lot. He tapped on the window, and

  Jenna’s head popped up. He pointed to the lock and she reached over and unlocked the car.

  He stuck his head inside. “We’ve got a problem. I need your help.”

  Her eyes took over her face. “What’s wrong?”

  “Bring Gavin and come inside.”

  She clambered out of the car first and scooped up a drowsy Gavin.

  He didn’t want Gavin to see Jeff Curson dead on the floor of the office. How many dead bodies could a kid see in one week before he started putting two and two together?

  Gripping Jenna by the arm, he led her into the office and pointed to the swivel chair behind the desk. “Park Gavin in that chair.”

  Gavin curled his legs beneath him, folding an arm beneath his head—not sleeping, but close enough.

  Jenna’s face paled before she even peered around the desk. “What’s that smell?”

  “The gunpowder?”

  She shook her head, wrinkling her nose. “It’s...it’s...” She covered her mouth with her hand as she stepped past him into the office. “Blood.”

  Cade pulled the office door shut with a click and locked it behind him. Now they couldn’t be ambushed in here.

  Jenna seemed fixated on Jeff’s corpse, so Cade nudged her side. “Beth’s in the corner and she’s still alive.”

  Jenna jerked her head to the right. “Oh, my God. Why haven’t you helped her?”

  She rushed to Beth and crouched down beside her.

  “I didn’t want to leave you and Gavin in the car after I discovered this scene. I wanted to secure us inside first. How is she?”

  Jenna’s fingers tapped around Beth’s head. “Looks like a head injury from behind—a blow to the head.”

  “She was moaning before.” Cade finally kneeled on the cold floor next to Jeff and felt for his nonexistent pulse.

  “Beth? Beth? Can you hear me?”

  Beth gasped and sobbed.

  “It’s okay. You’re okay.” Jenna twisted her head over her shoulder. “Do you have any bandages in the car? Can you get a bottle of water?”

  Cade patted Jeff’s pockets. Jeff’s holster was still strapped to his body, his weapon secured. He hadn’t been expecting whatever calamity befell him tonight.

  Cade jerked his thumb over his shoulder at the half-empty, five-gallon water bottle on its stand. “Use that.”

  “It’s not very sterile.”

  “I think it’s more important now to staunch any bleeding.” He shrugged out of his windbreaker, yanked off his shirt and tugged his T-shirt over his head. He ripped it in two and tossed the pieces toward Jenna. “She’s conscious?”

  “Barely.” Jenna folded one piece of his T-shirt into a square and held it against the back of Beth’s head. “We need to get her out of here and clean her wound.”

  Cade pulled a few papers out of Jeff’s pockets. What had happened here? A small camera lay in pieces just under the desk. The papers and forms on top of the desk had come from Prospero, but there was no sign of any travel documents, IDs or passports.

  A bead of sweat ran down his spine.

  Beth groaned, her legs shifting on the cement floor.

  “Shh, it’s okay.” Jenna thumbed open Beth’s eyelids and placed two fingers on her wrist. “Her pulse is strong.”

  Cade swept up all the papers on the desk and pocketed the broken camera. He also lifted Jeff’s cell phone from his pocket and deposited it in his own. Next, he took his weapon.

  He cracked open the door and poked his head into the parking lot. “We need to get out of here before their assailants return. Take these papers and Gavin back to the car and leave the back door open. I’ll carry Beth out.”

  Jenna shook out the other piece of his T-shirt and wrapped it around Beth’s head, tucking in the corner. “She needs some water or something stronger and about a half bottle of ibuprofen.”

  “We’ll take care of her.” He waved the papers at her. “Take these.”

  Once Jenna had Gavin clutched against her chest and the papers clamped against her body with one arm, Cade watc
hed while she returned to the car.

  Still gripping his gun, Cade slid his arms beneath Beth’s limp form and hoisted her up. He said a silent prayer as he stepped over Jeff’s body and out of the office.

  He made a beeline for the gaping car door, one refrain thrumming through his head—get Jenna and Gavin out of here.

  Gavin was sleeping in his car seat. He probably wouldn’t remember one minute of this nightmare visit to the warehouse. Cade placed Beth on the seat next to Gavin and pulled the seat belt across her body, clicking it into place.

  He tucked a blanket around Beth’s inert form even though her skin was warm to the touch. She’d stopped moaning and moving and her even breathing gave him hope. Blood from the nasty cut on her head had soaked through the T-shirt bandage, but otherwise she looked as if she could be taking a nap like Gavin.

  “How’s she doing?”

  “She drifted into unconsciousness, but her vital signs are good. She could be sleeping.” He tossed the car keys to Jenna and rounded the car to the passenger side. “You drive while I keep watch.”

  “I-if someone was here, he’d have made himself known by now.” She slid into the driver’s seat, cranked on the engine and lurched out of the parking lot. Despite her statement, she must’ve felt the urgency, too.

  “Who knows? If we had more time and the light of day, I wouldn’t have minded taking a look around the warehouse. Are there other tire tracks? Bullet casings? A weapon used against Beth? We can’t exactly treat this as a crime scene.”

  “And you’ll just leave Jeff there?”

  “Prospero will do...cleanup.”

  She shook her head. “That sounds so clinical. Jeff probably had a wife and a family, a life.”

  Jenna slowed the car as she neared the freeway on-ramps. “Where to?”

  Cade checked the side mirror. They’d been going solo since leaving the warehouse. Whoever attacked Jeff and Beth hadn’t waited around for an encore. Why? If Zendaris had gotten a line on this meeting tonight, he had to know Cade would be there with Jenna and Gavin to pick up the IDs, which had been confiscated.

  “Let’s go back to our hotel. Beth needs some attention.”

  “Should we take her to a hospital? The emergency room docs don’t have to know what happened. We can tell them she slipped and fell.”