by Robin Perini
Instead, he was alive and well and impersonating a native Texan so convincingly he sometimes forgot he wasn’t one.
“Hey, Léon, how’s it going?”
“Can’t complain.” Stefan didn’t blink at the use of his long-term alias. He tilted his hat in acknowledgment as the deputy limped past the library. Smithson had almost died a few years ago. Now he and his wife had a couple of kids and the guy never stopped smiling.
Something Stefan could never see happening for himself.
He couldn’t afford connections or family. Which was why last night he’d made one of the toughest decisions of his life.
Stefan tapped his Stetson to remove the water and pushed through the double doors of the library.
A small girl sat at the front desk. A too-big baseball cap cocked to one side on her head. Her light brown hair fell halfway down her back. She looked up at him and smiled. “May I help you?”
He really should ignore her, or scare her with a terrifying frown, but instead he walked over to the desk. “Just browsing. Worked here long?”
“Do you have a library card?” she asked in a very professional tone. “You can’t check out a book without a library card. My mom told me that.”
Stefan fought back a smile at the girl’s confident antics. “Nope. I like to read here.”
“I don’t have one, either.” She leaned forward. “It’s a secret.”
He bent down so he could make out her whispered words. “I’ll keep your secret.”
“You’re funny. I like you.” She grinned up at him.
“Zoe.” An urgent whisper sounded from his left.
“Uh-oh.” The little girl bit her lip. “That’s my mom. I’m not s’posed to be up here.”
A woman hurried over, an adult version of the imp in front of him. However, instead of Zoe’s charm, she wore an expression that froze him.
He recognized the look. Not apologetic, not angry, not worried. Panic laced her eyes and had tightened her mouth.
Stefan took a step back from Zoe, putting space between them.
Zoe’s mother scooted between her daughter and Stefan in mama-bear mode. “I’m sorry if she bothered you.”
“Zoe was very helpful,” he said with a wink at the little girl. “I definitely need to get a library card.”
“See, Mom.” She straightened her shoulders. “I told you I could help.”
Her mother closed her eyes for a moment and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Do you need any assistance?” she asked him, entire body taut, practically begging him to refuse.
If he had any sense, he’d walk away right now. Most women would have smiled at him with warm eyes, but she did the opposite.
Retreat would be the best option. These two weren’t any of his business, but something made him hesitate. Should he break his own rules, just this once? They looked like they could use someone in their corner.
The grip on his hat tightened. He couldn’t believe he was even considering the idea.
“I’m browsing for now. I expect I’ll see you around.” With a quick nod at Zoe, he headed to the fiction aisles, keeping the pair in his peripheral vision.
As soon as he’d turned away, Zoe’s mother ushered the little girl toward the back of the library.
Interesting. The sleeves of the woman’s shirt showed a bit of fraying. Her shoes were scuffed. He recognized the Magic Marker polishing up the toe, but she colored her hair. The brown was almost too perfect. She’d fastened her locks away from her face with a clip, the strands hanging long and silky and infinitely touchable down her back, but with a slightly uneven edge, as if she’d cut it herself. Her gold-colored small hoop earrings might have appeared real at one time, but the tinge of green peeking through revealed the truth.
Her gaze had darted back and forth, hyperaware of her surroundings. He’d like to have seen her smile. He’d bet her eyes would light up just like her daughter’s.
Stefan caught himself in his poetic musings. Okay, so she was attractive. Very attractive. Her body filled out her jeans very nicely with just enough curve to make a man notice twice. And he had. He’d also bet she was on the run and low on cash.
His curiosity—and interest—aroused, he worked his way down the book stacks. He could use a bit of intel, and he knew just who to ask. After he completed his primary task.
He scanned the sea of authors’ names and even flipped through a couple of books. Surely one of the monikers would appeal.
A new identity came with a new name.
He’d be relieved to get rid of Léon Royce. He’d never liked it, but he’d been almost dead when it had been decided so he’d made the best of it. In some ways he already regretted this decision, but he didn’t have a choice.
If he were honest, at first, he’d loved the CTC job: danger, excitement, helping people no one else could help. But ever since the Jennings fiasco, he’d volunteered for every dangerous, out-of-the-way job that CTC could throw at him, praying the next challenge would reignite a spark. Something inside of him had broken when that family had died.
Truth was, he should’ve left sooner. Would have, if not for the connections he’d made at Covert Technology Confidential. Except those relationships that kept him here also made him vulnerable.
He needed a new start, a new life, which made his curiosity about Zoe and her mother all the more odd.
Stefan wandered the stacks and each time he rounded the south end, his gaze veered to the woman. Definitely an upgrade from the middle-aged, sour-faced library assistant who’d stalked him when he’d visited several months ago.
The sound of creaking footsteps stiffened his spine before he recognized the rhythm of the familiar gait of the head librarian.
“Léon. You’re back. I haven’t seen you all summer,” a familiar voice said.
He faced her and feigned surprise. “Mrs. Hargraves, how do you sneak up on me in those boots?”
Not that she really had, but they both played the game. Still, she’d realized he’d been gone for months, which meant she’d been watching for him. His behavior had become too predictable. Another sign he should move on.
Mrs. Hargraves smiled, a beam of pleasure in her eyes at his compliment. “Practice. If I’m going to avoid wearing quiet, ugly librarian shoes, I’d better be able to walk this place without making a sound.”
She could probably sneak up on 99 percent of the clientele, too. According to Carder legend, Mrs. Hargraves had been the librarian since the 1960s. Dressed in jeans, Ropers and a flannel shirt, she sure didn’t dress or act like any librarian he’d known, but the woman knew her books.
Over the last couple years, he’d let her pick out one book for him whenever he visited. She rarely went wrong. His favorite to date was Inherit the Stars by James P. Hogan.
“I’ve been saving this for you,” she said, handing him The Prince by Machiavelli.
He nearly choked. He jerked his chin to meet her gaze. Did she know? Or did she think he needed lessons in being authoritative? Either one made the back of his neck itch.
“Thanks.” He took the book, forcing a smile.
“I can see there’s something wrong.” She frowned at him. “Are you okay after your...trip? Not like that last one, I hope.”
Okay, so she was observant, too.
“Or...” She paused for a moment and glanced behind her. “Is it my new assistant you’re interested in?”
A small sense of relief loosened his neck muscles. So his favorite octogenarian had matchmaking on her mind.
He returned the book to the shelf. “You caught me. I may have noticed both of your new helpers.”
Mrs. Hargraves rocked back on the heels of her boots. “The last one quit and Faith needed a job. I liked the look of her. Been here a couple of months. She’s always on time, she’s no trouble, and that girl of hers is a pistol. Remi
nds me of myself when I was a youngster.”
Faith. Her name suited her.
“You’re collecting strays.”
“Maybe.” She crooked her finger at him, and he bent closer. “Faith’s in big trouble. Skittish as a newborn colt. I don’t know what kind of problem, but I get the feeling whatever she’s running from is about to come to a head. You could help her.” She narrowed her gaze. “I have a strong suspicion of what you folks do out at that ranch.”
He didn’t respond. “Thanks for everything.” He kissed her cheek and started to walk away.
She grabbed his shirt. “She needs you. Don’t ignore your gut.”
Muffled whispers sounded from the tables at the back of the library. Stefan sent Mrs. Hargraves a subtle nod and followed the noise. He paused just out of their sight.
“What have I told you, Zoe? We can’t draw attention to ourselves, and you promised you’d work on your reading.”
“I hate reading. I’m bored. I want to go home and play baseball with Danny. I can’t miss the next season of Little League. He’ll kill me.”
“Look, Slugger, we need to stay here just a little longer. Then...”
“You keep saying that. I want to go home with Daddy. I know he doesn’t like you, but he likes me. He wouldn’t make me sit hours and hours and hours reading stupid books all the time. He’d buy me stuff to play with. Cool stuff.” Zoe jerked away from her mother and plopped down at a table scattered with crayons, construction paper and children’s books.
Ouch. Faith’s daughter could strike a bull’s-eye.
Faith stared at Zoe with tortured eyes. Stefan had seen it before. The heartache. The dejection. He didn’t know exactly what was going on, but they clearly needed help.
Seeing a woman that afraid of being found didn’t sit well with him. They needed help. Help he could give. If he could convince them to trust him.
* * *
THE RAIN PELTED Carder with no signs of letting up anytime soon. A rainbow crossed the gray sky of the horizon, leading to nowhere. Faith stood in the doorway of the library and studied the expanse of dark clouds. They portended the future much more than the pink and blue and green. Rainbows were supposed to hold magic and hope. She’d lost count of the days since she’d believed in either.
Zoe still did, of course.
Faith attempted to cloak herself in optimism. Maybe their luck could change, but somehow she doubted it. From the morning she’d realized what her ex-husband had done to her car breaking down in this middle-of-nowhere town, she and Zoe hadn’t caught a break. She’d fought against the panic of being discovered every day. Sometimes she succeeded, but she’d been unsettled since the stranger had shown up at the library today. Something to do with how his gaze had pierced right through her, how he’d seemed to see too much and how Zoe couldn’t stop talking about him.
She didn’t know how long she waited before the rain finally tapered off. The library had closed an hour ago, but Faith couldn’t afford for their clothes to get wet or dirty. She didn’t have the money to go to the Laundromat twice in a week.
“Looks like it’s letting up,” Mrs. Hargraves said.
“Thanks for letting me stay.” Faith shifted on her feet. She didn’t like making small talk. It led to relationships, and relationships meant being noticed.
“I don’t mind driving you home, honey.”
“That’s okay. I have to hit the store first. I’m out of your way.”
“Nothing’s out of the way in Carder.”
Faith didn’t respond. Mrs. Hargraves had hired her off the books. It was best no one knew where she lived, not even someone as seemingly honest as her boss. Faith had to be careful. If no one knew where she lived, she could relax enough to close her eyes at night. At least for a few hours. “Pack up, Zoe. We’re going home.”
Her daughter ran up to her with a frown. “It’s not home, you know.”
Before Faith could respond, her daughter rushed to the back of the library. Heat flushed her cheeks and she glanced at Mrs. Hargraves. “Sorry.”
The librarian patted her arm. “Don’t you worry about it. She’s a good girl, just a little frustrated today. Rain’ll do that. I couldn’t ever live in Seattle or somewhere like that. I’d be in a bad mood all the time.”
“Thank you.” Faith met the older woman’s gaze. She’d saved their lives. “For everything you’ve done.”
“You’ve helped me, honey. I’m not getting any younger. Speaking of which, I’m telling you, if I had fifty years back, I’d be all over that man who took a shine to you today.” She winked. “You know who I’m talking about.”
Faith didn’t pretend not to know. “He barely said a word to me.”
“He was watching you all right.”
“Watching me?” A chill froze Faith. “Why?”
“The fact that you’re a very attractive woman might be the reason.” Mrs. Hargraves arched a brow in disbelief. “Come on, Faith. I saw that look you gave him. Besides, Zoe certainly liked our Léon.”
Léon. So her boss knew him. Faith relaxed a bit. Burke had no connection with Carder, so he wouldn’t know Léon, either. She was being paranoid. Again. “I couldn’t place his accent.”
“If you find out, let me know. Every woman in town from seven to seventy would like the answer.” Her boss chuckled. “That boy is easy on the eyes...and the ears.”
Faith couldn’t deny he was attractive. Tall, with a rugged square jaw, that sexy, unshaven look and piercing blue eyes. He could be the hero in a fairy tale, his dark hair highlighted with sun-kissed blond streaks. Except this stranger had a sad, lonely darkness in him, and that kind of need pegged him as a troublesome cloud, not a rainbow.
What struck her as odd, though, was how he’d taken Zoe’s playacting as a librarian seriously. The girl had fallen in love with him after two minutes. Faith didn’t blame her daughter. Faith wasn’t dead either, but since she preferred staying alive, she had to stay as invisible as possible.
Besides, he seemed too good to be true, and she knew better than to believe all those trimmings. She hadn’t seen the danger in Burke, and look what had happened. “If you say so.”
“Of course I do, and so do you.” Mrs. Hargraves took Faith’s hand. “Look, I’ll let you in on a secret. If you need help sometime, Léon is a man who knows what to do.”
Faith bit her lip.
“Don’t ask me for details. I don’t have all the answers. I just know if I were in trouble, Carder is where I’d want to be. We take care of our own.”
Chewing on that interesting tidbit, Faith grabbed the large tote that doubled as her purse and waited. Zoe took her time but eventually dragged her feet through the front door.
Faith took her daughter’s hand.
“Be safe, honey,” her boss called out.
Faith waved to the librarian and the woman locked the door behind them. Zoe skipped along, jumping in a large puddle. Water splashed up her jeans.
“Stop it. You’re getting your clothes dirty.”
Zoe stilled and turned to her mother. “That’s what Dad always says.”
Faith’s heart ripped in two. She knelt down in front of Zoe. “I’m sorry, Slugger. It’s just... I’m trying to find us a new home, a place where we can be happy. I need money to do that and it’s expensive to wash our clothes. When we get our own place, you can dirty up those jeans all you want. In fact, I’ll roll in the mud with you.”
Zoe didn’t meet her gaze for a few moments and then peeked up. “You promise to roll in the mud with me?”
“Pinky swear.” Faith held out her hand. Zoe grinned and linked little fingers.
“I won’t jump anymore, then.”
“Thanks, Slugger.”
Luckily, the family grocery store, which also served as the feed store and gas station, was only a half mile down the road. She and Zoe
ducked in and grabbed one of the five carts sitting just inside the door.
Faith pulled out her small calculator. She picked up a loaf of bread, on sale, thankfully, and looked over at the peanut butter. Full price. They could probably make do another week with what they had if she kept the coating thin. Maybe it would be on sale next week.
“Can we get some chips?” Zoe asked.
Faith bit her lip. She shouldn’t. “Maybe a small one. We’ll have to wait and see.”
Zoe gave her a huge grin, and the sight caused Faith’s heart to sink. Her little girl shouldn’t be so excited to buy a small package of chips. She loved Zoe’s enthusiasm, but her reaction made Faith feel like a failure as a mother.
Every day she asked herself if she’d made the right decision, and every night she recognized she’d had no choice but to leave. Not once she’d realized what Burke was. She couldn’t risk losing custody to a serial killer.
She tapped the cost of the small bag of chips into the calculator and scanned her list. Was there anything she could take off?
A scuff sounded behind her. Faith straightened and turned around. No one there. She clutched her purse tighter, hoping to push down the foreboding that laced her every thought. She picked up a bag of beans on sale and placed them in the cart, then paused.
Another rustle fluttered at her back.
A prickle skittered down her spine. Zoe examined a box of cereal, making an enthusiastic attempt to whistle the jingle. Faith glanced behind to her left, then her right. The store was small, a quarter size of the grocery store she’d frequented at home. She should have a visual on everybody.
Gripping the cart’s handle with white-knuckled fists, she prodded Zoe along and hurriedly maneuvered through the last two aisles, placing the final four items into the cart. Maybe the weather had impacted her more than she thought. Maybe the fact that she hadn’t heard any updates from her fake ID supplier in weeks had rattled her. Or maybe it was the man Mrs. Hargraves had told her she could trust. Léon. He’d come out of nowhere. He’d shown too much interest in her and Zoe. What if he did work for Burke?
