by Robin Perini
She had to trust her gut. “Come on, Zoe. We need to leave.” Faith couldn’t hide the urgency from her voice.
Zoe frowned at her mother. “What’s wrong, Mom?”
“Nothing. It’s getting late.” She headed toward the checkout.
“It’s still light outside,” her daughter protested, hurrying beside her.
“It won’t be for long and we have to walk home.”
Zoe shifted her knapsack, heavy with all her treasures stored inside.
The checker smiled at them. “How’s it going, Faith?”
“Fine. And you, Maureen?”
The woman grinned, her face open and joyful, something Faith envied. “Can’t complain. My boy just graduated. He’s headed for boot camp.”
“Congratulations. I’m sure you’ll miss him.”
“Yep. They grow up fast. Enjoy this one while you can.” Maureen nodded at Zoe.
“I will.” Faith scooped up the two bags and glanced over her shoulder yet again. She couldn’t shake the being-watched feeling.
She had truly become paranoid. She wasn’t made for being on the run. She wanted a normal life back. She just prayed that would happen once she could afford to leave Carder.
The sun hung low in the sky when she and Zoe walked out of the store. They had a two-mile trek to the shack she’d rented.
She started out slow. Not many walked in this town. She didn’t even see a bicycle. Carder, Texas, was ranch country. Pickups ruled the streets.
The sheriff’s office loomed in front of her. She crossed away from it, telling herself that she was simply making her way to her side of the street. It had nothing to do with the fact that Burke and his family’s political allies could very well have convinced someone to put out a warrant for her arrest. She just prayed dyeing her hair brown would fool everyone long enough for her to disappear.
Whatever Burke was thinking or doing, it hadn’t made headlines in the San Antonio Express-News. Much less the Carder weekly paper.
That strange unease settled between her shoulder blades. Faith didn’t believe in ESP, but if she did, her spidey sense was going crazy. She picked up the pace.
“Mom, you’re going too fast. I’m tired.”
Faith slowed and turned around. Her daughter had taken to dragging the pack behind her. “Hand me the knapsack, Slugger.”
Zoe held it out with both hands.
Faith took it and nearly dropped the bag. She hadn’t expected it to be so heavy. “What have you got in here?”
“The books you made me bring. Plus my baseball, my favorite games, chalk and my shiny stones for hopscotch.” Zoe shrugged. “So I wouldn’t have to read the whole time.”
An incessant pounding pulsed behind Faith’s eyes, but she shoved aside the pain. “I don’t want to get caught in the rain, Zoe. Let’s hurry. I bet you can’t beat me home.” She fought to form the smallest smile.
Her daughter took off, and Faith jogged behind her.
“Stop before crossing the street,” Faith shouted.
Zoe glanced back and grinned. “You won’t catch me!”
Even so, her daughter slowed down a bit. When they settled in a new place, she’d make sure she enrolled Zoe in softball or baseball or maybe even soccer. Her daughter needed a way to work off all that energy.
By the time they reached the two-room shack she called home, Faith panted and bent over to catch her breath.
Zoe waited outside the door, shifting from one foot to another.
Faith slipped her hand into her pocket and dug out the key. She pushed it into the lock and opened the door.
Zoe rushed in, whirled around and raced back at her mother, plowing into her. The shopping bags flew out of Faith’s hands. Zoe’s knapsack dropped like a stone.
“What—”
Zoe’s face made Faith’s heart drop. “Mom, someone’s been here.”
Faith pushed her daughter behind her and peered inside the open door.
The sofa had been overturned; bookcases toppled. The few items they had left were spread on the floor.
Their place had been ransacked.
“Zoe, we need to leave. Now!”
* * *
THOMAS, INCORPORATED OCCUPIED the top three floors of the downtown Dallas office building. Oil made the fortune, but Burke’s father had diversified. They were now in distribution, energy storage and financial institutions. If you lived or worked in Texas, you dealt with one of Thomas, Inc.’s companies or subsidiaries. The business would be his someday, and Burke had big plans for the future.
For now, the company’s reach equated influence, and influence translated into power. It also meant when his father called, Burke had no choice but to appear. He inserted his executive key into the elevator panel and pressed the button to the penthouse. The elevator zoomed upward.
A finely tuned bell chimed and the doors opened. Burke exited and crossed the thick carpet, ignoring the latest administrative assistant. Bracing himself, he knocked on his father’s office door.
“Enter.”
Burke took a cleansing breath and stepped inside.
His father raised his head and frowned. “Shut the door.”
The older Thomas didn’t smile. This wasn’t going to be fun, and Burke had a feeling he knew the subject of the latest lecture. He closed the door quietly, as was expected, and strode across the room. “You wanted to see me?”
“Are you over the latest incident? Have you regained control of your urges?”
“Yes, sir.” He met his father’s gaze. “You know, it wouldn’t hurt if you’d help me out a little with this Faith situation.”
Gerard Thomas shot to his feet. “How dare you speak to me that way. Help you? I’ve saved you from going to prison more times than you’ll ever know. It’s only been two weeks since the previous problem occurred. Two weeks. Have you no discipline?”
Burke ground his nails into one palm. “I keep getting calls from investigators and lawyers. It’s...frustrating. I need to relieve my...stress.”
“Then go for a run. Lift some weights, but don’t...” His father scowled and slugged a shot of whiskey. “Your mother wants to see Zoe. I’m running out of excuses.”
“I’ll visit Mom, make up something.” Burke shrugged with indifference.
“You think this is a game?” His father slammed the glass onto his desk. “You’re too impatient. You have no self-discipline. You should have waited until we nailed down the case against Faith before serving the proposed custody agreement.”
“You’re the one who told Mother we were ready.” Burke lifted his chin. “How could I predict she’d run?”
“How many times have I told you to run any decision that affects this family by me first?” His father rubbed his eyes. “Faith might not be fit to raise my granddaughter, but neither are you. I needed an airtight case of neglect to ensure you get custody.”
“Well, she’s taken Zoe without my permission. That’s a plus.”
“If we find her.”
“I can fix this,” Burke said under his breath. “If you give me the leeway, when I find her—”
His father slammed his hand on the desk. “Do not even think about harming Faith.”
Burke’s lips pursed.
“The cost of cleaning up your messes just doubled. If my team hadn’t gone in behind you, you would’ve been caught. Your DNA was there, Burke. You’re getting sloppy.
“If you do something to your ex-wife, I won’t be able to protect you, or our family name. My sway only goes so far.” His father took a seat, steepled his fingers and stared over the tips at Burke. “Get control of yourself and get back to work.”
The stinging words pierced Burke’s skin with the force of icy knives, but he said nothing. He simply nodded and crossed the hall to his own office.
Once inside, he slammed his fi
st into the wall. How had his father found out about his latest indiscretion so fast?
His head pounded in a rhythmic crashing against his skull. He placed the heel of his hand against his temple. This was all Faith’s fault. She was the one who’d taken Zoe, and because of it, his mother was a basket case. His father...
He didn’t give a damn about Gerard Thomas or how he felt.
Burke rubbed his face. Faith had been gone three months. She wasn’t smart enough to disappear completely. She would make a mistake. And then he’d have her. No matter what his father said.
He sagged into the leather chair behind his desk and tossed his phone onto the perfectly polished mahogany. He unlocked the top drawer and pulled out a folder containing his plans for the future. When he ran Thomas, Incorporated.
He flipped through the pages. Burke would expand the company’s power nationally, and then internationally. There would be no limits.
His cell vibrated to life.
He glanced at the caller. Orren better have some good news. “Report.”
“Mr. Thomas. We found her.”
Chapter Two
Stefan’s SUV bounced over the West Texas badlands, putting his back-road driving skills to the test. He glanced at his GPS. He should be there soon. A strip of vivid purple and orange winked at him from the western horizon, the only color except for a few blooming cacti. The harsh landscape didn’t mince words; dramatic, beautiful in its own way, but nothing like his home country of Bellevaux, strewn with lakes and rivers, lush rolling green hills and vineyards.
His vehicle kicked up dust from the parched earth. He’d been traveling a cattle trail for a half hour, and he just hoped he’d picked the right path. He’d never rendezvoused with Annie in the same place twice. The woman put his own paranoia to shame.
On the other hand, she survived when by all rights she should be dead.
They both lived in the world of gray shadows, where light and dark, truth and lies, right and wrong fused into a strange, inseparable muddle.
The vehicle rose in elevation just enough to see another mile or so into the distance when he made out the top of a nondescript tow camper.
Right where she said she’d be.
He pulled his SUV about fifty feet from her makeshift home and exited, hands raised, leaving his SIG Sauer in the vehicle. Annie had her rules about guns, after all.
She didn’t show herself, but he knew she could see him. Probably had her sight trained on him right now.
“Annie?” he called out.
She didn’t answer, so he waited.
And waited.
A figure finally rose from the protection of a group of saltbushes. Annie cradled an Uzi, her favorite weapon, and strode toward him. She’d piled her loose curly hair on top of her head, not the dark brown he recalled from their first meeting or the auburn from their last appointment. No, this visit, golden brown kissed with blond framed her face, highlighting an unexpected softness to her appearance. Maybe her natural color. He couldn’t be certain, but it suited her.
She wore her usual black jeans and a too-large black T-shirt. By the time the sun set she’d be practically invisible.
Her smile widened when she reached him, a smile that revealed the hidden beauty she made an effort to conceal. He’d never understood why.
“Léon, you look good for a dead man.”
“And you look too beautiful to be dead.”
He bent down and kissed her cheek gently. They’d been friends for about five years now. She knew him as well as anybody, but even she didn’t know his true identity. When CTC had smuggled him into the United States to save his life, they had provided her the information for his Léon Royce persona, but the company had never revealed his real name.
“How’ve you been, Annie?”
A shadowed expression he recognized all too well crossed her face. “Not bad. And you?”
Just the sort of conversation friends with benefits had when they kept each other at arm’s length. Two people with major trust issues and on the run didn’t make for a good long-term relationship. They’d recognized the reality early on, so they performed the identical dance each time they met.
“You planning on coming out of hiding anytime soon?” He always asked.
“Probably not. I just got my hair done for the apocalypse,” she said with a sad smile. “You and I made our choices years ago. This is my life now—helping troublemakers like you and innocent people who have nowhere else to turn.”
Faith and her daughter flashed into his mind. He shoved them aside. He really shouldn’t care.
Except he did.
“So, business has been good?”
“Better than ever.” She sighed. “Power corrupts everything. Law enforcement and government included. Sometimes disappearing is the only answer.”
“Truer words.”
“So why the smoke signal?” she asked. “Ransom usually contacts me for a job.”
“This is personal.” Stefan shifted his weight and met her gaze, direct and unwavering. “I need to disappear.”
She let out a low whistle. “You’re leaving CTC?”
He nodded.
“I see.” She strode across her campsite and unlocked a series of padlocks she’d attached to the reinforced door of the camper. “Come inside.”
He removed his hat and ducked inside. The last time she’d invited him in, they’d headed straight to the bedroom. This time he took the opposite turn to a sophisticated set of equipment, a high-tech wizard’s dream. Annie could forge any identification card needed. She could backstop an elaborate past, or tap into satellite imagery and even street cameras—for a price. He didn’t want to think about what other intel she could lay her hands on.
She slid behind her desk.
“Léon needs to die a public death,” he said, sitting across from her. “I want a new identity. A fresh start. A clean slate.”
She quirked an eyebrow. “Does Ransom know?”
“You’re the first.”
She smiled in that knowing way of hers. “Yeah, right. He knows something is up.”
“Probably.”
Her fingers flew across a keyboard. “I can kill Léon without too much trouble. Creating someone brand-new could take a bit longer. Are you at risk?”
Her forehead furrowed. He recognized the worry. “I’m not in imminent danger, but it’s only a matter of time. I’ve gotten sloppy, made too many connections. It could be dangerous if—”
“The people wanting to kill you ever found you,” she finished. “Why do you think I live out of a trailer? I can’t afford long-term anything.” Annie leaned back in her chair. “Starting over isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, either.”
Like Faith was obviously trying to do. Her terrified expression suddenly came to mind. Helping people like her was what CTC did—and what Annie did. What he tried to do.
“I can’t go back to who I was.” He drummed his fingers on his leg. How could he put his desire into words that didn’t sound ridiculous? “I want—”
“A normal life.” Annie chuckled and he met her gaze. Despite her laughter, commiseration laced Annie’s eyes. “The minute you chose to play spy guy, you hung up the normal hat.”
“You have no idea how true that statement is.” He’d become Léon Royce because of his undercover work. He’d become a ghost to his family and his country because of his own choices. Now, he had to live with the consequences.
She rounded her desk and hitched her hip on its edge. “I may not know your true identity, but I doubt you were ever ordinary. That’s what you’ll have to become for this to work.”
Stefan flicked the brim of his Stetson. “Ordinary. I like the sound of that.”
* * *
THE LITTLE SHACK they’d called home wasn’t safe. Faith nails bit into her palm, trying not to
let Zoe see her true panic. Her gaze raced through the room. Nothing had been left untouched. Even the bookcase shelves had been strewn across the floor. The coffee table lay on its side. Faith’s heart raced as she surveyed the damage. She couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe.
She could only protect her daughter.
In her old life, she would’ve immediately rushed to a neighbor’s house and called the police. She didn’t have that luxury now. They were alone, and everything they owned was inside that house. She couldn’t walk away.
Faith stepped just inside the door and reached to her left. Zoe’s baseball bat was still propped in the corner. She snagged it and curled her fingers around the wooden neck.
“If you’re still here, get out. I’m armed,” she shouted.
No one answered. The shack was eerily quiet. She circled and her gaze scanned every inch of their small, furnished rental. Nothing had been left untouched.
There went her security deposit.
“Stay here,” Faith whispered to Zoe. “If anyone comes, run and hide in the trees behind the houses. I’ll find you.”
Her daughter gripped her knapsack and nodded, her small face terrified.
Clutching the bat with all her strength, Faith tiptoed into the small kitchenette. Everything had been chucked out of the cupboards. What had they been looking for? If it was money... Oh, God.
She rushed into the small bedroom. The mattresses she and Zoe slept on had been tossed; their clothes were scattered across the floor.
Her gaze stopped at the closed closet door. The blood pounded against her temples. Slowly, carefully, she approached. Her fingers folded into the recessed handle and she yanked open the door.
The wood slid on the rails and rammed into the wall at the other end with a clatter.
Empty. No one was here.
She couldn’t breathe yet.
After checking the bathroom and shower, Faith sank onto the bed. Now, she could breathe. “Come here, Zoe,” she called. “It’s safe.”
The little girl ran in and leaped at her mother. Faith held her close and rocked her for a few moments. “We’re okay. That’s all that matters.”
