Runaway

by Katie Cross

  Ben nodded with a jerk of his head. “Good to meet you.” I returned it. Then I gestured to the loft and whistled low.

  “Looking good, Mav.”

  What had been a tiny attic room that Bethany and Lizbeth barely managed to live in had grown with the coffee shop. They'd renovated the Frolicking Moose to the side, adding a larger dining area as well as a back room for client meetings, parties, or book clubs. The attic followed suit, large enough they could rent it one day. Once Ellie moved out, I had no doubt they would.

  “Thanks.” Mav set a hand on his waist. “Feels glacially slow getting it all finalized, but we'll get there. The plumbing up here has given us some issues, but I think I've gotten it all worked out now.”

  “Now that you've got competent help, you mean.” I gestured to Ben with a tilt of my head. Ben snorted.

  “How are things?” Mav asked. I didn't miss the undercurrent in his voice, but I did ignore it. Instead, I tossed the newspaper on the wooden floor and it hit with a satisfying slap.

  “Just came to see if you needed some help.”

  Benjamin shifted back a step and glanced at the newspaper, then me. No doubt he'd already seen the front page article of the county newspaper, but I did love an unforgettable entrance to make my point. Benjamin regarded the image of his face on the front cover, then looked at me in silent question.

  “There are four women in the parking lot, by the way.” I gestured with my thumb. “They're pretending to be looking for a place to eat but I think they're waiting for you to come out. If you look closer to the hair salon, I recognize a reporter from Jackson City waiting in his car.”

  Benjamin swore under his breath, shot Maverick a sharp glare, and turned back to the roller brush sticky with primer. Maverick sighed.

  “I failed you, brother.” Maverick clapped Ben on the shoulder. “To be fair, you're the jackass that had to get famous. I really thought you'd be left alone here.”

  Maverick confirmed my suspicions. Benjamin, three months away from his next fight, needed a place to train and prep. He needed a camp away from the distractions of life because he had sponsors to satisfy. No doubt he'd run to Pineville to hide away, but it wasn't working out so great.

  “Maybe you can be left alone,” I drawled.

  Maverick tensed slightly, no doubt anticipating my coming pitch. Like recognized like. While Maverick was years ahead of me in the business build-up, maintenance, and follow-through, I recognized myself in him all the same. In a near-perfect impression of his brother, Maverick half turned to me with a silent question on his face.

  “You have a fight coming up,” I said to Benjamin. “But there's no place to really train here and there's certainly no privacy. Not with the space you need, anyway, because this fight is the career maker. You're either on top, or you're down, and your focus has to be absolute.”

  “Tell it to me already,” Benjamin said, but he'd turned my way and crossed his arms across his chest. Like a freaking cobra, those arms. Perhaps my idea would be beneficial for everyone right now. Stella included.

  “Adventura is out of the way, has space for you to train and fight that's winter proofed, and cabins for you to live in if you don't want to make the drive. The wifi is better than in town and there's no through road. I own, with my investor,” I quickly added when Maverick cleared his throat, “all the land around it except for what backs up to National Forest. No one comes out there.”

  “You want me to move my entire camp out here to train before the fight?”

  My heart hammered like a wild thing now because I at least had the instinct to know that this could close one of the biggest deals of my life. Not just in sheer timing—because it could save everything—but in reputation. Having Benjamin in my world would be no bad thing.

  Above all, one more male on my property left Stella that much safer.

  “No,” I countered. “You want to. But it's not going that well, is it?”

  Benjamin hesitated, and in those three seconds, I saw everything I needed to know before he closed back down. Something wasn't right in his world. His sponsors should be paying for this, but they must not be. Or maybe something personal had come up and he was ducking the limelight.

  Why else would he be here of all places?

  “There's space for mats, a separate gym, a kitchen that could feed as many as you need,” I continued because I sensed the opportunity to press it. “And so many mountains to climb. We live at 8,000 feet elevation, so there's a definite lack of oxygen. You can have an entire cabin for just your team, if you want. There is plenty of space at Adventura.”

  Benjamin's head tilted back slightly.

  “What's in it for you?”

  Time to be brutally honest, because if I wasn't, Maverick would be later. “Mortgage payments,” I said easily. “Summer camps are terrible investments in the winter.”

  A hint of amusement flickered through his eyes. “The media are a problem these days,” he said slowly. “So why should I trust you?”

  “Because Maverick trusts me.”

  Benjamin glanced to Maverick, who immediately nodded. The lack of reticence in his response gave me intense relief. For several long moments, no one said a word. I waited and willed myself to hold still for the first freaking time in my life.

  Benjamin's sharp gaze had narrowed. “What kind of equipment can you support?”

  “All of it. I have a cement-floored dining hall bigger than the closest gym in Jackson City and already have all my own weight stuff in a large shed that I use. You could bring whatever you want. Or whoever you want,” I added.

  “How long is it available?”

  “Long enough to get you to your fight and then some.”

  “Can you guarantee privacy?”

  Could I? I wasn't sure what guarantee meant in his world. People could still find Adventura if they learned where he was. But there was only one road in and out and we could gate it if we had to.

  “Yes.”

  Another interminable silence reigned until he loosed his arms and said, “I'll come to look at it this weekend. Saturday at noon.”

  With a confident smile, I held out my hand, thankful it stayed steady when Ben clasped it. “See you then,” I said. “Maverick can give you my number. I'll text you directions.”

  “No need. I'll find it.”

  Maverick sent me a knowing smirk as he, too, shook my hand. Then his expression dropped.

  “Meant to tell you that some guy swung by today.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yeah. He was asking about you. We were the only ones here when he stopped by. Didn't tell him anything but thought you'd want to know.”

  Something cold settled in my stomach. Stella had given me descriptions of Joshua before, but not enough that I'd ever recognize him if I saw him. He sounded perfectly normal enough.

  “Tell me about him,” I said.

  “Baseball hat. Normal height.” He tilted his head back and forth, as if uncertain. “5'9” I'd bet. Blonde hair. Hazel eyes. Not overly muscular or impressive. Seemed nice, but asked enough questions that it turned my radar on. Questions about where you lived. If you took tenants in your camp. How often you came to town, that kind of thing.”

  “Ask about a woman named Stella or Marie?”

  “No. Just you.”

  Could be anyone, technically, but I had a crawling suspicion it wasn't an accident. As irrational as Stella said she felt, something told me that this situation wasn't as innocent as she wished it were.

  Benjamin had clued in now, listening to Mav with an eyebrow raised. “The guy that came earlier?” Ben asked him.

  Mav nodded.

  “Got a problem you need some help with, Mark?” Ben asked with a low drawl. There was a wicked glint in his eye that told me he wanted a fight. I knew the feeling.

  “Not yet,” I murmured. “But maybe soon enough.”

  Ben eyed me. “You could take that guy.”

  “It's not Mark that needs to worry,” Ma
v murmured. “It's his lady. Lizbeth mentioned her to me last night.”

  The words his lady ran through my mind like a reverberating echo, and I let them roll. Yeah, Benjamin needed to know she was mine. Because she was. Benjamin made a disgusted sound in his throat.

  “Take that guy out hard, Bailey.”

  My knuckles cracked when I squeezed my fist too hard. “It's going to be my pleasure once we can find him.”

  While Benjamin turned back to the wall that still needed primer, Mav caught my attention again. “Not sure if it was anything,” he said, but I could tell something with it didn't sit right for him. “Just thought I'd let you know.”

  “Thanks, brother.”

  When I turned to go with one final head jerk, Mav stopped me.

  “You got this handled?” he asked. He meant Adventura. He meant the mortgage. He meant everything that was, most definitely, not handled and would be due someday soon. I couldn't remember when.

  “You know it!” I called over my shoulder with my usual, laissez-faire verve. He must have bought it because neither of them said a word as I descended the stairs, my thoughts a storm.

  The Zombie Mobile creaked and groaned as I lumbered out of Pineville and into the canyon. Most likely, I imagined the feeling of being watched but felt even greater concern and sympathy for Stella now. Was this unsettled feeling what she'd been living in for weeks now?

  Bastard.

  With JJ and Megan at the camp with Stella, I took a detour off the highway and onto a familiar dirt road. By the time I made it back to Dad's property, the sun was overhead and my stomach grumbling. Dad would probably have tuna, egg salad, and old bread. His weird favorites, for some reason. When I skidded to a stop, a figure in a broad hat slowly looked up from where it sat near the creek. I chuckled.

  The old man had fallen asleep fishing.

  When the truck door slammed, Dad straightened up and waved a lazy hand. His fishing line had gotten tangled up down the street in some brambles, but he hadn't noticed yet. Instead, he rubbed a hand over his face and readjusted his hat.

  “Good nap?” I clapped him on the shoulder. He grumbled something at me while I grabbed an extra chair propped against the house and brought it over. By then, he'd started to tug on his line again.

  “Great nap.” He yawned. “You should try it sometime.”

  I snorted.

  “You never did nap,” he muttered bitterly. “Stopped that business when you were 18-months old, you monster.”

  That did sound like me. While I settled into the chair, Dad eyed me from the corner of his eye, then glanced back at the truck.

  “You alone?”

  “Stella's with Megan and JJ.”

  He grunted. With the lure returned, he reached for new bait. Unlikely he'd get anything now, but Dad would be aware of that. He always had to have something to do with his hands when we spoke. Getting fish wasn't the point of fishing.

  “You liked Stell?” I asked.

  Dad cast, chewed on his bottom lip, and nodded.

  “How?” I asked. “You saw her for all of ten seconds and spoke three words to her if that.”

  “You've talked about your accountant before. When you texted me and said she was going to stay with you for a bit, and then I saw her,” he shrugged, “simple arithmetic.”

  “So why did you like her?”

  “She's got an honest face.” He shot me a perturbed look. “And she might be the only person on this planet you've ever listened to when it came to all your businesses.”

  “She's brutal that way.”

  He laughed. “Besides,” he drawled, “she's the only one that didn't seem afraid of me.”

  “You have a good eye for people.”

  He shrugged.

  Ah, Dad. Silent, steady observer. JJ was too much like him by half. While relieved to have his approval, I couldn't act surprised. Dad was an open book when you really knew him, and he was that way on purpose.

  I fidgeted in the chair for a moment, trying to figure out how to voice my next topic. Conversations with Dad were a lot like speed dating. Bullet points. Get to the purpose. Say the important stuff. Move on. Mom was more like a long, country drive. She'd extrapolate all over the place, wander into side roads, get lost in a topic, and be happy every second. Meanwhile, Dad couldn't fathom keeping up with it.

  No wonder that marriage crashed and burned.

  “Say it,” Dad barked.

  “What?” I asked.

  “You're fidgeting. That always means you're not sure what to say.”

  I sighed, still grateful for his observation. “Stella's in trouble. Ugly trouble, and I need some advice.”

  He motioned for me to continue with a wave of his hand, then had a sip out of what looked like coffee. Then I told him everything I'd learned about her and Joshua from the moment she arrived. What the feds said—and didn't say—when she first reported it. Her fear of being paranoid and irrational. Right down to Mav's report today.

  Dad's frown grew with each passing minute.

  “Stella . . . she keeps saying her life isn't a movie,” I said with a shake of my head. “That this can't be real. Some kind of denial, probably.”

  “Shock,” he countered. “She's in shock.”

  “That too. But now I'm starting to wonder if this is more real than I'd thought, and I'd already thought it was pretty real. If that guy asking about me was Joshua, it probably means he's here and he's up to no good. I don't like that. Not at all.”

  Dad's lips thinned and eyebrows thickened, a sure sign he was thinking. I let the silence go, appreciating the quiet tinkle of the creek that calmed me. Repeating the story only made me more agitated. I leaned my forearms onto my knees.

  “Feds aren't going to help because it's not really their jurisdiction,” Dad finally said. “Until he actually makes a move, a threat, or harasses, there's nothing anyone can do.”

  “So I'm supposed to let that happen? Hell, no.”

  “No,” Dad drawled, “didn't say that. I'll let the guys at the station know, tell them to keep an eye out. Get me a photo of him and we'll send it their way.”

  While that made me feel better, it wasn't enough. What if Joshua made a move? He only needed access to Stella once to do irreversible damage, and that wasn't acceptable to me. There were, of course, no guarantees here. But I wanted one. In all my life, I'd never wanted a guarantee more.

  “Restraining order?” I asked.

  He shrugged. “She doesn't live here.”

  “She does. She lives with me. Adventura is her home now.”

  Dad quirked an eyebrow. I met his stare and all the thousands of words behind it that he didn't say. Thankfully, he kept that locked away.

  “Has she changed her drivers license?”

  “No.”

  “Does she have proof of residency? Something official sent to her there through the mail?”

  My hope started to feel small.

  “No.”

  “That would be a first step. Even if she does do the restraining order, she'd have to do a temporary one for two weeks, then go before a judge. Do you want her to have to explain this to a judge if Joshua hasn't actually made a move against her? It'll be a disaster. The system is not ideal, but it's how it works.”

  On instinct, I fought back a curse in front of my father.

  “So what do I do?” I asked.

  “You get me the picture and description and any other information you have so I can pass it along. Then you watch, be careful, and wait. Let Atticus stay with her as often as you can. Don't leave her alone. That kind of thing.”

  “I don't like that.”

  Dad chuckled humorlessly. “That doesn't matter one bit, boy.”

  I already knew that.

  I just hated it.

  With a sigh, I ran a hand over my face. “Thanks, Dad. I appreciate your help. I'll get you all that stuff.”

  He nodded, running his tongue over his teeth. He tugged on the line as he slowly reeled it i
n, but I could tell his thoughts were far from Adventura.

  “You still have the Sig Sauer?” he asked.

  The handgun he'd taught me how to use when I was a teenager was safely locked at home. Normally, I only carried it while hiking or out on the trails in case the kitties or bears became a problem. Maybe I'd have it with me a little bit more, just in case. But even that wasn't comfort enough.

  “Always,” I said.

  He grunted but didn't need to say more.

  “Let me know,” he said. “I'm always happy to come fishing there if you need me around for a few days.”

  His gaze met mine, and the steel-hardened sheriff in the depths of his eyes gave me great comfort. If nothing else, Stella and I weren't alone. My entire family would have our backs if we needed it.

  “Thanks, Dad.”

  “Always, son. Always.”

  Light from Justin's cabin, tucked back in the trees and just within shouting distance, caused a faint glow out of the forest when I finally returned back to Adventura.

  The sun was still an hour or more away from setting, but the sharp mountains cast early darkness here. The faint sound of Megan laughing trailed out from the kitchen, and I wondered where Stella would be. I'd texted Justin a few hours ago, and he'd confirmed they'd be there all night, so I'd run to a few more places. Hotels, for one. Did a little sleuthing on my own. Of course, I didn't know what I was looking for, so it had all been pointless.

  Not even that much work could stop a knot of dread from forming in my chest. But it wasn't entirely about Joshua. The closer I got to my cabin, the more dread I felt about seeing Stella again.

  In hindsight, it was wrong to leave that morning the moment I had an idea. I didn't think my pitch to Benjamin through until two minutes before I walked in the Frolicking Moose. My instincts tended to take over and they normally served me well, but those instincts really sucked in the romance department.

  Too late, I realized there were a dozen ways I could have been a less-sucky boyfriend today. Abandoning Stella with my sister and her boyfriend so Stella would have the honor of being a third wheel was the worst.