“That ring you have in your hands was locked safely away in my bedroom.”
“Why do you have this ring? This is… from before, right?” She needed to know the story behind the ring and behind the inscription. His terse nod was barely visible. “Why do you still have it?”
His jaw tensed and started moving back and forth. He was grinding his teeth. His Adam’s apple bobbed.
“Cody.”
She wanted to hear him say it. His grip tightened on the steering wheel, and he let out a sigh. “That night, the one when I told you good-bye… I’d had that in my pocket all day. I was going to give it to you after we told Jake and your dad about us. It was going to be my promise to you. My promise to love you until we were old and gray.”
Everything clicked into place. “That was your wish that night we saw the falling star.”
He nodded. “I had My Magpie engraved on it.”
“Why? You knew how much I hated that name.”
“I know. To you, Magpie was a silly nickname we gave you about an annoying, loud, little bird. But that wasn’t the meaning to me. I, uh, had to do a particularly boring history project before I graduated. Did you know the people of the Manchu Dynasty believed that the Magpie brought good luck? Well, that's what you were to me. You were my good luck.”
She looked down at the ring and ran a finger around the circle of clear stones that haloed the sapphires. I would have said yes. “Eight for a wish is for both of us. I don’t understand.”
“Someone has been in my house. They know enough about our past to understand what that ring means, what you mean to me. The attack today also means that he’s not sticking to a schedule, so we can’t know when he’ll strike next.”
“Where are we going to go now? This person obviously knows enough about us to know of any places that we could hide. They somehow know small, intimate details about both of us. How could they know that? Cody, did you tell anyone about the ring?”
He shook his head. “There were a few people around town that knew we were dating. The jewelry store where I bought the ring and the florist where I had bought your birthday flowers. In a particularly nasty fight with my mother, I let it slip that I was seeing you, but she had been drunk as usual and didn’t remember the fight the next morning. We need to disappear.” He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. “Do you have your cell phone?”
She started at his sudden question. She fished her phone from her pocket and tried to hand it to him, but he shook his head.
“I think whoever is behind this might be using our phones to track our whereabouts. I want you to call your brother, briefly tell him what's going on. Tell him I'm taking you somewhere safe and we'll be in touch. And then turn your phone off and take the battery out.”
She followed his instructions without argument. She dialed Jacob as Cody pulled his cell phone from his pocket. He called Grainger while she called Jacob. When she ended the call, she removed the battery from her phone. Cody had her do the same with his.
“There's a campground that straddles the county line. It's not just a campground. They offer cabins for rent. I think that may be the best place to go. We have to assume that any place that has a connection to either one of us has the potential to be dangerous.”
“Just take me somewhere safe.” Pain pounded in her temples. She wanted this nightmare to be over. He slowed and pulled into the parking lot of a truck stop, right before the Dale County border.
“How's your head?” he asked, turning to face her.
“It hurts, but I'll make it.”
“Why don't we go in and get some medicine for the pain?”
She nodded and got out of the truck. He followed her into the truck stop.
“I need to use the bathroom.” She followed the sign pointing the way to the restrooms, Cody right on her heels. “You don't have to go with me.”
“I'm not letting you out of my sight. I’ve done that once today and look what happened.”
She stopped, spinning around and pinning him with her wide eyes. “Excuse me?”
“Well, not for long any way.” His cheeks were red with embarrassment. He grinned as he grabbed her shoulders, spinning her back around and giving her a small shove toward the restrooms.
He was leaning against the wall by the restroom door when she exited five minutes later.
“It took some scrubbing, but I finally got those words off my hand.” She was absentmindedly rubbing at the palm of her hand even though it was clean.
They walked down the sundry aisle and picked up a bottle of pain reliever.
“I need to get a drink; I can't take pills without it.”
“We should probably get a few drinks and snacks to hold us over until we can do proper shopping for the cabin.”
She pulled her debit card from her purse and started to hand it to the cashier. It was a good thing she had left her purse in the truck when they had stopped at her father’s house.
“No debit cards. We don't want to leave an electronic trail. I've got some cash.” He pulled his wallet from his pocket and paid cash for their items. They walked out of the truck stop.
There was something flapping in the wind under the windshield wiper. She hated when people distributed fliers like that, but she hated it even more when people threw them on the ground. He pulled the flier from the windshield and turned it over.
Chapter Twenty-Four
He looked down at the paper. It was a black and white photo of two people in the middle of a passionate kiss. Closer inspection revealed that it wasn't two random people. It was them. A photo of the kiss they had shared in her father's house that morning. Written across the image in large red letters were the words Nine for a Kiss.
“Get in the truck. Now.” His tone left no room for argument. Neither did the speed in which he got into the truck and fired up the engine.
She was in the truck and barely had the door closed before he was flying out of the parking spot. “What's going on?” Fear colored her words.
He reached onto the dash, grabbed the flier he had thrown up there when he climbed into the truck, and thrust it at her. “This isn't a flier.”
Her hand went to her mouth. “Who took this?”
“I don't know. I searched the entire house and didn't find anyone before I came to your room this morning.”
If there wasn't anyone in the house, how had someone taken a picture of their kiss? Had he missed something in his search?
“Do you think they installed cameras in the house?”
“That would explain how he knew we were at the house today, in separate rooms even. But it doesn't explain how he got in or how he knew we were at the truck stop. I am positive we weren't followed, and we turned off our cell phones so it couldn't be those. My only other idea is that there is a tracking device on the truck.”
He slammed his palm on the steering wheel. Someone was going through a lot of trouble to follow her. They’d probably placed cameras in her father's house and now a possible tracking device on the rental truck. There's probably a tracking device on her father’s truck, too, and maybe even Jake's vehicle.
“Do you have a plan? I mean, if there's a tracking device on the truck, this guy will be able to follow us where ever we go.”
He was silent for a moment, his gaze glued to the road ahead. He looked in the rearview mirror and stared for a moment. A small white truck was not too far behind them. He’d seen the truck idling at a gas pump when they drove off.
He signaled to turn right on to the next road. He made the turn effortlessly, and once he had the truck straightened, he glanced in the mirror again. The truck was still on their tail. A few blocks up, he made another right turn, this time without signaling. Another glance in the rear-view mirror showed the white truck did the same.
Maggie turned around to see what was going on. “Do you think they’re following us?”
“I'm not sure, but we're about to find out.” Without slowing down or using his turn signal
, Cody abruptly turned right. The white truck made the same turn and gunned it. Whoever it was, he or she knew they were on to them.
Cody revved the engine and pushed the speedometer higher. He let off the accelerator and did another impromptu right hand turn back out onto the highway. He held his breath as the truck started gaining on them. “Hold on.” They were already doing well above the speed limit.
She grabbed the door handle as the white truck pushed into the bed of their truck, slamming her against the seatbelt. She screamed at the sound of crunching metal.
The truck pulled into the lane next to them and started to pass them. Crossing into their lane, it made contact with the passenger’s side. His arms burned with the exertion of trying to keep them from being pushed into the ditch.
He turned the wheel to the right and fought to stay on the road. He slammed on the brakes, slowing their truck. The assaulting truck kept going, crossed in front of them, and ended up driving onto the shoulder. Cody made a U-turn and sped off in the direction they had come from.
“Are you okay?” He glanced at her before turning his attention back to the road. His goal now was to lose their pursuer and make it safely to the sheriff’s station. He loosened his grip on the steering wheel. His fingers ached as the muscles relaxed.
“I'm scared, but I'm not hurt.”
He glanced in the rearview mirror, and his shoulders tensed. “Okay, this isn't over. The truck has turned around and is catching back up to us. I need you to put the battery back in my cell phone and call Grainger. At this point, we're not worried about being followed seeing as he is trying to drive us off the road.” Maggie opened the glove box and started messing with the phone.
Their attacker was on top of them again. Cody pressed the pedal to the floor, praying no one would pull out from a side street not knowing what was going on. The truck made contact again, jarring them violently, causing Maggie to drop the phone on to the floor. She bent over to pick it up when they were hit again, sending her head slamming into the dashboard. She sat up and looked out the rear window and back to him. Her ashen face only multiplied his fear.
The truck started to pass them, but instead of coming flush with them and trying to push them off the road like before, it merged into their lane aiming for the rear end. He was attempting a maneuver used by police to end chases. The only way to avoid it was to increase their speed before contact was made. He pressed the accelerator all the way to the floor, and they lurched forward before their pursuer could make contact.
The white truck swerved behind them, narrowly missing leaving the roadway. Maggie bent over again to try and retrieve the phone from the floorboard.
He didn't recognize the truck, and he couldn't see the driver's face, but one thing was clear—whoever they were dealing with had had defensive driving training. Luckily for Cody, he'd also had defensive driving classes and was able to avoid it.
He mashed the accelerator, watching the needle creep higher and higher, pushing the truck as fast as it would go. He looked at Maggie; she was bent over, trying desperately to reach the phone that had fallen. If anything happened to her, he wouldn’t be able to forgive himself.
In the split second it took for him to check on her, their pursuer was able to correct his trajectory and was closing back in on them. Their pursuer got in position to attempt another PIT maneuver. As the truck inched closer, Cody deliberately increased his speed, but the pursuer predicted that and sped up as well. The driver's side quarter panel made contact with the passenger's side of the truck bed, and it started to spin. He let off the accelerator and turned the wheels into the spin to avoid flipping over. The front end of the white truck smashed into Maggie’s side. The sounds of breaking of glass and Maggie’s shrill scream chilled his veins. This was the end.
The impact hurled them off the road and into a wooden fence that was along the road. His head crashed into the driver's side window, shattering it right before he lost consciousness.
* * * *
He opened his eyes. Everything was blurry. How long had he been unconscious? Blinking several times, he was able to determine it wasn’t his vision but a fine dust filling the cabin. The only thing he could hear was the running motor.
“Maggie?” He whispered her name as he tried to stop his head from spinning. She didn't answer. Turning toward her, he could see she was still safely belted into the passenger's seat. The airbags had deployed and were laying limply in her lap. Outside the window, the white truck that had pushed them off the road was nowhere to be seen. Had it driven off?
Cody unbuckled and tried to open his door, but it wouldn't budge. Of course, it's not going to open, you're shoved up against a fence.
“Maggie?” He leaned over and clumsily felt for a pulse on her wrist. Please God, let her be okay. A steady thump beat under his fingers. She was still alive, but there was no telling what kind of injuries she had sustained. He needed to get her to a hospital.
“Hey, man! Are you guys all right?” The voice was familiar, but Cody wasn’t sure where he’d heard it before. He leaned his head against the headrest, battling the pain and confusion, trying to gather his thoughts.
“Cody, is that you?” the voice called from the driver's side. Cody turned in time to see a hand come in the window and then there was a sharp pinch on his neck.
“Hey!” His hand went to where he felt the pinch, but there was nothing there. He started feeling woozy. The world spun around him, and his eyes drifted closed, but he forced them open. He squinted, trying to bring the face into focus, but he couldn’t get a clear picture.
“Ten for something you won't want to miss.”
“Magpie,” Cody said weakly as he turned to protect her. Darkness consumed him before he could reach her.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Cody's voice pulled at her from somewhere in the fog she was currently residing in. She opened her eyes and allowed them to adjust to the lighted room. Cody sat on a bed across from her. What had happened? All she could remember was the truck turning and her head hitting the glass. Everything else was blank.
Something heavy weighed her arm down. A three-inch silver band circled her wrist, a long thick metal chain attached to the band. She slowly followed it to where it was fastened to the wall with large screws.
She was secured to a wall, but she didn't panic. All she could concentrate on was the pain. She couldn't ever remember being in this much pain. Her head was going to explode, and the muscles in her neck and back screamed with each movement. She forced herself to focus on Cody’s face and not on the pain. His hair was mussed, and he had something smeared on his forehead. He didn't look as bad as she felt.
“Maggie, are you okay?”
She opened her mouth to speak, but the words wouldn't come, her mouth was like cotton. She swallowed several times before she was able to respond. “I think so. What about you?”
“I've felt better.”
“What happened? Where are we?”
“We wrecked. You were unconscious and then…” He paused, like he was trying to decide how to tell her some bad news.
Before he could finish his sentence, they heard a key in the lock on the door to her right. It opened slowly inward. Her view of who had entered was obscured by the door.
“How could you?” Cody's rage-filled voice yelled. “I trusted you!” Metal clanged as he stood and lunged at their captor, but he didn't get very far before his own chain snapped him back to the bed.
“I could say the same thing to you, Sheriff.” The voice was filled with disdain. She knew that voice. She had heard it several times in the last week, but she couldn't pinpoint who it belonged to. The door opened wider, revealing a man dressed in a Dale County Sheriff's uniform. He turned to face her. “Hello, Magpie.”
She cringed as Deputy Grainger called her the name only Cody and Jacob used. “Why?” was all she could say. She had never met Grainger before this week. She had no idea why he would target her so maliciously.
“The
re'll be plenty of time for questions later.” He walked over and stopped in front of her. She fought the urge to cower away from his looming figure. He tucked a strand of her auburn hair behind her ear. It was a comforting gesture when Cody did it, but her stomach revolted at Grainger’s touch.
She slapped his hand away. Her gesture of defiance was rewarded with a slap across her cheek. His hand was hard and left her cheek stinging. The assault stunned her. No one had ever hit her like that. She fought back the tears that threatened to spill. Cody was yelling at him, standing, and trying to pull the chain from the wall to get to her.
Deputy Grainger wasn't fazed by Cody's reaction. He reached behind him and produced a pair of handcuffs. Grabbing the hand that wasn't chained to the wall, he slapped a cuff on her, tightening it until it pinched her skin. He reached for her other hand, but she refused to let him have it, scooting back on the bed until she felt the wall behind her. He leaned over to grab the chain attached to the wall, and she tried to kick him away. He blocked her kick with his hand and raised his other hand to slap her again but paused before making contact. Instead, he took his service weapon from its holster and aimed it at Cody.
“No!” The air was sucked from her lungs and pounding sounded in her ears. She straightened her body, forcing her shaky limbs to cooperate. “I'll do what you want.”
“Maggie, no,” Cody yelled from his side of the room. “Don't do it.”
Deputy Grainger kept the gun aimed at Cody but turned to her. “You can fight me, and I'll put a bullet in your boyfriend, then make you come with me anyway. Or you can come with me willingly, and I let him live.”
“Please, don't hurt him,” she pleaded.
“Then put the other cuff on your hand.”
She did as she was told. Once the cuff was secured on her wrist, Grainger tightened it. “Wouldn't want you to escape.”
He holstered his weapon and pulled a key from his pocket. Unlocking the small lock attached to the cuff, he freed her from the wall before grabbing her upper arm and pulling her to a standing position. She gasped in pain. He dragged her toward the door. “Walk.”
Hidden Danger Page 16
