Elizabeth shuddered at the thought of the way Reece had touched her, the memory of his lips at her breasts, his hands fondling her to the point of arousal. As the minutes passed, Elizabeth relaxed, her mind centered on the big, naked man lying beside her. She drifted off into sleep, succumbing to dreams of Reece Landry. His smile. His amber eyes. His naked, aroused body covering her.
Reece lay awake for hours, feigning sleep but unable to rest knowing that Elizabeth lay next to him. She'd fallen asleep quite some time ago. The sleep of the innocent. A clear conscience and a pure heart.
He'd done some damn fool things in his life, but his actions with Elizabeth tonight had to top the list. Had he actually been stupid enough to think she'd fall for his rapist act? He had spent four days alone with her in her cabin and had allowed her to get to know him, the real Reece Landry, the man he barely knew himself.
She hadn't bought the story of his rendezvous with Luanne and she hadn't believed him capable of brutalizing her. He had to face the facts. Elizabeth Mallory, for whatever misguided reasons, was determined to stand by his side, to march head-on into disaster, to go the limit to help him prove his innocence. What had he ever done to deserve the loyalty and trust of a woman like Elizabeth?
Did he dare believe what she believed? That they were predestined to meet? That she and she alone could save him?
Whether he believed or didn't wasn't the point. The point was that Elizabeth was in his life and in it to stay. Now, the question was, what the hell was he going to do with her?
Elizabeth snuggled against him, resting her head on his shoulder, cuddling her body into his. Swallowing, Reece opened his eyes and looked at her. She was asleep, and practically in his arms. Strange thing was that as many women as he'd bedded over the years, he'd never slept the whole night with one. Not ever.
A narrow ridge of illumination filtered through the window where the flowery drapes didn't quite meet, a combination of moonlight and fluorescent motel sign. Rising up on one elbow, Reece gazed down at Elizabeth. For a split second his heart stopped. She was so incredibly lovely, and he wanted her desperately.
Her dark hair looked like black silk in the shadowy room. Reece lifted a strand and brought it to his lips, then dropped it, watching it fall back to her shoulder. Her eyelashes were long and thick, her cheekbones high and only slightly rounded. And her lips-those full, luscious lips. The memory of how those lips had felt when he'd kissed her was enough to arouse him.
When she nestled more snugly against him, Reece slipped his arm under her, lifting her even closer to his side. Still asleep, she laid her arm across his chest, her fingers curling around his hair. He sucked in a deep breath.
He touched her cheek with his fingertip, tracing the lines of her face, slowly, lovingly. She moaned in her sleep, pressing her body into his. He leaned over and kissed her tenderly on the lips, then drew her securely into his arms.
Whatever tomorrow brought, Reece knew one thing for certain. He wasn't going to let anything or anyone hurt this woman. Not ever. And that included him.
Chapter 7
The jarring ring of the telephone woke Reece instantly. Instinctively reaching toward the nightstand, he grabbed the phone. Suddenly he realized that there was a woman in the bed with him, a woman lying there beside him, her head resting on his arm. Elizabeth! She opened her eyes and smiled at him.
"Answer the phone," she said.
Glancing from her sleep-fresh face to the phone in his hand, Reece growled at the caller. "Yeah?"
"It's Flossie, sugar."
"Flossie?" Reece sat upright in the bed.
"Look, you've got to hightail it out of there as fast as you can. Luanne just called me and said she remembered where she'd seen you-that Mr. Jones in number nineteen was that Landry fellow who killed old man Stanton."
"Dammit!" Reece jumped out of bed. "Can you trust her to keep her mouth shut?"
"Not hardly," Flossie said. "Not where there's money involved. Guess you didn't know that your half brother has put up a fifty-thousand-dollar reward for information leading to your capture."
"Hell!" Reece held his hand over the bottom half of the phone and turned to Elizabeth. "Get our stuff together. Quick. We're leaving."
"Look, sugar, I tried to persuade Luanne that she was wrong, but she said she planned on calling the sheriff just in case she was right. They're liable to show up here any minute now. I'll do whatever I can to stall them, but-"
"Thanks, Flossie. I owe you one," Reece said.
"You don't owe me nothing, sugar. I just wish you hadn't come back to Newell. They're all out to get you, and the Stantons won't rest until you're back behind bars."
"I won't let that happen."
"You got some place you can go?'' Flossie asked.
"B.K.'s old hunting lodge."
"I wouldn't go there. The sheriff might not check it out, but you don't need to take any chances. Kenny's liable to remember you've been to the lodge. You need some place the law would never look."
"What about your old place on Lilac Road?" Reece asked.
"That place has been condemned for nearly a year," Flossie told him. "Besides, the sheriff is bound to check out any place you've ever been connected with."
Reece hadn't thought beyond his plan to hide out at B.K.'s cabin, but he realized that Flossie was right. Any place the law could connect him to would be suspect.
"I've got it! The Burtons' summer house up at the lake in Spruce Pine."
"Perfect," Flossie agreed. "Get going, boy, and good luck. If there's anything I can do to help you, just let me know."
"I've got a friend with me." Reece watched Elizabeth stuff their belongings into their bags. "If she ever needs anything, Flossie, I'd appreciate your looking out for her."
"Sure thing, sugar. What's her name?"
"Elizabeth." Reece hung up the phone, grabbed his jeans and shirt as Elizabeth threw them across the bed, and dressed hurriedly. By the time he was fully clothed, she was pulling on her boots.
Reece grabbed her by the shoulders. "Do you still feel the way you did last night? Are you still determined to stay with me and help me prove who killed my father?"
"You know I am."
"Okay, then, listen carefully. I'm going to take your Jeep and drive out to Spruce Pine. An acquaintance of mine took me to her parents' summer house up there once. No one ever uses the place in the winter." At least, he hoped no one would be using it while he and Elizabeth were there. Tracy Burton Stanton occasionally used her parents' summer cottage during the off-season as a hideaway to take her lovers. She'd taken him there once.
"I'll follow right behind you," Elizabeth said.
"The place is pretty isolated, so we should be safe there, at least for a few days." Reece knew Tracy would never tell a soul that her brother-in-law knew where her parents' summer house was located. After all, she'd have to explain why she'd taken him there. "Don't follow me right away. Just in case. Do you understand?"
Elizabeth nodded her head.
"After I leave, you drive around to the office and tell Flossie who you are. She'll give you directions to the Burtons' summer place. She's been up there a few times herself, entertaining old man Burton and his friends."
"Can you trust this Flossie?" Elizabeth wondered what sort of woman the former madam was, and why Reece was acting out of character by letting the woman know his whereabouts.
"A man would be a fool to trust Flossie with his money or his heart, but he can trust her not to turn him in to the law." Reece cradled Elizabeth's chin in the curve of his thumb and index finger. "We'll need some supplies. Stop at a store on the way and get whatever you think we'll need to last a few days. Once we're safely hidden away, we'll plan our strategy."
"I'll follow your instructions." Elizabeth threw her arms around him, hugging him fiercely. "I'll meet you as soon as I can."
Reece pulled out of her embrace. "I've got to go, Lizzie." He threw his bag over his shoulder, opened the door and walked outside.
"Please be careful." She stood in the doorway, watching him get into the Jeep and drive away.
Elizabeth closed the motel door behind her, walked out to Sam's vintage T-Bird and put her bag in the trunk. She glanced toward the office, near the main entrance to the motel. Four sheriff's vehicles screeched into the driveway. A man she assumed was the sheriff emerged from the first car and went inside the office. Elizabeth got into her car and drove around toward the office, parking and waiting until the sheriff came out and walked around to the car directly behind him. Elizabeth was too far away to hear what was being said, but she knew they were discussing Reece. She sensed the high tension, the raised level of adrenaline in the officers forming the search party.
She kept hearing the words murderer, Landry, own father, dead, or alive tumbling around in her mind, and knew the officers were intent on capturing Reece at any cost.
The sheriff led the pack as they pulled up outside room nineteen, several men emerging from their vehicles, their guns pulled, as the sheriff lifted his bullhorn and called for Reece Landry to surrender.
Elizabeth's mouth felt dry, her hands damp. Her stomach twisted into knots. Hatred. The sheriff's deputies hated Reece Landry. They hated him not only because he had escaped but because they thought of him as a bad seed, a man capable of murdering his own father.
Clasping the key to number nineteen in her moist hand, Elizabeth marched into the office. The woman behind the desk glanced up at her.
"You checking out, sugar?" the six-foot redhead asked.
"Are you Flossie?" Elizabeth stared at the woman whose striking burgundy red hair had been draped into a French twist.
Flossie eyed Elizabeth, raising her black-lined, thinly tweezed eyebrows. "Yeah, sugar, I'm Flossie."
"Then, yes, I'm checking out." Elizabeth laid the key on the counter and waited for a response from Flossie.
Flossie picked up the key, then dropped it into the waste-basket under the counter. "What's your name?"
"Elizabeth."
"Elizabeth, huh? Well, has our friend left yet?"
"Only a few minutes ago." Elizabeth looked at Flossie, wondering if she dared trust her.
"Are you in a hurry or you got time for a cup of coffee?" Flossie nodded toward the coffee machine sitting at the end of the counter. "Might be a good idea for us to talk, and you could wait around and see what happens when Sheriff Bates finds out his man has slipped through his fingers."
"Luanne saw me last night," Elizabeth said.
"Well, we'll just skip the coffee, but I don't think you have to worry about Luanne telling the sheriff much about you. I don't know what you said or did to her last night, but you convinced her you were a witch. She won't tell anybody but me because she's afraid they'll think she's crazy." Flossie's wide red lips spread into a big grin.
"Thanks for everything, Flossie."
"You'd best be leaving, sugar."
Elizabeth reached out across the counter, taking Flossie's age-spotted, ring-adorned hand into hers. The two women exchanged knowing glances.
I've got to help this girl get away. She's important to Reece, and that's a first. Maybe she'll stand by him and he'll get himself out of this mess. Sensing Flossie's thoughts, Elizabeth breathed a sigh of relief.
"You know he's on his way to the Burtons' summer house by the lake. I need directions so I can go to him after I pick up some supplies."
Flossie looked past Elizabeth, out the glass front of the office. "They're busting in room nineteen right now."
Turning her head, Elizabeth watched as the deputies broke down the door and stormed inside.
"Tell me how to get to Spruce Pine, to the summer house."
"Take Highway 40 until you get to Midget Creek. There's a four-way stop. Take a left and keep going until you see a sign that says Oden's Bait and Tackle Shop. About a mile past Oden's is a turnoff on the right. Take it and stay on that gravel road until it forks in two different directions. Take another right. It'll turn into a dirt road before you reach the cottage. The house is pretty well hidden in a grove of trees."
"I'll find it. Thanks."
Flossie came out from behind the counter, sizing up Elizabeth. "I hope you love that boy, sugar. I hope to God you love him, 'cause if ever a man needed to be loved, Reece Landry does."
Did she love him? Elizabeth asked herself. Did she? She cared about him, longed to be with him, was willing to suffer going out into the world to help him, was taking a chance on being arrested for aiding and abetting a criminal.
"I care about him. I care a great deal." Elizabeth rushed outside into the cold morning air. Glancing toward room nineteen, she saw the sheriff and other officers standing around in a circle, discussing Reece Landry's second escape.
She slipped into the T-Bird, started the engine and drove out onto the highway. Within five minutes she turned onto Highway 40 and began looking for a minimart of some kind, one that had a pay telephone. About two miles up the road she pulled off at Joe's Market, asked the attendant at the full-service pump to fill the T-Bird and went inside to shop for supplies. Only a few customers wandered around, most of them people who'd stopped for gas. Elizabeth filled a hand basket with sandwich fixings, canned soups, milk and cereal and coffee, along with assorted items she thought they could use. She placed the basket on the checkout counter, then retrieved a six-pack of beer and a six-pack of cola from the wall cooler.
The middle-aged woman at the checkout counter smiled as she added up Elizabeth's purchases. "You new in town or just passing through?"
"Just passing through right now, on my way to meet a friend." When Elizabeth heard the bell hanging above the door tinkle, she turned to see a highway patrolman entering.
"Hey, there, Pete," the checker said. "Are you here for your regular?"
"Just coffee right now, Carolyn." The patrolman poured himself a cup from one of the two pots behind the counter, handed the checker the correct change and took a sip of the hot liquid. "I haven't got time for lunch. They've called an all-points bulletin for us to be on the lookout for Reece Landry. The night clerk over at the Sweet Rest thinks a customer who came in yesterday evening was this Landry guy."
"You mean he's here in Newell?" Carolyn rolled her big brown eyes heavenward. "Didn't know the man personally, but I can't imagine anybody in his shoes being fool enough to come back here, knowing he'd be recognized."
"Well, whoever this Mr. Jones was that spent the night in room nineteen, he got away this morning, and so did the woman who spent the night with him."
Carolyn grinned at Pete while she continued checking Elizabeth's groceries. "Yeah, well, I heard that Landry had a way with the ladies. Good-looking guy...uh...from what I could tell from his pictures in the paper. I remember something coming out during the trial that Kenny Stanton's wife said Landry was after her hot and heavy."
"Kenny Stanton's wife is a real looker. Can't blame Landry for giving it a try." Pete laughed, tipped his hat to Carolyn and Elizabeth, then walked toward the door, his disposable coffee cup in his hand.
"Do y'all know who the woman was with Landry?" Carolyn called out just as Pete opened the door.
"Got no idea, and the only description is sketchy. A brunette." "Probably some hooker, if he was at the Sweet Rest."
"Yeah, more than likely."
Elizabeth watched the patrolman get into his car and drive away. Turning to the checker, she forced a smile. "Is this Landry man in trouble with the law?" "Child, Reece Landry's been in trouble with the law all his life." Carolyn began sacking Elizabeth's groceries. "But he's an escaped convict now. He was convicted of murdering his own father, but he escaped on his way up to Arrendale less than a week ago."
"Why would he come back here?" Elizabeth picked up amusement in the woman's mind and heard words like framed and innocent and inheritance in her thoughts.
"I'd say he's a fool." Carolyn handed Elizabeth two sacks, then picked up the third. "I'll help you to your car with this one."
"
Thanks."
Carolyn followed Elizabeth toward the door. "Reece Landry claimed he was innocent, and a few folks around here believed him. He wasn't old B.K. Stanton's legitimate son, if you know what I mean."
Elizabeth opened the door. "Weren't there any other suspects?"
"Plenty, but the sheriff didn't follow through on anything once they arrested the man the Stanton family wanted out of the way." Carolyn followed Elizabeth to the T-Bird and handed her the third sack after Elizabeth placed the others on the back floorboard. "If you come through this way again, stop by."
"I'll do that." Elizabeth slid behind the wheel of Sam's antique T-Bird, turned and waved at Carolyn.
Her round cheeks rosy from the winter wind, Carolyn waved back as she curved her lips into a friendly smile. Elizabeth had the oddest sensation that Carolyn knew she was somehow connected to Reece Landry, and like Flossie, Carolyn hoped that Elizabeth truly cared about Reece.
Elizabeth drove the car to the edge of the parking area where a pay telephone was located. Glancing back toward the market, she saw that Carolyn had returned inside. Elizabeth rummaged in her purse for a quarter.
Dialing the operator, she gave Sam's phone number and asked that the charges be reversed. Within seconds Sam came on the line.
"Are you in Newell?" he asked.
"I'm at a minimarket outside town at a pay phone," Elizabeth told him.
"Where's Landry?"
"We're in separate cars. He's taken the Jeep on out to a summer house in Spruce Pine. He thinks it's a safe place to hide out while we're searching for the real murderer."
"Are you all right, Elizabeth?"
She smiled, knowing full well that Sam wanted to ask about his precious '65 Thunderbird. "I'm fine and so is your car. It could get muddy when I drive out to the cottage. The place is located on a dirt road."
"Give it up, kiddo, and go home. I promise I'll do everything I can to help Landry."
The Outcast tp-3 Page 12
