by Regan Black
He considered lying but thought there was already plenty of that in the mix. “Yes. When you left this morning, I saw you turn toward the store but then shortly after that, you reversed directions. I was intrigued.”
“You said you were going to take a shower.”
She’d been counting on the fact that he wouldn’t be at the window, watching the road. “I know. My name is Rico Metez. I own the cabin that you were staying in last night. So I know there was no mix-up on the rental. I think you’re in trouble, Laura.”
“How do you know my name?”
“Because when you were getting ready to leave, he—” he nodded his head toward the child “—called you Laura.”
He could read the dismay on her face. She’d been tripped up and hadn’t even realized it at the time. Perhaps because she didn’t pay attention to small details. Perhaps because her brain was going a mile a minute, trying to find a solution to whatever problem she was dealing with. “I’d like to help you,” he said.
“Why would you do that?” she asked.
“Because it’s what I do. I help people.”
“Modern-day Robin Hood?”
It was a rather apt descriptor. “Nothing so fancy. I own a security company.” He pulled a business card from his visor and tossed it to her. It had his picture and Wingman Security’s business address.
“Why would I trust you?” she asked.
“Because I think you need to trust somebody,” he said. “And I’m pretty sure I’m your best bet right now.”
He could tell she still wasn’t convinced. He looked into his rearview mirror. “And don’t look now, but that cop is headed our direction.”
She did look.
He hadn’t been lying. The cop car was approaching.
It she was on the up-and-up, it was the perfect opportunity for her to flag the officer down.
Instead she opened the back door on his four-door SUV and she and the child got in.
CHAPTER 4
Lucky was barking and acting like this was the best day ever. He thought the dog was about five seconds from vaulting into the back seat and licking Laura and the kid to death. “Settle down,” he told the dog, and got a look back that said, Don’t you get how exciting this is? We just picked up friends.
Laura wasn’t looking at him as if he was a friend. Her face was white and pinched, and he was pretty sure she wasn’t breathing.
“Nice day for the park,” Rico said. He glanced in his rearview mirror. “I’d feel better if you both buckled up before we take off. I’m sensitive lately to collision issues.”
Laura buckled the child into the middle seat and herself into the one on the passenger side. The kid said nothing but his eyes were very big.
“Do you crash frequently?” Laura asked. He could hear the tension in her voice.
“Well, never in a car yet,” Rico said. The cop was driving by. He turned his head slightly to look at Rico but didn’t seem to recognize him from their short conversation at the hotel. He gave the back seat occupants no attention.
He could almost see the air come out of Laura in relief.
“But that’s how I got my ankle injury. I mentioned that I was waterskiing. I fell because somebody almost crashed into the boat that was pulling me.”
“Accidentally?” she asked, maybe hearing something in his voice that he tried to hide but wasn’t always successful. The circumstances of the accident bothered him beyond the fact that it was a giant pain to have been hurt.
“You would hope so,” he said. But it had been all so damn odd. The approaching boat had changed course so drastically, so quickly, that the driver pulling him had had no choice but to jerk the wheel.
“Did they arrest the other driver?”
“No. Didn’t catch him.” If he’d have been driving the boat, the guy wouldn’t have gotten away. He’d tried to insist that the driver pursue the boat, but everybody had been too damn worried about him.
He’d wanted the idiot caught.
And had been so frustrated afterward when it seemed that nobody could agree on what color the boat was, what size or anything about the driver. There had been three people in his boat and he’d gotten three different versions of everything. As was generally the case, firsthand witnesses were not much help.
He, unfortunately, to his great irritation, hadn’t been much better. The sun had been in his eyes and he’d hit the water hard. But he was fairly confident the boat was red with a silver stripe, even though none of the other people in his boat agreed with him.
He eased out of the parking space.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
She sounded as if she was about ten seconds from throwing herself and the child out of the car. “Relax,” he said. “Back to your car.”
“Okay. Thank you,” she added.
“I want Ja-Ja,” the kid said.
“We’ll get her,” Laura assured.
“Ja-Ja?” Rico asked. Was there a child he’d somehow missed?
“Ja-Ja is a doll,” Laura said.
He supposed boys played with dolls. Why not? “So you took the long way to the store?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said. She shook her head in disgust. “Listen, I’m sorry I lied about renting the cabin. I drove a long way yesterday and, quite frankly, didn’t think I could get back into a car and drive any farther. And we really needed to have a good night’s rest.”
“How did you get the entry code?”
“I didn’t,” she said quickly. “The back door was open.”
He didn’t think so. It technically was possible. He had somebody who came in and cleaned the cabin and brought fresh linens between guests. They could have left the door unlocked. But he didn’t think it was a coincidence that she was driving a car that had been at one time registered to Melissa Trane, who had been providing care for Georgina.
“So you just happened to be driving through the mountains and decided to see if my particular cabin was unlocked?” he asked, poking at her a little more.
“It was the first one that I saw where there were no cars. I thought I’d take a chance. I got lucky.”
Right. It was time to get to the important stuff. “Are you his mother?”
She shook her head. “Caretaker.”
“Where are the parents?” he asked.
“Traveling. Asia.”
He was pretty sure she was lying. The explanations were succinct and coming easy. Made him think she’d practiced them.
He pulled into the lot of the hotel, near her car. “You said that you’d driven all day. Where from?”
“Tennessee.”
That was probably true, since the car was registered to somebody who lived in Nashville. “So you drove from Tennessee to Colorado because…” He let his voice drift off.
“I’ve always wanted to see these mountains.”
Okay, it was time to cut through the crap. He shut off his SUV and turned in his seat so that he could see her. “Why did you run when you saw the cop looking at your car?”
* * *
Since the minute she’d gotten into his SUV, she’d been expecting the question. And she’d read that the best lies were those that were closest to the truth. But Hannah couldn’t hear this particular explanation—it would confuse the poor child too much. So far the fact that they were referring to her as a he hadn’t registered, probably because the little girl was fascinated with the dog, but it was only a matter of time before she would pick up on that, too.
“I panicked,” she said.
“Why?”
She deliberately glanced at Hannah. “I’d be happy to tell you but it’s naptime right now. If you want to wait a few minutes, we can talk then.”
“Sure,” he said, as if he had nothing better to do. But she didn’t buy it. He’d followed her
for an hour. He was asking questions about her and Hannah’s relationship. She wasn’t going to be able to shake him, so she needed to give him an explanation that he’d believe.
She opened the door and got her and Hannah out. She didn’t look back as they walked up the stairs to their room. Once inside, she had the little girl go potty, washed her hands and face, and tucked her in, with Ja-Ja at her side. “Sleep tight,” she said, and kissed her on her nose.
Hannah was tired from the park and she didn’t even offer a token protest. Just stuck her thumb in her mouth and rolled onto her side. She was asleep in minutes.
When Laura opened the door, she saw that Rico was out of his SUV and sitting at the picnic table near the office area. His crutches were leaning against the table. Lucky was on a leash, sitting next to his right leg.
He’d seemed to buy the explanation that the cabin was open. There was no way that she was burning her friend Melissa. The woman needed her job more than ever since her husband had found somewhere new to take off his boots.
She closed the door and made sure it was locked. Then walked down the stairs and toward him, pretending that she had nothing to hide. She wrapped her arms around herself, thinking that it was much colder than it had been when she and Hannah had walked to the park. And the sun had disappeared behind the clouds.
“Already asleep?” he asked.
“Went down easy. Being outside and running around the park does that.” She sat across from him, where she could see her room.
He nodded. “Works the same for Lucky.”
She smiled. “I suppose it does.” She stared at her hands.
“I think you were just about to tell me why you ran when you saw the cop looking at your car.”
“It’s sort of a long story,” she said.
“I’ve got some time,” he said easily.
She pulled up her sleeve, showed him her elbow. Where her scar was still pretty fresh looking. “Six months ago I was running and I fell.” True. “I had to have surgery.” True. “I unfortunately developed an addiction to pain medication and after a while, my doctor wouldn’t prescribe any more.” True as well, just not her story. But she knew the details. Had confronted the patient about his addiction. “I broke into my friend’s house, because I knew she had some, and I stole them. She blamed her teenage stepson.”
She stopped. He said nothing.
“Because I’d gotten away with it once, I went back a second time. But she came home early and I got caught. I begged her not to call the police but she was so angry. I was arrested, ultimately posted bond, and I had a court date. But I…failed to appear in court. There’s a warrant out for my arrest. That’s why I don’t really want to do a meet and greet with the police.”
He studied her. “Where are you getting your pills from now?” he asked.
“The experience scared the hell out of me. I kicked the habit. It’s been a couple months now. It was a stupid thing to do and I felt like a fool. Before all this happened, my good friends had asked me if I could watch their child when they went to Asia on business. They don’t really have anybody else that they trust. I intend to go back to court, but I couldn’t risk doing it before their trip in case it would mess up my ability to babysit.”
“Failing to appear in court doesn’t endear you to the judge.”
“I know. And when they are back, I’m going to take care of it. I’m going to do the right thing.”
Right now she was doing the wrong thing for the right reasons.
He looked up at the sky. “Did you happen to check the weather before driving from Tennessee?”
She shook her head. There’d been no time for that.
“Are you familiar with Colorado weather?”
Again, a shake.
“Winter can come early. Almost every year, we’ll get an early snow in late October. Sometimes it’s just a couple inches and sometimes, like what we’re expecting now, it snows a couple feet.”
“Feet?” she repeated.
“Supposed to roll in within the next few hours. Trust me on this—you’re not going to want to be on the road.”
“We’re staying here for a couple days,” she said. “We’ll be fine.”
“You got a stove and refrigerator in your room?” he asked.
“No. But there’s a restaurant close by.”
“If they’re open. It’s going to be blizzard conditions. Not great for taking out a child. Not that I’m trying to scare you or anything, but I wouldn’t want you to be caught unaware.”
Well, she’d stepped in a pile of it, as her dad would have said. And then he’d have helped her find a solution. But he and Mom weren’t here anymore. Robbed, absolutely robbed of their lives, by a drunk. And she’d lost not just her parents; their deaths had been the divide that had separated her and her brother for so many years.
Hannah didn’t have boots or a winter coat. She had a fall jacket, but that likely wasn’t going to cut it. She needed to find a store, get the right clothes for both of them and get some food in case they couldn’t leave the room.
The idea of staying in that hotel room was a bleak one, but it beat being on the road. The mountain passes were scary enough on dry roads on a clear day.
“I appreciate the heads-up,” she said. “And…and I’m hoping that you don’t feel compelled to report me to the police. I know you don’t have any reason to feel kindly toward me. After all, I shouldn’t have slept at your cabin. I should have immediately told you the truth. But I did leave as soon as I could. I intended to get and stay out of your hair.”
“I’m not interested in turning you in. There’s no reward, right?”
It took her a minute to realize that he was teasing. “I’m pretty sure there isn’t. But thank you. Again.” It seemed she’d stumbled upon a really nice guy. “Do you happen to know this town? Is there an area where I can find a few stores?”
“You passed them on the way in,” he said.
She felt her face heat up. “Great.” She stood. “I should get back up to the room. It was a…pleasure to meet you, Rico.” It was true. Bad circumstances and all, but he’d been very decent.
She got about two steps before he said, “I think you should come back to the cabin.”
She turned. “What?”
“It’s going to be a hell of a storm with heavy snow and high winds. Very possible that the hotel will lose electricity. If that happens at the cabin, I’ve got a backup generator and a big fireplace.”
It sounded…safe. But what was he getting out of the deal? Just because he seemed decent, it didn’t mean he wasn’t a serial killer. But wouldn’t he have killed them the first night?
Ridiculous question. Ridiculous idea to go back. ‘I can see where that might be a good deal for me, but I’m unclear as to why you’d make the offer.”
He shrugged. “Like I said earlier, I like doing things for people when they need a hand. And with my ankle, I’m not all that crazy about being at the cabin by myself in this kind of storm. If something happens, it would be good to have another adult there, somebody who could carry wood inside, shovel snow, scrape ice off windows or any number of things that might be hard for me to do in bad weather.”
It made sense. After she’d injured her elbow, she’d been terrified that she’d do something to reinjure it before it was fully healed. It had been such an unexpected reaction. But good came out of most things, and she’d come out of the injury with a better understanding of why some patients were reluctant to push themselves in therapy. Had realized that it wasn’t laziness but rather fear.
“How long are you going to be staying at the cabin?” she asked.
“Couple weeks.”
That would be so wonderful. Time to pull together a plan. “I could pay you something,” she said.
“No need. You can buy a few groceries if it makes you feel b
etter.”
She’d be saving all the money that she’d spend on the hotel. “May I borrow your phone?” she asked.
If he was surprised by the request, he didn’t show it. Simply handed it to her. She opened the browser. Typed in Wingman Security. Quickly read the home page. Personal and property security. Discreet. Trusted. Recommended. All the keywords jumped out at her. She went to the bio tab.
There he was. Rico Metez. Former air force communications specialist.
He was what he’d said he was. He’d been polite, helpful, and he had a valid reason to be offering up a room in his cabin. She was going to have to take the chance.
“I’d really love to,” she said. But it was going to be impossible to continue the subterfuge about Hannah being a boy. “I have another confession,” she said. “I think I should tell you now so that you don’t think I keep springing these things on you. Hannah, that’s her name, isn’t a little boy. She’s a girl.”
He didn’t look too surprised.
“You knew?” she asked.
“I thought,” he clarified.
“I was worried that once you found out that we were in the cabin without permission, that you might call the police. You’d have sent them looking for a woman with a little boy, not a little girl. That would have given me a small advantage.”
“I could have easily described your car,” he said. “It’s unusual.”
Yes, she really wished Clovis Trane drove a tan Chevy. But that likely wouldn’t have been in storage and immediately available. Everything was a trade-off. “You’re right. I didn’t think of that. I guess I’m not all that skilled at this.”
He looked at his watch. “I hate to wake Hannah in the middle of her nap, but we should probably get going if we’re going to stop at the store first and then head back.”
“She’ll go back to sleep once we’re in the car,” she said. “It will take me just a minute to pack and then I need to stop by the hotel office.” She’d paid for three nights plus the security deposit. The woman could legitimately charge her for one night, since the room would have to be cleaned after them, but that still meant that she was due a healthy refund. A refund she was likely to need down the road. “Be right back.”
