by Violet Howe
We’d been listening via Bluetooth through the car’s stereo system, and I turned the phone back off and shoved it in my purse.
“The sand means he’ll see me soon. I had a small hourglass on the bookshelves in my house in Chicago. It was, um, a thing between us. When I would leave the station to head home at night, I’d tell him to start the sand as a visual reminder that I’d see him soon. A countdown, of sorts.”
“How long would that be? The countdown? How long did it take you to get home from work?”
“Right at an hour.”
He leaned forward to cross his arms across the top of the steering wheel.
“All right, so if I’m right about him flying to Ocala from the Chicago area, that should be a little more than two hours flight time, which fits the timetable if he called you the first time before he took off and the second time mid-air.”
“If that’s the case, he’d be landing in roughly forty-five minutes, right?”
“Give or take.” Seth sat up straighter, tapping his index fingers against the steering wheel as he mulled over everything. “You told him you don’t want to talk to him and you don’t want to see him, but he’s obviously holding out hope that you’ll change your mind. He has to assume you might turn him in, so it’s not likely he’d leave a message of where he’s going to be. He’d rather you give him a location and then he can send his people to you and have them check out the situation. They’ll either give you further instruction or bring you to him.”
“You say this like I’m actually going. I’m not, right? You won’t make me go meet him just to catch him, will you?”
His sideways glance made me fear he had considered it, but then he grabbed my hand and pulled it to his lips, squeezing it tight against his mouth as he shook his head. “No. I would never put you in that situation. I’d never risk your life like that.”
Any relief I might have felt was overtaken by anxiety about what would happen instead.
“Then what do we do? What’s the grand plan?”
“I can’t imagine this guy would fly right into Ocala’s regional airport. That’s way too easy to trace and to intercept. More than likely, he’ll land on someone’s private airstrip. The Ocala area has plenty of those.”
“How will we know where he’s going to land?”
“Let me call Tristan and update him with what we have. I’d like to find Victor in the air and track him on the way down. Have the handcuffs waiting for him.”
“What if he knows I made that happen?” I asked, the fear rising in my throat like hot bile. “What if he retaliates against me?”
“If he’s no longer in federal custody, then some kind of alarm has to have been raised. If we can apprehend him when he lands, then there’s no way for him to tie that to you.”
“But if I don’t call him back…”
“Hey, don’t go down that path, okay? Stay focused. Right now, we need to find out where Victor is.”
He picked up his phone to dial Tristan, and I leaned forward to put my head between my knees as the world began to spin and turn black around the edges.
Eight
Though I could only hear one side of the conversation, Tristan obviously already knew the most pertinent facts of our situation. Seth must have told him when they talked while I was in the service station restroom earlier.
While I understood why he did it, I still felt betrayed that he had.
“Why ask my permission to involve him if you knew you’d already done so?” I asked Seth once he’d ended their call.
“I involved him when I asked him to check on your family. You gave me permission to do that.”
“Yes, but I also told you I can’t trust anyone in law enforcement right now, and I can’t risk the Mafia thinking I went to the cops.”
He looked over at me with a sigh. “You trust me, don’t you?”
“Of course.”
“Okay, then you know that I wouldn’t do anything to put you in danger. Once you told me who we were running from, I needed an extra set of eyes and ears. I can’t just keep driving in circles and hope they never find us. If I’m gonna keep you safe, I need someone actively looking for Victor while we’re hiding from him.”
“And you trust Tristan?”
“I do,” he said, glancing over at me and then back at the road. “With my life. And yours.”
Tristan hadn’t grown up in Cedar Creek, so I only knew him through my friend and business partner Sloane, who was engaged to him. She trusted him, and I trusted her. Seth trusted him, and I trusted Seth. So, I suppose the next logical step was for me to trust Tristan. It wasn’t like I had a choice at this point.
“He knows to be discreet, right? He knows not to tell anyone else, right? You warned him that—”
“Tristan knows, okay?”
I gave a quick nod and set aside that concern for a much larger one.
“Did he find out anything about Victor?”
Seth frowned. “There’s been no report of him escaping.”
“But he said he’d see me. I don’t understand. You’re saying he’s still in prison? Then, I’m safe, right?”
“Not exactly,” Seth said, his frown deepening. “Just because it hasn’t been reported doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened. If Victor’s associates wanted him out badly enough, they could have paid for silence to buy him time to reach his destination.”
If no one knew Victor had escaped, then no one was searching for him. And that meant not only was I still in danger, but there was no cavalry on its way to catch the bad guy. My fears accelerated, and I picked my feet up into the seat and wrapped my arms around my knees in an effort to comfort myself.
“What do we do now?”
Seth reached to rub his hand across my knee with a light squeeze.
“We’re gonna find a place to stop and get some rest.”
“What?” My voice shot up an octave in my panic, and my feet slammed back down to the floor. “You’re stopping? Are you crazy? I thought we needed to keep moving.”
“That was when we thought someone was chasing us. We’ve driven in every circle and detour I can take us on with no sign of anyone on our tail. Victor told you to head north, right? We’re an hour south of Cedar Creek instead, roughly two hours from where he thinks you’ll be. That buys us a little time to find him and being in one place makes it easier for me to get backup if we need it.”
It made sense, and I knew Seth wouldn’t take unnecessary chances, but the prospect of sitting and waiting felt more scary than being on the move somehow.
That prospect got even worse when Seth pulled into the parking lot of a one-story budget motel long past its prime.
“Whoa. Seriously?” I leaned forward to get a closer look and wished I hadn’t. “They’re bound to have nicer places if you keep driving a little farther.”
He grinned at my obvious disgust.
“Hey, it’s not like we’re checking in for a vacation, okay? I want to be able to park the car right in front of the room so I can see the parking lot and get in and out quickly if we need to. If you’ll notice, there are several bars surrounding this place, including one attached to the lobby. That gives us people moving around for the next couple of hours, and that’s a good thing. We want witnesses. We don’t want to be any place that’s deserted or where everyone around us is sleeping soundly.”
I frowned at the strains of music coming from the bar as Seth cut off the engine. “Yeah, I don’t think anyone is sleeping soundly here, that’s for sure. But I thought we were stopping because you don’t think anyone’s following us and you don’t expect Victor to know where we are. Why can’t we stay some place nicer?”
“What if I’m wrong? Would he look for you someplace like this?” He arched an eyebrow, and his grin widened. I didn’t even have to answer. He already knew.
Seth used his name and credit card for the room to keep me from being attached to it, and as I waited for him to get the key, I wandered over towards the cased opening that led into
the bar. A smoky haze hovered inside the dark room, which was crowded and boisterous. I found it hard to believe that a couple of hours ago, I’d been like these people—kicking back with a drink to let off steam on a Friday night.
Now, I was running for my life from the Mafia, hiding from my escaped gangster ex-husband, and checking into a questionable hotel with the same guy I’d given my virginity to way back in high school.
If all that wasn’t deserving of a drink, I didn’t know what was.
“Ready?” Seth asked as he came to my side. “I was able to get a first-floor room relatively close to the lobby, hopefully far enough away that we don’t hear this music but close enough that we could be seen by witnesses if we need to be.”
I looped my arm through his and smiled. “You wanna get a drink? My treat. It’s the least I can do.”
He scanned the bar and frowned. “I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. We should probably head back to the room and settle in. I need to let Tristan know where we are and see if he has any update on Victor.”
“C’mon. One drink. What is one drink gonna hurt? No one followed us here, and Victor has no idea where we are. This seems to be the only entrance, so you’ll be able to see anyone who comes in. Besides, you said witnesses are good. This place is full of witnesses. Wouldn’t we be safer here than in the room all by ourselves?”
His frown didn’t disappear, but he took another look at the room, which told me he was considering my suggestion.
“Please?” I asked, squeezing his arm. “The last couple of hours have been so stressful, and I just want to forget all that for a little bit. Have one drink with me, and then we’ll go to our crappy little room and hide until the good guys catch the bad guys and it’s safe to go home again.”
Even as I said it, I knew there were no guarantees it would happen. If Victor couldn’t be found, and we couldn’t verify whether my life was in danger from another source, then it wouldn’t be safe to go home. Not tonight, and maybe not ever.
My face must have revealed the turmoil of my inner thoughts, because Seth reached to stroke his knuckles across my cheek, and then he tucked his thumb under my chin. “Would your smile come back if we had one drink?”
I nodded, forcing my face into a grin to reassure him as he took my hand and led me inside the bar.
We found a hi-top cocktail table with an unobstructed view of the entrance, and we had just settled onto the stools when a waitress stopped and took our drink orders.
As if the night didn’t already feel surreal enough with me sitting on a barstool next to Seth, the next song the DJ in the corner played was an old Dixie Chicks hit that had been our song back in the day.
He looked at me and grinned, and I laughed.
“What are the chances?” he asked, shaking his head in disbelief.
“Well? What do you say, cowboy? You gonna take me away to the dance floor for old times’ sake?”
His eyes held mine, and it was as though I could see straight through them and into his mind as he debated all the reasons he shouldn’t.
Certain he was about to refuse, I’d already prepared myself for the rejection, but then he stood and took my hand to pull me onto the dance floor.
I wrapped my arms around his neck as his arms encircled my waist, and we swayed back and forth to the music of our past, the lyrics tangled with the memories of young love and the promises we’d made and been unable to keep.
Seth’s eyes never left mine as our bodies slowly inched closer together, and when there was no space left between us, he bent his forehead to mine with a soft swear beneath his breath.
“What?” I asked, even though I worried I might not want to know.
He squeezed his arms tighter around me, pulling me in even closer somehow. “It feels so good to hold you again, and yet, at the same time…”
I waited for his words to come, waited for him to say any one of the reasons that it wasn’t a good idea for me to be in his arms, and I knew no matter which one he picked, I wouldn’t be able to argue. I was no good for Seth. I hadn’t been then, and I surely wasn’t now.
But he didn’t finish his thought. He just sighed, running his hand up my back as he pressed his lips to my temple and then rested his cheek against my hair. He held me so tightly that it was hard to breathe, but I didn’t care about oxygen. I clung to him, savoring every second and fearing that when the song ended, we would part and never find our way back to a moment like this again.
“It damned near killed me when you left,” he whispered near my ear as the last notes of the song played out. “I wanted to go after you so badly, but I knew my family needed me here, and I guess I thought you’d come back. That maybe you needed me too, but you never did.”
I pulled back to look up at him, desperate to see his eyes, but then recoiling from the raw pain I found there.
“Seth, I did need you. More than you know. I was just too damned stubborn to admit it. I never should have made you choose like that. It was selfish and unfair, and I’m sorry.”
The song had ended, and though another had begun, we stood motionless in the middle of the dance floor, still holding each other.
“I thought I was over you,” he said, his voice hoarse with emotion. “When I heard you’d moved back to town, I thought it would be fine. I figured we’d see each other around, and we could be cordial—friendly even—and I’d be okay. But then you seemed so angry at me when I saw you, and—”
“It wasn’t you, Seth; it was me. I was angry with myself for all the mistakes I’ve made, and I was scared of what I would feel being around you. I know that sounds ridiculous after I was the one who left and all the time that’s passed—”
“Hell, it’s like no time has passed at all. Having you in my arms again, I know why no one else has ever worked out. I meant it when I said you took my heart when you left, and I’ve never gotten it back. It’s always been yours. I’m scared it always will be.”
Another couple bumped into us as they spun in time to the music, and it brought Seth’s attention back to our present situation. His body stiffened as his eyes scanned the room, and though I clung tighter, he pulled away.
“We should get to the room and get out of sight,” he said, his voice gruff. The tenderness and vulnerability were gone.
The waitress had just arrived with our drinks as we reached the table, and I reached into my purse to pay, but Seth shook his head and pulled money from his pocket to give her. I turned the glass of whiskey up and drained it, wincing at the burn in my throat as Seth grabbed my hand again and began to walk towards the door.
“Wait, Seth, what about your beer? You didn’t even touch it.”
“I don’t need to be any more distracted than I already am.”
He pulled me through the crowd without once looking back, and I yanked on his arm to stop him when we reached the lobby.
“What’s wrong?”
“We need to keep moving.”
I fell in step beside him but wasn’t willing to let it go.
“Fine, but can you please tell me why you’re angry?”
He reached his arm across my torso and gently pushed me behind him as he stepped up to the double glass doors, peering out toward the parking lot.
Evidently satisfied there was no danger, he stepped outside, and we walked at a rapid pace down the sidewalk with Seth turning left and right constantly to watch in all directions.
His heightened sense of awareness alarmed me and reminded me of the reason we were there. While we were dancing, it had been so easy to forget that people were after me. For the length of the song, it had been like my life was back to normal, and I’d never screwed up and married the mob.
When we arrived at our room, I was surprised to see Seth pull out an actual key.
“Wow. Do all motels still use real keys instead of key cards you swipe?”
He shrugged as he slid the key into the lock. “I don’t know. I can’t tell you the last time I checked into a motel.”
After unlocking the door and checking the room with his pistol drawn, Seth motioned for me to come inside, and then he shut the door and slid the deadbolt in place.
The hotel’s interior had been redone more recently than its exterior, and it wasn’t as bad as I’d feared. There were two queen beds with gold and green striped comforters that seemed fairly new. The nightstand between them held a telephone and a lamp with charging ports on either side of its base. A single dresser sat across from the beds. It had a flatscreen television on top of it, and a mini refrigerator on the floor beside it.
I sat on one of the beds as Seth pulled the gold and green striped drapes shut and moved the gold armchair from the corner and placed it in front of the door, lodging it beneath the knob.
“Are you ever going to tell me why you got so mad back there?”
He turned and stared at me with his hands on his hips, his lips in a grim line and his brow furrowed.
“I’m not mad, D. Well, not at you, at least. Myself, for sure. I let my guard down, and I can’t afford to do that.”
For a moment, I wasn’t sure if he meant he’d let it down with his feelings for me or with our current dire situation, but his next sentence clarified things.
“I could get us both killed if I don’t keep my head in the game.”
The fear that had returned when we were outside began to ramp up, and my heart started racing again.
“I thought you said we should be safe. Victor doesn’t know where we are, and since no one was following us, they don’t have a way to find us, right?”
“Until we know where he is and that he can’t get to you, we need to stay alert.” He came and sat on the bed beside me, reaching to tuck my hair behind my ear and brush it back off my shoulder. “I’m sorry, okay?” He took my hand and intertwined our fingers. “I won’t let myself get distracted again.”
I hesitated before nodding. While I certainly didn’t want either of us harmed, I also wouldn’t mind him being distracted if it meant he would hold me.
He squeezed my hand before releasing it. “Why don’t you try to get some sleep?”
