Undercurrents

by Traci Hunter Abramson

  Chapter Eighteen

  The heavy curtains covering the windows made it impossible to tell if it was morning or night. Closing her eyes, Shaye tried to analyze her situation. She knew she could not return to Royal now that her cover had been blown. In general, Virginia was likely not the safest place for her.

  The airline ticket to Vermont was in her backpack, but she worried about using it since Pratt had been shot. With limited money and hardly any clothes, Shaye’s options were not looking promising.

  She jumped when Matt’s form filled her bedroom doorway.

  “It’s just me,” Matt whispered softly, not crossing the threshold into her bedroom.

  Shaye rolled over and looked at him. He looked just the same as when she had woken up to him on his parents’ couch. His hair was tousled and he needed a shave, but there was warmth in his piercing blue eyes.

  “What time is it?” Shaye asked.

  Matt glanced down at his watch. “Almost ten.”

  “I can’t believe I slept so late.”

  “You had a pretty rough day yesterday.”

  “Now what are we going to do?” Shaye searched his eyes, hoping he had more answers than she did.

  “I think we should go to my house and let my father call in some favors with the Secret Service,” Matt suggested. “If Pratt gets better soon, you should be able to get instructions from him.”

  “I still think your house is too risky.” Shaye shook her head. “Way too high-profile.”

  “Shaye, no one knows you’re with me,” Matt reminded her. “In fact, everyone thinks we aren’t speaking to each other.”

  “What about the display in the fine arts building?” Shaye asked. “It connects you to me.”

  “It was taken down yesterday,” Matt told her. “All of my sketches are being photographed before being sent to the Rease Foundation for final consideration.”

  “You realize that you can’t submit those sketches,” Shaye said softly.

  “I know.” Regret was on the edges of his voice. “Actually, I can still submit the first one I ever drew of you.”

  “The one where my face is hidden?” Shaye asked.

  “Yeah.” Matt never expected his first artistic success to be so complicated.

  “When did you find time to draw them?” Shaye climbed out of bed and joined him in the living area.

  “I drew the first one before I ever met you,” Matt admitted, sitting down on the couch with her.

  “What?”

  “I saw you coming out of the aquatics center one day. Something about you intrigued me, even then,” Matt told her. “I drew the rest after we went to the football game together that first time.”

  “But they were so detailed. How could you remember so well what I looked like after only one date?” Shaye asked, fascinated.

  “Let’s just say that you’re very memorable.” Matt leaned over and kissed her.

  A shiver went through Shaye’s body from Matt’s kiss, and tears welled up in her eyes as she realized that relocation would mean losing Matt again.

  “Shaye, everything will work out,” Matt insisted as though he had read her thoughts. “Trust me.”

  Shaye sighed. “At the moment, you’re the only person I do trust.”

  Matt got up and walked toward the doorway to the bathroom. “I’m going to shower, then get us some breakfast.”

  Shaye nodded, watching Matt disappear into the bathroom. She flipped on the morning news, listening to it as she emptied the contents of her backpack onto the bed. She hung out her swimsuit and towel over the back of a chair so they could finish drying. She had her goggles, a pair of sweats, her razor, deodorant, shampoo, an extra pair of underwear, her stuffed dolphin, her airline ticket, and her wallet.

  Picking up her wallet, Shaye sat down at the table. She separated the contents of her wallet into what was usable and what wasn’t. In the unusable pile went her credit cards and her checkbook, since they could be easily traced. In the usable pile was cash totaling fifty-five dollars, two generic prepaid phone cards, and a book of

  postage stamps.

  Without the use of her credit card, Shaye knew she couldn’t get very far on what she had. Once she had finished her inventory, she put everything back into her wallet and started filling her backpack.

  Matt emerged out of the bathroom clean shaven and wearing jeans and a T-shirt. With a towel in one hand, he tried to dry his hair. Glancing at the TV, he asked, “Have you seen anything on the news?”

  Shaye shook her head.

  “I’m going to go out and get us some breakfast.” Matt pulled a sweatshirt over his head. “I’m starving.”

  “Me too,” Shaye admitted, watching him put on his shoes and socks.

  Matt leaned over and kissed Shaye’s cheek. “I’ll be back in a few minutes.”

  After he left, Shaye took her backpack with her into the bathroom so she could shower and change. She had just finished getting dressed when she heard the door to the suite open.

  “Shaye,” Matt’s voice called out. “Breakfast is ready.”

  Wearing her sweats, Shaye came out of the bathroom to find Matt standing next to the table pulling food out of a grocery bag. “I hope blueberry is okay.”

  Shaye smiled as Matt handed her a muffin. “Thanks.”

  “I thought I would call my dad from here and explain everything to him,” Matt told her. “That way the Secret Service will be there by the time we get to my house.”

  “I really don’t know about this.” Shaye shook her head. “I still think it’s too risky.”

  “Let me help you,” Matt insisted, taking her hand in his. “I can’t just turn you loose somewhere not knowing if you’re okay.”

  “But what about your family?” Shaye asked seriously. “I don’t have the right to put all of you in danger.”

  “Let me at least see what my dad recommends,” Matt suggested. “If he thinks my house is safe, then you can hide out there until you can get in touch with Doug.”

  “All right.” Shaye sighed, knowing her options were currently very limited.

  Matt called his dad and briefly explained the situation. Without going into much detail, he told his father that Shaye was in danger and needed protection. Jim readily agreed to pull in some favors and insisted that they come to the house right away.

  After they finished eating, Matt made one last check around the hotel suite to make sure they hadn’t forgotten anything. He handed Shaye the grocery bag, which had blueberry muffins and granola bars inside along with his keys. “Can you take this out to the car? I’ll meet you there after I check out.”

  Shaye nodded, zipping her wallet into her backpack. She glanced inside the bag and put the contents into her backpack, then looked around the room one last time and went outside to Matt’s car.

  He arrived outside a minute later, and they were quickly on their way. Using his knowledge of Virginia’s back roads, Matt avoided the main freeways. The trip would take longer, but he was certain no one would be able to find them on the numerous two-lane highways. If all went well, Matt was certain he could have Shaye safely to his house within three hours.

  * * *

  The red convertible was hardly inconspicuous, but sometimes that could be a good thing. After all, he was hardly going to hide his identity when he appeared to help Christal Jones, or Shaye Kendall, as she was calling herself now. Absently, he waved at the parking attendant as he pulled onto K Street. In the distance, the top of the Washington Monument was fading into the low-lying clouds.

  Drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, he went over the plan in his head. It was simple, really. Pride demanded that he succeed where his employees had failed. Once and for all, he would eliminate the problem this young woman posed to his organization. He would also go a step further than what he had required of his employees. He would tap her knowledge and recover the diamonds that the troublesome cop had confiscated from him. Ten million dollars was hardly a large sum to him, but it w
as the principle of the matter—Christal Jones had embarrassed him and cost him two of his best men. For this she would pay with her life.

  The car bomb should have adequately disposed of the problem, yet this girl had somehow eluded his trap. He planned on making sure it didn’t happen again.

  * * *

  Shaye and Matt slipped inside before Jim and Katherine even knew they had arrived. They were barely through the door when Matt’s parents came rushing downstairs.

  “I’m so glad you’re here.” Katherine hugged Matt and then Shaye. “We’ve been so worried.”

  “We’re fine, Mom,” Matt assured her, then looked over at his dad. “I thought the Secret Service would be here by now.”

  “I thought they would be too,” Jim told him.

  “Maybe you should call Chris again and see what’s keeping them,” Katherine suggested.

  “Chris?” Shaye looked at Jim.

  Jim nodded. “Judge Rush. He has a lot of friends over at Secret Service, so I asked him to set everything up.”

  Shaye stepped back as suddenly everything clicked into place. She felt the color draining from her face as Chase’s last words came to her mind. Chris . . . Rush . . . Don’t let him find you!

  “There he is now.” Jim glanced out the window at the red Mercedes just pulling up. He looked over to where Shaye had been standing. “Where did she go?”

  Matt and Katherine also turned around, but Shaye was nowhere in sight. Before they had a chance to recover, the doorbell rang.

  Straightening his shoulders, Jim walked into the entryway and opened the door. “Chris, I didn’t expect you to come out here

  yourself.”

  Judge Rush walked in the door, glancing at Matt and Katherine. “I didn’t think it would be a good idea to arouse suspicion. I called a friend of mine at the FBI, and he told me to take Matt’s friend to a safe house where they can assure her safety.”

  “Come on in and sit down,” Jim offered. Once they were all seated in the living room, he continued, “I’m afraid Shaye must have gotten scared on the way here. When Matt stopped for gas, she took off.”

  “She ran away?” Judge Rush’s jaw tightened.

  Matt instinctively played along. “She was afraid of coming here. She said it was too high-profile and she didn’t want to risk putting any of us in danger.”

  “Do you have any idea where she went?” Judge Rush asked in an even voice.

  “I think she must have hitched a ride with one of the truckers at the gas station.” Matt hung his head, discouraged. “I looked everywhere for her, but I couldn’t find any trace of her.”

  “Where was the gas station you stopped at?”

  “Centerville,” Matt answered. “The truck stop right off of the freeway exit.”

  “She could be hiding anywhere by now.” Rush shook his head. “I’ll give the FBI a call and fill them in. Let me know if you hear from her.”

  “We will.” Jim stood up. “Thank you for your help, even though it didn’t turn out the way we wanted.”

  Judge Rush nodded and allowed Jim to escort him to the door. Before leaving, he turned and said, “I think I should send a couple of men out here to keep an eye on your place, just to be safe.”

  “Thank you for the offer, but we’ll be fine,” Jim insisted.

  “Let me know if you change your mind.” Judge Rush turned and walked out to his car, scanning the yard on his way. He took his time before finally getting into his car and driving away.

  As soon as he was out of sight, Katherine turned to Jim. “Why did you say she wasn’t here?”

  “If the FBI wanted to put Shaye in a safe house, they would have sent one of their agents over here,” Jim told her.

  “You think he lied to us?” Katherine’s eyes widened.

  Jim shrugged. “Come on. Let’s see if we can find her.”

  Frantically, Matt and Katherine began searching the house, finding no indication that Shaye had ever been there. Matt was heading outside when his father stopped him.

  “I think you’d better tell us what you know, Matt,” Jim urged. “That’s the only way I can help.”

  “Dad, I’ve got to find her first,” Matt replied tensely.

  “If anyone is out there watching, you’ll only confirm that she’s been here if you start looking around,” Jim reminded him. He motioned for Matt to sit at the kitchen table with him.

  Reluctantly, Matt sat down, his expression weary. He repeated to his father the story Shaye had told him the night before.

  “Did Shaye tell you anything that might help us find her?” Jim asked when he was done.

  Matt shrugged. “We tried calling her contact with the FBI, Agent Pratt, but he’s in a hospital in Albuquerque. Shaye said the only way the FBI can get in touch with her is through the cell phone she carries.”

  “Do you have the number?” Jim asked anxiously.

  Matt shook his head. “She also mentioned another guy at the FBI, Doug Valdez. When she tried calling him yesterday, she said he wasn’t answering either.”

  “I’ll try the FBI headquarters and see if I can get in touch with him.” Jim picked up the phone. “Anything else?”

  “Not that I can think of,” Matt said, discouraged. “I’m going to go up to the barn to see if she went up there.”

  Jim hesitated. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

  “I’m just going to take a look around,” Matt insisted. “I’ll be back in a minute.”

  Clouds loomed overhead, threatening rain, as he made his way toward the stables. When he stepped inside, Matt stopped in his tracks. Nugget’s stall door was closed, but the mare was nowhere in sight. He checked the tack room, finding a western saddle missing along with a couple of horse blankets. A barrel of oats was left open, and a feed bag was gone.

  As the first few raindrops fell on the roof overhead, Matt grabbed a bridle out of the tack room.

  “What are you doing?” Jim’s voice came from the doorway.

  “I’m going after her.” Matt opened a stall door.

  “I can’t let you do that.” He pushed the stall door closed, holding it firmly.

  “Shaye’s out there with no place to go. I can’t just forget about her.” Matt’s eyes were pleading.

  “And I can’t let you risk your own life,” Jim countered. “We’ll find her, but we can’t do it by ourselves.”

  “You can’t expect me to just sit here and wait,” Matt yelled. He stormed past his father and ran down the path to the house.

  He was halfway there when Jim caught up with him. “Matt, wait!”

  Matt turned around to face his father, his jaw set.

  “Take a look through the trees.” Jim nodded toward the street, which was barely visible from the house. “Do you see it?”

  Matt shook his head. “What?”

  “A red car is parked down there.” Jim put a hand on Matt’s shoulder. “If Chris did lie to us, that could be him. You don’t want to take a chance of leading him to her, do you?”

  Matt looked out over the front lawn, finally seeing the bit of red visible through the trees. “Dad, I’ve got to do something!”

  “Let me call the FBI. We’ll see if we can’t track down this Agent Valdez you were telling me about.” Jim went inside the house, and Matt followed him.

  Once inside, Matt stepped to the window. Tears filled his eyes as he watched the rain begin to fall.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Shaye slowed her horse to a walk as the ground beneath them turned to mud. Though she didn’t look forward to sleeping outside in the rain, she knew that now her tracks would be impossible to follow. Already her sweatshirt was soaked through, and she shivered against the cold. Still, she was glad it wasn’t a few degrees cooler, which would have resulted in sleet or snow.

  She wore her backpack, and her coat was tied to the saddle underneath the horse blankets she had taken with her. Though she had thought of wearing her coat, she knew that it was more important to keep
it dry to help keep her warm through the night.

  Using the thick trees in the park as shelter, Shaye continued riding as drops of rain made it through the foliage above her. She rode past Great Falls, using the river to guide her. The memory of her ride with Matt and his parents was fresh in her mind, only there would be no picnic lunch on this ride, nor could she expect the feeling of peace she had felt the first time she had ridden in these woods with Matt.

  Skirting by the few houses near the river, she continued on until she came to a second park. As darkness fell, Shaye stopped in a thick grove of trees where the ground was still relatively dry. Though the rain had completely stopped, the downpour had turned the ground soggy and damp.

  The trees shielded her view of the river, and Shaye hoped that the sound of rushing water would prevent her from being heard. After tying Nugget to a tree, she turned up the leaves underneath her, pushing the wet ones aside. She pulled the saddle and pad from Nugget’s back and set them at the base of a large oak tree, then removed the feed bag filled with oats from the saddle and fastened it over Nugget’s head.

  “I’m afraid this will have to do for tonight, girl,” Shaye told her, patting her neck. “This wet grass will make you sick.”

  After rubbing the horse down the best she could, Shaye covered her with a heavy horse blanket, then dug through her backpack for a dry shirt. She stripped off her soaking sweatshirt, grateful that the backpack had kept her other clothing dry. Shivering, she put on her dry clothes and hung her sweats out on a branch.

  After wrapping a scarf around her damp hair, she used another horse blanket to make a bed for herself. She then pulled leaves on top of her to give her added protection from the elements. Hands trembling, she pulled out a muffin and ate it, grateful she had put the food Matt had given her into her backpack.

  Lying there on the cold December night, Shaye wondered what to do next. She had narrowly escaped capture and could only hope that Matt and his family were safe. She hoped and prayed that with her gone, Chris Rush wouldn’t do anything to arouse suspicion. Surely he would be more concerned with finding her to protect his own identity.