by Tara Thomas
“Black SUV,” she said. “He’s a couple of cars behind us at the moment, but I’m sure he’s there.”
She was very calm, and even though he reminded himself that she did this for a living, he didn’t see how it was possible for her to be so calm. “Have any suggestions as to what we should do?”
“Turn right up here at that light,” she told him. “Then take the immediate left.”
He followed her directions. “Still there?”
“Yes.” She glanced over her shoulder. “But I didn’t expect to lose them that quickly. Make a U-turn at that hotel up ahead and on your left. This is where we lose them.”
He made a quick U-turn at the spot she indicated and couldn’t help smiling as her plan started to become clear. As soon as they made the turn, the car was swarmed by tourists in such a way that they were the only car that made it through the light. Kipling forced himself not to look at the black SUV as they went past it.
“What now?” He asked when the crowd thinned and there was no longer anyone following them.
“Now we need to ditch your car.”
“I was afraid you were going to say something like that. You know if we do that it also means we ditch our hotel room for the night.”
“You didn’t seriously see us sleeping in your car, did you?”
“No, but it was nice to have options.”
“We need to leave it somewhere crowded,” she said.
“I have an idea,” he said. “What about the cruise terminal? I think there’s some ships coming in today. It’ll be very crowded and congested and there will be a good number of police officers around.”
“Perfect.”
* * *
“We should get on a bus,” Kipling said without hesitation once they had parked his car in the large parking deck near the terminal. “We can blend in with the crowd better. And it’s probably the last thing anyone would expect us to do.”
Alyssa bit her bottom lip. “Sounds reasonable.” She stepped out of the stairway and into a crowd of people. “Come on,” she called to him. “Hurry up.”
Kipling wasn’t sure how well they fit in with the crowd, neither one of them looked like a tourist. But they made it to the bus station without anyone aiming a gun at them, so he chalked that up as a win.
“Do we need to figure out where we’re going?” he asked Alyssa, who was purchasing two tickets.
“No, I’m getting us each a three-day pass. That way we can hop on the first bus we see and figure out where we’re going once we’re on. Right now, I just want out of this part of the city.”
Kipling had to agree with her. He looked around. Nothing and no one looked suspicious or seemed to be paying them any mind. They waited with a large tourist group, hoping to blend in and hopped on the first bus that appeared. Kipling wove through the people standing, keeping a tight grip on Alyssa’s hand. He half expected her to jerk her hand away and to tell him she was fine, but surprisingly enough, she didn’t.
They found two empty seats and sat down. Alyssa immediately reached for her purse and Kipling glanced around. No one seemed to be paying them any attention and he relaxed a bit. They appeared to be free for the moment.
The bus came to a stop and they stayed seated while people loaded and unloaded. Kipling tried to look at everyone who got on. No one looked their way. He took that as a good sign.
A skinny young man, wearing baggy pants and completely bald, walked their way. Kipling glanced at him, but didn’t pay him much attention. He had a massive headache and on top of that he hated the bus, or he had the few times he’d ridden one before today. He closed his eyes hoping to ease the pounding in his head.
“Mama,” a young boy behind him said in a hushed voice. “That man with no hair has a gun.”
Kipling’s entire body tensed and his heart began to pound. Probably it was nothing, but he wasn’t going to chalk anything up to coincidence. He raised his eyelids just a touch, just so he could see, but would still appear to be dozing to anyone who looked.
Bald Man sat across the aisle from Alyssa, head nodding as he supposedly listened to music through earbuds. If he’d heard the boy, nothing in his body language gave it away. Kipling was fairly certain Alyssa had heard as well, but she gave nothing away, either. He could feel her pressed against him and she hadn’t tensed at all.
Trying to act casual, he rested his head on her shoulder and slipped a hand to her knee, and whispered, “Young man to your right has a gun. Not sure he’s after us.”
She kissed his cheek and murmured in his ear, “I heard.It’d be wise for us to get off at the next stop.”
“Let’s go,” he said and they both stood and moved a bit closer to the doors. Alyssa stood to his side, but turned her body so she could keep the gunman in her line of sight.
The bus slowly pulled to a stop and when the doors opened, they sprinted outside. Neither one of them dared to look back, afraid it would be too obvious.
“If he was after us, I don’t think he’d have had time to get back up here.” Alyssa spoke under her breath as they jogged across the street to a shopping center. “Let’s go to the second level.”
“Which means he probably followed us out.”
They’d made it to the top and Kipling took a second to look down. Sure enough, Bald Man was crossing the street, talking on his phone.
“Shit,” Kipling said.
* * *
Alyssa knew she was going to crash as soon as the adrenaline dropped and she wasn’t looking forward to it. If she was lucky, it wouldn’t happen until they made it somewhere safe.
Kipling had amazed her with his clear head and quick thinking. He never seemed to panic.
“There’s a taxi over there,” Kipling said, pointing just a short distance away. Odds were good they could get to it before Bald Man saw them.
“Let’s go,” she said, and jogged toward the taxi with Kipling at her side.
She shivered.
“Where to?” the driver asked as they slipped into the backseat.
She looked over her shoulder as she shut the door. Thankfully, she didn’t see anything.
“We should eat,” Kipling said, slightly out of breath. “It’s been a long time since breakfast.”
“That’s fine,” she said. She wasn’t hungry, but she knew he was right. “I’m fine with whatever you want.”
While he gave the driver directions, she looked out the window. She spied their stalker reaching the top of the stairs right as they pulled away. Kipling had given the driver the name of a pizza joint on the other side of town and she closed her eyes and told herself to relax while she could.
But it wasn’t until Kipling put his arm around her and pulled her so she rested against him, that she was able to.
Much too soon, the taxi pulled up to the pizzeria and she waited while Kipling paid the driver. He turned to her and smiled. “Let’s eat. I’m famished.”
Typical male, she thought. Being followed by a stranger with a gun did nothing to his appetite. She’d been hungry before, but now she was feeling more tired than anything and with the adrenaline coming down, the thought of food made her a touch queasy. But she needed to eat and knew she’d feel better after she did so.
“You go order,” she told Kipling. “I’m going to grab a table outside by the window and be on the lookout.”
“We’re safe here,” Kipling said. “At least for a while.
“Better to err on the side of caution.”
She told him she didn’t care what kind of pizza he got as long as he got her a big bottle of water to go along with it. She took a detour to the bathroom to freshen up and wash her hands before taking a seat at a table by the window.
Kipling was texting someone, but placed their order a few minutes later and headed her way with two bottles of water in hand.
“Knox called,” he said, sliding into the seat across from her. “I just got a text. I told him we’d call tonight and that there were a few things we needed to ta
lk to him about.”
Alyssa nodded in between taking sips of water. “By talk about, you mean things he needs to hack into?”
“Yes,” Kipling agreed. “I thought my way sounded a bit more legal.”
She sighed. “I don’t even care anymore.”
“Hey.” Kipling lifted a finger to raise her chin. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said, but when he shook his head, she added, “I’m just tired is all. It’s been sort of a crazy day. How can you be so calm?” It didn’t mesh with her image of a shipping executive.
“Defense mechanism. I’m not thinking about it, therefore it doesn’t exist.”
She must have looked perplexed because he added, “It’ll catch up to me later tonight and I’ll crash.”
She yawned. “I think it’s already caught up with me.”
Kipling stretched and leaned back in his seat, relaxing for the first time in hours. “Hopefully, we’re in the clear now. We’ll find somewhere safe and then we can both crash.”
A waitress brought their pizza by and Alyssa didn’t miss the way she smiled at Kipling. For his part, Kipling pretty much ignored her. His focus was on Alyssa. The heat in his stare warmed every part of her.
He must have noticed her staring because after the waitress walked away, he winked at Alyssa. “Eat up,” he said, and reached for a slice.
She was on her second piece and Kipling was on his fourth when she felt a familiar tickle on the back of her neck. She’d been working as a cop long enough to know it couldn’t be ignored. Someone was watching them. Her stomach turned and she put down the pizza slice she’d been eating. Her expression must have changed because Kipling’s expression grew worried.
“What?” he asked.
“I’m not sure.” She glanced around the immediate area. “Just a feeling.”
“Shit.”
“It may be nothing.” She hoped it was nothing.
“Unfortunately, it’s not,” he said, dread filling his voice. “Our bald friend is back. Behind you.”
The hair on the back of her neck stood up as she imagined the man staring at her. “How close?” She slipped her hand to her purse, ready to pull out her weapon.
“Not very.”
She allowed herself a deep breath. “Should we get up and escape through the cafe’s back door?”
“Does the cafe have a back door?”
“I don’t know. Surely it leads to an alley or something.”
“Is that a chance we should take?”
“It’ll be easier to give him the slip if we go through the back door instead of doing it in front of him.” If there wasn’t a back door, she could potentially be putting innocent people in danger. But if they stayed here, people outside the cafe would still be in danger.
“Let’s go.” Kipling stood up, not moving toward the cafe until she got in front of him.
As she walked toward the entrance to the cafe, she pulled out an old badge, and flashed it to the employees working inside. “Police. Is there a back entrance?”
The teenaged boy working the register looked like he was going to faint and the waitress standing next to him dropped her tray of drinks. Fortunately, she recovered quickly enough to nod and point toward the back.
Alyssa led the way, darting through the kitchen and out the back door. No sooner had the door closed behind them than they heard a commotion coming from the cafe.
Kipling cursed under his breath as he looked around the ally. “Damn it. It’s a dead end.”
Something inside the cafe crashed and Alyssa jumped. “There’s a pet store next door. Come on.”
She ran the few steps to the back door of the pet store and prayed it wouldn’t be locked. The sweetest sound in the world was a bell ringing as she opened the door. She flashed the old badge again and, with Kipling behind her, ran out the main entrance and onto the street.
“This way,” she said, dodging tourists and headed toward a church. Kipling stayed at her side and together they ducked under a barrier and into the lower level of the church. For several minutes they stayed near the doorway as they caught their breath and watched for anyone following them.
“How do they keep finding us?” Kipling asked right as his phone buzzed with an incoming text.
“Don’t answer that.” She held out her hand. “Give me the phone and your tablet.”
His face paled in understanding. “They’ve been tracking us with our phones.”
She nodded. “And probably your tablet. We’re going to leave them here and then go hide in that school across the street and keep watch. Then we’ll go to the shelter.”
“How will I keep in touch with my family? What if Howard gets my number and calls about Jade?”
“We’ll pick up burner phones so you can call home and if Howard wants to speak with you badly enough, he’ll find a way.”
“You don’t think he’ll take his frustration out on Jade?”
She wished she had the ability to give him the assurance he wanted, but she couldn’t. “All I can say to that is that he’s been her guardian for a long time. I wouldn’t think he’d do anything too drastic at this point.” She tried to sound confident, but she knew there was fear in her voice.
He gave her his phone and tablet. “I hope you’re right.”
“That makes two of us.”
CHAPTER 12
THIRTY-FOUR YEARS AGO
THANKSGIVING
“Your mother told me things are getting pretty serious between that Benedict boy and that girl he’s been dating. You’re going to be a senior next year and it’ll be time for you to think about settling down and getting married. Any chance we’ll be hearing anything along those lines from you?”
Howard knew better than to curse at his father, so he bit back the string of words he wanted to say and instead replied with, “I’ll make sure you’re one of the first to know.”
His dad thought that was funny for some reason and chuckled. Fortunately, after that, he patted him on the back and left him alone.
Damn it all. Like it wasn’t enough that Frank and Helen were the talk of the entire fucking campus, but now he had to hear about it from his own parents over his Thanksgiving break? He knew his father and now that Franklin had an acceptable woman to marry, Howard would never hear the end about it being his time.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t tell his father the truth. Couldn’t tell him that he had found the girl he wanted to marry. That she was beautiful, smart, and perfect. Couldn’t tell him because she was well on her way to marrying his best friend.
It didn’t make sense to anyone, least of all Howard. Frank never dated anyone longer than two weeks. By his calculations, Frank should have broken up with Helen months ago. By now, if he’d followed his normal plan, Howard would have been able to swoop in and been the white knight that gave Helen both a friendly face for support and, when she was ready, the man who would love her the way she deserved.
But now, she only saw him as Frank’s roommate. Someone to take her message that she called when he wasn’t there. Like a damn secretary. And, now that he thought about it, Frank was out quite a bit lately and, since she was calling him, he obviously wasn’t with her.
Was it possible Frank was cheating on her?
Was it wrong Howard hoped he was?
The doorbell downstairs rang. Probably more cousins. Since he had no desire to see his cousins before he had to spend over an hour with them at the dinner table, he decided to stay in his room.
Curiously, though, instead of the noise dying out as one would expect, it grew louder and louder. He tried to remember which cousins were arriving today, but he drew a blank. All he knew was that listening to them go on and on was getting on his last nerve.
He paced in his room briefly, but doing so did nothing to ease the irritability of the ever increasing noise from downstairs. Would they ever shut up?
Right as he was getting ready to stomp down to the main level to find out what in the name of Go
d had everyone in an uproar, his mother called for him.
“Howard!”
He rolled his eyes. He was going to have to see his cousins before dinner after all.
“What?” he yelled back.
“Do come down. It’s the most fabulous news.”
That was the moment some of the noise died down. Before Howard could be thankful for the brief respite, a very unexpected voice rang out above all the others.
Helen?
Helen was here. At his house. Why?
“Howard!” his mother called again.
He walked to the doorway of his room, still in awe that Helen was here, when he heard another voice.
Franklin?
Why would the golden couple be at his house? He started down the stairs, but not with as much excitement as he’d felt before. Helen. Frank. Fabulous news.
He froze halfway down the stairs and gripped the banister so tight he almost lost feeling in his fingers. He forced himself to breathe so he didn’t fall headfirst down the stairs.
Oh, God. No.
No. It couldn’t be. Anything but that. Because that would mean he was too late and it couldn’t be too late.
“Howard, seriously,” Frank said. “Get down here so I can ask you nice and proper to be my best man.”
Too late.
Too late.
* * *
Two hours later, they headed to the shelter on foot. Though they were exposed that way, Alyssa thought they were safe since she assumed the general consensus was they were staying in the church. No one had entered in the hour and a half they’d kept guard across the street, but she knew better than to assume they weren’t watching.
Once inside the shelter, the resident working the front office told them Jansen Miller, the shelter’s overseer, was in his office and offered to walk them to it.
“It’s okay,” Alyssa said. “You don’t have to go through all that trouble. Just point us in the right direction and we’ll head that way.”
Looking relieved she didn’t have to be a tour guide, the young woman smiled and pointed down a side hall. “Mr. Miller’s office is the second door on the right.”
