Nowhere to Run

by Valerie Hansen

  She pressed the red button on the cell phone and held it until the instrument gave its familiar jingle. The batteries were charged but the screen said it was still searching for a signal.

  Once again, she contemplated pulling off the road and thought better of it. Surely she’d get a signal soon. After all, the phone had worked in the past. At least she thought it had. Truthfully, she hadn’t had any previous experience with this particular instrument, but since it was supposed to be identical to the other one, there was no reason why it shouldn’t function the same way.

  Slowing, she skirted the square, noting that the carnival booths were already being set up. Too bad she and Patty had to leave town right away. As Seth had said, Patty would probably have enjoyed it. And if Seth was with us, so would I, she added, chagrined to be entertaining such consistently impossible notions.

  “Get over it,” she ordered herself in a near whisper.

  Marie intended to make the turn from Main onto Church Street but found her way blocked by the reunion efforts and proceeded to Highway 9, instead. According to the Arkansas map she’d consulted, she could get to West Plains via that road, too, and since she wasn’t quite sure how to circumvent the Serenity square, she’d simply go to plan B.

  Now that she was on the move again, she found her anxiety building as it had prior to their being stranded. Every shadow held menace, every car contained her enemies.

  And every light that shone into the car made her feel exposed to more danger.

  After all, she told herself, it’s only paranoia if no one is really after you.

  Marie glanced momentarily at the phone and noted that it was now indicating a strong cell signal. She hit the memory button, expecting Seth’s number to appear. It didn’t. Nothing did. Her eyes widened and she peered at the lighted screen. She’d put his new number into the old phone but apparently Seth hadn’t thought to enter his work or home numbers into this one! What a doofus. And she was just as bad for not writing those numbers down when they’d popped up on the other phone.

  Well, that couldn’t be helped now. What was done was done. If he wanted his stupid messages, he’d just have to figure out where they were or pay the consequences of unreturned calls. Either way, it was none of her concern.

  Laying aside the phone, she switched on her headlights, gripped the wheel with both hands, accelerated onto the winding, mountain road ahead and concentrated on putting as much distance between her and the past as she could.

  “Got him,” McCormick reported. “Did you hear me, Mr. Eccles? We’ve got him.”

  Eccles began to grin. “I hear you. Where is he?”

  “Moving,” the tech said. “According to our tracking devices, he’s heading into the mountains on Highway 9. Chances are we’ll lose him in about twenty miles. You’d better hurry.”

  “I’m on my way,” Eccles replied, punching the coordinates he was given into his tracking system and setting a new course. “The rest of you hold your positions and keep tracking him until I tell you otherwise.”

  “Don’t you want backup?”

  “No,” Eccles said forcefully. “I can handle this alone.” And I don’t want witnesses, he added to himself. When I do catch up to Seth, I want to be able to deal with him my own way. Permanently.

  At the motel, Seth had paused only long enough to snap a short leash onto Babe’s collar and fasten the other end to the seat belt anchor for safety. The dog didn’t appreciate being tied in, but Seth knew how excited she could get when he was keyed up, and he figured it was smart to keep her under control. Right now, he was as nervous as he’d ever been in the past, even when directly involved in espionage, and his perceptive dog was bound to react to those feelings.

  Above all, he wanted to keep Marie’s car in sight, if only from a distance, for as long as possible. He hadn’t cared this much about anyone or anything since he’d lost Alice. Letting Marie and Patty drive away had hurt—all the way to his heart and soul. And that ache was still there. Maybe it always would be.

  He’d give anything if he could call her, talk to her one last time, but he’d left the phone turned off and told her to keep it that way, so there was no way to reach her. That was just as well. The more they talked, the harder it would be for both of them to make a clean break.

  Was all this as difficult for Marie as it was for him? he wondered. Perhaps. He didn’t want her to agonize over it but it would be nice to think she’d had trouble leaving because she was beginning to care for him the same way he cared for her.

  Passing the Serenity square and seeing the booths being assembled reminded him of how he’d hoped to show Patty and Marie the fun to be had in a small town. Part of him wanted to believe that he might one day get the chance, while a more perverse part insisted he was deluding himself.

  Puzzled, he watched Marie continue on Highway 9 instead of detouring around the square. That made sense—in a convoluted way. As long as she kept to the main highway, it would take her to either Mammoth Spring or eventually West Plains. Once she got that far, she’d be able to find another phone and ditch the one he’d given her.

  The more he pondered his decision in that regard, the more it concerned him. Yes, he trusted Jonathan, but Seth knew he’d feel much better after Marie had cut all her ties with him and his problems. He’d already concluded that if he had to turn himself in to convince the authorities to help her, that was what he’d do. Eventually. Right now, however, he had to see her safely away from the pursuers in the car that had ended up in the ditch near his house. Once that was accomplished, he’d think about having Jonathan intercede so he could safely give himself up.

  A sleek, dark sedan zipped past him on the narrow road, swerving to insert itself between his truck and Marie’s car. Somebody was sure in a big hurry.

  “Hang on, Babe,” he said to the panting, excited dog. “You and I are about to play leapfrog with that idiot. Nobody’s going to keep me from sticking like glue to Marie and your little friend.”

  Judging by the look the dog gave him, she understood exactly what he’d said.

  Amused in spite of the tense situation, Seth glanced in his rearview mirror in preparation for passing the sedan. Another car was barreling up behind him.

  His hands tightened on the wheel. In seconds he was glad he’d strapped the dog down, because the car clipped his bumper and nearly made him lose control.

  Earl and Al were both screaming.

  Frank just kept nudging the truck ahead. “Shut up, you two. Do you want to get him out of the way, or not?”

  “Not if it kills us,” Al shouted.

  “Nobody’s gonna get killed but him. I ain’t about to let him make a fool of me twice in the same day.”

  “You sure that’s the guy from the garage?”

  “We saw them switch cars at the motel, didn’t we? Who else could it be?”

  “I don’t know. And I’m starting to not care.”

  Frank muttered a curse and accelerated, ramming the truck again. It slewed but stayed on the road.

  Suddenly, the truck pulled out and passed the sedan ahead of it, taking Frank and his cronies by surprise.

  “Now what?” Earl asked in a squeal.

  Frank turned the air inside his car blue with colorful epithets and pressed the gas pedal to the floor.

  He hit the rear corner of the dark sedan with such force that it pushed it off the road onto the shoulder, where it slid to a stop.

  Laughing maniacally, Frank sped ahead in pursuit of Seth’s truck. When he glanced back, he thought he saw a man in a suit climbing out of the car and shaking his fist in the air. Stupid city slicker stood out like a sore thumb. Only a fool wore a fancy suit in these parts. Served him right that he got run off the road in the middle of nowhere.

  THIRTEEN

  Marie saw the erratic play of headlights behind her. She couldn’t tell what was going on back there, but it didn’t seem like a normal traffic pattern. If Seth was following, as he’d promised, he wasn’t alone. As far
as she could tell, there had been at least three vehicles behind her, hopefully including his. The only thing that worried her now was that she could see only two remaining sets of headlights.

  Looking over at her dozing daughter, she prayed silently for wisdom and courage. What should she do? If one of the people behind her was Seth, why was he driving so strangely? And what had happened to the third driver? Where was he?

  “I should have left in the daylight,” she muttered. “I can’t see a thing.”

  Suppose I turn off? I’ll know then if I’m really being followed or just being paranoid, won’t I?

  She decided to start looking for a likely side road. If she saw one in time to make a safe turn, fine, if she didn’t, she’d just keep heading north and figure that was God’s way of keeping her from making an error in judgment. It seemed like a foolproof plan.

  A brown-and-white forestry sign advertised an upcoming opportunity. Marie slowed ever so slightly, peering into the darkness to try to see the cutoff. There it was! And it was paved. Perfect.

  She entered the turn faster than she would have normally but made it safely, with room to spare.

  Her heart was pumping so fast and she was so scared, her surging adrenaline made her feel as if she were behind the wheel in a stockcar race.

  Patty’s head bobbed a little but she remained asleep.

  Marie looked in the rearview mirror. Not only was one car still following, but a second was, as well! If one of those vehicles was Seth’s, as she’d hoped, he had company.

  “God help us,” she whispered. “I should never have turned off. Now what do I do?”

  Eccles had checked his car for damage and maneuvered it back onto the highway in seconds. “Where is he now?” he demanded over his headset microphone.

  “Turned off, going east,” came the answer. “Look for a logging road or a forestry access. There are two possibilities, fairly close together. It has to be one of the two.”

  “I don’t want guesses—I want facts,” Eccles shouted. “Which one?”

  “Forestry. You should be coming up on it in about a quarter of a mile. It’ll be on your right.” McCormick paused. “Hold on. Looks like the signal’s slowing. He should be easy to overtake.”

  “Let’s hope so, for your sake,” Eccles said. “Have you got my location pegged, too?”

  “Yes, sir. You should be approaching the correct road now. Can you see it?”

  “Yes. I’m making the turn. Is it the same as he made?”

  “Sure is,” Mac said, sounding relieved. “You’ll have him in a few hundred yards, at best.”

  “He’s parked?”

  “Not quite, but he’s barely moving.”

  Eccles doused his lights and crept along. As soon as he spotted taillights ahead, he’d either pull off the road and continue on foot or keep driving with his headlights off.

  Either way, he’d win. Seth would never see him coming.

  Marie had had to cut her speed owing to the deteriorating condition of the narrowing, uneven forest track. “Some road,” she muttered, furious with herself for leaving the well-maintained highway. “Seth is going to be really upset when he catches up to me.”

  That statement made her huff in self-deprecation. “He probably won’t be nearly as mad as I am.”

  She was gripping the steering wheel so tightly that her hands hurt, her arms ached and the muscles in her shoulders were tied in knots.

  “Okay, God, how about showing me a place to turn around or what to do next?” she said, hoping she would eventually cross another highway at the end of this back road, yet aware that the chances of that happening were slim.

  What had the brown forestry sign on the highway said? Was it River Access or Campgrounds? She couldn’t remember. Truth to tell, she hardly knew her own name at that moment, let alone was able to reason sensibly.

  The overgrown passage narrowed even more. Branches hung low and encroached from the edges like the gnarled arms of menacing giants, forcing her to either stick to the center of the roadbed or scrape the sides of her car against the overhanging vegetation. The area reminded her a lot of the way the wilds took over in the wetlands of Louisiana.

  She concentrated on forging ahead, trying to watch both the road and her pursuers. Out of the corner of her eye she glimpsed a yellow sign with squiggly lines across it, but she wasn’t sure exactly what it had said.

  In seconds, she knew. Water.

  Slowing, she let her headlights illuminate the creek that was flowing across her path. The road clearly continued on the opposite side of the rapidly moving water, but was it safe to cross? It didn’t look very deep. Unfortunately, there was no easy way to tell whether it had a solid, concrete bottom the way many such fords did or was simply a rough, bumpy track filled with rocks that could damage her tires or the car’s undercarriage.

  She rolled down the car windows and stuck her head out her side, hoping to be able to shout back to Seth for advice if it truly was his truck coming up behind her.

  Suddenly, she heard the crunch of metal against metal echoing in the distance. The headlights behind her faltered, then stopped. Another crash followed. It looked and sounded as if the second car had not only hit the first but also had backed up and done it again and was about to repeat the move a third time!

  Out of options and frightened beyond sane thought, Marie put her car in low gear and started to inch across the creek.

  The tires grabbed well, indicating a firm roadbed below. Praising God, she started to breathe easier.

  Then, the motor coughed, sputtered and quit. She looked out the open window and gasped. Fast-flowing water was hitting and splashing against the bottom of the driver’s door on the upstream side. Even if she could manage to get the opposite door open and try to escape, there was no way she could be certain she’d be able to keep her footing and carry Patty to safety. All she could do at this point was sit there.

  Taking no action was against her most basic nature. But what could she do? What should she do? Considering how idiotic her choices had been so far that evening, she was afraid to make even the most elementary decision.

  Sniffling, she gazed at the sleeping little angel beside her. “I’m so sorry, honey,” she whispered. “Mommy is so, so sorry.”

  Seth had barely felt the first jar to his rear bumper. By the time his attacker had backed up and hit him a second time, he was braced for the blow and had his foot on the brake so that his truck barely moved.

  “Come on. Hit me again,” he urged, waiting and hoping the car would make hard contact at the center of his bumper where the heavy-duty trailer hitch stuck out. A few more hard hits like the last one and the menacing driver was sure to bust his own grill—if he hadn’t already—leaving his radiator exposed and probably damaging it. Even if the attacker’s car didn’t quit immediately, that would mean it was on its last legs.

  Seth was virtually positive that he’d recognized that car as the same one that had followed him earlier. As far as he was concerned, being stranded for the second time would serve those men right.

  Braced, Seth took the third hit. The car behind him was starting to sputter as steam hissed from under its hood in a cloud of superheated mist.

  Leaving his attackers behind to fend for themselves, Seth eased ahead far enough to see Marie’s taillights in the distance. His breath caught. She was in the river! And she wasn’t moving.

  Forgetting everything and everyone else, Seth locked his truck’s front hubs. Several hundred yards behind him, he could hear the men from the damaged car cursing and shouting at one another.

  “One down, one to go,” Seth muttered. He dropped his truck into four-wheel drive, put it in low gear and started for the river.

  “Call 911,” Marie told herself. She reached for the cell phone that lay on the seat beside her and punched in the number, praying that she’d still have a signal that far from town.

  When the dispatcher answered, Marie was able to explain her position fairly well and wa
s assured that help was on the way. Now, all she had to do was make sure Seth didn’t get himself into the same situation she was in by chasing her into the water.

  She leaned out the car window and waved as soon as she was certain she recognized his truck. Thankfulness and joy filled her. Seth was here. Everything was going to be fine, now.

  “Stay there,” she called when he clambered out and jogged toward the water’s edge. “I’ve called for help. Rescue is on the way.”

  “Called? Called who? How?” He’d cupped his hands around his mouth and was shouting to be heard over the noise of the rushing water, but she could still tell from his tone and posture that he was upset.

  “On the cell phone. You said it was for emergencies. I figured this qualified.”

  “Well, turn it off.”

  “Why? The 911 operator told me to leave it on and stay connected in case the volunteer fire department couldn’t locate me.”

  “I said, turn it off,” Seth ordered. He wheeled and stalked back to his truck.

  “Well, thanks for your support,” she muttered, not sure whether she was more disgusted with herself for getting stranded in the creek or with him for being so grumpy about it.

  Watching him, her eyes widened. Not only was he not staying put on the bank, he had started to drive into the creek. Was he planning on pushing her out of the river? It sure looked like it.

  She clamped her hands to the steering wheel and braced herself as his bumper made contact with the rear of her car. Her heart pounded. Seth might think he was pushing her straight, but she could tell she was starting to slide sideways!

  Eccles had heard the repeated crashes ahead and had stopped where he couldn’t be observed. Climbing out of the sedan, he softly eased the door closed, then pulled a pistol from his shoulder holster and started to walk down the center of the nearly deserted roadway.