“Looking for another car to buy,” she insisted.
Jack’s eyes narrowed. “I was going to say after it’s dark.”
Summer nodded. “We can look for another car after dark.”
“Did anyone ever tell you that you’re awfully stubborn?”
“Did anyone ever tell you that you’re a control freak?” she countered.
Jack sighed. “It’s going to be a long time until dark. I suggest we find out some other way to pass the day besides verbal badminton. My head’s spinning from watching the birdy flopping from side to side.”
“Just so long as you know it’s my serve,” she answered sweetly.
“And your net and rackets, I presume?”
She shrugged. “I’m willing to share. Just like I’m willing to share my cash.”
“Are you part mule?”
“Back to your flattering ways, I see.”
He grinned unexpectedly, his lips quirking upward. “Seems like it works as well as anything else.”
Summer tossed back her hair. “Considering I’m covered in mud, I’m finding it difficult to argue the point.”
Jack pointed toward the water. “There’s an easy solution to that”
She frowned. “A creek bath?”
“I don’t think we’ll be checking into a hotel anytime soon,” he replied.
“Good point.” She turned Danny around so that he was standing on her lap, looking at her. “Well, my fine friend, how ’bout a bath?”
He gurgled, his little mouth crinkling into a baby grin.
“I’ll take that as a yes.”
“You don’t have to watch him,” Jack protested, reaching toward his son.
“I know that. I want to take care of him.” Her words surprised them both, and for a moment the car echoed again with silence.
Then Jack abruptly pushed open his door, coming around to open hers. “I’ll get what we need from the trunk.” He glanced toward the road. “But only a few things. If they double back, we’ll have to leave in a hurry.”
Summer nodded in agreement as she carried Danny toward the grassy slope of the embankment. The water flowed peacefully along the winding path of the creek.
Jack took a few things from the trunk and then watched Summer and Danny. She laughed with the baby as she dangled his plump legs in the refreshing water. Stripping off his clothes and diaper, she gently bathed him in the clear water, making him chortle with delight as she made it a game.
Leaning against the car, Jack found it hard to believe they were running for their lives. He loved the sound of Summer’s infectious laughter and the reaction she drew from Danny. It was as though she’d pushed reality into a fading background. At that moment, they could be any normal family.
Drawn to them, Jack brought a towel to Summer as an excuse to come closer.
“Look what Daddy’s got!” Summer made Danny giggle as she playfully covered him with the towel.
Jack noticed how gentle her touch was as she dried the baby and then reached toward the diaper bag Jack had put beside her.
“It’s time to get all wonderful smelling, tiger.” While powdering and dressing him, Summer blew kisses on his tummy, making him laugh and kick his plump legs.
“Danny, you’re going to be spoiled rotten,” Jack observed dryly. Yet his eyes warmed as he watched the affection she showered on Danny.
“Daddy’s just jealous because you’re getting all the attention.” She pulled a small sock on over Danny’s wriggling toes.
“You could be right,” Jack countered.
Summer’s eyes flew up to meet his. For once, she seemed at a loss for words.
Jack reached down to pick up Danny. “How ’bout something to eat and a nap, big guy?”
Awkwardly Summer gathered up the towel and bath things.
“I’ll put Danny down,” Jack told her as he walked toward the car. The portable crib would be easy to grab if they had to leave in a hurry.
Danny eagerly accepted the bottle, his eyelids soon drooping. Jack watched him as Summer rolled up her pants legs and ventured into the creek, staying close to the bank. Soon Danny was asleep, and Jack removed the bottle.
Knowing Danny was safe, Jack headed toward the creek. He didn’t speak until he was directly behind Summer, who still stood in water only a foot deep. “I thought you were going to have a creek bath.”
She spun around in surprise, then gestured toward the surrounding water. “I am.”
He advanced. “You have to get wet to take a bath.”
Summer stepped back. “I’m wet enough.”
“You were raised by the water. You know this isn’t wet.”
She brought her hands together, letting the water trickle through her fingers. “It’s okay.”
“I don’t think so.” He advanced.
Seeing his intent, Summer spun to escape, but he was quicker.
In moments, she was dunked. Seeing the glint in her eyes, Jack stepped back. But she was fast. In an instant, he tumbled into the water beside her.
“Oh, fine,” she sputtered, unable to quell her laughter. “Now we’re both drenched.”
Jack laughed with her, but then the amusement died away as he looked at her. The white cotton shirt she wore was soaked. And the scrap of lace she wore beneath the blouse did little to camouflage her breasts.
From the sudden flame in her cheeks, it was apparent she realized that at the same moment. She spun around, wading quickly to a point farther downstream.
Jack considered giving her time to regroup. Then she hesitated and turned back around. And consideration vanished.
He advanced.
She retreated. Opening her mouth to speak, Summer looked equally surprised that no words emerged.
Another long stride forward and he was beside her. The water ebbed gently around them as their gazes met. He reached out to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. His fingers lingered, grazing the slope of her cheek, then skimming toward her lips.
A whispered sigh escaped as he cupped her chin.
Neither invitation nor protest was issued. But then he wasn’t sure he would have listened to either.
Her eyes weren’t simply green, he realized as her face tilted upward to give him an unencumbered view. Flecks of cinnamon and molten gold warmed the green into a tawny-jade. Combined with her thick, wild, sun-kissed blond hair, she resembled a lioness. And from the fire he’d seen in those eyes, she would be the unchallenged leader of the pride.
But now there was a different quality simmering in her eyes. Questioning, a touch of uncertainty, and something else. And that something stirred him.
Stirred him so that he reached out and closed his other hand around the back of her neck, pulling her even closer. There was a trace of quivering in her lips. But that made them even more desirable. Vulnerability coupled with courage was an alluring combination. One Jack was finding impossible to resist.
Fleetingly he thought of all the reasons he should be walking away, leaving Summer and her contradictions behind... leaving her untouched.
Just as quickly, he decided there was little to recommend in resistance. Angling his head toward hers, he sought the center of her lips. A jolt of pleasure shot through him as they parted beneath the pressure, offering him a taste. Sampling both sweetness and mystery, he wanted to savor each.
Initially Summer accepted the kiss, then leaned into his embrace. Her hands snaked up to grip his shoulders, then advanced to twine in his hair...to pull him even closer.
The sudden shrill burst of a siren shattered the air...and all other thoughts fled.
Chapter 8
Summer and Jack froze for the briefest of seconds. Then, moving as quickly as the water would allow, they pushed out of the creek, and ran toward the car.
Scrambling to reach Danny and escape detection, Jack dived beneath the overhanging greenery, pulling Summer with him. For a seeming eternity, the siren ricocheted around them. Finally it began to fade.
Hearts in thei
r throats, they listened. Eventually the noise of the siren died away to nothing.
Panting with exertion and fear, Summer clutched at Jack as he threw open the car door. “Do you think they know we’re here?”
Jack shook his head. “No. If they did, that police car wouldn’t have passed us by.”
“So we’re okay?”
“For now. But they’re still searching. Let’s pack everything and stay inside the car.”
“And...?”
“Wait until it’s dark.”
Summer caught his gaze. A torrent of unspoken emotion, fright and need swirled between them. But she nodded, swallowing her questions, knowing it would seem like forever until darkness reclaimed the sky.
Jack continued to scan the rearview mirror, even though they’d traveled miles since dusk. And he had been thinking furiously the entire time. They had to have another car, and he still hadn’t come up with a plan.
“This looks like a good-size town,” Summer commented, interrupting his thoughts. “They should have a car lot.”
“Yeah, and maybe they’ll take a handful of beans in trade.”
Summer bit down on her bottom lip. “I know you don’t want to take my money, but all of our lives are on the line. This isn’t the time to put on your macho gear.” Her voice softened. “There’s nothing wrong with admitting you need someone—I mean, that you can’t do everything on your own.”
His gaze shot across to catch hers. He wasn’t ready to admit needing anyone, but the reality was he had to have money—and she had some to offer. Still, he didn’t like being backed against a wall. It went against everything he was.
Jack tightened his jaw. “I promised you I’d get you out as soon as possible, not pull you in deeper.”
“It’s my choice,” she insisted. “I could have left when we first docked, when we got to Bart’s, even today at the gas station.” Although Summer omitted mention of their brief respite at the creek, it flashed between them. She turned and stared out the window. “I’ll watch for a car lot.”
Jack couldn’t prevent a snort of exasperation. “You sure you’re not part mule?”
Summer sniffed, then turned to check on Danny. “I thought we’d already covered this.”
“So did I.”
Summer wrinkled her forehead. “If it’ll make you feel better, you can pay me interest on the loan. Just pretend I’m a mobile branch of the bank.”
He glanced over at her. “So you’re a bankmobile?”
She smiled finally. “And unlike the bookmobile, you won’t need your library card.”
But Jack couldn’t return the smile. He hadn’t intended to pull her this far into his problem and he sure didn’t want to make it worse. Uncomfortably he remembered their kiss, realizing that so far he’d gone about everything in the wrong way. But there was one point he couldn’t argue. She had cash and he needed it.
An hour later, they were pulling out of Fast Eddie’s Cars for Miles. The salesman grinned and waved as they drove off in a battered pickup truck. While probably the ugliest vehicle on the lot, it was one of the few Jack thought to be mechanically sound.
He knew the salesman thought he’d made the deal of the century between the car they’d traded in and the accompanying cash. But Jack was hoping the truck differed enough from the car, yet was still sufficiently scruffy that it wouldn’t attract attention.
To take advantage of the seat belt for Danny’s car seat, Summer was wedged next to Jack in the middle of the seat. Knowing she must be exhausted, he looked at her in regret. “I hate to tell you this, but we’ll need to drive while it’s dark...all night.”
She nodded. “I guessed as much.”
“Even though it didn’t work before, I’m going to try reversing direction. I’m guessing Fisher and Wilcox will think I won’t try it again and that we’ll be heading straight for D.C.”
Summer swallowed her fear, glancing down at Danny. “What if this doesn’t work?”
Jack’s voice was grim. “It has to. We don’t have any other choice.”
Eyes of ice impaled the thick-lipped man. “Who was running the roadblocks? The Keystone Kops?”
Full lips pulled back over protruding teeth, the man reached toward his graying hair, shoving it off his forehead.
“It’s like they disappeared. They must have a safe house we didn’t know about.”
“Or you didn’t do what I told you. I expect you to know Anderson so well that his sweat oozes out of your pores.”
Fleshy lips twitched. “Most of the background we’ve got about Anderson is about his wife, and how he got involved in the sting operation. That doesn’t do us any good with the wife dead.”
The first man pivoted slowly. “It doesn’t?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“Anderson went berserk because his wife was killed. Think he wants to go through that again?”
Full lips eased into a smirk. “Yeah.”
“Do it right this time...unless you want to be bunking in twin coffins with him.”
The smirk dissolved into a quiver of fear.
Pale eyes remained eerily cold as a bark of laughter echoed off the walls.
For one moment the graying man pitied Jack Anderson. Then a fear pierced him so intensely he nearly lost his water. And he knew he had to save all his pity for himself.
The motel wasn’t one either Jack or Summer would have purposely chosen, but it had one great advantage. The parking lot couldn’t be seen from the highway. They didn’t know yet if the police had traced their new purchase, and they knew it was wise to keep the truck out of sight.
“Hideaway Lodge?” Summer questioned. “Do you suppose it can live up to its name?” Weak rays of morning sunshine valiantly struggled to push past the thick foliage of trees that camouflaged the motel. But even in the dim light, Summer could see the fatigue on Jack’s face.
“Just be glad it’s not the Bates Motel,” he replied, keeping a grip on his weariness through sheer determination alone.
Danny continued sleeping as Jack unbuckled the car seat, lifting out the entire carrier. Summer tried to look appropriately motherly as they trooped into the small office.
The overweight, unkempt clerk looked nearly as bleary as they felt “Can I help you folks?”
“We need a room,” Jack replied, placing Danny’s car seat on the low, wide counter.
“How long you planning to stay?” The clerk’s gaze sharpened, and he looked them over as though memorizing faces for a future lineup at the local police station.
Uncomfortably, Summer tried to fade into the unbecoming background of the run-down office. Yet she couldn’t help studying the clerk, thinking what an unappealing sort he was. Despite plump cheeks, his face looked pinched, almost mean. Tiny eyes set above a sharpish nose nearly receded into the numerous folds of skin that served as a disguise for any sort of cheekbones.
“How long we stay will depend on how we like the area,” Jack replied noncommittally.
“I see.” The clerk’s gaze continued assessing them as he tapped plump, sausagelike fingers on the counter. Grimy, ragged fingertips said that he was a nail biter. “What credit card will you be using?”
“I won’t.” Jack reached for his wallet. “I’ll pay cash...in advance.”
“What’d you say brought you this way?” the clerk asked suspiciously. “We’re not on the main highway.”
Jack leaned forward on the counter in a confidential manner. “My wife and I like out-of-the-way places.” He laid one hand over hers. “This is sort of the honeymoon trip we never had.”
The clerk grinned slyly. “Don’t say.”
Jack turned to Summer.
This time, she expected the kiss, but still it overwhelmed her. She had shared kisses before. What was it about this man’s that knocked her flat?
The clerk chuckled. “Looks like I’d better let you two get on with that honeymoon.” He thrust a well-worn key on the counter. “It’s the room on the end. No
joined walls on the north side—it’s our most private unit.” Shuting to the back, he returned with a handful of towels.
Taking them, Jack thanked the man, collected Danny and, with Summer in tow, they escaped.
“Could this have been any seedier?” she asked with a shudder as soon as they were out of hearing distance.
“Sorry about that. I just didn’t want him dreaming of any other scenarios that might involve reward money.”
Summer stopped short. “I never thought of that.”
“That’s what I’m guessing motivated Bart. He probably picked up on how I was acting. And I’m sure he hasn’t forgotten the first time I worked there. I blew in fast, left just as quickly. Drifters don’t often return to the places where they’ve worked. He was bound to be suspicious.”
“What about Rita?” Summer hesitated. “Do you think she knew what Bart was doing?”
Jack shook his head. “I doubt it. And he sure won’t tell her.”
They arrived at the room the clerk had assigned them. Uneasily Summer looked around, wondering if, even now, they were being watched.
But Jack was opening the door. “‘Be it ever so humble—’”
“Don’t even joke.” Dubiously she eyed the worn interior before gingerly entering.
In contrast, Jack moved briskly, quickly carrying in a few of their things. They had agreed to bring in only what they absolutely needed, leaving everything else in the truck for a fast getaway if necessary. “I’ll be back.”
Surprised, she glanced up at him from her crouched position beside Danny. “I thought you were tired.”
“I’m half-dead,” Jack admitted. “But I’ve got a few more things to do—locate a pay phone and try to reach Tom Matthews, then find some mud and cover up the license plate.”
Knowing he had backed the truck into the parking stall so they could pull forward quickly, she felt a chill of danger. “Do you think they’re that close?”
“I’m hoping they’re not, but it doesn’t pay to get careless. If we’re asleep all day, we can’t watch the truck. We wouldn’t know if someone came nosing around”
The Hijacked Wife Page 11
