by Sandra Brown
“I’m not hungry, but thank you for offering.”
He wheeled the tray aside so he could sit on the edge of her bed. As always he was perfectly groomed, but she could tell that he was almost as weary as she. The past four days had been harrowing for him, although each time she apologized for the hell he’d been put through, he assured her that his tribulations were forgotten the instant he heard her voice coming through his phone and knew that she was all right.
“What about your dinner?” she asked.
“I’ll grab something.”
“You should have let Alice and Neal take you out before they left for Atlanta.”
“I didn’t want to leave you alone. Besides, I think they were relieved I didn’t accept the invitation. They were anxious to head back before it got any later. Alice was going to follow Neal in your car.”
Jeff had asked one of them to drive it back to Atlanta so Emory could ride with him tomorrow.
Before leaving, Alice had sneaked her the EC kit as promised. She’d told Emory she didn’t expect her to have any side effects, but got her promise to call if she did. Alice had also tactfully reminded her that while the pills could prevent pregnancy, they didn’t prevent STDs.
Jeff snapped his fingers in front of her face. “Are you with me?”
“I’m sorry.”
“I was telling you that I remembered to get your duffel bag and boots out of the trunk of your car before Alice left. Everything’s in the closet, including your laptop, which the sheriff’s office returned. They also gave me my pistol back.”
“Pistol?”
“Just a formality, I was told. But I’m sure they checked it for recent firing.” He gave a snarky smile. “Joke’s on them, isn’t it?”
“I fail to see the humor.”
“So do I. Thank God this ordeal is over for both of us.” He took her hand and clasped it between his. “Emory, I won’t press you to know where you were or what you were doing after Saturday morning.”
“Jeff—”
“No, don’t say anything. I don’t want to place you in a position of having to lie to me. The fact is, whatever transpired, I deserved it. I’ve been a bastard. On the best days, I’ve been withdrawn. On the worst, I’ve been difficult and often downright impossible.”
He paused as though giving her a chance to dispute that. When she didn’t, he continued. “You know how badly I wanted that partnership. There have been other disappointments as well.”
“I can’t endorse that drug, Jeff. Perhaps—”
“This isn’t about that. I swear. What I’m trying to say is that these letdowns are no excuse for the way I’ve behaved, for the way I’ve treated you.”
“I didn’t set out to punish you.”
“All right, I’ll accept that,” he said, but with a notable lack of conviction. “What I want you to know is that it took almost losing you for me to realize how vital you are to my happiness. No, not just to my happiness. To my life. I want us to make a fresh start. I want—”
His cell phone rang, interrupting him. He pulled it off his belt, read the caller’s name, and muttered with irritation, “Seriously?” He answered. “What is it?”
He listened for several seconds, then said, “I have no idea. Yes, I’ll ask her right now. Uh-huh. Okay, good-bye.” He clicked off. “That fat detective. Knight.”
“What did he want?”
“He asked if you had the hiking trail map you used on Saturday.”
“It’s zipped into the inside pocket of my jacket.”
He got up and moved to the narrow closet where he’d earlier stored her duffel bag. Also in it was the plastic bag containing her running clothes and other belongings, which she’d given over in exchange for the hospital gown. He brought the bag back to the bed and dumped the contents.
“This blue jacket?”
She nodded, then leaned her head back and gazed at the acoustic tiles in the ceiling. “Jeff, why did you announce at the press conference that you planned to go to Haiti with me?”
She had been disinclined to watch it, but a nurse who’d been in the room at the time of the broadcast had excitedly turned on the TV. A portion of it had aired live, a leading segment of the evening news.
He said, “I wanted to go on record that I’m turning over a new leaf.”
“It’s an admirable gesture. But I can’t see you enduring the heat and the squalid accommodations. Doling out toothbrushes to children and instructing them on their use? It just isn’t you.”
“But I want it to be. I want to become more involved in the things you’re involved in, and… Are you sure that map was in this pocket?”
“Yes.”
He turned it inside out and showed her. “Not here. I’ve checked all the other pockets, too.”
She raised a shoulder. “That’s where I remember putting it. Did Sergeant Knight say why he wanted it?”
“Something about investigators retracing the route you took on Saturday. Said the map you used might come in handy. I’ll call him later and tell him we can’t find it.” He began stashing the items back into the plastic bag. “Who repaired your sunglasses?”
I can be dexterous when dexterity is called for. Feeling the heat of guilt staining her cheeks, she looked away. “One of the nurses, I suppose. There were several in the ER who helped me undress.”
“Good thing you’ve got a change of clothing to wear home tomorrow. These look and smell a little worse for wear. Are you sure you don’t want me to toss them?”
“No. They’ll wash.”
“All right then.” He replaced the bag in the closet and sat back down on the edge of the bed. “Now,” he said, taking a deep breath, “where was I?”
“Making a fresh start.” Before he relaunched the discussion, she said, “But do you mind terribly if we start tomorrow? There’s so much for us to talk about, and I’m too exhausted tonight. I’m sorry.”
“No, I’m sorry. I should have realized.” He lifted her, hugging her against him. He ran his hands up and down her back, stroking her bare skin through the opening in the hospital gown.
“There were times during the past few days when I was afraid I’d never hold you like this again. I’ve missed it…missed this…missed you.” He kissed her temple, then her cheek, and then her lips, softly and chastely. Lowering her back onto the pillow, he said, “Now rest.”
“I will.”
“If you change your mind about wanting something to eat, wanting anything, promise you’ll call me.”
“I promise. Rest well. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Bright and early. I can’t wait to quit this town.” He blew her a kiss at the door.
After he left, despair descended on her like some dark, malevolent bird, its wings widespread, covering her completely. Would she always feel this miserable with guilt over the lies she had told and continued to tell?
Throwing off the light blanket, she got out of bed. Pulling the IV pole along with her, she went over to the closet and took out the plastic bag that contained her belongings. She pulled from it her left running shoe, and from beneath the inner sole of it, she took out the map.
Knight had forgotten to get it from her before he left. As soon as she was alone in the room, she had retrieved the map from her jacket pocket and put it in her shoe, the only place she could think of to hide it until she was away from the hospital where she could safely throw it away.
She wasn’t really concealing anything. She’d been truthful about the name of the trail she’d taken, if not specific about the narrower paths she’d branched off onto, some of which deviated from the trail she’d marked.
All the same, she would hang onto the map, not wishing to make it easier for investigators to retrace her exact route and possibly find something left behind, a clue as to her rescuer’s identity or the location of his cabin.
Sam Knight, despite his “aw shucks” manner, was still a lawman. Unanswered questions and missing details nagged him. He’d l
ed her to believe the case was as good as closed. But if that were true, why was he interested in seeing the map? Why were investigators still searching the trail?
The detective remained curious about her Good Samaritan.
Chapter 26
The phone deep inside his coat pocket vibrated.
He took it out, read the LED: BLOCKED CALL.
He answered but didn’t say anything.
“It’s me,” Rebecca said.
He’d lied to Emory about not having a cell phone. He had dozens, off-brands he bought in the supermarket, the kind that sold for practically a dime a dozen, disposable. They were used only to communicate with his sister.
Each time he called her, he gave her the number for the next phone, then destroyed the one he’d just used. That way, she always had an untraceable number to call if she needed to reach him in an emergency.
He braced himself to receive bad news. “What’s happened?”
“Special Agent Jack Connell came to call.”
He hadn’t seen that coming, and for a moment he was speechless. Then, in a stage whisper, “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“I wish.”
“When was this?”
“Today.”
After four years, Connell had showed up today. The day Emory was returned to her husband, when she’d been surrounded by law enforcement officers and media. Coincidence? The two events had occurred three thousand miles apart. What possible link could they have to each other? Only one. Him.
“What did he want?”
“What do you think? You.”
“Son of a bitch.”
“He’s still got the puppy dog eyes,” she said.
“Don’t trust them.”
“Oh, I didn’t. Not for a minute. He’s as manipulative as ever, but he really needs to brush up on his surveillance skills. He was parked down the street when I came home from work yesterday evening.”
“Why didn’t you call me then?”
“I thought he would give up and go away.”
“Fat chance of that.”
“I waited twenty-four hours before busting him.”
“He came alone?”
“Yes.”
“How long was he there?”
“Here in the house, for about fifteen minutes.”
“You let him in?”
“For fifteen minutes,” she repeated testily. “Then I sent him packing.”
“Doesn’t mean he’s not still watching you.”
“I don’t think he is.”
He had to trust her on that. She was savvy and elusive. Or had been until now. He asked the most pertinent question. “How did he track you all the way to Seattle?”
She explained how her former coworker at Macy’s had spotted her on a newscast. He began to relax a little when he realized that there was no connection between Emory and the FBI agent’s unheralded visit to his sister.
“It was stupid of me to participate in the protest,” she was saying. “I realize that now, but I never thought it would merit national news coverage.”
“But you’ve changed your appearance.”
“Not enough to fool Eleanor, it seems.”
“I remember her. You two were close.”
“She had a mad crush on you, I think. Before…”
What she’d been about to say was before Westboro. Everything had changed after that, but it was a waste of time to discuss what they both already knew, and prudently they shouldn’t talk too long. Especially in light of Jack Connell’s recent reappearance. “You didn’t leave him alone, did you?”
“Only to go to the bathroom, and—before you panic—I listened at the door. He peed and washed up. He wasn’t in there long enough to do anything else. But I thoroughly checked the room after he left anyway.”
Good girl. “What did you two talk about for fifteen minutes?”
“He mentioned Salt Lake City. Texas and Kentucky, too.”
“I don’t suppose they were vacation destinations on his bucket list.”
“Don’t be cute. He asked what I knew about a soccer coach. I played dumb, but of course he didn’t buy it.”
No mention of North Carolina or even the region. No mention of an Atlanta physician who’d gone missing for four days. Breathing more easily, he switched subjects. “How’s Sarah?”
“We’ll get to her. How are you?”
“All right.”
“No you’re not.”
“Yes, I am.”
“What’s happened?”
“Nothing.”
“Don’t bullshit me! You don’t sound right. Are you sick?”
“Healthy as a horse.”
“Then what’s going on?”
Rebecca had always been able to detect an evasion. A lie she could spot from a mile off. He should quit while he was ahead. “Look, I’d better go. Thanks for the heads-up about Connell.”
“I had to warn you. He’s still on your trail.”
“If he was hot on it, he wouldn’t be pestering you. One thing, though. You’re sure it was your friend who put him on to you? He might have been lying about that.”
“He wasn’t. I checked. After he left, I called Eleanor.”
Rebecca was scrupulous about covering her tracks, and thereby his tracks. It took him aback that she had reconnected with her friend in New York.
“She verified that Connell had come to see her and only after she had called him.” Sounding defensive, she added, “I enjoyed talking to her. She’s married now. Pregnant with her first child. It was good to hear her sounding so happy.”
He bowed his head low, tucking his chin into the collar of his coat, pained that his sister felt it necessary to make an excuse for enjoying a chat with an old friend. Her loyalty to him had cost her dearly. He probably knew of only a fraction of the sacrifices she had made, and was still making, in order to protect him.
“I’m glad you called,” he said thickly. “Thanks. I’ll be in touch.”
“Don’t you dare hang up!”
“I’ve talked too long already.”
“You asked about Sarah.”
His heart hitched. “She okay? Jesus, Connell didn’t—”
“No. I threatened him with emasculation if he went near her.”
“And then I’d have to kill him.”
“Unnecessary for the time being. In answer to your question, Sarah is doing great.”
“Still playing the cello?”
“There’s a recital in a few weeks. I wish you could be here for it.”
“I wish I could be too.” A silence followed, and it stretched out until it took on more significance than merely a lapse in conversation. “What aren’t you telling me, Becs?”
When she was twelve and he was fourteen, she’d smacked him every time he’d taunted her with the pet name. Over time, however, she’d come to like it, even though his using it usually signaled a shift in the tenor of their conversation. It was the verbal equivalent of getting to the heart of the matter, of the kid gloves coming off.
“Sarah and I like it here,” she said. “She loves her school. She has tons of friends. The shop is doing well. Outperforming my projections. We’ve made a home here. If I were to uproot us again—”
“I didn’t ask you to uproot the first time.”
“No, it was my decision alone to leave New York. But as long as Jack Connell had me on his radar, he was going to be a pest, and I hated having my life monitored.
“Then, too, Sarah and I needed a fresh start, away from that jerk I was married to. I don’t regret leaving Manhattan.”
She paused to take a breath. “But moving to a different city now, assuming another name, having to lie to everyone in order to establish a new identity, I don’t want to do it again.”
“I don’t want you to either,” he said, meaning it. “Stay where you are, Becs, and live your life. Don’t consider me every time you make a decision. Your happiness and well-being, Sarah’s, that’s all that you shoul
d take into account.”
“But now that Jack Connell knows where I am—”
“You can’t betray me to him because you don’t know anything.”
“He doesn’t believe that. He’s certain that I know where you are.”
“Then he’s wrong, isn’t he?”
“And so are you.”
“Am what?”
“Wrong. Something’s going on. What?”
God, she was tenacious. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine.”
Ever attuned to the slightest nuance, she asked, “What did you do this time?”
“You know better than to ask.”
“Just tell me so I won’t have to worry.”
He hesitated, then said, “I got crosswise with my neighbors.” Experience had taught her to read between the lines. She wouldn’t guess that, this time, he was speaking literally.
“Plural?”
“Two of them.”
She made a small sound of regret. “How crosswise did you get?”
“They’re still breathing, if that’s what you’re asking.”
“Don’t get nasty. I just want to know what happened.”
“Actually, Becs, you don’t. If you don’t know, you won’t ever have to lie about it.”
“For God’s sake, when will you stop?”
“When I’m finished.”
“Or until someone finishes you.”
“There’s always that possibility.”
She gave a huff of mirthless laughter. “But I’m not supposed to worry?”
He didn’t have a response for that.
“If you’re done there, wherever there is, you’ll be relocating now.”
He looked at the building across the street from where he was leaning against a utility pole. Visiting hours at the hospital were over, so there weren’t as many people coming and going as there had been earlier.
The two men who’d escorted Emory into the ER earlier in the day had driven away in their SUV. The news vans had departed after the press conference. Shortly after ten o’clock Jeff Surrey had left in a late-model European car.
Somewhere in that building Emory was alone, and would be for the rest of the night. That should relieve his mind. It didn’t.
