Blurred Boundaries

by Lori Crawford

  “Put it in the car!” she insisted. He shook his head and started to comply when he saw her swing a leg over the balcony railing. All his amusement faded to fear when he thought of her falling.

  “What are you doing?” he shouted up, hoping to stop her. She swung the other leg over and froze while staring inside the room. From his angle, he couldn’t see what she was looking at, but whatever it was made her hastily slide down the railing bars as far as she could.

  Tam was still dangling a good ten feet off the ground and while those stilettos she wearing looked great, they probably wouldn’t help her have the most graceful of landings. Evan scrambled into position below her just as she let go. He stumbled a bit when the brunt of her weight hit him, but he managed to catch her.

  When he let her slide the rest of the way to the ground, she turned to face him, and her arms ended up around his neck in an embrace he’d waited so long to have. The shocked expression on her face was priceless, and she just stared at him for a long a moment. He was more than willing to give her that time because it meant she remained nestled in his arms.

  “You caught me?”

  Evan smiled, anticipating a little hero worship. “Yeah. I did.”

  She frowned. “You dope. What if I had injured you? Schenecki would be so pissed at me.”

  Evan chuckled. Tam never ceased to surprise him. “I think the word you’re looking for is ‘thanks.’”

  Tam’s mouth snapped shut while she considered. She took a breath and he could feel the tension leave her body. “Thanks.”

  Before he could show her how magnanimous he could be, someone shouted from above them, “Tamara!” They looked up to see Teddy Craig leaning over the railing. As usual, he was flanked by his two flunkies. “You’re not going anywhere with my towel rack, Tamara.”

  Tam stepped out of Evan’s embrace and glared up at the men. She stunned him when she lifted both hands to give Teddy Craig a double one fingered salute. She looked back at Evan.

  “I’m driving.”

  Feeling it was not in his best interest to argue, he tossed her the keys. She snagged them from mid-air and he grabbed the towel rack. Apparently, that thing was leaving with them. He ignored the men’s orders for them to stop where they were and shoved the pole in the back of the SUV before climbing in the passenger’s seat. He was still closing the door when Tam slammed the Escalade in reverse and backed out the main driveway.

  Evan studied her angry face. “You didn’t like the tour, I take it,” he risked commenting.

  Instead of answering right off, she pulled her phone from what he was learning was her favorite storage area when she didn’t have pockets and handed it to him.

  “The video is hopefully still running. Email it to me. To you. To Vivian. And Trey. Also upload a copy to my cloud.”

  Evan got busy doing as she’d asked. He started to play the video back to see what had gotten her so angry. He’d only gotten as far as a large hole in a wall when she said, “Email it first. Watch it later. I’m not risking Teddy Craig getting his hands on the original and destroying it.”

  Evan felt his own anger surfacing. “He didn’t hurt you did he?”

  She looked at him. “He hurt my parents. That’s infinitely worse.”

  After visiting her parents’ graves with her, Evan completely understood where she was coming from. He sent the files off.

  Tam checked the rear view and sped up. “Teddy Craig is the copper thief.”

  Evan’s eyebrows shot up and he looked at her. “That’s why the video is going to Trey. Also known as ‘Sheriff Harkins.’”

  Tam nodded. “Nobody can ever say you’re just a pretty face.”

  Evan’s smiled at the compliment and went fishing for more. “Yeah, but the face is pretty.” She shot him an amused look then took a curve a little faster than he’d have liked. His bloating ego took a blow when he had to grab for the hand rail above the door to keep from toppling into her lap. “In a rush, are we?”

  “They’re behind us. I’m not about to lead them to Vivian’s house. She keeps it unlisted for a reason.”

  Evan turned in his seat to stare out the back window. He’d noticed the headlights earlier, but being a city boy, he hadn’t thought much about it. Sure enough, there was a car dangerously close to their bumper.

  Tam sped up a bit more. The car did, too. Soon, both vehicles were careening down back gravel roads at a speed that defied sanity. She wheeled the Escalade in and out of hairpin turns like a pro.

  “Can you tell what he’s driving?” She asked Evan. He turned and did his best to identify the vehicle.

  “Why do we care?”

  “Can he follow me off road?”

  Evan chuckled and checked behind them again. “This is totally going in a script someday, isn’t it?”

  “Everything does.”

  Evan kept checking out the car behind them. “I can’t tell for sure, but the headlights look pretty low to the ground.”

  “I’ve got an idea.”

  Tam sped toward a fork in the road. She shot down the left fork then slammed on the brakes. The car behind swerved sharply to the left to avoid hitting them or the massive row of trees on the right. Without missing a beat, Tam slammed the Escalade in reverse and backed up the way they’d come. The tactic gave Evan a great view of Teddy Craig’s car.

  “Umm, is that a Bugatti Veyron?” Evan asked astounded.

  “A what?”

  “Only the fastest car in the world.” Evan whirled in his seat to get another look. “What is wrong with him? That thing belongs in a showroom.” Evan felt positively sick over the damage the gravel must be inflicting on the Bugatti’s paint job.

  “Okay.” The way she drew out the word told him that she had no appreciation for the vehicle riding their tail. “Can it go off road or not?”

  “No. Definitely not. It’s less than five inches off the ground. There’s no way…whoa!” Evan said when she abruptly turned left taking them off the cracked pavement. The force of the turn pressed him against the door.

  “Ugh. He’s such a chauvinist,” Tam snorted. “He saw I was driving and didn’t think I’d dare to go off road.”

  “Not a mistake he’ll make again, I’m sure.” Evan held on to the hand rail for dear life as they bounced over unseen ruts and God only knew what else.

  “He’s a pretty slow learner.” Tam remarked. She slowed and checked the rear view. Evan looked behind them, too. No more headlights. Tam wheeled the Escalade around. Parked beneath some trees then cut the lights.

  “Why are we stopping?” Evan asked. They’d pretty much lost Teddy Craig so he didn’t understand why they didn’t just keep going.

  “He’s going to know exactly where we’re going if we continue on this road. I want him ahead of us so we can double back. Also, we don’t have enough gas to let them chase us for much longer. We’ll never make it back to Vivian’s.”

  Evan smirked at her. “I’m not a slow learner.” He climbed from the SUV and headed to the back. She climbed out after him.

  “What are you doing? Get back in the car,” Tam’s voice held an urgent note.

  He showed her the gas can he’d stowed in the back. Her expression couldn’t be more pleased if he’d showered her with dozens of roses.

  “I could kiss you right now.” She was grinning from ear to ear when she looked at him. Even in the glow from the SUV’s interior light, she was gorgeous.

  He wasn’t completely thinking when he said, “Why don’t you, then?”

  Several expressions flitted over her face as she digested his words. He was so tempted to take them back. Afraid that he’d tipped his hand long before she was ready. But he decided to stand firm. Maybe it was time for him to make things clear. He probably could’ve picked a better location than some random forest, but que sera.

  Tam stared at him for another moment. She subtly shook her head as if she didn’t quite believe what his intentions were. She grabbed his arm and stood on tiptoes to kiss h
is cheek. He wasn’t going to let her off that easily. He turned his head in time to catch her lips with his.

  Stunned, she tried to back away, but he wouldn’t let her. He caught her around the waist and pulled her close.

  “That was kind of a pathetic kiss. I think you should try again.”

  “Evan, I…”

  Bright headlights swept over them as a reminder of why they were standing in the middle of nowhere on a cold night in the first place.

  A car door closed and a figure climbed from the low slung car. “You can’t hide from me, Tamara. Even if you didn’t have the interior lights lit up like a dumbass, I’d still find you.”

  Tam looked at the SUV and muttered a couple curses under her breath. “Rookie mistake.” She slammed the back door closed and squeezed Evan’s arm. “Get back in the truck.”

  “And leave you out here alone? Uh. No.” Evan stood firm beside her as Teddy Craig continued to advance on them. He was just a shadowy figure in the bright headlights of his car, but something was in his hand.

  “I just got the strangest call from Trey. Seems he received a video. From you. What the hell did you do?”

  “You scam is over. By morning, everybody is going to know about what you’ve done.”

  “You’ve been living in La La land for too long. The boys are already fixing the damage and moving the copper to a safe place. It’ll never be found. That video of yours will look as fake as one of those shows you work on.”

  Tam snorted. “Do what you want, Teddy Craig. Who do you think Trey is going to side with? You, who gave him daily wedgies for years? Or me who drove him to Target to replace all the underwear you tore so his parents wouldn’t find out?”

  “Oh. Did I forget to mention? You’re not going to be found, either. Not since pretty boy here stormed onto my property, mad as hell and forced you into that SUV. I haven’t seen you since. Maybe a murder-suicide is in order. Isn’t that what ya’ll do in California? Everybody knows you Hollywood types are looney toons.”

  “Get in the truck,” Tam told Evan again. This time, he didn’t hesitate. Both he and Tam scrambled for the front seats when they heard a shotgun ratchet from Teddy Craig’s direction.

  Tam slammed the SUV in gear and tore through the brush back toward the road. A shotgun blast echoed behind them. A few metallic clanks echoed through the SUV as some pellets hit the rear door and bumper of their vehicle. Good thing he’d gotten the full coverage on the rental.

  He looked at Tam. She stared intently at the road they were careening down. Other than taking a curve a little too wide, he couldn’t tell that she was affected at all by having Teddy Craig shoot at them.

  They were no more than a mile away when the Bugatti appeared in the rear view. It was gaining on them. Tam checked the mirror with a clenched jaw.

  “I’ve had just about enough of Teddy Craig Mason, Jr.”

  Evan had waited patiently for her to say those words. He just wished it hadn’t taken them getting shot at for her to reach such a realization.

  “Buckle up.”

  Evan saw Tam fasten her own seatbelt and quickly did the same. He had no idea what she had in store for Teddy Craig, but he couldn’t imagine it was anything good.

  The Bugatti was all but riding their bumper. Tam didn’t spare it a second look as she pushed the Escalade faster and faster. After slamming around curve after curve, Evan breathed a little easier when a straight stretch of road appeared ahead. Until he got his first taste of how hilly the thing was. They went up. They went down. Bounced all around.

  Tam cast an evil smirk in the rear view. It was a look Evan instinctively feared. She pushed the SUV faster even though the sports car had dropped back a few feet.

  They hit one hill and went flying. Evan had never been airborne in a car before. It was quite a surreal experience especially since he hadn’t been expecting it. They landed with a bit of a bang, but were otherwise still mobile thanks to the high chassis. He spun in his seat and watched the Bugatti take the same hill.

  The little car caught some serious air. It seemed to fly forever before descending like the brick it actually was. When it slammed back down to the pavement, Evan would swear that he saw pieces of it shoot off in every direction. “Oh, crap!”

  Tam, who’d been watching in the rear view, slammed on the brakes. The Escalade skidded to a halt, but she floored it again when the Bugatti slid sideways down the road toward them. All four wheels were missing and the body sparked something fierce when the car scraped along the asphalt.

  Tam stopped the SUV. Once the vehicle came to a rest, she joined Evan and turned in her seat see the mess they left behind.

  “Okay. So I didn’t expect that to be quite so spectacular.”

  “Should we go check to see if he’s okay?” Evan asked.

  “Not unless getting shot at once wasn’t enough.” She reached for her phone.” Let’s let the professionals handle it.”

  She used his phone to dial 911 over the SUV’s Bluetooth. Evan listened while she reported a single car accident. She also warned the first responders to approach with care since she believed the driver was armed. Next, she called Trey. Unlike 911, she filled him in on the entire story. Not having seen the video, Evan listened intently to what she discovered. Hearing the depths of Teddy Craig’s scam erased any compassion he might’ve felt for the man after losing his Bugatti in such a horrific fashion.

  While she was talking to Trey, Evan noted that Teddy Craig’s door opened.

  “Tam, I think we should drive away.”

  “What’s happening?” Trey asked.

  “He’s getting out of the car.”

  Tam spun in her seat to look.

  “I agree with Evan. Get a safe distance away I’m on my way.” Trey instructed.

  She drove a couple miles away before parking on the side of the road.

  Tam turned the engine off and gave Evan a relieved smile. “Bet you wish you hadn’t gotten on that plane now.”

  He gave a one-shouldered shrug and squeezed her hand. He was surprised to note that it was trembling. His unflappable little hellfire was shaking like a leaf. He put an arm around her and pulled her close. Kissed the top of her head.

  “There’s no place I’d rather be.” Surprisingly, it was true.

  That was when Tam gave him the shock of his life. She pushed herself up so she was kneeling in the driver’s seat. Her eyes dropped briefly to his lips before meeting his gaze again. That was the only warning he got as to her intent. He smiled, but forced himself to remain still and let her take the lead. No way was he going to scare her off now.

  For a moment, he saw a flicker of doubt in her eyes. Still, he didn’t move. His patience was rewarded when she leaned forward and planted a tender kiss on his lips. Progress! And all it had taken was following her halfway across the country and getting shot at by a lunatic who used to have an awesome car. He’d been right.

  She was worth it.

  Epilogue

  “You created a monster, I’m telling you. Every conversation is about college. She just finished 10th grade. I was not ready for this.” Vivian heaved a heavy sigh and Tam snorted. She didn’t, for one second, take her friend’s complaints seriously.

  “I cannot believe you’re putting the blame solely on me. If memory serves, you were standing right there, too.” Tam glanced at the rental car’s GPS. Her destination was ahead.

  “I was having a moment of weakness. I didn’t think things through. You were supposed to be a good friend and think them through for me. You know what the latest is?”

  “Whatever it is, I’m sure it’s my fault.”

  Despite Vivian’s grumbling, Tam couldn’t keep the smile off her face when she drove through the now familiar gates of the studio. Last time, she’d been summoned here. This time, she couldn’t wait to arrive. Both times, Evan was the cause.

  “She wants ‘Uncle’ Evan to give her a personal tour of Yale. You know how much Yale costs these days?”

 
Tam cringed when she parked her rental car. Okay. So the latest might just be her fault. Well, technically, it was Evan’s since he’d offered to show Missy around the campus now that she’d gotten her grades up enough to actually get in.

  “I have faith in you and Peter. Ya’ll will figure it out. Hey, I just got here so I’ve got to go.”

  “Seriously, though, Tam, thank you. I never thought…”

  Tears welled in Tam’s eyes when she heard the emotion in Vivian’s voice. She nodded even though her friend couldn’t see her over the phone. “I know. Love you.”

  “Love you, too.”

  Tam took a moment to compose herself before she climbed out with her laptop. There were fewer trailers on the lot this go round since the film had a much lower budget than the show. She bypassed them and headed straight for the set. The red light was off so she was clear to step inside.

  She paused at the entrance and waited for her eyes to adjust to the dim lighting. There wasn’t a lot of commotion nearby so she listened to determine which way she should head. She heard Evan call, “Action!” and smiled. Quietly, she tiptoed around the unused sets until she spotted him in Video Village.

  She just stopped and stared at him for a moment. She could not believe what a difference a year could make. He was still sexy as hell, but he was hers. Well, she still shared him with an adoring television audience every Wednesday night, but the rest of the time she got him all to herself.

  She’d had a glorious first season on the show as a co-producer and Schenecki had not hesitated to bring her back the moment they were picked up for a fourth season. Finally, her career was taking off.

  Besides that, she’d decided to take Evan up on his offer to write the low budget film that he wanted to direct. They learned that they were insanely compatible partners, which was why their trip back to Atlanta was serving double duty. Film shoot and honeymoon.

  Evan stopped the scene to give the actors some direction. She decided to sneak up on him. He knew she was on her way, but not when she’d arrive. She was almost to him when a short, stocky dude popped up in her path. She recoiled, startled. Where had he even come from?