She pressed a hand to her purse until she could feel the hard outline of the metal inside. She would not go down without a fight.
Squaring her shoulders, she opened the door and stepped out.
**
Drew could feel the bulge of the box in his pocket. He had stopped by the jewelry store after he had sent Janey’s phone to Chicago.
He knew it was probably too soon to ask her, but he already knew that Janey was the one. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, to wake up beside her every morning.
He was pretty convinced that she loved him. True, she’d never told him once, except for the one time she’d murmured it in her sleep. But he’d seen the love in her eyes. Felt it in her touch.
Oh boy, her touch.
He remembered the feel of her naked body sliding over his. The way she’d given herself completely to him… that had to be love.
He stared pensively at the road as he drove back to his father’s house. Leaving her while she was still sleeping had been harder than he’d thought. She’d curled her body around him, holding on to him even in her sleep.
Even though they’d just gone two rounds, he had been hard once more. But he knew he had to get her phone to Rusty if they wanted to end the threat to her life soon. So he had untangled himself from her reluctantly, and stood up.
He hadn’t spoken to her since then. He glanced at the clock on his dashboard. It was already past six p.m. He’d left over four hours ago. He increased his speed, filled with a sudden need to see Janey.
Drew got to the house and met the worried faces of his parents and Walter.
He paused and looked at them. “What is going on? Where is Janey?”
“Son, we’ve been trying to reach you.”
Drew pulled out his phone and saw that it was on silent. There were over two dozen missed calls. His heart began to pump as anxiety swept over him.
“What happened?”
“Janey left.”
Drew shook his head, not comprehending what they were saying.
“What do you mean she left?”
“She asked Walter to call a taxi for her. He didn’t suspect a thing because she only left with her purse.”
Okay. That wasn’t too bad. Maybe she just wanted to see the town. Although he could not fathom why she would do that when her life was in danger. Janey was a lot of things, but she was not reckless or impulsive.
“I tried to call you as soon as she left, sir,” Walter said.
But he had no answered his phone because somehow, it had gone into silent mode. Drew wanted to curse.
“He called me instead. I did not think much of it, but when she hadn’t returned several hours later, we checked your room.”
“Her things are still there, cher,” his mother said in her gentle voice. “But some things are missing. Her toothbrush, toiletries…and we found this.” She held out a note.
Drew did not want to read the note. He could feel the anguish tearing through his soul. He took it from his mother and recognized Janey’s writing. She had all sorts of notes posted on her fridge back in Broken Arrow.
Opening the note, he read:
I’m sorry, Drew. I really don’t want to leave. Leaving you is HARD. But I will never
be able to live with myself if anything happens to your wonderful parents.
I love you. I know I’ve never told you this before, but I really do.
Drew clenched his fists, squeezing the note in the process. He felt as though there was a vice clamped around his heart and it was squeezing the life out of him. He shut his eyes and struggled to calm his breathing.
He knew he was losing it right there before his parents, but he was helpless to do anything about it. How could she just up and leave like that? And what if the people caught up with her?
His heart missed a beat at the thought as real fear spread its dark claws over him.
“We’ll find her, Son.”
He heard the soothing sound of his father’s voice. Then his mother wrapped her arms around him. He inhaled her familiar scent, Chanel No. 5, and something inside him calmed down.
He opened his eyes and glanced at them. His father, looking worried but determined. His mother holding on to him with tears in her eyes. And Walter, pale and miserable.
He stepped back from his mother’s embrace and walked to Walter.
“Don’t worry so much. I will make sure I find her and keep her safe,” he said, reassuring not just the man, but also himself.
He had to find her. There was no room for failure.
“I’m so sorry, Mister Drew.”
Drew stared at the man who was like a second father to him. Growing up, Walter had been more of a father than his own. He tried to smile for the man now.
“Just pray for us, Walter. Pray hard.”
“We called the taxi company. The taxi that took her dropped her at a car rental company,” Charles Carron said, mentioning the name of the car rental service.
Drew shifted his gaze to his dad, his heart leaping with hope. That was a place to begin his search. It was getting dark outside, but he could not afford to wait till daybreak.
“I’ll head there now. Thanks.”
Before he drove off, he sat in the car and straightened out the note Janey had left for him. He read it a second time. And a third time.
She loved him.
He had never told her how he felt about her. He wanted to howl. He’d never felt this way before. One minute overjoyed, then the next, drowning in pain.
He had to find her. There was no way in hell he was going to let anyone take her from him. Especially not now that he knew she loved him.
He picked up his phone to call HQ, then hesitated. After a brief pause, he put it down again. When he had concrete information, he would call them.
With that, he turned on the ignition and drove out.
Chapter Twenty-five
Janey had been driving for over three hours and she was tired and hungry. She’d skipped lunch and it was beginning to wear on her.
Seeing the sign for Mobile, Alabama, she decided that it might be a good idea to get something to eat and fill her tank before leaving. Heaven knew, she was not in a hurry.
After she’d filled her tank, she stopped at a Subway. She entered and took a booth at the front, where she could see her car clearly. No one was going to plant a bomb in her car, not on her watch. She knew she was not just being paranoid either. A bomb had been planted in Sierra’s car a few months back.
She took a sip of the coffee she’d ordered with her sandwich and grimaced. It wasn’t bad, not really. But it was nothing like what she made at home. She took another sip, and it occurred to her that she hadn’t had coffee in a while. The reason why she could suddenly enjoy a cup of coffee filled her with sadness.
She would have traded all the coffee in Colombia for a chance at having Drew’s baby. She placed the coffee on the table and cradled her head with her hands.
Thinking about Drew hurt too much. She missed him with a desperation that shook her. She took a deep breath and let it out in a rush. She could do this. She would not be weak.
“Honey, are you okay?”
Janey looked up into the kind face one of the counter staff. She had her strawberry blonde hair piled in a topknot on her head. Her face was lined and her eyes weary, even though she did not look much older than forty. If at all.
“I’m fine. Just a bit tired,” Janey said with a brief smile.
“Well, you’re welcome to stay for as long as you need to, hun,” she said. “I’m guessing you’re not from around these parts?”
Janey shook her head. “I’m from Oklahoma.”
“Well, this is a long ways away from home, sweetie.” She turned to go then paused, “It’s all gonna work out fine. Just you wait and see.” With a wink, she was gone.
After she left, Janey wrapped up what was left of her sandwich. She’d had enough, but she could eat that later on the road. She thought briefly of
spending the night in Mobile, but quickly dismissed it. She needed to be on the move.
She had no destination in particular, but she was headed towards Florida. If she didn’t feel safe there, she would keep on driving.
She had spread out the map just before driving away from the rental company. She supposed that she could have gone towards Texas or Arkansas. But they were right next to Oklahoma and she didn’t think she could be so close to home and not give in to the temptation to drive home. If only to be sure her parents were okay.
So she’d chosen the opposite direction.
She took stock of her life. She had no home. No business. There were some savings, enough to take her through three months—if she survived that long.
She pushed the thought away. She was going to survive.
Just then she glanced out the window and noticed movement beside her car. She had deliberately parked not too far from a street lamp so she could see any activity around her car.
There was a man standing by her car. He glanced around furtively, then tried to open the door. She didn’t know who he was, but she was not sticking around to find out either.
Janey got to her feet and walked over to the worker. She glanced at her name tag.
“Hi, Lydia, is there…I don’t know…maybe a back door where I can step out unseen?”
Lydia paused and weighed her with her glance. “Do you need a ride somewhere, sugar?”
“To the nearest car rental that would be open at this time?” Janey asked hopefully.
“Oh darling, this is Mobile. You have to go all the way to Oklahoma City to get that.”
Janey felt her heart pounding in fear, there was no way she could go back out there now. She had no idea how many men were waiting for her outside.
“Tell you what, I recognize that look in your eyes. Are you in trouble, honey?”
Janey swallowed and nodded. She needed to get out of there before the man…men, decided to come in and search for her. They must have followed her from New Orleans.
“Here,” she dipped her hand into her bra and brought out a single key. It was a car key. “You take my wheels.”
Janey shook her head vigorously. “Oh no, I can’t do that!”
“Well, you either do that, or you turn around and face the trouble you’re so keen on running from.” She tipped her head to the side, a small smile playing on her lips.
Janey hesitated for a moment, then took the key from her. “I don’t know why you’re doing this, but thank you.”
“Sweetie, I know just how it feels to be on the run for your life. No, I don’t want to know the details,” she said, raising her hand when Janey opened her mouth to speak. “You just get out of here and make sure you stay alive.”
“I’ll pay you, I promise,” Janey vowed.
“Sure thing. Now come this way.”
She led Janey through the back, out a door that led to a dimly lit park. It looked like the staff parking area.
“Thank you so much,” Janey said fervently. “If anyone comes looking for me, you’ve never seen me before. Unless he’s big, huge really, with dark hair in a crew cut and the most gorgeous gray eyes you’ve ever seen.”
Lydia laughed, “Alright honey. Now you get your ass outta here. Turn right, there’s another highway exit that way.”
“Do you have a map anywhere close?” she asked tentatively. She’d left her map in the other car and she had no idea how to get to Florida.
“Sure. Check in the glove compartment.”
Janey opened the glove compartment and pulled out the map. She turned on the inner light and used her fingers to trace the route that would take her to Florida.
Thanking her profusely, Janey gunned the engine and drove back into the night.
She was not stopping for anything anymore. Thankfully she had a full tank of gas, a bottle of water and her leftover sandwich. She’d used the ATM machine at the gas station so she had cash.
She pulled back onto the highway and pointed her car towards Florida.
**
Drew was stumped. He ran his hands through his hair, feeling frustrated. He knew for sure that Janey had been to the rental company and had rented a car. He had the details of the car she’d rented, which he’d sent to HQ. But not much else.
He glanced at the map on the passenger seat beside him, wondering where she would have gone. The logical direction would have been towards Broken Arrow, which could mean going through Texas.
Janey was logical. Only in a very different way. She wanted to protect those she loved. Which meant she would probably take the opposite direction. Only problem was there were so many destinations. Which would she have taken?
His phone rang then.
“Emily,” he said by way of greeting.
“She made use of her credit card at nineteen forty-five.”
Drew’s heart began to pound with hope and fear. “Where?”
“Mobile, Alabama.”
He did the math. It was a little over two hours away. By the time he got there, she could be anywhere. Still, it was a start.
“I’ll head on there now.”
“Pick us up at Mobile Regional Airport,” she said and ended the call.
Drew put the vehicle into gear and moved.
As the tires ate up the miles, Drew’s mind kept churning with different possibilities. He ground his teeth as he fought off the feeling of helplessness. Somewhere, Janey was out there all alone, driving in the dark or holed up in some motel, scared. He had no way to tell if she’d been followed.
He hit his fist on the wheel. If they laid even on finger on Janey, he would not rest till he destroyed them all.
A little over two hours later, he took the turn into Mobile and headed straight for the Mobile Regional Airport. He picked up Emily and Ryan, who were already waiting for him.
“Do you have an exact location?” he asked.
“Yeah. There’s a twenty-four-hour Subway on the outskirts of town.” She punched the coordinates into the GPS.
He was on his way before she was done.
He felt her gaze on him. “I’m fine,” he said.
“I don’t think you are, but that’s okay. Janey is a tough woman. If anyone can make it through this, she can.”
He shot her a glance, but it was quite dark so he shifted his attention to the road. “Thanks for coming, guys.”
They got to the Subway and Drew pulled in beside a car that looked remarkably like the one he was told Janey had driven off with. He slid his hand into the pocket of his jacket and pulled out the photo that was printed out.
The description matched.
“That’s the car,” he said, pointing to it.
“I don’t know why it’s still here. She should be gone by now. Let’s go inside and ask a few questions.”
He was wearing his shoulder harness, though he used his jacket to cover it up.
They stepped out of the van, Drew’s eyes scanning the area for any hint of trouble. As they walked into the Subway, he listened to his gut, trying to feel if there was any potential threat.
He glanced at Emily and she nodded towards an empty booth. They took their seats. Soon, a waitress walked towards them and stopped right in front of Drew.
She gave him a once-over and nodded.
“Damn. Those eyes sure are gorgeous.”
Drew exchanged a puzzled glance with the others before turning his gaze back to her.
“I’m sorry, what are you talking about?”
“You’re looking for her, right?”
He went still. “What are you talking about?”
She shrugged. “Alright, sugar, if you want to play it that way, I’ll be behind the counter.” She turned to saunter away.
Drew jumped to his feet and stood blocking her path.
“I’m sorry. Yes, you’re right, I’m looking for someone. A woman.”
She gazed at him, her expression unreadable. Then she nodded and walked back to the table. “I have a few min
utes, so I can sit and talk.”
Emily shifted further into the booth so the woman could sit. Drew and Ryan occupied the other end.
“I’m guessing the woman you’re looking for is slim, pretty, with blonde hair?”
Drew nodded.
“How did you know we were looking for someone?” Emily asked curiously.
“The poor thing was so distressed when she came in. I felt bad for her and talked to her some. Then she came to me later asking for a way out. She needed to get away in a hurry. I gave her my wheels. It’s not much, you understand, but the baby’s still got a few miles on her.” Her face turned dark then.
“Not a few minutes after she left, in comes this shady-looking character asking for her. I told him there were just too many people coming in and out, I couldn’t possibly remember everyone.”
“But how do you know we’re not after her as well?” Ryan asked.
She smiled. “I can’t say if you are one way or another, sugar,” she said to Ryan. “But she did tell me that if a huge man with a crew cut and gorgeous gray eyes came looking for her, I was to let him know she was here.”
Drew felt his heart expand in his chest. No matter what she said to herself, Janey trusted him. Even though she’d run away, she still trusted him to come after her and not only that, but to find her as well.
“Do you have any idea where she’s gone?” Emily asked.
“No, sorry. She didn’t say anything to me…” She hesitated. “Although if I’m to guess, I would say Florida.”
Drew raised an eyebrow. “Florida?”
“Sure, why not? It’s where I would go if I were running for my life. Easier to get lost there. But she did ask for a map before she left and I’m not sure, but she might have been plotting her trip that way.”
“Okay, my time’s up,” she said, rising to her feet.
Drew stood up too. “Thank you so much…Lydia,” he said, glancing at her name tag. “You’ve been a great help.”
She shrugged. “Totally my pleasure. When you find the darling, you make sure you don’t let her out of your sight again.”
“I’m not planning to.”
She tapped his arm, flashed him a smile that could only be termed naughty and winked. She turned to walk away and threw over her shoulder, “You sure are gorgeous.”
Silver Shield Security Box Set Page 42
