Run, Hide - By Carol Ericson Page 0,4
up like a jack-in-the-box.
“Stay down, Gavin. You’re not in your car seat, so you have to lie down, okay?” Jenna wrapped her arms around their squirrelly son and pulled him down.
Gavin’s voice squeaked from the depths of the backseat. “Fire trucks!”
“I heard them. They’re gone already.”
Cade eyed his side mirror as the last of the emergency vehicles took another turn...toward Jenna’s area of town.
Had they done something to Jenna’s little house?
He scanned the sky behind him, looking for smoke or some other sign of mayhem from that side of town. Because when those types of men appeared, mayhem followed.
Of course, his track record wasn’t much better than theirs.
Jenna asked in a muffled voice, “Where are we going?”
“Away.”
“What are you doing here, Cade?”
“Long story.”
She snorted and he could picture her rolling her baby blues. “When is it ever a short story?”
“Spy meets girl next door. Spy loses girl next door. Is that short enough for you?” Before she could respond, he whistled through his teeth. “Hello.”
“What?”
“There’s a commotion up ahead.”
“What kind of commotion?” Fear edged Jenna’s voice, and Cade clutched the steering wheel, feeling her fear like a knife to the heart.
“Looks like a car’s on fire.” Narrowing his eyes, he pumped the brakes. This four-lane road, two lanes in each direction, was the only way in and out of Lovett Peak. Now every car leaving town had to crawl past the accident, squeezing into one lane. Coincidence?
“Is there a black truck involved?”
So she’d seen the truck. Damn. They’d gotten closer to her and Gavin than he’d expected.
“Not this time.” He cranked the wheel and pulled out of the line of cars, making a sharp right turn onto a small mountain access road that led back to Lovett Peak Ski Resort.
“Oh, no.” Jenna bolted upright in the seat. “We can’t go back to town.”
He tipped his head toward the main road. “We can’t go out that way, either. Everyone going past that so-called accident is a sitting duck.”
“And what will we be in Lovett Peak?”
“We’ll be a family among other families.”
She sucked in a noisy breath, but she didn’t respond. Trying to let the irony sink in most likely.
“We’ll blend in. Have some dinner. Talk.”
“Is that safe?”
“I’ll protect you.” He’d been waiting three long years to say those words.
“We can’t go to my house.”
“Of course not. It’s been compromised.”
“It’s been more than compromised.” She sniffled and coughed. “A dead body’s there.”
Cade slammed on the brakes and lurched against his seat belt while the driver behind him leaned on his horn. “Gavin...”
“Conked out.”
He blew out a breath. He didn’t think Jenna would be bringing up a dead body in front of their son. “Who was it?”
“My neighbor Marti. She scared them off with her gun, but they returned...with a bigger gun.”
Cade pounded the steering wheel. “They were in your house with a weapon?”
“We hid the first time they were there, but they came back. They didn’t come in the house the second time. I think they were afraid the police would show up because Marti told them she’d called the cops.”
“Did she?” The cops were never any use in these situations. He should know.
“I wouldn’t let her.” She sniffled again. “I wish I had.”
“They shot her from outside?”
“They shot her with some kind of high-powered rifle with a silencer. The only thing I heard was the window shattering after the fact.”
“My God, Jenna. And you got on the bus after that?”
She shot up in the backseat, her short, blond hair sticking up all over. “How do you know any of this? Why are you here?”
“Safety and food first.” He studied her tousled blond hair in the rearview mirror. “And a long, brown wig for you.”
“A wig?”
“You can make your transformation at the next gas station.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “I have a bag in the back with some...stuff, disguises.”
“How did you...”
“Save it.”
She opened her mouth to say something, rolled her eyes and flopped back onto the seat.
Cade knew the town of Lovett Peak, had studied maps and satellite pictures. Knew every mountain road, convenience store and pizza joint. But he still hadn’t gotten here in time.
His hands convulsively clutched the steering wheel when he thought about how close the assassins had come to Jenna and Gavin. If they had been successful...
“Does anyone know you at Mike and Mo’s Service Station?”
“No. Lovett Peak’s not that small and I kept a low profile.”
How could a gorgeous, sun-kissed blonde keep a low profile in a land of snow bunnies? But Jenna had