That didn’t sit well with him, made him feel unsteady, so he asked Patricia to bag his stuff to go, and then he paid for his items, stood, and headed toward the front door. But something made him look over his shoulder at that woman once more, his hand on the handle, about to pull it open so he could leave.
She glanced up, and their eyes locked. Scars swore the air stilled around him then instantly heated. His heart started to race, adrenaline pumping through his veins. Never in his life had he had this kind of reaction to a woman. It had been a long fucking time since he’d given a shit about anyone who wasn’t his daughter or his brothers.
That had him feeling angry at himself, pissed at the situation, and so damn confused at what was happening.
He pulled the door open and left, knowing he was going to get piss-ass drunk tonight and put all this behind him.4Hannah had stopped at this little diner in this mountain town an hour ago. She needed a break from driving, her ass and back hurting from sitting in the car for so long, her legs aching.
She was exhausted, so tired it went down to her bones. And although she wanted to keep moving, get as far away from the shit following her as she could, she also just wanted to sleep for a solid day.
But that sure as hell wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.
She’d ordered coffee after coffee. And every time Hannah heard that little bell above the door ding, her fear took hold.
Hannah knew she looked junkie as hell, probably even suspicious. And that was solidified when she noticed a man looking at her. He was built solidly and big, appeared rough around the edges, with tattoos, and a body so tall he almost looked like a giant sitting on that tiny barstool.
And he had his focus on her. She felt it before she even looked up and saw he watched her. At first, she thought he knew who she was, that he was connected to Landon.
But common sense told her that wasn’t possible. She’d left hours ago while Landon had been unconscious. There was no way he could’ve had somebody follow her and show up almost exactly at the same time she did. That gave her a little bit of peace, but still, the man watching her did it so intently it was like he knew she was running from something.
She wasn’t afraid of him exactly. Although his size, all those muscles, and tattoos were frightening all in itself, it was the way he watched her. It was as if he were trying to understand her, find all her secrets. And when he’d been about to leave, something in her had tightened uncomfortably. And that feeling in her intensified when he stopped before leaving the diner and looked over at her once more.
She didn’t know who he was.
She didn’t know what he wanted or why he seemed so interested in her, but it set Hannah on edge.
She paid for her coffee and got a couple sandwiches to go. She’d stop at the next town and rest for a little bit. She wouldn’t get a motel, not wanting to leave a paper trail. Although Landon wasn’t some kind of prodigy when it came to finding out that kind of information, she had no doubts he knew people who did.
He had connections, other lowlifes like him who could probably find a person even if they didn’t want to be found.
She didn’t know how long she’d drive and didn’t know how far she’d go. Hannah didn’t even know where she was going. All she knew was she had to keep moving.
Maybe she’d killed Landon, and all this running was for nothing?
No, she was surviving.
Once in her car with the door shut, she instinctively locked it. Hannah had left her phone back at the house in her rush to leave, only grabbing her purse, but she was thankful she didn’t have the cell. That could be tracked.
So she’d picked up a prepaid one at the gas station an hour before. It didn’t have the internet, so she couldn’t look up the news to see if anything had been documented about Landon. Maybe that was for the best though. Maybe she didn’t want to know what was going on.
She looked at her windshield. The sun had set about twenty minutes prior, but she hadn’t missed the rolling storm clouds coming through. Hannah had been able to smell the scent of oncoming rain in the air when she left the diner.
And no more than a minute later, the raindrops started to fall. At first, it was a light sprinkling, but as the minutes passed, they became angry, falling down harder.
Perfect. Just my luck.
She started the car but didn’t leave the parking lot right away. She waited to see if the storm would pass, which it wasn’t looking like it would ease up anytime soon.