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“You haven’t told anyone where I live—”

“You think I’d do that?”

She felt bad for offending him, but he had a substance-abuse problem that made him suspect. She still couldn’t imagine how The Crew could’ve traced her here without him. “They’d have no other way of finding me.”

A dark scowl etched lines in his face as he got to his feet. “How can you say that?”

After everything he’d done for her, she felt guilty enough to avert her eyes. “Or maybe Horse was drunk when he said he was poised for revenge. Maybe it was idle bullshit.”

“Horse doesn’t drink. He’s a serious man, a businessman. He’s methodical and thorough.”

“That doesn’t change my mind,” she insisted. “I won’t leave here, won’t let them chase me from place to place for the rest of my life. Don’t you understand? That would mean they’ve won. We want to stay put.”

He studied her for several seconds. “You’ve met someone.”

Her thoughts reverted to the sheriff, to his naked body moving against hers, and she felt…she wasn’t sure what she felt. Embarrassment? Remorse? “That’s not it. I want a life. And this is where I’ve chosen to live it.”

“What am I supposed to do with that?”

“Whatever you want. You’ve warned me. You don’t have to stay. But I know the kids would like to see you. Now that you’re here, you can hang around for a day or two, can’t you?”

“You want to treat this like a standard visit?”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re in danger, damn it! You’re all in danger!”

“I’ve got a gun, Pretty—Rex,” she corrected. “And I’m not afraid to use it.”

“You mean the gun I took away from you last night?”

“You snuck up on me from behind!”

“Because I didn’t want you to blow my head off! But if you think they’ll announce their presence, you’re crazy. They’ll come here with two, three, maybe more. Be realistic, for Christ’s sake!”

She covered her face for a moment before dropping her hands. “I’m telling you, I can’t move. I can’t do it again. This is the end of the line for me, one way or another.”

With a curse, he shoved his hands in his pockets and began to pace.

“So what are you going to do?” she asked after he’d made a few passes.

“Stay and try to take care of you, I guess.”

“They could’ve followed you.”

His razor stubble made a rasping sound as he rubbed his jaw. “They didn’t have to. They already know you’re here.”

The beating of Vivian’s heart thudded in her ears. He thought she was making a mistake. Was he right? Would she die in this house?

Jake, calling to her from upstairs, interrupted.

“M-o-o-o-m? Mom, where are you? I have something to show you!”

“Think of them,” Rex whispered.

She thought of how much Jake loved it here, how close he’d become to Nana Vera. And Mia, so happy in her ballet class and elementary school, despite Chrissy’s catty little girl. This was home to them. It was home to them all. And home was a place worth fighting for.

“That’s what I’m doing,” she said.

There was a woman in the kitchen. Ink could see her through the window. When the tow truck driver couldn’t tell them where Laurel lived, said he didn’t know her, they’d had to decide what they were going to do until they could find her. And first on the agenda was securing a base. They needed regular beds, food, a shower. Hell, even a toilet seemed like a luxury after the past several days. He knew they might have to resort to camping again at some point. If they didn’t collect the truck, and they couldn’t, the sheriff would know he had a problem, and he’d most likely start looking for them. But Ink couldn’t imagine his first thought would be to check all the cabins scattered in these mountains. There were too many of them, most of them rentals. Unless he got a distress call of some kind, he’d probably assume they’d hitchhiked into town, Libby if not Pineview, or left the area.

“You think she’s alone?” L.J. whispered.

They’d been watching the woman for more than thirty minutes, had cased the house and yard. This seemed like the perfect solution, just what they’d been searching for. It was within a few miles of where the truck had broken down, so they’d been able to walk here. It was remote, but not so far from Pineview that they’d have much of a drive to get to town when they wanted.

There were other attractive features, as well. The extra refrigerator in the garage suggested the place was well-stocked. An SUV sat in the driveway, so they’d have the transportation they were currently lacking. And it looked comfortable. Since they couldn’t pay for a motel room, couldn’t show any ID even if they’d had the money, Ink was going to get what they needed another way. “I’d say so.”

The grass rustled as L.J. crept a little closer. “But you never know. Someone could come home at any minute.”

“Then we’ll kill them, too.”

L.J. grimaced and shook his head. “I say we move on. This doesn’t feel right to me, and it must not feel right to you or we’d be inside that house already.”

In typical L.J. fashion, he couldn’t stay put for long. “Don’t give up too soon. This place has promise.” Why walk any farther? His back hurt like hell. Besides, the other cabins they’d come across were empty, which meant there’d be very few groceries, if any, and definitely no car. If they weren’t empty, they were filled with the suitcases and backpacks of outdoorsmen. The last thing he and L.J. needed was to break into some place that would have five or six men returning to it at nightfall—most toting a gun or a knife.

“There’ll be others,” L.J. muttered. But it didn’t hurt him to keep walking.

Ink tried to ignore him, but snapped, “Chill out,” when L.J. tugged on his sleeve.

“There’re toys in the yard, man.” Now they were getting to the real reason behind his reluctance. “That’s obviously a mom.”

“So? We knew it was a family when we saw that wooden plaque over the doorway.” The Rogers Family. What had L.J. thought when he saw that? Or had he thought at all?

“Kids live here. I don’t want to do no kids, man. You know what happens to guys who do kids once they hit prison. We’ll be in the hat for sure.”


Tags: Brenda Novak Bulletproof Thriller