Chapter 11 #2
A beat of silence, then Dad said, “I’ll tell him. Keep her safe.”
Cici expected Dad to ask to speak to her again, but he didn’t, just hung up.
She shouldn’t have been surprised.
Asher powered down the phone. “Let’s eat. We’ll give your dad a few minutes to wire the money. No sense lingering where we can be seen.”
They munched protein bars and sipped water in silence. It wasn’t enough food, but once they got to Shadow Cove, they’d have a proper dinner.
After ten minutes, Asher stood and held out his hand for her.
She slid hers in it, and a spark of awareness zinged through her. She ignored the strange response, one she hadn’t had to any man, ever. Except when Asher had kissed her, which felt like years ago but was actually less than twenty-four hours before.
Crazy.
He pulled her to her feet, and they headed back to the store, where her father’s money was waiting. They pocketed the cash.
“Let’s go.” Asher scanned the lot through the store windows. “No sense taking chances.”
“Agreed.”
His eyebrows rose. “No arguments?” Amusement sparkled in his eyes. “No ‘better’ ideas?”
She felt the air quotes in his attitude. “Shut up and lead the way.” Sheesh, she wasn’t that difficult.
He nearly smiled as they slipped out of the store and back into the woods, the new burner’s map app glowing on Asher’s screen.
“What’s next?” she asked. “We just keep wandering around like lost hobbits?”
Her Crocs slipped on a root, and she flailed, aiming for—and missing—a skinny branch.
Asher gripped her arm, and thanks to his help, she managed to stay upright.
“You all right?”
“Sure.” She tried to sound casual and confident despite the fresh adrenaline pumping in her veins. “I’m loving these new shoes.”
When she was steady, he said, “We need to get far enough away to hide out.” He studied the map. “Somewhere safe.”
She chewed her lip, then said, “The library? It’s still a good place to hide. Dad can send a car there.”
He didn’t look up from the phone screen, and she braced for a dismissal. But after a moment, he nodded. “Concord’s got one. It’s not far. Not even two miles as the crow flies…which is how we’ll get there.”
Two miles might as well have been twenty. The trek was brutal, especially in slippery rubber shoes. The tangled underbrush and uneven ground were bad enough, not to mention the flies and mosquitoes and spider webs.
Her legs ached, her patience frayed, and the necklace felt like a brick in her purse.
They reached pretty streets lined with manicured lawns and elegant homes. She was glad to be out of the woods, literally if not figuratively, but tension hovered over Asher like heat over an asphalt road. He swiveled his head in every direction, scanning for threats.
It was late in the afternoon by the time they spotted the Concord Free Public Library, a stately brick building with white columns, its grounds whispering of minutemen and 1775.
Cici’s high school history lessons nagged at her: the shot heard ’round the world, Paul Revere and all that.
This place probably had a wing stuffed with Revolutionary War relics.
They slipped inside, the cool air a balm after the muggy woods. The space was serene, its polished floors and tall shelves a stark contrast to the chaos dogging them. They’d made it, thank heavens. Though she wouldn’t relax until she was safely back in Shadow Cove.
Cici followed Asher to a computer room, empty this late on a summer afternoon. She settled on an upholstered chair by the window, and Asher plopped down in front of a computer.
“We made it.” She couldn’t help the tone of surprise, but very little else had gone right that day. It was nice to see a plan coming together.
His smile was slight as he set a cell phone on the desk. “Go ahead and call your dad.”
She inhaled a deep breath, finding a sense of peace in the quiet space, and dialed.
“Cecelia?”
“We’re at the public library in Concord.”
“Copy,” Dad said. “Car will be there in thirty. Stay with Rhodes and don’t do anything stupid.”
Thanks for the vote of confidence.
She wished she had the nerve to say that out loud.
She ended the call and went to the restroom to freshen up.
Not that there was much she could do to improve her appearance.
Her cheeks were blotchy, her eyes rimmed in red from crying and fatigue.
Her hair was a frizzy mess after an afternoon in the moist summer air.
She finger-combed it, then searched for a hair band, feeling triumphant when she found one.
She pulled her mop of hair into a ponytail, then rubbed lipstick on her lips.
Didn’t help.
She gave up and returned to the computer room, where she peeked over Asher’s shoulder. He was scanning a website. She picked up enough to see he was studying Philadelphia crime.
“What are you looking for?”
“Trying to figure out who’s after you. The murderer is obviously connected, and he has wicked resources.
I thought maybe he’s organized crime, but I can’t find…
” He huffed a breath and powered up one of the phones—he insisted on carrying them all, the control freak.
He said nothing else to Cici, but a moment later, he spoke into the phone.
“It’s Rhodes. I need a contact, preferably a Fed who can tell me about organized crime in Philadelphia. Better yet, if you can get a list…”
He listened for a minute, then said, “Yeah, email it.” More listening, then, “I’ll fill you in later. Suffice it to say, these guys are resourceful.” Asher ended the call, powered off the phone, and stood. “You ready to move?”
She checked her watch. “We have twenty minutes before the car will be here.”
He crossed to where she’d been sitting earlier and looked outside. He said nothing for a long beat, but she could tell by the intense look on his face that he was cooking up something.
“What?”
His gaze flicked to hers but didn’t hold. “We’re not taking your father’s car.”
“Why? I just called him. He’ll kill me. He already thinks—”
“I should’ve told you, but I didn’t want him to suspect.”
“What are you talking about? You don’t trust my father now?”
“Him, I trust. But anybody listening… Look.” His voice lowered to a conciliatory tone. “We need to throw those thugs off our tail.” He reached out as if to touch her, but she backed away.
“I know. That’s why—”
His arm dropped. “If they’re watching, if they’re anywhere in town, they might see your dad’s hired car. It’s not worth it.”
“That’s absurd. It’s just a car. How would they—?”
“How did they find us at the train station?” He no longer sounded placating but irritated. “How did they find us outside the airfield? How do they keep finding us?”
“Not because my dad told them!” Her voice was too loud, especially for a library.
“I don’t distrust him. He’s probably got a bunker under his office.”
A safe room big enough for the whole family, complete with iron walls and its own ventilation system.
“If your dad were coming with a team,” Asher continued, “then maybe I’d wait. But he didn’t say that, right? Just that he’d send a car? Maybe it’ll be driven by a pro, but we both know your enemies always come with a lot of firepower.”
A few months before, Cici might have argued. Dad’s drivers were always hulking guards, trained and ready. But the one Dad had trusted most had been killed back in the spring when their car was ambushed. Mom and Brooklynn had been terrorized. A child had been kidnapped.
And Shadow Cove and Dad’s security detail were far from here, so who knew who he’d tasked with picking her and Asher up.
“I know it stinks,” Asher said. “Believe me, I’d love to ride back to Maine on leather seats in an air-conditioned car, but it’s possible those thugs picked up on your phone call.
They have a lot of equipment and a lot of manpower.
If they heard our plan, they’ll be looking for us to leave here in twenty minutes.
Since I don’t know how they keep finding us, I have to assume no communication is safe.
Which means we have to be gone before then. ”
“On foot? Or—?”
“We’ll go out the back door.”
Not an answer, she noticed. “And then what?”
“We’ll probably have to steal—”
“We’re finally safe, and you want to play Grand Theft Auto again?”
“We need to do something they don’t expect.” A muscle ticked in his cheek. He was losing patience with her, that was obvious enough. “That means not doing what we said we’d do.”
“You should have told me. I’m in this, too, you know. My life’s on the line too.”
“I’m very aware of that, Cici.” His eyes darkened, his brows lowering. “It’s why I’m here, to keep you alive. And I don’t plan to gamble in the hope that your father’s driver can get us to safety.”
She crossed her arms. “Instead, you’re adding one more felony to my future rap sheet.”
“Better a rap sheet than a toe tag.” He slung his duffel over his shoulder. “Let’s go, and try to keep your voice down.”
She wanted to argue. She wanted to stay right there in that safe and air-conditioned library until her daddy rescued her from all this craziness. She was hungry and irritated and…scared.
She snatched her purse. “You’re insufferable, all ‘Ooh, I’m a SEAL, trust my gut.’ Your gut’s gonna land us in prison.”
“And your mouth’s gonna get us caught.” His eyes dipped to her lips and held there a beat too long.
Her body warmed under his regard. He was mad at her, and she wasn’t feeling all fuzzy and warm toward him, either. But that didn’t lessen the zing of attraction between them—a zing he must’ve felt, too, the way his cheeks reddened.
He headed for the door, not looking back. “Move.”
She followed, cursing bossy ex-SEALs and their felonious fetishes.
The library’s quiet halls felt too serene for the chaos in her chest. They slipped out a side exit—no alarms, fortunately—and cut across a side street, the late afternoon sun casting long shadows.
Asher led her down a residential road as if he had a plan.