Chapter 13
Chapter Thirteen
L acy shifted uncomfortably as the sun’s rays peeked over the house across the street. A golden glow filled the space between and for a moment, her soul was at peace. She looked around for Connor, but he wasn’t on the sofa where he’d been when she’d fallen asleep.
Her chest tightened. Had he left? “Connor?” She looked around the room and swallowed the bile that pooled in the back of her throat.
She stood stiffly from her spot. “Connor?” she repeated a little louder.
When he didn’t answer, she headed toward the hallway. He could be in the bathroom or the garage. She shouldn’t jump to conclusions just because he didn’t answer her. Randy slept in the first room down the hall. He’d left the door open about two inches and she could see him without opening the door further.
Down the hall, she poked her head into Aunt Joy’s former room. Connor sat in a dainty chair that he’d turned to face the wall away from her.
“I need to know. What’s the danger? What is the risk? Has he actually been seen or was it someone that might be him?”
An awful cold sensation skittered down her spine. Had Viceroy been seen? She waited, not making a noise, so she didn’t interrupt his important call. She pulled her flannel shirt tightly around her stomach like a robe and listened.
“That’s not what I want to hear, Brendon. You know that.” He sighed deeply. “What else?”
She could hear the low tones of Brendon’s voice, but not what he was saying. Brendon didn’t get worked up about anything. He was about as moderate in tone and action as she’d ever seen, but today he sounded rushed. That couldn’t be good.
“Would it be safer to send our people somewhere else?”
Lacy gasped and Connor spun around. He held up his finger to have her wait and then turned his phone on speaker so she could hear.
“. . . that’s not optimal though. I don’t know of anywhere secure enough. Not to mention this is short notice right before Christmas. Nixon is doing his best to keep things safe for everyone. Nadine is working overtime and getting help from Teddy to watch the cameras. She’s also using drone technology now to go to the areas where we don’t have cameras. We’re doing our best to keep everyone calm.”
“Are you trying to tell me not to worry?” Connor stared at his phone.
“That would be pretty fruitless,” Brendon deadpanned. “I know better than that. You’d worry if I told you we were having sunny weather, and everything was going great. Let’s not kid ourselves.”
Connor snorted. “Is there anything you need me to do? I wish I was there.”
The words pierced her worse than she thought they would. Of course he wanted to be there. His heart was Wayside. It always had been. He wanted to help those who needed him the most. She didn’t need him as much as they did.
Whatever Connor said to end the call, Lacy missed it. She turned around, heading out of the room.
“Hey, good morning.” Connor came around the chair.
In her emotional state, she shouldn’t talk to him. She shouldn’t say anything. If she did, she’d regret it. Being hunted by a man who wanted her dead had made her scared and that usually wasn’t a word she’d use to describe herself.
He turned her around and held her shoulders, but she couldn’t look him in the eyes. If she did, she might cry. He hated tears. Connor wasn’t one to be softened by them and since his mother had been a crier, he had a negative association with what he called waterworks.
“Sounds like things are going down at Wayside. You should go. You’re needed there.”
He didn’t say a word and she felt him staring at her, waiting on her.
“Lacy?” His voice held so many questions.
“Yes?” She still couldn’t look him in the eye. Not before she got her emotions under control.
“Why would I leave you?”
She finally met his gaze. “Why wouldn’t you? Wayside needs you.”
“Um, Wayside has multiple people there who are just as capable as I am whereas you only have Randy . . . who doesn’t even use weapons. Not sure how you hope to stay protected that way. Leaving you behind is not on my bingo card.”
“But—”
He stopped her with a look. “Nope. You called me. I’m glad you did. We’re in this together until you go home. If that means I have to bring all four of us to Wayside, so be it.”
She gave a nod of agreement because she couldn’t find the right words to say what was going through her mind. He’d planted seeds of doubt, even if he hadn’t meant to.
“Did you finally get some sleep?” He let his hands drop from her shoulders.
“A little.” She stretched her neck one way and then the other. “I’m a little stiff this morning. In my twenties, I could doze almost anywhere. Now, I need a bed that is just the right firmness, or I wake up feeling like I slept in a pretzel.”
He chuckled. “I thought about asking you if you were sure you wanted to bend your neck that way, but thought you might stay in that position just to spite me. You sure like to prove me wrong.”
“Well, if the shoe fits.” She grinned as she dodged his hand, aiming for her shoulder in a playful punch that he intentionally missed.
She reined in her emotions and took a deep breath. “So, you heard from Wayside, but have you heard anything from the hospital?”
He nodded as he hid a yawn behind his hand. “She’s been moved into a room, but because of the fact that we don’t have a restraining order, they aren’t letting anyone see her. The doctor thought that once she was awake and could tell police what happened, they’ll lift the rule and we’ll be able to visit.”
Her stomach rumbled and she realized that every time she’d even thought about eating over the past day, she’d been interrupted. “So, we have until ten in the morning to eat and make a plan because if Tod knows she’ll tell the police what he did, he’ll have to act quickly.”
“I was thinking the same thing. Today, we keep low and try to stay away from him. I’ll need to keep in contact with Wayside too.”
She headed for the kitchen and slowly opened cupboards until she found where the food had been kept. A wave of guilt washed over her at eating a deceased woman’s food, but if not them, who else? “We have to make sure they find who did this to Melinda’s aunt.”
He brushed some hair back from her face. “Absolutely, but the urgent issue is making sure that his body count doesn’t go up any higher. To do that, we stay hidden. I moved my truck into the garage last night so no one will be able to tell from outside that we’re here. If we’re smart and quiet, no one will know. This could be the perfect hiding place.”
Randy dragged his feet down the hallway, his eyelids drooping. “My dad just called, waking me up.” He set his phone on the counter. “He told me that my boss called to find out where I was. Since Dad didn’t know, he used the ‘find my’ app to see where my phone was. He just called to let me know my boss is on his way here.”
Lacy tried not to panic, but the continual running was getting to her. “I want to go home,” her words were quiet, but sounded loud in the silence.
“I know.” Connor took her into his arms. “Soon. I promise.”
Randy leaned against the counter. “The way I see it, we’ve got about ten minutes before we have to be gone. I’m sure as soon as they heard the address, they knew exactly which house my dad was talking about.”
“Since they were probably the ones who killed Melinda’s aunt,” Lacy guessed.
Randy frowned. “If we’re going with the insurance theme, it was probably to eliminate any chance of outside help for Melinda. They didn’t count on you. I can only imagine that the payout is massive if they are willing to kill multiple people to get it.” Randy pulled the coffee pot out of the maker, then shoved it back inside. “No time to brew. Ready?”
Lacy didn’t answer. Instead, she headed for the room where she’d left her bag to grab it. She hadn’t even had time to get dressed. At what point was this going to end? When could they feel safe? “We need to talk to the police. Tell them what we know.”
Connor’s hesitance surprised her. “I agree with you, but I’d bet he’s planned for that. We need to make sure we give them enough information that they can’t ignore us.”
She wasn’t sure what that could be. They’d told the police everything they knew for sure. Connor grabbed his bag off the sofa and held the door to the garage for her. Randy swiped the garage door opener and tossed it to Connor. “You never know when we’ll need a place to go. If we keep moving, they’ll have to check many places to find us. Like whack-a-mole. At least until Melinda wakes up and tells the police enough to get her husband arrested.”
Lacy bit her lip and swallowed the thought that popped into her head. No one needed to hear her negative thoughts. There was a chance Melinda wouldn’t remember anything. The doctor had said she had a head injury. In that case, they’d have to wait for Tod to strike again.
Lacy sat between Connor and Randy in silence. Randy fiddled with his phone and turned off a bunch of apps. Connor didn’t seem to know where to go, so he simply drove. After a few minutes, they found themselves in the parking lot of a diner.
“I’ll park around back. You both go in and get a booth for us. One by the window where I can see the road.” Connor nodded at the front door.
“Got it,” she said, knowing Connor liked to have eyes on the front door no matter where they ate. He wanted to be situationally aware at all times and having his back to the door didn’t allow him to do that.
Randy followed her inside and when she saw the sign indicating they should seat themselves, she led him to the perfect window seat where Connor could watch the door, and she had eyes on the front entrance to the parking lot.
She handed Randy a menu but didn’t pick hers up. She wouldn’t look at one until he was finished so that someone had their attention focused on everyone coming and going at all times. If she didn’t get to look at the menu, that was fine too. Places like this always had eggs, pancakes, and bacon with coffee. That was her standby at any diner and she’d yet to find one that didn’t serve that.
Connor came inside and headed right for the table, settling in across from her. “I didn’t see anyone on the road while I was parking. Most people are at work by now, so it’ll be easy to see anyone out for a drive.”
“When we saw Tod’s car at Aunt Joy’s it was dark. That’s all I remember.”.” Lacy caught the waitress’s attention and waved her over.
“I know what Cal drives,” Randy scrolled on his phone.
“And what’s that?” Connor asked, clearly annoyed that Randy hadn’t thought this was pertinent information.
“An older red Chevy Impala. It’s recognizable enough if you’re watching for it, but as far as cars go, it isn’t one that stands out.”
The waitress leaned against the table and popped her gum. “Hey, Randy. You’re usually at work at this hour. What’s going on over at the hotel?”
Randy turned slightly red. “Just a little water damage. That’s all. I don’t work until the repairs are done.”
She snorted and popped her gum loudly. “What can get for you?”
Randy ordered something that sounded Spanish while Connor and Lacy ordered the closest thing to what they would have back at Wayside. The server wasted no time in bringing over a pot of coffee and three mugs. “Your orders will be out shortly.” She stuck her pencil behind her ear and headed through the swinging door to the kitchen.
Something about the place made her nervous, but she couldn’t say what. They were completely alone in there, so it couldn’t be someone watching them. She searched around for anything odd that might not have seemed out of place when she’d first looked everything over, but nothing stood out.
“Isn’t it odd that we’re in here alone?” Connor slowly glanced over the whole place. “This feels like a trap. I’m sure I’m just feeling the pinch of this guy being one step ahead of us everywhere we turn, but it feels like every time we think we’re safe, he shows up.”
The fact that she wasn’t alone in feeling off about the diner made her even more nervous. “Should we get our food to-go? Randy, does your boss have a connection to this place that we should know about?” Since he seemed to own everything in the small town, she hoped he would say something if he did.
“No, but I will admit that I don’t know where Cal gets his morning coffee and doughnut before he comes in.” He looked at his phone. “If he gets them here, he’ll be around any minute.”
Connor glanced at the swinging door where the server had disappeared. “I don’t want to jump to any conclusions without something to warrant the leap. Maybe we’re all suffering from fatigue, and everything is looking suspicious to us.”
Randy took a deep breath and jabbed his finger on an icon on his phone. “Dad is wondering where I am. He says Cal is looking for me and he’s mad that I didn’t wait around for him. I’m supposed to report to work tonight.”
Connor shook his head. “He knows you’re with us. That’s a trap. Thank your dad for letting you know and leave it at that.”
“Dad already thinks I’m a loser. If I get fired, he’ll probably kick me out. I can’t pay for an apartment and school in this town. Since Cal owns most of the rentals, he’d charge me a fortune after this. Unless I want to live in the worst neighborhood. Then there’s openings.” He shook his head as he rapidly typed a reply to his father. “Life is hard when you don’t make enough money to do what you need to do so you can eventually make the money you need.”
Lacy had heard the same from Ferd. Connor’s half-sister had a good head on her shoulders and wanted to go to school, but she didn’t want any debt. That meant she had to work hard and save for a long time in order to pay for it. When she’d told Connor that hiring Ferd to do Lacy’s job would help her manage the task of saving for college even faster, he’d agreed to let her.
“I know. It’s easier for students when they can live at home or if they earn scholarships,” she said.
“You’d think there would be more of those for people who want to learn coding. Tech jobs are literally everywhere. The trouble is, there aren’t any. If I wanted to be a nurse or if I wanted to go into a trade like welding, then I could’ve gotten help.” He shrugged. “I’ll manage. I always do.”
She heard the sorrow of borderline depression cling to his voice. Lacy glanced to Connor for help, but he was focused on the door, watching for the waitress. She hadn’t come back out but there wasn’t anyone else for her to serve, so that didn’t seem odd.
“Connor? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing. Yet.” He drummed his fingers. “This town is small enough that they can drive around fairly quickly and find us. I hid the truck out back, but all they have to do is drive slowly around the block and they’ll see it. I haven’t seen anyone drive by, but it’s only a matter of time.”
The waitress appeared with a large round tray balanced on her right hand and a folding stand in her left. She didn’t smile as she approached the table. Instead, she was super-efficient. She whipped the table out, gravity making it separate to set the tray on. She set each plate in front of them, then pulled a bottle of ketchup from her pocket. “You let me know if you need anything else.” She nodded, half-smiled, and headed back behind the swinging door.
Lovely scents drifted up from her plate and her mouth watered. Was she finally going to get the chance to eat? Maybe that’s how Tod was going to get her. He’d make her starve. She picked up her fork and glanced around to make sure she wouldn’t be interrupted.
Connor blessed the food quickly, setting the pace. They didn’t have time to enjoy what was before them. A raced prayer meant a ticking clock started in her head. She’d finished about half of her plate when Connor’s phone buzzed. He tugged from his pocket and smiled.
For the first time in at least a full day, her stomach settled. Connor wouldn’t smile unless something good had finally happened. “What is it?”
“Melinda is awake and talking. Talking a lot.” He stuck a fork into his pancakes and lifted up a hearty mouthful. “If the doctor is right, Tod will be the one on the run soon.”