Chapter 4
Zach
Getting picked up by Lauren was either the best thing that could ever happen or his worst nightmare. When she started the car, grabbed the steering wheel with both hands, and flashed him a peppy smile, he knew it was the latter. He didn’t believe for one second that grin was sincere.
“Ready to break free?” she asked, bobbing her shoulders up and down.
Zach grabbed the door handle. “I’m not ready for this. I’m taking the bus.”
Lauren must have been a ninja in another life because she pressed the lock button before he had a chance to jump out. “Please keep all hands, arms, feet and, legs inside at all times, and remain seated until the ride has completely stopped.”
“What are we doing here? Is this payback? Listen, how many more times do I have to apologize for kidnapping you?”
“You didn’t kidnap me. I’m not a kid. You abducted me.”
“Semantics.”
Getting to know Lauren over the last few years had been his own personal form of hell. Having to face the perfect innocence he’d shattered was a constant reminder of why he hated himself.
Watching her try to befriend him was enough to make him go mad. He couldn’t understand her, and that was the most terrifying part. He could read people, but not Lauren. How could she smile after all he’d put her through?
“Then you held me prisoner—you’re lucky I didn’t suffocate under that disgusting gag—while your brother devised how you would dispose of my body.” The sing-song lilt of her voice didn’t match the morbid topic.
Zach rubbed a hand over his face. She’d heard way too much that night. “Can we not talk about that?”
Lauren turned back to the boring stretch of road that led out of the compound. “It’s fine. I’m over it.”
“That means we don’t have to talk about it. Right?”
“Right.”
Something wasn’t right. Lauren was the nicest person he’d ever met in his life, but she was laying it on thick today. People didn’t get over things like that. She could tell him she’d forgiven him until she was blue in the face, but he wouldn’t be believing that story.
Distractions were necessary if he was going to keep his sanity in close quarters with Lauren. “What’s the horsepower on this baby?”
“That’s a good question. Why don’t you google it?”
Zach patted his pockets and chest. “Sorry. I don’t have one of those portable computers.”
Lauren waved at the final guard and turned to face Zach. “You don’t have a phone?”
“I have an old phone, but I stopped paying the bill.”
Her smile was going to snap if she kept forcing it. “That’s fine. Just check the manual.” She pointed at the glove compartment.
Cool. At least he’d have something to read. He popped it open and found the manual. Plenty of material for the long trip.
To his surprise, she actually let him read in silence for a while. The grocery-getter sported a horsepower of a whopping 280 and a 10-speed automatic transmission. On the plus side, the mileage per gallon was reasonable for a V6 minivan.
When he finally looked up, she was still sitting as ramrod straight as the moment she pulled out of the penitentiary.
What would it be like to care so much and function normally with the weight sitting on your shoulders every day?
Lauren lived by all the rules. Zach adhered to absolutely zero of them.
When he couldn’t take the silence for another second, he shoved the manual in the glove box. “Where are we?”
“I’m not sure. Why don’t you check the map?” Lauren asked in her best teacher voice.
“No phone. Remember?”
She tapped the console between them.
Zach opened the top to find a folded map covering a brown leather Bible. He picked up the map and studied it. “What’s this?”
“A map. Do you know how to read it? We just passed mile marker—”
“I know how to read a map. Why do you have it? You have a pocket computer.”
“Back in the olden days, like the 1900s, people used these to find their way around.”
Zach stared at her. Lauren looked totally normal, but she was anything but. “It’s like you’re a land pirate or something.”
“If you’re curious about where we are, the answers are in the land pirate manual, or we can talk about something important like where you’ll be living.”
Zach stuffed the map back inside the console. Now they were getting somewhere. “Talk to me.”
“I live on the east side of town in a house that my grandparents used to live in. They deeded the land and the property to me five years ago.”
Zach rubbed his hands over his face. As much as he’d love to know what living with Lauren would be like, curiosity wasn’t enough to make him think it was a good idea. “Sorry, but I’ve never lived with a woman before, and I don’t intend to start now.”
Lauren held up a finger. “I am not saying you can live with me. Let me finish. Three years ago, I bought the property adjacent to mine, but the house that’s on it needs a lot of work before I can rent it out like I want to.”
“And?” Zach prodded.
“And you can live there rent-free if you help me fix it up. My house also needs some renovation. That’s the offer. You get a place to live, and I get free labor.”
Zach turned the offer over in his head, examining it from all sides. “I’m not anyone’s first call when they need a handyman.”
“The internet is a beautiful thing these days. I’m sure you can figure it out.”
The joke was on her. He would never admit it, but he wasn’t the best at “figuring things out,” hence his recent stay in prison. The only thing he’d learned in the last three years was how to be observant and stay alive.
“What about bills?” Surely there was a catch. Honestly, he couldn’t afford anything. He’d been planning to crash with one of his old friends, but Lauren’s place was probably ten times better than whatever his friends could offer. Living on the wrong side of the law didn’t pay much.
“I’ll take care of the utilities. You’ll still need to get a job because this one is only paying in room and board, but as long as you help me move things along and don’t cause problems, you’re welcome to stay.”
“You’re not going to give me a curfew or a list of rules?” That was the kicker. She probably thought she could have full control if she got a little bit of leverage on him, and being told what to do wasn’t something Zach would voluntarily sign up for.
“I’m not your mom,” Lauren spat.
No, Lauren Vincent was definitely not his mom. Whatever random woman had given birth to him said, “See you in hell” before his first birthday, leaving him with his dad who could give the devil himself a run for his money.
“A job is going to be hard to come by with my record and no car.”
Lauren’s carefully constructed mask slipped just a little. “We have a lot to figure out.”
We? Who was she talking about? Her and the mouse in her pocket? When did they become a twosome?
“One thing at a time,” she continued as if she hadn’t just slid herself into his life without warning.
Definitely a ninja.
With a breath, a huff, and a lifted chin, she went on. “I have a job, but I can try my best to get you to yours and back if you can find one. Maybe one of my friends could help.” She glanced over at him. “Once I tell them about you.”
“Oh, your friends are going to hate me. Thanks, but no thanks. I’d rather not be a side-show.”
“You could always be a carnie,” Lauren pointed out as if it were a perfectly respectable career choice. “I doubt they need cars. They go wherever the show takes them.”
Zach fought back a smile. Lauren had a sense of humor. “Your friends are absolutely not going to agree to be alone in a car with me.”
“My female friends won’t, but I have friends who aren’t afraid of you.”
Zach adjusted in his seat to see her a little better because things just got interesting. “Come again?”
“As long as you don’t mind riding in the backseat of a police car again, I’m sure either Asa or Dawson would give you a ride.”
The can of worms was finally spilled out all over the minivan. An expletive slipped out, popping the perfect bubble they’d been playing in. “You’re with them, aren’t you? They sent you to pick me up.” He pointed a finger at her. “I knew you were up to something.”
Dawson Keller, specifically, had been relentless before the trial.
He was the only police officer who thought Zach would cave and rat on his friends and family, but that was wasted effort.
If snitches got stitches, someone in Zach’s position would meet a swift and brutal death for turning into an informant.
Lauren let out a small hum. “You’re right about one thing. I am up to something, but Asa and Dawson aren’t involved. In fact, they don’t know I picked you up today, and they don’t know I’ve been visiting you.”
Zach stared and blinked at the absolutely unreadable woman sitting beside him. “You’ve got to be stupid.”
Her brow furrowed, but she kept her attention on the road. “That wasn’t very nice.”
“You’re buddy-buddy with the police, the ones who locked me up, and they don’t know where you are? You know, you were incredibly easy to pick up off the street that night.”
Lauren had the common sense to tense at his sharp confession. Good. Apparently, no one had taught her about stranger-danger when she was a kid. Too bad she hadn’t learned her lesson after what happened three years ago.
“I’m serious. You’re hot, but you’re not very smart. That means you can easily become another number in the stats. Human trafficking. Rape. You’ve already gotten yourself abducted.”
There. He’d laid out a lot of truth, including his attraction. A man would have to be cold in the grave not to see it, but it was the first time he’d admitted it himself.
Lauren held up a hand. “First of all, I am smart. I have three master’s degrees that say I’m intelligent. Second, I’ve learned a lot since that night, and I’m not stupid. I picked you up because I need your help.”