Her eyes took in his wounded face again.More than that, she was aware of the almost hopeful expression on his face.He wanted to protect her.But if she was determined to not let him…
“I live on Simone Street, in the April Springs apartment complex.”
“I know where that’s at.”He pulled back onto the main road as she hit the lock button and settled back in her seat.
Once they reached the apartments, she led him to Block D.“I’m in twelve D, in the corner.”
Rhyne stared up at the three-storied structure.“Do you have a balcony?”
“Yes.”
He grinned lopsidedly.“Bet you don’t lock the patio door, do you?”
“No.Why should… Ohhh.”
They went around the side of the building where Grace pointed out her apartment.He gave her a nod.“Go around to the front door.I’ll open it up from the inside.”
She took a step back.No way was she going to miss seeing him scaling up the wall, or however he intended on reaching that level.He didn’t pull a Spiderman, as she’d half-expected.Instead, he grasped the top of the small privacy fence and pulled himself up to balance on top of it.From there, it was child’s play for him to jump up and grab the iron railing on the second story, get on top of it, and repeat the act to reach the third story.Climbing over the railing, he slid open the patio door and went inside.
“I am definitely locking those doors from now on,” she murmured and hurried for the stairs.By the time Grace reached her front door, he was waiting for her.He shoved a plastic trash bag into her hands as soon as she walked inside.
“Put your clothes in here.”
“I have a suitcase.”
“Don’t use it.When the police realize it was you who escaped, they’re going to come here.Don’t let them know you’ve already been here.Take what you can without being too obvious.”
“Can I take my makeup and toothbrush?”
“No!That would be too obvious.You can’t leave any clues that you’ve been here,” he repeated.“We can always get you another toothbrush and anything else you’ll need.Take only one extra pair of shoes and three or four changes of clothes.Nothing else.I’ll be in the kitchen raiding your pantry and fridge.Meet me at the front door in five minutes.”
She gaped at him.“Five minutes?”
“And no dawdling!”
He vanished into the kitchen area, and she ran for the bedroom.Thankfully, she’d done a load of laundry yesterday and dumped the cleaned clothes on the chair in the corner.Instead of raiding her closet, she grabbed what she needed from the pile, stuffed them into the trash bag, and added a pair of sneakers.
In the bathroom, she stared for a second at her hairbrush, but talked herself out of it.“He said I can’t leave any clues that I’ve been here.”She frowned.“Well, I’m definitely going to need these,” she remarked, grabbing her box of tampons from the cabinet.Marching into the living room, she found Rhyne waiting for her with his bag.“Explain to me why can’t I leave any clues?”
“Why give the police any reason to believe you might be complicit in Norris’s death?”he bluntly answered.His response floored her.
“Whaaat?But I’m not!”
“Grace, at this very moment they’re probably watching the video feed from the security cameras.They’ll discover what you already know.That Welsh tried to abduct you until Norris tried to stop him.They’ll see Welsh went after you after he killed Norris.”Pausing, Rhyne tilted his head a bit.“Something was wrong with Welsh when I went after him, but I can’t figure out what.Would you know?”
“All I remember is Norris hit him in the back.I saw Welsh pull out a syringe, and then he…h-he stabbed Norris with it.”
Rhyne pressed his lips together.“There must’ve been something in the syringe that affected him.Anyway, they’ll see you fled the hospital, and Welsh went after you after he stabbed Norris.Hopefully they won’t know I attacked Welsh and helped you to escape.But if they find out you’ve been here, they’re going to put out a BOLO on you because they don’t know if you’re Welsh’s hostage or just fleeing for your life.They’re going to want to know why you haven’t sought out the police or asked for help.Right now, let them believe you’re a hostage.That way when you’re found, you’ll be the victim, not the suspect.”
It finally made sense to her.
Rhyne made her exit out the front door in order to lock both the doorknob and deadbolt behind her.He was already on the ground by the time she reached the first floor level.Together, they hurried back to his car where he tossed both bags in the back seat.As they headed to his place, she broached the one major question that had been on her mind.
“After we go to your place, where then?Where can we go that’ll be safe?”
He grimaced.“Right now, I have no idea.I hope I can figure it out by the time we get to the house.”
“And if you haven’t?”
