When she charged into the room Kendall Wexler was facing her. He’d been charming when she’d met him a few hours earlier. Now he stood with a gun in his hand, pointed at her middle. His eyes were hard as glass.
“What are you trying to pull?” he asked.
Her mouth had turned dry, and she had to moisten her lips before she could talk. “Jake’s been hurt. I didn’t know where else to take him.”
“Shot?”
“No. He . . .”
“What happened to him?”
She didn’t know how to describe what had happened. Not without a long explanation that Kendall probably wouldn’t believe anyway. “Electricity,” she said. “He’s unconscious. In the car. Is there somewhere here where I can take care of him?”
The old man gave her a hard stare. “You’re asking me to hide two people who are wanted for murder. That makes me an accessory after the fact.”
“You know we didn’t do it.”
“I don’t know a damn thing.”
“You gave us guns.”
“I gave them to Jake.”
Her shoulders sagged. “Okay. I’ll figure something out.”
When she turned toward the door, he allowed her to leave.
She walked to the car, wondering where the hell she was going now. Probably a motel.
Opening the back door, she knelt beside Jake. His face was pale, and his breath was shallow.
Movement behind her made her stiffen.
It was Kendall. “There’s a room where you can stay,” he said in a gruff voice.
She wanted to refuse, but standing on principle wasn’t going to help Jake.
“Thank you,” she answered.
She climbed into the car and lifted Jake’s shoulders. Kendall grabbed his legs, and together they got him out of the vehicle. Supporting him between them, they made their way slowly back to the shop.
Inside the old man stopped halfway down the hall and opened a door onto a small room with a twin bed covered by a threadbare chenille spread. With only a dresser, sink andfaded armchair, the room wasn’t plush, but it was a place to hide out.
“Guest room. You can stay here. There’s a bathroom across the hall,” he gestured. “I’m going to close the shop and leave. Don’t want to be involved in this.”
“I understand,” she said as they got Jake onto the bed. She covered his bare chest with the quilt folded at the end of the bed.
Kendall had backed toward the doorway. “You should hide the car.”
“Where?”
“I got a garage a few doors down. I’ll take it there.”
“Thank you,” she said again.
“Mr. Jake done a lot for me.”
“Yes.”
