"Because you're lying about who you are."
It's not a question.
I extend my hand to help her out of the truck. "We need to move. I'll explain what I can once we're on the road."
She doesn't take my hand. "How do I know you're not working for them? For the people who want me dead?"
"If I wanted you dead, I wouldn't have helped you escape."
"Unless you're taking me somewhere to kill me privately."
I sigh, dropping my hand. "Beth, I understand why you don't trust me. You shouldn't trust anyone right now. But those men back there were shooting at both of us. I put myself between you and their bullets. Does that seem like the action of someone working with them?"
She studies my face, searching for deception. Finally, she slides out of the truck without my assistance.
"What's that?" she asks, nodding toward the Jeep.
"Our new ride. Clean vehicle, won't be connected to either of us."
"And you just happen to have access to it?"
"Yes," I say simply.
She follows me to the Jeep but pauses before getting in. "I need to know who you really are, Sam. If that's even your name."
"It is. Samuel Davis. Former Army Ranger." That much is true. "As for why I'm in Pine Haven..." I hesitate. "It's complicated."
"Uncomplicate it."
"I can't. Not yet. But I promise you, I'm not with the people who want to hurt you. I'm trying to keep you alive."
She weighs this, clutching her backpack to her chest. "Why should I believe you?"
"Because I'm all you've got right now," I say bluntly. "And because when those bullets were flying, I didn't hesitate to protect you. That wasn't an act."
After a long moment, she nods once and climbs into the Jeep. I close her door, circle around to the driver's side, and get in.
"Where are we going?" she asks again as I start the engine.
"There's a cabin about an hour north of here. Remote, well-stocked, defensible. We can lay low there while we figure out our next move."
In reality, it's one of Reaper's properties—a safe house the club uses when members need to disappear for a while. Beth doesn't need to know that yet.
"And then what?" she asks.
"Then we figure out who compromised your witness protection and why." I pull out of the storage facility, checking for any sign of pursuit before turning north on the rural highway. "And we find a way to keep you safe until you can testify."
"How do you know I'm a witness?" Her voice is sharp with suspicion. "I never told you that."
Shit. Careless mistake.
"You mentioned a protection detail," I improvise. "Federal agents who check on you daily. Doesn't take a genius to put that together with your obvious fear and the men trying to kill you."
She's not entirely convinced, but she doesn't press further.
As we drive north, leaving Pine Haven behind, I can feel her eyes on me. Studying. Evaluating. She knows I'm not being completely honest, and it's only a matter of time before she demands the whole truth.
What will I tell her then? That I'm a prospect for the Outlaw Order MC? That our president assigned me to protect her? That I've been lying since the moment we met?
