“Great.” She pushed out of the passenger seat. As before, Grady insisted on carrying Lucy inside. The store had plenty of options, and Lucy ran straight to a rack of pink sweatshirts. “Ooh, I like this one.”
She eyed the price tag, then realized that was silly since she didn’t know how much money Grady had. She handed it to him. “You need to stop her when you’ve reached your limit.”
“No worries. I’m good.” He didn’t even look at the price, simply setting the items on the counter. “Just get what you need. I’m going to head over to buy the phones and a few other things.”
They continued to shop while he got what they needed. She found a pair of sneakers in Lucy’s size, along with a pair of jeans and pink socks that matched the sweatshirt. It took a while to make sure the items would fit. Grady returned, carrying a large plastic bag. He came up to stand beside her as she was eyeing a pair of snow boots in Lucy’s size. She didn’t know where they’d end up and figured the boots might be necessary.
Grady reached over to grab the pair she’d been looking at, adding it to the pile on the counter. “Anything else?”
She flushed. “I think we’re good.”
Grady nodded and quickly paid the bill. Again, it seemed like a lot for a store that was allegedly offering discounted bargains. But she kept her thoughts to herself, even as she realized this was the sort of thing Ariel’s mother probably wrestled with every day.
When they were finished with their purchases, she took Lucy into the dressing room to change into her new things. Lucy seemed excited to have the everyday clothes. She even insisted on wearing her new snow boots.
When they emerged from the dressing room, she caught Grady’s grim gaze and instantly knew something was wrong. “What?”
“This way.” He took the bag from her hands and led them quickly to a side exit. She didn’t understand why he was so upset, until he glanced back through the clear glass of the front door.
That’s when she saw it too. A black SUV with tinted windows was driving slowly past the store.
She sucked in a harsh breath. The kidnappers had found them!
5
Grady had expected the kidnappers would eventually find Lauren’s Porsche, it wasn’t exactly the kind of car that was useful in staying off-grid. But they’d gotten here far quicker than he’d anticipated. How had they known they’d come to Wisconsin? Was it as simple as accessing electronic toll information?
There wasn’t time to worry about how the black SUV had found them there. He needed to get Lauren and Lucy out of harm’s way. Ducking out the side door to the shopping mall, he thrust Lauren and Lucy behind him as he quickly scanned the parking lot. They needed a ride out of there and fast.
“Where are we going?” Lucy asked.
“Shh. We need to be quiet, okay?” Lauren’s voice was a hushed whisper, as if she feared the kidnappers could hear her from the other side of the building. He hated knowing they were in danger.
Again.
It took a minute for him to spot their best option. After making his choice, he glanced over his shoulder at Lauren. “Stay beside me as much as possible. We’re heading for that dark blue car, third in from the corner.”
Lauren frowned in confusion, clearly not understanding his intent. Yet she would soon enough. He took a step forward, subtly urging Lauren and Lucy to keep pace beside him. He strode quickly toward the vehicle in question. It was a later model car that was well known to be easy to hot-wire. By God’s grace, he’d even purchased a USB drive along with a small laptop computer when he’d picked up the new phone.
The drive would come in handy now.
He was shocked to discover the car door wasn’t locked. Maybe that was a Wisconsin thing, the way it was in Wyoming. Crime wasn’t as rampant way out here away from the big city. Squashing a flash of guilt, he turned to Lauren and Lucy. “Get in.”
Lauren glared at him. “Are you nuts? We can’t steal a car.”
“Get in.” He glanced back over his shoulder, half expecting the black SUV to have made it around the building. “We don’t have time to argue about this. We’ll make things right later, okay?”
Her expression troubled, Lauren nodded and opened the back door for Lucy. He fished in the bag for the USB drive and then tossed the bag onto the floor of the back seat. He bent down and broke away the plastic casing around the steering column. It was easier than he’d expected, possibly because the cold temperatures made the plastic brittle. When he’d removed the casing, he could see how easy it was to insert the tip of the USB drive into the opening. Turning it, the engine roared to life.
No wonder so many of these types of cars had been stolen, he thought as he slid in behind the wheel. With Lucy in the back, Lauren quickly settled in beside him. He glanced at her as he backed out of the parking space. “You and Lucy need to keep your heads down until we’re far away from here.”
“Okay.” Lauren’s voice was subdued. She still didn’t look happy about what he’d done. She turned in her seat. “Put your head down, Lucy, okay?”
“Okay.” He could tell Lucy was scared, but she did as her mother asked. Grady headed toward a side exit, keeping an eye on the rearview mirror for either the owner of the car he’d stolen or the black SUV with tinted windows.
Once they were on the road, he headed west to avoid driving past the front of the shopping mall. After a few miles, he said, “Lauren, you and Lucy can sit up now.”
“Thanks.” She lifted her head, then turned to look at her daughter. “Are you okay, Lucy?”
