Razor took one last look up the seemingly endless stretch of roadway that cut through the dense forest. His only consolation was the fact that Willow was alive. And as long as she was, he would feel that certainty in his blood. In his heart and soul.
Hewouldfind her. He had to explain why he’d been so afraid to be honest with her, and he needed her to know he loved her more than anyone or anything in his life before her.
He had to make Willow understand she was, and would always be, the only woman for him. All he needed was the chance to say all the things he should have told her from the beginning.
“Okay,” he said, his voice airless and dry as ash in his scorched throat.
Knox inclined his head in acknowledgment, then leaned over and popped open the passenger door for Razor to get in.
CHAPTER 26
“Thanks again for the ride,” Willow told the delivery truck driver as he turned his rig in to the busy interstate truck stop nearly three hours east of Parrish Falls.
“It’s no problem at all,” the kind, older man reassured her. “I’m heading this way to deliver new appliances to the big resort, anyway. Was nice having company for a stretch, even if you’re not much of a talker.”
Willow gave him a weak smile. It had been all she could do to hold herself together for the long drive, never mind find the energy for a lot of conversation with a stranger. Besides, the less anyone knew about her or her problems, the better.
As harmless as the aged trucker seemed, she hadn’t forgotten the fact that there were still bad men out there looking for her. It had only been two days since the attack at St. Anne’s, and while she’d felt safe with Razor in Parrish Falls with Knox and Leni, she was well aware of how vulnerable she was out in public on her own.
The trucker, a grandfather named Lou with eight grandchildren and two great-grands on the way, as he’d been proud to tell her, glanced over at her as he brought the big truck to a stop to let her out. “Where you heading from here, Jenny?”
She had given him the fake name when he’d picked her up just outside Knox and Leni’s house. When he asked why she was alone on the empty road through the North Maine Woods, she’d given him an equally fake story about wanting to hitchhike her way around the country for a few months. She didn’t know if he believed her but he hadn’t questioned anything she told him, and for that she was grateful.
“I’m not sure yet,” she answered truthfully.
She couldn’t go back to her place in Colorado anymore. Even if she didn’t worry about Laurel’s killers finding her there, she couldn’t imagine trying to live anywhere near the place where her twin was murdered. It was time to start fresh again somewhere new.
Having spent most of her life by herself, she wasn’t afraid of being alone. But somehow this time—without Razor—she felt lonely and adrift.
“Well, wherever you’re going, you take care,” the old man said, a solemn, sympathetic look in his eyes.
She nodded. “Thank you. Hug those grandbabies when you see them.”
He chuckled. “Oh, no doubt about that. Goodbye, Jenny.”
“Bye, Lou.”
She climbed out of the truck and crossed the pavement, hands in her pockets and her head tilted down inside the oversized hoodie. Lou had mentioned the Bangor airport was only about an hour south on the interstate. Maybe she could hitch a ride in that direction, then buy a plane ticket to somewhere warm and remote to hunker down for a while.
Guilt stabbed at her for the way she’d run out on Razor. She’d run out on her obligation to Laurel too. Willow had a duty to ensure her sister’s death hadn’t been for naught. Laurel’s research into a true cure for Bloodlust could not be allowed to fall into her killers’ hands. Those people had to be stopped from exploiting the formula into something horrific.
If she disappeared, at least no one would be able to use her blood to further their hideous plans to wipe out the entire population of the Breed.
As much as Razor’s betrayal hurt her, she couldn’t bear the thought of a world without him in it. Bad enough that he would no longer be in hers.
Rallying herself for what she had to do, Willow stepped into the truck stop convenience store and peered around for potential Good Samaritans who might be safe and willing to give her a ride.
Her options were sorely lacking. A sullen twenty-something man stood behind the cashier counter scrolling on his phone. He gave her a brief once-over as she entered, then went back to scrolling. The only other patrons included a couple of rough-looking truckers and an older man with a scraggly beard who gave her a greasy smile that lingered with too much interest on her face.
Tugging the hoodie farther over her head, she ducked into a snack aisle to gather some food in case this brief pitstop lasted longer than she hoped. Choosing a few things that would fit in her purse and not exceed the meager cash she had in her wallet, she attempted to look casual as she perused the store and prayed for a miracle to take her out of there.
Maybe the cashier would let her use his phone to call a rideshare service? She figured it was worth a shot to ask him.
With her small armload of snacks, she started heading toward the register—just in time to notice the police patrol car rolling into one of the parking spaces out front. Two uniformed cops got out and approached the entrance.
Shit. Willow quickly detoured, instead moving farther toward the back of the aisles as they came inside. There was nowhere to hide if they were looking for her. Nowhere to escape their notice, even if they weren’t a threat to her. She crept back to the wall of glass-fronted refrigerators, turning her back to the front of the store and feigning interest in the dozens of sodas, juices, and bottled water.
“Got any of those roast beef sandwiches in the case?” one of the officers asked the cashier. “We’re going to be eating lunch on the road today.”
