CHAPTER 7
“How far are we from Dr. Higgens’s lab?” Libby asked once they were traveling again on the narrow dirt road.
“I’m not sure,” Tony replied thoughtfully. “If I knew where we were, I’d know how far it was to the lab.”
“Are you telling me we’re lost?” Libby stared at him in dismay.
“Well, I wasn’t exactly noticing street signs while we were trying to escape our pursuers,” he replied dryly. “Besides,” he continued, smiling at her confidently, “I’m sure we’re just a mile or so off the main highway.”
As the minutes turned into hours and still they couldn’t find the main road, Tony was grateful for one thing: Libby didn’t say a word. She didn’t chastise him, she didn’t lose patience and he got no feeling of censure from her silence.
Libby was too busy enjoying the beautiful scenery to notice the passing of time. Even though she was anxious to find Jasper Higgens’s lab and discover some answers as to the value of the golden necklace around her neck, she’d never been this far into the hills of the Ozarks. She looked out the window of the car with interest.
The rolling hills were covered with spring-awakened wildflowers, and the car passed by dozens of springs and creeks of sparkling clean water. Not only was there a profusion of beautiful plants and flowers, but the area was rife with wildlife. Several times Tony managed to swerve across the gravel road to avoid hitting a hopping rabbit, and once they had rounded a corner and caught sight of a startled deer disappearing farther into the woods along the side of the road.
“Do you think we need to worry about those men finding us again?” she asked, unconsciously raising her hand to touch the bruised area round her neck.
Tony shook his head. “If we don’t know where we are, I don’t see how they’ll be able to find us.” He sighed tiredly. “The problem I’m having is that most of these roads around here are just farm trails, with no markings, no street signs to let me get my bearings.”
Libby could hear the exhaustion in his voice and noticed that the lines in his face had deepened with the passing of hours. She had slept earlier in the car, but she knew he was functioning on the scant sleep of the night before. “Tony, why don’t you pull the car off to the side of the road and take a little nap,” she suggested. “At this point, an hour or two one way or the other isn’t going to make much difference as to when we get to the lab and you have to be completely exhausted.”
“I am tired,” he admitted. “It’s been about a week since I got a really good night’s sleep.”
“You look tired,” she said, fighting the impulse to reach out and stroke his brow. “Surely an hour nap will make us both feel better.”
“Okay,” he said reluctantly. “I guess a short stop won’t hurt anything.” He drove a few more minutes, then found an area where they could pull far enough off the road so the car wasn’t visible. “We should be okay here,” he said, shutting off the engine.
“Why don’t you get into the back seat. You’d have more room to stretch out back there,” she suggested, knowing she could fit her small frame in the front seat and not be hindered by the steering wheel and column.
Tony nodded. He climbed out of the car and got into the back seat, folding himself awkwardly to find a position of comfort in the small confines of the area. Within seconds he was breathing deeply and regularly, sound asleep.
Libby peeked over the top of the front seat, studying him, feeling slightly guilty, as if she were intruding on a private moment by watching him sleep. Yet she was unable to stop herself from taking the opportunity to look at him without his dark eyes returning the gaze.
She crossed her arms on the back of the seat and rested her chin there, drinking her fill of the man in the back seat. He looked younger, more vulnerable with the lines of tension on his face eased and his mouth slightly open.
She’d seen the hard edge of danger on his features, she’d marveled at the fires of passion in his eyes and now she eyed him covetously, noting the dark stubble that had begun to appear on his cheeks and chin, the furrow between his dark brows that even in sleep didn’t totally disappear. His smile was magnetic, charming in its openness. It was only when one looked into his eyes that they realized the smile didn’t quite reach that deep.
She noted the firm planes of his stomach where his T-shirt had ridden up slightly. There wasn’t a spare inch of fat on him, but that didn’t mean he was thin. He was rip-cord lean but possessed a wiry strength and broad shoulders. Her gaze went farther down his body, noting how the tight jeans hugged his flesh, emphasizing his muscular thighs.
She closed her eyes, remembering the heat of his kiss, the hunger that had coiled up in her stomach like a king cobra snake. He’d stoked a flame in her that hadn’t been tended to in a long time. She hadn’t thought about sex since her divorce, had rarely thought about it in the last year of her marriage. With Bill, lovemaking had always been on his terms, when he felt the need. It had been quick and emotionless. But Tony made her think of sex…wild, abandoned, uninhibited sex that lasted for hours. He made her think of hot, sultry nights, equally hot hands caressing her skin and peaks of pleasure reached again and again.
She mentally shook herself. These kinds of thoughts were counterproductive. She had a feeling Tony Pandolinni had some heavy emotional baggage. He definitely wasn’t a good bet for happily-ever-after. And she wasn’t the type to indulge in a good old-fashioned bout of lovemaking just for the physical pleasure that could be achieved. She was a happily-ever-after kind of woman. And at the moment she had more important things on her mind than making love with Tony Pandolinni.
Feeling restless and not wanting to bother Tony’s much-needed sleep, Libby quietly opened the car door and slipped into the warm spring sunshine. She stood next to the car and stretched languidly, feeling her muscles uncramp from the long hours in the car.
She looked around with interest, enjoying the beauty of the surrounding countryside. In the distance she could hear what sounded like the faint trickling of a stream. She followed the sound, stepping carefully through the thick underbrush that lined the side of the road. She made her way slowly, pushing aside the high weeds and thornbushes that attempted to grab and scratch at her as she made her way toward the sound of the water. The scent of spring surrounded her, the smell of flowers and greenery.
About fifty feet from the road, she broke into a small clearing and caught her breath as she saw a small stream of brilliant blue, sparkling water. Oh, the beauty of this area… She felt like an explorer, the first human being ever to find this particular stream.
She spotted a large rock jutting out at the edge of the water and carefully made her way to it. Perching precariously atop it, she looked around and took a deep breath, tilting her head upward to the afternoon sunshine.
Oh, it would be so easy to forget everything that had happened to her in the past two days. It would be so easy to fall into a false sense of security.
Sitting here on the mossy rock, smelling the scent of the wildflowers and clean spring water, it would be easy to dismiss the events of the past couple of days as nothing more than the horrendous lingering memories of a nightmare.
She reached up and touched her neck beneath the heavy gold necklace. But nightmares didn’t produce welts and bruises. She frowned, remembering the shattered items in her pawnshop, the total disrespect for the things in her apartment. Damn those people, whoever they were. Damn them for their vicious attacks on her. Where before, she might have handed them the necklace and washed her hands of the whole mess, now she’d be damned before they would get their hands on what they wanted.
She fumbled with the latch on the necklace, finally unlatching the clasp, allowing it to fall into her hand. It was a beautiful piece. The minute she had seen it, she’d known she would give the man whatever he wanted for it. The craftsmanship of the piece was exquisite. The delicate locket in the center was attached to meshlike gold.
