HANK YANKEDthe wheel for a hard left when he spotted the road Colette had told him about. He grunted in satisfaction as he saw that the car behind them didn’t make the turn. Good. Although he knew their pursuer would quickly right his error, even a moment of time might give them the lead they needed to evade him.
He only hoped Colette hadn’t been foolish enough to lie to him about where this particular road led. He looked down to where Colette was still hunched, half lying on the seat next to him, her head pressed against his thigh.
Her hair was a chestnut spill against his faded blue jeans and her perfume filled the interior of the car. Despite the tenseness of their predicament, Hank felt a stir of desire.
He gripped the steering wheel more tightly, fighting down the emotion. It had been his selfish lust that had gotten things so screwed up in the first place. He didn’t intend to make the same mistake again.
He’d always been very good at control, and he intended to maintain tight control on himself and the situation until Colette’s role in this particular drama was over. Then he’d walk away, as always unscathed and alone.
Although he’d intended to use seduction to get her to leave the ranch with him, seduction was no longer necessary, and in fact would only further complicate matters.
Pressing on the gas pedal in an attempt to lengthen their lead, he glanced in the rearview mirror, satisfied that for the moment no other cars were in sight. Still,he knew for the next couple of weeks he’d have his work cut out for him.
Cameron Collier was a powerful man, with long arms for vengeance, and he wouldn’t rest until Colette was eliminated. Collier would spare no expense, no manpower, to find them. For the next sixteen days, Hank knew he and Colette would find themselves the rodents in a deadly game of cat and mouse.
He breathed a sigh of relief as houses and traffic began to appear, letting him know they were approaching the city limits.
Within minutes darkness had fallen completely and Hank began to relax. “You can sit up now,” he said.
She pulled herself upright and looked around, visibly relaxing as she realized they’d made it into town. “What do we do now?”
“We drive around for a while, make sure we don’t have a tail, then find someplace to hole up for the night.”
“Hank, please just take me back to the ranch.” Her eyes were wide, glazed with suppressed tears. “I—we’ll pay you. My sisters and I will give you whatever you want.”
“I don’t want money. Besides, with the financial state of that ranch, you and your sisters couldn’t get up a decent ransom between you,” he scoffed. “This isn’t about money. It’s about murder.”
“Murder?” Colette’s voice squeaked and Hank damned himself for saying it so bluntly.
“I told you, I’ll explain everything when we get settled someplace for the night.”
“Then you better get us settled right now because I want some answers,” Colette retorted.
Yes, it was time to get settled for the night, time for Colette to get some answers. He was aware that he walked a fine line. Too few answers and she wouldn’t understand her place in the scheme of things, too many answers and she’d run the first chance she got.
A lot of people were depending on her to get her memory back, but with it would come memories that would make her hate him. He’d just have to deal with her hate, he had to keep focused on the importance of the bigger picture, not the frailty of human emotions.
Confident that they were not being followed, Hank pulled into the parking lot of the Sleepy-Time Motel. “Not exactly four stars, but it will do for the night,” he said. He hesitated before getting out.
If he went into the office to rent a room, would she and the baby still be here in the car when he came back out?
The alternative was to take her inside with him, inside where she could scream that he’d kidnapped her, inside where she could make a scene. The last thing he needed was anything that would draw attention to them.
He had to trust that her curiosity alone would keep her with him until she got some answers. “Once we’re in the room, I’ll tell you everything,” he said as he got out of the car.
Colette watched him walk into the office and knew now was her chance to escape. All she had to do was find a phone, call Abby, and her sisters would come and get her. But she hesitated.
Hank had led her to believe he held all the answersto everything that had haunted her from the moment she’d become conscious in that motel room in Las Vegas. She desperately needed those answers. If she ran now, she’d never know what, exactly, she was running from.
If I don’t run now, I’m a fool,she told herself. Who knew when another opportunity for escape would present itself? She opened the car door, the noise awakening Brook, who yelled an angry yowl.
As she saw Hank returning to the car, she realized the opportunity to escape was lost. She’d taken too long to make up her mind. She slammed her door, at the same time soothing Brook. Hopefully the chance for escape would come once again.
“Room 124,” he said as he scooted into the driver seat.
When they found the room, she wondered if he’d specifically asked for one in the back, where their car would not be visible from the main road.
The room was typical of every cheap motel room in every city in every state of the union. Two full-size beds covered in worn gold spreads, a nightstand scarred with stains and cigarette burns and, beneath their feet, gold shag carpeting merely added to the depressing decor. The whole room seemed to breathe deep hopelessness, abiding despair.
