With a nod, the policemen left, followed several minutes later by Phillip. Matt studied Lauren with tender concern. “Feel up to moving, sweetheart?”
When she nodded, he helped her to her feet, then wrapped an arm around her waist and guided her out. Less than half an hour later, they were in a spacious hotel room overlooking the harbor. Despite her exhaustion, Lauren insisted on taking a shower. She felt dirty all over. With her eyes closed or open, she could smell the men who’d abducted her.
She scrubbed herself until her skin was pink, while Matt stood immediately outside the shower. He helped her dry off, tucked her in bed, then sat down beside her. If she’d ever doubted his love, she doubted no more; it was indelibly etched on every one of his features.
“Want some aspirin?”
She shook her head and managed a wan smile. “We don’t have any, anyway.”
“I could call down for some.”
“I’m okay.” She reached for him and whispered, “Just hold me, Matt. Just hold me.”
He did. After a time, he moved back to shed his own clothes, then climbed under the sheets with her and held her for the rest of the night.
Come morning, Lauren had recovered to the point where she could think more clearly. Matt had been at that stage from the moment she’d fallen asleep in his arms.
They were sitting cross-legged on the bed, dressed only in white terry velour robes. She’d begun to gnaw on a strip of bacon when she set it back down. “I’ve been thinking, Matt. Theoretically, those guys are still after me. But something’s odd. I escaped too easily.”
Matt wasn’t eating, either. “I know.”
“It took me a while to find that shaft, but the one who went to make a phone call hadn’t returned. No one heard me tearing off the strips of wood. No one heard the elevator. No one chased me down the street. Considering the way they manhandled me earlier and spelled out exactly what they planned to do to me, it just doesn’t make sense.”
“Maybe the terror they put you through was the end point of the exercise.”
She thought about that for a while as she leaned against the headboard and sipped her coffee. “I suggested that to him, and he denied it. Maybe I managed to convince him that I wasn’t Susan Miles, or at least plant some doubts—”
“In which case heletyou escape. If only we knew for sure whether your escape was deliberate or accidental. I have no intention of assuming that you’re off the hook until I have proof of it, which means either finding those thugs or—”
“Finding Susan Miles.”
“Right. If we could find her and convince her to go to the police, they could question this boss of hers. At least then he’d know he had the wrong woman in you, and we could breathe freely.”
Lauren sat forward and reached for the bacon. Matt’s presence, his commitment to her cause, the fact of the two of them working together to resolve the problem—all gave her a sense of optimism that, in turn, awakened her appetite. “So,” she said between bites, “we have to find Susan Miles, which may be easier said than done. No doubt she’s using a different name, and she’s probably had plastic surgery to alter her looks, so that’s where we’ll begin.”
He nodded. “The clinic in the Bahamas.”
“Right. That’s where the boss found out about me, though how he knew to check out that particular clinic is a mystery. I wonder if Susan had been there before, or if she’d mentioned it to him at some point.”
“If that was the case,” Matt reasoned, “I doubt she’d be stupid enough to go back there when she was trying to flee him. On the other hand, the boss may have had some information we don’t. Airline tickets, hotel reservations, something. I think we should fly down and talk with your doctor. Can they spare you at the shop?”
“They’ll have to. The shop means a lot to me, but my own health and safety mean more. Between Beth and Jamie, things will run smoothly.”
Matt popped a cube of cantaloupe into his mouth. “That Beth is a character. You wouldn’t believe some of the stories she came up with to explain your disappearance. She even dared to hint that Brad had come back from the dead and taken you off to some hideaway to heal old wounds!”
“Did she really saythat?” Lauren grimaced, then sighed. “She’s got an unbelievable imagination. I think she’s incurable.”
“I think she’s also incredibly devoted and loyal. She refused to budge from that shop yesterday because she wanted to be there if you called, and when you finally did, she all but sent out the cavalry to find me. She called Jamie to pass on your message in case I contacted the farmhouse first. She got in touch with Phillip—he has a phone in his car—and sent him looking for me. She was ready to tell the police I’d stolen her car so they would go out in pursuit. You’re lucky to have her for a friend, Lauren.”
Lauren reached out and touched his cheek. There was warmth in her fingers and love in her eyes. “I’m lucky about a lot of things. Very, very lucky.”
The police weren’t so lucky. They had nothing to report to Matt except the fact that shortly before they’d arrived to search it the night before, the warehouse had gone up in flames. The fire marshal’s office was investigating arson, but that case had little to do with Lauren’s, and there was no sign whatsoever of either the dark blue Plymouth or the three oversize thugs.
Accompanied by a pair of officers from the Lincoln police department, Lauren and Matt returned to the farmhouse at noontime on Saturday, packed their bags and headed for the airport. Matt took a few minutes to phone Phillip to keep him abreast of their plans. Then he and Lauren were airborne, en route to the Bahamas.
To the best of their knowledge, they hadn’t been followed.
Chapter Ten
