“Yes, she is. She’s my better half.” Kevin tipped his chair back and folded his hands over his padded belly. “And since she’s not here to correct me on my manners, I’m free to ask.”
“Ask what?” Gideon said, wiping his mouth with a scratched hand.
Kevin’s eyes narrowed. “When are you two going to tell me the truth?”
Five
Gideon took another sip ofcoffeeas he considered how to respond to Kevin’s question. Caution was the first rule when interacting with potential enemies. A careless answer could sink them. He wished the ache in his shoulder would ease up. He’d washed down a few aspirin in the bathroom after his shower, but they hadn’t made much of a dent in the pain. Mackenzie appeared to be struck silent, which was a point in their favor.
“The truth?” Gideon said. “Don’t know what you mean, Kevin.”
“Yes, you do. I’m plain country folk, but I’m not stupid. People don’t go visiting an area where others are evacuating, so I don’t believe that’s the reason you’re here.” He looked at Mackenzie. “Also, before I noticed you two in the river, I pulled over to adjust some gear in my back seat, paid attention to the flow of the water and such. Didn’t notice any car floating by. Couple minutes later you two came along, and boy, was I surprised. You’d been in the water for a while, clearly. Something happened on the bridge, maybe, but there was no breach on the nearer sidefrom what I could tell. Can’t really see how you’d have ended up where you did.”
Mackenzie’s jaw was tight. She was about to make things worse, Gideon could feel it.
He spoke quickly. “Mackenzie’s vehicle went over, got caught on a piling. I parked mine and dove in after her.” Facts, which was the second most important thing in dangerous territory. Stick to the truth as much as possible to avoid contradictions and snares.
Mackenzie went pale, and Gideon tried to decipher the look she was telegraphing. He’d said something wrong, clearly.
Kevin shook his head. “Didn’t have time to practice your stories, did you? She said she was a passenger in your car when it went over.”
Gideon bit back a groan. He put down the coffee mug. “Okay. Kevin, I’ll be honest. Mackenzie is running from some people.”
He frowned. “People, as in the cops?”
“The cops would like her to come in, yes, but the bigger problem is the people who tried to murder her. I can’t tell you the particulars because we don’t know you. You don’t know us either, so I understand the mistrust. The truth is that neither of us has hurt anyone, and we didn’t cause the accident. I can promise you that tomorrow we are going to report to the nearest police station that isn’t underwater and explain exactly what happened. One cop already knows most of it, so it’s been communicated.” He ignored the raised eyebrow from Mackenzie.
“Are you spinning more lies?” Kevin said.
“No, sir. But it’s all I can tell you. We’re grateful for yourhelp, we’d probably be dead if you hadn’t stepped in. You didn’t have to get involved, but you extended yourself for two strangers, and we can’t begin to repay that. We aren’t a danger to you or your family. If you want us to clear out now, we’ll do so, but I can’t tell you anything more than that.”
Kevin tipped his head back and examined them over his mug of coffee. “My wife is the kind of person who feeds everyone, helps them. Know anyone like that? Heart bigger than their body?”
Gideon smiled. “My mom. No question. My brothers say she’d feed the world if she could get them around her kitchen table.”
“My brother, Aaron,” Mackenzie said after a moment.
True enough. Gideon remembered when Aaron met an elderly lady down the street from his family home while he was delivering the paper. Mrs. Chavez invited him in for a soda, crying because she’d lost her cat and couldn’t walk well enough to look for him. With two phone calls, Aaron had organized their entire baseball team to do a neighborhood search until they found the cat and returned him to a joyful Mrs. Chavez. The lady had cried so hard they’d had to make her sit down to prevent her hyperventilating. Aaron had been simultaneously the most selfish and selfless person Gideon had ever known.
He covered his surprising rush of emotion by focusing on Kevin, who was toying with his napkin.
“My wife’s that way,” he said. “She’s one of those types that shows up when there’s been a tragedy with a noodle casserole, and she’s the first to bring a cake if it’s a happy occasion.” His expression was soft. “That’s why I stopped to help you. Because that’s what she’d want me to do.”
Here comes the message. Gideon waited.
Kevin pushed the coffee away. “I’m the sole support in this family. If they were home, I would not hesitate to jettison both of you because I wouldn’t risk their safety on a couple of liars. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“I do and I completely respect that,” Gideon said.
Kevin turned to Mackenzie, and she nodded.
“We don’t want to make you uncomfortable, Kevin. Come on, Zee.” Gideon got to his feet. He dreaded going out into the storm when they’d finally gotten some respite, but there was no choice now. “Thank you, sir, for everything. There’s no way we could ever repay you. We’ll see ourselves out.”
“One night,” Kevin said, stopping him.
Both of them stared. Gideon was sure he’d misheard. “What’s that?”
Kevin finished his coffee. “You can sleep here until morning and that’s all. There’s a couch in the living room and beds in the kids’ room that are too small but better than nothing, so you’ve got a choice.”
