Did he love her?
Maybe it didn’t matter. Evan came first. Always. As he should.
Before, she’d been willing to accept that Jeff had no room in his life for a romantic relationship. Maybe part of herhad believed he would eventually change his mind. Or that with time, she could convince him they belonged together.
But if given a second chance, she wouldn’t let him push her away completely. They were good together. They needed each other. She neededhim. He saw her as more than a pretty face, more than the team mom.
She wanted time to explore their relationship. To see if they had a chanceat something lasting.
A chance she would never have if she didn’t escape.
Would Jeff suspect something was up and call the police or someone to check on her, or had her imitator’s text been convincing enough? She hadn’t heard any message notifications, so he hadn’t responded yet. If he tried her again later and she didn’t answer, would he think she didn’t want to argue about her plan, or wouldhe suspect she was in trouble?
Neither option sat well with her. He had enough to worry about.
At least now she knew without a doubt that someone was still after her. She nearly laughed. Small consolation when they’d gotten the drop on her again, rather than the other way around, as she’d hoped.
Taking several deep breaths, Tara forced herself to pay attention to everything happening insidethe car and out. Within minutes, the car was on the Coastal Highway, heading back the way she’d come early this morning from Wilmington. The views were better in the daylight, but she couldn’t appreciate them.
“Where are we going?” she asked, not really expecting an answer.
She didn’t get one.
Bile rose in Jeff’s throat as he watched Tank’s beefy fingers tapping out a message to Dad.
“There. Now Dear Old Dad thinks you’re on a booty call.”
Would he really? After how adamant Jeff had been that he not leave Evan? And yet, the minute Tara had texted, Jeff had abandoned the room without explaining about the danger. He hadn’t wanted his dad to worry, but now he could kick himself.
But his dad was no dummy. He knew what Jeff and Tara had gone through this weekend. He knew howstrongly Jeff felt about not leaving Evan. And he’d know it was out of character for Jeff to just take off without saying anything to either him or Evan.
Wouldn’t he?
Shit.Come on, Dad.
“Why bother?” Jeff asked. For some reason this man didn’t want him dead yet. Were they trying to get him and Tara together to stage some kind of accident? “If I don’t return tonight, he’ll get suspicious.”
“Won’t matter,” Tank said, pocketing Jeff’s phone and gesturing him toward the parking lot with the gun. “Let’s go.”
Won’t matter?Five minutes later, Jeff’s hands and feet were bound with multiple metal-reinforced zip ties and he sat in the front passenger seat of his own RV while Tank drove up 3rd Street. He wouldn’t be able to break these zip ties against his pelvis like Tara had done earlier.
He wracked his brain for a way out, but until he knew that there was no threat to his son, he’d wait. Besides, if he found a way out of this that kept Evan safe—Tank dead or arrested were the only options that made sense—he couldn’t leave Tara to whatever fate they’d planned.
No, he’d wait.
With luck, Evan would sleep through his absence, none the wiser. Actually, he’d need every ounce ofluck he could muster to return to his son at all.
His chest tightened. God,Evan. The boy had been through so much, he didn’t deserve to be abandoned by Jeff too. Dad would step in, but the kid would always be waiting for him to leave. Jeff needed to show Evan that not everyone left or died. He needed Evan to know that he loved him as much as he’d promised.
I will get back to you.
Withinminutes, they’d parked behind a seven- or eight-story building on the Cape Fear River that was part of a popular three-star hotel chain, but Tank made no move to go in.
“Might as well get comfortable,” the big man said. “We’ll be here awhile.”
If Tara really was on her way, depending on traffic, it could be upwards of two hours. Was she okay? Had she been hurt? Jeff’s blood boiled. If anyonetouched her—Fool. He’d what? He tugged uselessly at the restraints on his wrists and ankles. He’d do nothing unless he got free, and he couldn’t riskthatuntil he knew Tara was alive and there was no ongoing danger to Evan.
He tried unsuccessfully to distract himself from the situation by watching planes take off and land from the nearby airport as thoughts of Evan and Dad and Tara swirledin his brain. His biggest regret—if he ended up dead today—was that he didn’t know if any of them knew he loved them.
