She shook her head as if trying to dislodge a headache. “Then you sent him.”
“No. That was all Lovelyn.”
That gaze sharpened again, suspicion giving way to wherever her thoughts had gone. “You can tell him what to do. I don’t want to be found, but someone might have seen us yesterday. You brought me here in your car.”
Done with my sandwich, I exhaled a degree of frustration. “If I’d had more time to plan, I’d have switched vehicles. I was improvising, not auditioning for genius. The best I could do was my plates.”
“I noticed you’d switched them. But that doesn’t mean any hunters won’t follow a trace. When you say you’ve been tasked with finding me, what exactly is happening?”
I described how Kane and Lovelyn were waiting on my orders and the Atherton brothers were out on a search.
Dixie listened then nodded. “What happens if your own people identify your car? Who knows you live here?”
“Only Arran.”
“Just him? If they suspect you, they could go straight to him. He’s a good boss, for a gangster, but I’ve seen him sack crew members over how they’ve treated a woman. He puts the girls first, which is startling but the main reason why so many of us work there. I don’t know if he’d prioritise me over you, but he’d ask questions.” She twisted her lips, switching her gaze to the window and the view out onto thick trees that bordered my home. Then that focus came back to me. “We need to lead them on a wild goose chase. Give them a false sighting. Fake them out.”
I blinked. “With the objective of them losing that potential trace?”
“To give me a few days. If you’re as good as your word, I just need…”
“Breathing space.”
“Exactly.” She levelled her gaze on me.
I stared right back. Here was my opportunity to apologise for what I’d done. For the actions that had scared her, even if she was making the best of it. I owed her that.
Except I couldn’t. Because I didn’t regret a thing.
Chapter 6
Dixie
We exited the cabin into a rainy day, and I wrapped my arms around myself. Being outside felt strange. Dangerous, somehow. Even in this isolated spot, backed by dark-green woods and the summit rising above.
“You don’t like neighbours?”
Tyler locked up the house. “I don’t mind the city, but I need space sometimes.”
He crossed to his car—a second one he’d brought from a garage down the track—and opened the passenger door for me, resting an elbow on the doorframe. “Arran offered me an apartment in the warehouse. The one opposite Cassie and Riordan’s. I furnished it, but I haven’t stayed there.”
“Kidnap is an expensive business, and you have another mouth to feed. Can’t maintain two properties.”
His lips twitched. “I should put it through expenses.”
Once I’d climbed in and he’d closed my door, he rounded to the other side. I shivered, both at the safety of the car and at the proximity to Tyler. In the house, he’d been careful not to get too close. Now, we’d be inches apart for hours.
I also hadn’t enjoyed my ten seconds of fresh air. I didn’t like going out, even if this was my plan. But I had no choice if Iwas going to get the space I needed. I tugged up the hood of my borrowed jumper and hunkered down.
Tyler handed me his phone, unlocked and on an app. “Pick the music. We’ll be on the road for a while.”
An unlocked phone? His trust was a strange thing. As odd as mine. Given freely when he had no reason to believe I’d do anything but run. Or text Arran from his number. I did neither of those things, only picking a suitably dark song that went with my mood. ‘Villain’ by From Ashes to New.
I was in my subterfuge era. Finding ways to tread water so I didn’t drown.
Tyler drove, and I watched the world go by.
I slept for a while, anxiety waking me with a jolt.
