In Seconds
- Автор: Новак Бренда
- Серия: Bulletproof #2
- Год: 2011
- Язык: французский
- Жанр: Остросюжетные любовные романы
Электронная книга - «In Seconds». Краткое содержание книги:
Laurel Hodges has changed her identity twice. She's been on the run for the past four years, trying to outdistance the gang members who blame her for the death of one of their own. She's finally found peace and stability in the small town of Pineview, Montana. But just when Laurel thinks she and her children are safe...the nightmare starts all over again.
The Crew, a ruthless prison gang with ties to Laurel's brother, will never forget and they'll never forgive. And now that they've finally tracked her down, they'll stop at nothing.
Sheriff Myles King, who happens to live next door with his thirteen-year-old daughter, appoints himself Laurel's personal guardian. His growing attraction to her could change his life—Myles is beginning to picture marriage and family. But it could also end his life. If he can't save her, everything he's built, everything he wants, could be destroyed. In seconds...
“No. I could fight back. I have that choice.”
“But do you know what fighting means?”
“It means I’ll endanger my children, like you’ve already pointed out. But what if you took them to Virgil?”
He got up again. “That’s crazy. I’m not leaving you here alone.”
He had to. He wasn’t well. “If I don’t have to worry about my kids, I’ll be able to defend myself.”
His expression said he didn’t think she stood a snowball’s chance in hell. And he was probably right. But she had to at least try to break free, didn’t she? Running wasn’t necessarily any safer. The Crew could find her again. And maybe next time she wouldn’t have the warning she did now.
“Against how many?” he asked. “One? Two? Don’t you remember what happened in Colorado?”
She’d never forget. But she couldn’t allow the fear inspired by that event to define her whole life. She could no longer live behind the boundaries of that fear, not anymore. “However many they send.”
Instead of arguing with her, he pulled his cell phone from his pocket and dialed. No doubt he was hoping Virgil could talk some sense into her.
“Bad news,” he said into the phone. “She’s okay. But…she’s talking crazy. And she has something to tell you.”
At first Vivian refused to take the phone. She knew what Virgil would tell her. But Rex insisted they wouldn’t leave until she had this conversation, and she had no hope of getting the keys from him, even in his weakened state.
“Tattletale,” she muttered to Rex, then gave him a dirty look when he grinned at her. “Hello?”
“What’s going on?” Virgil demanded.
Tilting her head back, she stared up at the sky and breathed in the scent of pine. “Mom’s been murdered.”
His response, when it came, was so low she could barely hear it. “I’m sorry, Laurel.”
Suddenly the tears that’d been so conspicuously missing began to burn behind her eyes. Determined not to shed them, she blinked rapidly. She was done crying. She was done allowing herself to be frightened and intimidated, too. This was her life, damn it. She was taking it back.
“How’d it happen?” he asked.
“She was stabbed. Sonja Ivey found her on the floor of the laundry room.”
“The Crew got hold of her?”
“Who else? With Ink out of prison, that has to be it.” Tears leaked out despite her efforts to dam them, so she simply squeezed her eyes shut and relied on her glasses to hide them.
“I haven’t told you this, but…I tried to warn her.”
This took Vivian aback. “You called Mom?”
“I went to see her. Right after we left Washington, D.C.”
Her eyes popped open. If he’d contacted Ellen, he hadn’t been as impervious to the doubts that had plagued her as he’d pretended. “What did she have to say?”
“Nothing more than she always said. She didn’t know Gary was planning to kill Martin. She’d never be party to such a thing. She only thought it was me because of what the detectives told her.”
“And you said?”
“What could I say?”
“You could’ve said you believe her.”
“I tried. It just…wasn’t there.”
Vivian understood. How many times had she hovered on the brink of forgiving Ellen? Too many times to count. And yet, even when she wanted to believe, when she made up her mind to trust, Ellen’s story rang false. “Weren’t you afraid that showing up there might be exactly what The Crew wanted you to do?”
“I was careful to minimize the risk.”
“Meaning…”
“I flew into Phoenix, rented a car and drove from there. Then I returned the car in San Francisco and flew out.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this trip?”
“I don’t know.”
Because their mother was a hard subject for both of them. Because the visit hadn’t changed his mind, as he’d probably hoped it would. Because it was easier to pretend, as he had for years, that he didn’t care.
“You could’ve taken me with you.”
“I needed to meet with her alone. Give her one last chance.”
Ellen hadn’t realized it had been her last chance. She’d been trying to convince Vivian as little as six months ago that they could still be a family. But that was so typical of her.
“I told her about The Crew,” he said. “I explained why I joined them and why they wouldn’t let me go. I made sure she understood that they’d use any means available to find me, including her, and that they weren’t going to give up anytime soon. I suggested she leave the area.”
“Advice she obviously ignored.”
“Yes. She felt safe since she didn’t know where I lived or how to contact me. We haven’t been part of her life for so long…I guess she thought they’d continue to assume she was out of the picture. And she met Randall the day I left. After that she forgot about everything else.”
Suddenly the irony of the situation became clear to Vivian. Ellen cared more about the men in her life than she’d ever cared about her kids. Her many romances always came first. Yet, in the end, she’d been alone.
Not only that, but if Ellen had instigated Martin’s murder, it was her fault that Virgil had gone to prison. And it was because he’d joined a gang in order to survive that Ellen had lost her life. What she’d set in motion nearly twenty years ago had come full circle.
Too bad there wasn’t more satisfaction in knowing that. No matter what Vivian believed, she could never wish this kind of death on her own mother. “So why would they kill her now, after all this time?” she asked. “They could’ve gone after her four years ago.”
“They knew we didn’t have any contact, so they didn’t see any point in it. But enough time has passed that…they must’ve decided to take a chance.”
She watched a cruiser drive slowly past, knew the cop inside was probably wondering if they were doing a drug deal. They were standing in a park, just the two of them, and they didn’t have kids, a dog or a picnic basket. “It’s not only that.”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s Ink.”
“You think he killed her himself?”
“If not, he’s behind it.” Which meant her worst fears were becoming a reality. “Question is…how close is he?”
“That depends on what our mother told him.”
“She couldn’t have told him much. Maybe she jotted down the numbers I called from, and passed that along, or turned over her phone records. But that’s it.”
“So we have to assume Ink knows you live in Montana. Maybe, through Horse or some other contact, he even has a cop on the payroll who’s been able to trace one of those numbers to Pineview.”
It was chilling to hear Virgil say that. His acknowledgment of how easily Ink could find her made it that much more real. He could be waiting at her house right now. “That’s why I need Rex to bring Jake and Mia to you until this thing plays out.”
“Are you crazy?” he snapped. “No way do I want you there alone.”
“It’s better than having me here with the kids. What if I can’t protect them?”
“What if you can’t protect yourself? Come with Jake and Mia. You can start over. One more time. This is a great area. I’ll pay for the move, whatever you need.”
She wished it could be that simple. She missed Virgil and Peyton. But she didn’t want to leave Pineview, especially because she had no assurance that this would be the last time she’d have to flee. “And when they find us in New York?”
“We’ll deal with that when we come to it.”
The cop appeared again, slowed and parked next to her Blazer. He didn’t get out, but he distracted Vivian, irritated her. The police were present and available when she didn’t need them, but she had no confidence she’d have help when it mattered most. They’d never been able to help her before. “No. I’m finished running. I won’t move again.”