In Seconds

She checked to make sure the street was clear before hurrying toward him.

“It’s true, you know,” he went on. “The Crew is here. Two guys. They killed Pat, and now they’re looking for you. A few hours ago they went into Trudie’s Grocery, asking for Laurel Hodges. I got the call on my way home, and rushed over there, but we couldn’t find any trace of them.”

Her shoulders slumped. “Did Trudie get their license plate number at least?”

“No, she fell when she was trying to hurry outside. They were gone by the time she made it.”

She reached him and jogged up the porch steps. “Is she okay?”

“Bruised and a little spooked but otherwise okay.”

“Claire saw them, too,” she said. “So now you understand why you can’t stand out in front of my house. It’s like painting a red bull’s-eye on your chest. These people won’t care that you’re a cop. They’d rather kill a cop than anyone else. Except for me—or Virgil, Peyton and Rex.” She brushed past him, fumbling with her keys, and nearly dropped them in her rush to get the door open.

“And now you know why I was so worried.” He could hear the edge to his own voice. But it was the relief flowing through him, and the way his body reacted whenever she came close, that bothered him.

“Hang on a sec.” She was so focused on getting inside that she couldn’t concentrate on anything else. Her hands shook as she tried to put the key in the lock, so he insisted on taking over.

The second the tumbler fell, she pulled him inside with her. Then she locked the door and sagged against it. “Welcome home, huh?” she said with a weak grin.

He understood so much more about her behavior now, and he had to sympathize. She’d been living in fear all the time. Hiding. Watching. Worrying. Dodging the kind of relationships that might threaten her cover. No wonder she was so guarded. And yet, even after all that, the people she’d been hoping to escape were coming after her again. That she fully believed she might not survive the next few days was apparent from the pallor of her skin. Just coming home had been a terrifying ordeal, knowing she could be shot walking to her front door.

But he didn’t want to feel sorry for her or admire her courage or anything else. He wanted to do his job, professionally, unemotionally. That was all. If the way he’d felt since seeing Rex in Vivian’s kitchen had taught him anything, it was that he wasn’t ready to care again. Not that much.

Although they hadn’t turned on any lights, he could see her in the moonlight streaming through the side windows. “So where have you been?” He’d already asked, but he wanted an answer. “With Claire?”

She nodded. “I was reluctant to come home. And she was pretty reluctant to let me.”

“You should’ve stayed at her place.”

“And have them track me there instead? No.”

“Does she know what’s going on?”

“Yes, I told her.”

“What’d she say?”

“She couldn’t believe it, but she wasn’t angry, like I expected. She probably would’ve been, except she’d just seen Ink and whoever he’s with.”

“Where?”

Vivian seemed so weary. He wished he could do something to bolster her strength, to reassure her that this would end well, but he had no guarantee. “At Mailboxes Plus. They were in a white truck. But you don’t need to rush over there. They’re gone now.”

“What I need to do is set up some surveillance on this place. But with summer vacations, I’m short-staffed. Tomorrow’s the earliest I’ll be able to pull that together.”

“I assume we’re okay for tonight, anyway,” she responded. “If they’re still asking around town for me, they don’t know where I live. And that close call at Trudie’s should’ve rattled them a bit, made them less likely to approach people. Most guys would keep their heads down for a while, wouldn’t they?”

He frowned. “There’s no way to be sure. I’d start surveillance tonight if I could. I just don’t have the manpower and keeping you safe is my priority. I’m having a deputy drive by every hour or so. It’s not a lot, but…”

“At least we know what Ink and his friend are driving,” she said. “That might come in handy later.”

“Except white trucks are probably the most common vehicle around here. I didn’t realize that until I started looking for them.” He noticed that she kept rubbing her stomach. “Are you okay?”

She dropped her hand. “I’m alive. That’s about all I can hope for right now.”

“You should’ve told me before.”

“About…”

“The Crew.”

“And how would that have changed things?”

He didn’t have an answer. He just felt she should’ve trusted him.

Closing her eyes again, she rested her head against the door. “I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Why didn’t you call me tonight, let me know where you were? Didn’t you realize I’d assume the worst if you didn’t come home?”

She reached for her hair, seemed to remember there was nothing left to tuck behind her ears and shoved her fingers through it instead. “No. I was too busy trying to convince Claire that we weren’t going to flee town.”

This distracted him. He’d known Claire practically since the day he’d moved here, liked her. But she could be as evasive as Vivian. “She wanted to go with you?”