Circumstantial Marriage (11 page)

And then he saw the man with her, erasing what little doubt remained in his mind.

It was them.

Triumph surged in his veins and he almost smiled. They weren’t getting away again.

Shoving the coffee into the cup holder, he stepped on the accelerator and quickly made a right turn at the next corner. He’d scoped out the town well enough the day before to know the layout of its streets. He quickly went around the block, arriving back on Main Street.

They were climbing into a car parked a short distance ahead, not far from where he’d first spotted them. He pulled over to the curb and waited for them to pull into the street. As soon as they were driving away, he moved into position a short distance behind and started to follow.

After a rough start, this was all working out well.

And now it was time to finish it.

He listened to the sound of the gasoline sloshing around in the tanks he’d stashed in the backseat, the noise reminding him of the plan. And this time he did grin.

Sometimes the best ideas came from books.

“A
T LEAST NOW WE KNOW
there must have been more to Tim Raymer’s death than a simple car accident,” Audrey said, thinking out loud as they made their way to Clint’s house. “Something that must have been apparent in the autopsy, and which the medical examiner knew about. It’s the only reason they would have killed him.”

“The ME must have told Hal.” Jason picked up her train of thought. “It’s the only logical reason to go after him now. Hal must have written about it in the book, and that’s how they knew the ME had to be silenced.”

“So, in all likelihood Tim Raymer’s death was the secret Hal had uncovered for the book. Hal must have had enough to prove Rich Bridges was involved somehow, but how are
we
going to? We can’t prove that the ME knew anything, and it doesn’t sound like there’s anyone else around who might have known what he did.”

Jason remained silent for a long moment before finally conceding, “I don’t know.”

She could tell it had been hard for him to admit that. It wasn’t any easier to hear. He’d known what they should do every step of the way until now. To have him finally be at a loss indicated just how serious things were.

The plan had been to release the story so the truth Hal had died to reveal came out. But if they couldn’t do that, there seemed to be no way of stopping Bridges.

She fell as silent as he had, desperately trying to come up with a new plan, a new direction, anything at all. She still didn’t have one by the time Jason turned onto the road leading to Clint Raymer’s house.

As she had the day before, Audrey stared at the passing trees outside her window, this time hardly seeing them. She’d been fighting a sense of hopelessness that had started to build the moment the police officer had told them about the ME’s death. Foley, the officer had said his name was. Doc Foley. She didn’t even know his first name, but he was another victim in this, someone else who died to keep Richard Bridges’s secrets.

So many deaths. And as their pathways of getting to the truth were systematically closed off, Audrey couldn’t shake the feeling that there would be more.

She was so lost in her thoughts she almost missed the flash of color that shouldn’t have been there. As it was, she didn’t register what she’d seen until a few seconds later.

She leaned forward in her seat, looking back. “Did you see that?”

“What?” Jason asked.

“I think I saw something through the trees. Go back.”

He didn’t ask any other questions, simply stopping the car and shifting into Reverse. They both turned around as the vehicle rolled backward, Audrey keeping a close eye out for what she’d seen.

There it was. A gap in the trees where she was sure there hadn’t been one yesterday.

“Stop,” she said. He immediately brought the car to a halt. Audrey quickly unbuckled her seat belt and scrambled out of the vehicle. Even before she reached the edge of the road, she saw what had caught her attention. An unmistakable patch of blue amidst all the greenery. Stopping at the steep edge of the road, she stared down at the blue object jutting out of the ditch.

It was the truck they’d seen parked in front of Clint Raymer’s house yesterday, presumably his own. What she’d seen was part of the back panel, which was elevated enough to be visible from the road.

She felt Jason come up beside her. “Do you think there’s any chance Clint’s not in there?” Audrey whispered.

“I’ll climb down and check. If he is, he could still be alive.”

He won’t be,
she thought, despair washing over her. Still, she waited as he quickly climbed down to the truck, glancing over her shoulder at the road to see if anyone approached. No one did.

Jason finally reappeared. As soon as she spotted him, Audrey reached for his arm and helped him back onto the surface. “Well?” she asked.

He shook his head tersely, his expression tight. “He’s dead. Looks like several hours at least. The body and the engine were cold.”

“We should have warned him more,” Audrey murmured.

“We tried,” he said gently, thankfully not trying to convince her this had simply been an accident.

“Should we call someone? The police?”

He was quiet for a long moment. “I’m not sure we can,” he said finally. “I don’t think we should get too involved with the police. If they look into our story at all, they’ll probably figure out it’s not true. Besides, I don’t know how close they are to Bridges, and I don’t think we can risk it. Even an anonymous call could be traced in a town this small.”

With one last glance in the direction of the truck, Audrey nodded her agreement. She knew he was right. Even though Clint Raymer hadn’t been a good man, or much of an uncle to his nephew, she wasn’t happy the man was dead. But if not reporting his death meant they were safer for a little longer, she could live with that.

“When they find him, they’ll just think it was an accident, won’t they?”

Jason grimaced. “He smelled pretty heavily of alcohol. Whether he’d been drinking or splashed with liquor to make it seem that way, I’m sure they’ll conclude he was driving drunk, especially given his reputation around here.”

Under different circumstances, she would probably come to the same conclusion. But given everything else that had happened recently, there wasn’t a doubt in her mind this had been murder.

Another murder that would be declared an accident, unless the truth about Bridges was exposed.

If only she had any idea how to do it.

Exhaling sharply, she started to shake her head, frustration and anger churning in her belly. It wasn’t right. There had to be a way—

“Hey.”

Jason suddenly moved closer, placing his hands on her upper arms. She blinked up to find him peering down at her, his gaze steady and reassuring.

“It’s going to be okay,” he said gently.

A bleak smile touched her lips. “Is it?”

He answered firmly, without hesitation. “Yes.”

“How?” she asked simply, wanting nothing more than to believe him, to hear he had an answer to this mess.

His expression lost none of its certainty, but all he said was, “I don’t know yet. But it will. We’ll figure it out.”

She forced a nod, wishing she felt anywhere near the confidence she heard in his voice.

Then it finally struck her how close he was standing, that he was touching her. In an instant, something changed. The frustration and hopelessness faded as warmth suddenly poured into her system, a response to his nearness, to his steady gaze, to the feeling of those gloved hands on her arms.

She knew immediately he’d done it without thinking, saw him realize what he’d done just as she had, his eyes widening slightly with surprise. His fingers tensed and stilled on her arms, as though he was on the verge of pulling them away. She froze, not wanting to lose the contact, willing him to not let her go.

He didn’t. He simply stood there, his hands locked on her arms, his eyes fixed on hers. She watched as they seemed to burn with a fresh heat, the sight of it stoking the same reaction inside her, along with a knowing thrill.

He may not want to live, but there was no doubting that he was still alive, his response to her clear. The emotions played across his face, flickered in his eyes, too strong to be hidden. Just as the firm hold he kept on his emotions had been unable to stop the impulse to move closer and comfort her. The compulsion had been too strong to be denied.

Why?
she wondered, even as part of her was afraid to know the answer, even as part of her wanted more. If only she could lean into him and feel his arms around her. If only he would pull her close and truly make her believe that everything was going to be all right.

She stood there, held in his hands, in his gaze, and waited for it. Waited for him to do something, anything that matched the heat in his eyes.

Instead, he finally released her. His hands dropped from her arms and he took a step back, lowering his eyes.

“We should go.”

Swallowing a sigh, she nodded again. “Yeah,” she said softly. “We should.”

They climbed back into the car without another word. Jason managed to turn the vehicle around on the narrow road, and they headed back to the main one.

Audrey stared steadily out her window, once again watching the trees, her mood even gloomier than before. It didn’t matter that she hadn’t liked Clint Raymer. It was just as she’d predicted minutes earlier. Another death. How many more would there be?

She sat unmoving, so when they reached the intersection, her head was already turned to the right. Jason slowed to a stop to check before turning onto the road. That was when she saw the car.

It was pulled off on the shoulder a short distance down the road facing them. The sight of it was strange, the car just sitting there on the side of this empty stretch of road outside of town. She tried to remember if it had been there when they’d first come this way and turned onto Clint’s road, only to admit she hadn’t been paying close enough attention to notice.

Then, as she watched, it began to roll forward, just as Jason pulled onto the road.

Unease sliding through her, she checked the side mirror. Sure enough, the car had fallen into line behind them, gradually gaining speed.

She couldn’t see the driver through the windshield. She didn’t need to. Somehow she just knew.

“Jason,” she said, “we have company.”

“I see him,” he murmured.

“It’s him, isn’t it?”

“I would bet on it,” Jason said grimly.

She never looked away from the mirror, wondering what the driver was planning. Simply to follow them back to town?

No, the car was picking up speed too quickly, she realized, alarm raising prickles along her skin. It was gaining on them too fast, even as she felt Jason accelerate.

Two seconds later, it shot over into the other lane and began to pull alongside them.

Audrey whipped her head toward the other vehicle. She caught flashes of the driver. It was the man she’d seen outside the diner all right. He was hunched over the wheel, his face grim with determination.

Then he glanced over at them, his eyes narrowed. A split second later he jerked the wheel to the right.

The car swerved into them, ramming their car from the side. Audrey crashed against her door, pain jolting through her shoulder and arm. Their car skidded onto the side of the road, kicking up dirt and rocks. Jason managed to keep the vehicle moving straight as the two cars bounced apart, the other vehicle lurching back into the left lane.

He’s trying to force us off the road,
she thought numbly, trying to make sense of it. Why would he? It would look too much like Clint’s death, wouldn’t it? Wouldn’t it be too suspicious?

Evidently, he didn’t care. A moment later, the car slammed into them again.

The impact was harder, or maybe it seemed that way. She cringed at the pain that screamed through her. They were knocked farther over onto the shoulder, until it seemed like they were teetering on the edge before Jason managed to get them back in the lane.

“What are we going to do?” she asked.

“Just wait,” he muttered, never taking his eyes off the road, his face tight with concentration.

She looked past him, to the other driver, his car keeping pace beside them once more.

Their eyes met across the distance.

He grinned at her, the malice in the expression turning her blood cold.

“Hang on!” Jason yelled.

Before she could process the words, he suddenly slammed on the brakes.

She was thrown against her seat belt, her head snapping forward, the impact knocking the air from the lungs. Her head jerked upright just in time to see the other car slide by sideways in front of them.

She watched in amazement as it seemed to float by almost in slow motion, its tires screeching, the driver no doubt trying to gain traction.

He didn’t make it. The car shot straight off the road, vanishing over the rim of the shoulder.

Moments later the deafening sounds of a crash met her ears.

She stared in shock, seeing what lay before them, what she hadn’t noticed before, what the other man clearly hadn’t, finally understanding what had happened.

They’d just reached a curve in the road. Directly in front of them, the road wound left sharply. Jason had braked at exactly the right time, and the other driver had tried to swerve over and hit them at exactly the wrong time. Without their car to stop his momentum, he’d flown right over the curve in the road.

Jason immediately swerved onto the shoulder and stopped the car, jumping out almost before he’d shifted it into Park. Though still in shock, Audrey did the same.

Jason skidded to a stop at the edge of the road, peering down to where the car had landed. It had apparently flipped over a few times, ending up on its roof.

Then a flash of light suddenly erupted inside the vehicle. She watched in amazement as flames burst to life inside the windows.

The car was on fire.

She half wondered if they should try to save the driver, even as she acknowledged they couldn’t. It was too dangerous. The rest of the car could go up at any moment.