Deadly Vows (12 page)

She wouldn’t let them.

It wasn’t just about her anymore. She had a baby to think of. A child who deserved more than a father who was gone more than he was there.

“I’ll be fine for now. The cut is covered enough that most people won’t notice. Let’s go. The sooner we get out of Billings, the happier I’ll feel,” she said, hoping Ford couldn’t hear the regret in her voice.

There was so much more she’d wanted from their marriage. So much more she’d hoped for.

But hope was cold comfort, and she refused to believe in those dreams anymore.

Ford didn’t protest as she began walking. Just fell into step beside her. Silent, his long stride shortened to match hers.

And despite what she’d told herself, despite what she’d tried so desperately to believe, Olivia wanted him there, because being together really was better than being alone.

F
ord didn’t know what he’d been expecting, but finding an all-night convenience store and walking into it without being shot wasn’t it.

He held Olivia’s elbow as they made their way through the small store. If the cashier noticed anything odd, he didn’t let on. Just greeted them and continued reading the newspaper he was holding.

“What now?” Olivia whispered, her voice trembling.

Ford wished he knew. There was no pay phone outside the store, and he didn’t dare use his cell. “We find a phone.”

As if on cue, his cell phone rang, and Ford glanced at the caller ID, frowning when he saw the name. Special Agent McGraw had some explaining to do, but now didn’t seem to be the time to ask him to do it.

“Who is it?”

“McGraw.”

“Micah?”

“Jackson.”

“You should probably answer.”

“I want to find a phone first,” he said, walking to the cashier and smiling at the man there. “Do you know where I can find a pay phone?”

“You got a cell phone. Why not use it?”

“The battery is almost dead,” Ford lied smoothly, not much liking the necessity, but unable to offer the truth.

“Got a phone in my office if the call is local. Otherwise, you can check the gas station across the road. Seems they might still have one.”

“Thanks, I appreciate it. I’m hoping to call a car rental company. Do you know if there are any around?”

“Got a phone book in my office, too. Let’s go have a look. You two from around these parts?” he asked as he walked to the back of the store. Sixty-ish with snow-white hair and thick-rimmed glasses, he moved with a slow, limping stride that made Ford want to tell him just exactly where they were from—a safe house that might very well be filled with bodies.

Of course that would mean he’d probably lose his chance to use the phone, so Ford kept silent and prayed the guy would move a little faster without prodding.

“We’re from out of town,” Olivia said, answering the man’s question and shooting Ford a look that said “don’t mess this up for us.”

“Thought so. You two’ve got east coast accents.”

“Do we?” Ford responded, his palms sweaty with the need to shove the poor old guy out of the way and rush into the office to find the phone himself. For all he knew, the FBI had a tracking system working on finding his phone signal.

“Sure ’nough. Come on in here. Don’t usually let customers in my office, but you seem like nice enough people.”

“Thanks.”

“Here’s the phone. Now, let me see if I can find that book,” he said, shuffling through a stack of papers on his desk. Then opening a file cabinet. “Not in here.”

“I could just call information,” Ford offered, shooting a look in Olivia’s direction. She looked as anxious as he felt. How could the guy not sense that?

“No need for that. The phone book is here. Just gotta find it.” He opened a small closet, frowned into the dark interior. “There we go. Right on the top shelf. Grandkid must have put it there. Want to see if you can grab it for me?”

Ford hurried forward, snagged the book and carried it to the desk, offering a quick thanks as he thumbed through he pages. There were several car rental companies, and he called the first one, quickly explained what he’d need, the same feeling he’d had at the safe house clawing up his spine. Something wasn’t right.

He and Olivia needed to leave.

Now rather than later.

But they needed a vehicle to do it. He pulled his wallet out, rattled off his credit card number and then offered a hundred bucks extra if the car could be delivered quickly.

He hung up, feeling the weight of the older man’s stare as he replaced the phone book.

“Sounds like you’re in a hurry to leave town. Something going on that I should know about?”

“I’ve got an appointment in our hometown later today,” Olivia said, cutting off any answer Ford might have offered.

“Appointment?”

“With my doctor.” She smoothed the material of her dress over her softly rounded abdomen, and Ford did a double-take.

How was it he hadn’t noticed the evidence of her pregnancy before?

Now that he did, he could barely take his eyes off her.

A baby.

His.

Maybe it wasn’t as a bad a thing as he’d once thought.

“You expecting?” the older man asked.

“Yes, but we were…in an accident on the way back home,” her cheeks heated, giving away the falsehood, but the older guy didn’t seem to notice. “Well, why didn’t you say so? I’ve got you standing here, when you should be off your feet, resting up for the big day.”

“I’m okay, I just—”

“Tell you what. Why don’t I close down for a few minutes? Drive you two over to that rental company? Know right where it is. They’re over at the bus terminal. Shouldn’t take more than a few minutes to get there.”

“We couldn’t ask you to do that,” Olivia said, as if they had any choice. As if social norms of politeness needed to be followed when people wanted them dead.

“You weren’t askin’. I’m offering. Needed a break anyway. Lazy grandkid of mine is always late to work. You’d think he’d know by now that eight o’clock means eight o’clock. Not ten-thirty. Go ahead and call the rental place, son. Tell ’em you’ll be there in ten. I’ll just lock the door and we’ll go out to the back lot. Got my car parked there.” The older guy kept up a steady stream of words as he shuffled out of the office.

Ford wanted to race after him, lock the door himself so that they could speed things along, but didn’t want to do anything to ruin things. They had an escape plan now. All they had to do was follow through on it.

His phone rang again. This time he answered, knowing who it was without even glancing at the caller ID. “Jensen, here.”

“This is Special Agent McGraw. Are you okay?” The
tightness in the agent’s voice told Ford everything he needed to know about what had gone down at the safe house. It had been bad. Worse than Ford had wanted to believe.

“We’re both okay. How about everyone else?”

“Agent Parker is in critical condition. We’ve got two marshals recovering from non-life-threatening injuries. One didn’t make it.”

“I’m sorry,” he said, his gaze on Olivia.

“Me, too. It shouldn’t have happened.”

“How did it?”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out. Until then, it’s best if you and Olivia return to Chicago. We’ve got more manpower here. We’ve managed to get a trace on your cell phone signal. I’ve got agents in route to pick you up. Stay put until they arrive.”

“I think we’ve been down this road before, McGraw. It didn’t end well.”

“This time, the marshals aren’t going to be involved.”

Ford didn’t bother arguing. No way was he going to share his plan to leave town without agent protection with McGraw. “What’s your ETA?”

“Ten minutes.”

Too close for comfort. “I’ll let Olivia know.”

“And tell her that our top priority is to get her back to Chicago safely.”

“I will.” After they were far from Billings and McGraw’s offer of protection. He disconnected and dropped the cell phone into a trash can near the desk.

“What are you doing?” Olivia said, reaching to retrieve it. He put a hand on her arm, stopping her.

“Leave it. The FBI has been able to trace the signal, and I’m not eager to be found.”

“What did McGraw say?”

“One marshal is dead. Two injured. Agent Parker is in critical condition.”

“Was it Levi?”

“I don’t know.”

“Will Jessie be okay?”

“I don’t know that, either.”

“You folks ready?” the cashier asked as he stepped back into the office. If he sensed the tension in the room, he didn’t show it, just smiled at Olivia and held out a bottle of water and a small package of saltine crackers. “Brought these for you. Just in case. My Ruthie, she was always feeling sick when she was pregnant. Never could go anywhere without a bottle of water and saltines.”

“Thank you, Mr.—?”

“Richardson. Luke Richardson. Come on. My car’s around back. Don’t want to be away too long.” He shuffled back out of the room, led them to a storage area at the back of the store and pushed open a door. Cool spring air rushed in, and Ford took a deep steadying breath, trying to clear his mind of everything but the goal—get to the rental company, get a car, get Olivia out of town.

It seemed so simple, but there were so many things that could go wrong.

Please, God, don’t let them go wrong.

He tensed as he stepped outside in front of Olivia. The back lot was empty aside from a blue pickup truck parked close to the building. Ford surveyed the surrounding area, expecting bullets to fly, but nothing happened. Aside from the traffic roaring in front of the building, the morning seemed still and quiet. Nothing unusual. Nothing to worry about.

But he was worried.

The feeling of impending trouble wouldn’t leave, and he turned to grab Olivia’s hand, pulling her close and dropping his arm around her shoulder, carefully avoiding her injury as he did his best to shield her from anyone lurking nearby.

Richardson opened the pickup truck door, motioned for them to climb in. “Sorry it’s nothing fancy, but this is what I’ve got.”

“We don’t need fancy, Mr. Richardson. Just a ride. And I can’t tell you how much we appreciate you doing this for us,” Olivia said as she slid into the car. The rip in the shoulder of her dress parted, flashing creamy flesh and bright red blood. Ford jumped into the truck behind her, maneuvering so that he blocked Richardson’s view of the wound.

“No need to thank me. I’d do it for anyone.” Richardson closed the door, meandered around to the other side of the truck as if he had all day. Which he probably did. It was Olivia and Ford’s time that was limited if the guy didn’t get a move on.

By the time he climbed into the truck, Ford was ready to yank the keys from his hands and start the engine himself. Only the thought of what that would mean for their escape plan kept him from doing so.

“Seat belts on?”

“Yes,” Ford said, gritting his teeth to keep from snapping.

“Okay. Let’s go, then.” He pulled out of the parking lot as slowly as he’d gotten into the truck, but managed to pick up speed once he was out on the road.

Ford shifted to look out the back window, trying to see the front lot of the convenience store. A car pulled into the lot they’d just left, pulling up close to the door. FBI? U.S. Marshals? Someone worse?

Or maybe it was simply a costumer.

“Looking for someone?” Richardson asked, and Olivia jabbed Ford in the ribs, shooting him a look that said, “watch it.”

“Just looking. We probably won’t be back this way for a while.” That, at least, was the truth.

“Pretty place, this. Used to live down south, but gave up on the heat a few decades ago. Montana suits me.”

“It is a beautiful state,” Olivia said, sounding as distracted as Ford felt.

Did she sense what he did? The hint of danger that seemed to hang in the air, following them as they sped along the interstate and then exited it. Chasing them as Richardson pulled into the parking lot of the bus terminal. “I’ll pull you up to the entrance. Rental company desk is somewhere inside. Think they’ve got their cars out back.”

“We really appreciate this, Mr. Richardson,” Ford said, opening the door before the truck came to a complete stop. Anxious to get out and get in the building.

“No problem. Have a safe trip home, and good luck with the little one.” He smiled and waved as Ford hopped out of the truck and helped Olivia do the same.

There was no time for more goodbyes, and Ford hurried Olivia into the building, sure he felt a million eyes watching.

The car rental company was to the left of the entrance, but Ford bypassed it. They had a choice of transportation now, and he wasn’t going to fall into the trap of doing what was expected. His credit card charge could easily be traced, but a cash purchase would be harder to follow.

“Where are we going?” Olivia asked, as Ford hurried her to an ATM machine, withdrew the maximum amount possible and led her to the ticket booth.

“I don’t know, but wherever it is, we’re not going to use a rental car to get there.”

“Where to?” The woman at the booth asked, and Ford glanced at the schedule lit above her head.

“Springfield, Missouri. Two adult tickets.” The bus was scheduled to leave soon, and Ford was more than ready to be on it.

“Bus is leaving in five minutes. You’d better hurry if you’re going to make it,” she said, accepting his payment and handing him the tickets. “It’s right out front. Bus number fifteen.”

Ford headed in the direction she’d indicated, anxiety clawing at his gut. He needed to get Olivia on the bus. Needed to make sure they didn’t end up waiting for another ride. He didn’t question the knowledge, just went with it, jogging the last few feet to do the door, shielding Olivia as they stepped outside.

They climbed onto the bus with a minute to spare, Ford’s hand on Olivia’s back as they found seats near the center of the vehicle.

“I’ll take the window,” he said.

If someone shot into the bus, he’d be the one to take the bullet. Not Olivia.

She didn’t argue, just stepped aside, let him sit and then followed. Her face was pale, her eyes shadowed with worry and fear. Dark strands of hair had escaped her ponytail and hung over her shoulder in silky waves. Ford brushed them away, letting his fingers linger for just a moment. “It’s going to be okay, Livy. I promise.”

She met his eyes, shook her head and smiled sadly. “Too bad it isn’t that easy. Too bad you can’t just make a promise, and then we’ll be safe.”

“It
is
that simple. I’m not going to let anything happen to you.”

“And what if something happens to
you?
” she asked as the bus pulled away from the station.

“It won’t.”

“It might. Look what happened to Jessie Parker and the others. A man lost his life today. And he was a trained professional.”

“One who wasn’t expecting trouble. One who didn’t imagine that someone in the agency might betray him. I’m prepared for trouble. I know it’s coming.”

“So do I. That’s why I’m getting off the bus at the next stop. I want you to stay on it and keeping going to Missouri or Florida or France. Anywhere far away from my problems,” she whispered, glancing around to see if they were being overheard.