Fight or Flight (8 page)

She couldn’t believe it was still the same night. It seemed they’d been on the run for months. “I need to find Kelsey.”

“She might not even be around here. They probably kept going.”

“If they had, they’d be home by now and at the police station. They would have called. They got off the highway.” She looked around, her instincts almost screaming that her daughter was close. She knew getting back on the highway would be leaving her behind, and she’d never do that.

She turned back to Tyler as he approached a stop sign. “Drop me here. I’ll find my way.”

“Screw that!” He threw the truck into park and let it idle. “I doubt you can even stand. If you can’t make the decision, I will.”

Feeling as though she was drowning in inertia, Regan looked out the side window at the house they were next to. It looked like a parking lot, with six cars crammed into the driveway and the yard next to it.

Then it clicked. She knew what Kelsey would have done.

“Turn the truck around.” She directed Tyler back to the commercial strip near the highway, then up and down cross roads, looking for the right place. The sky had lightened considerably and they were close to dawn, but all the retail parking lots were empty. Even the twenty-four-hour superstore’s lot only had three cars, probably belonging to employees.

Finally, she spotted it.

“There. Pull in there.” She pointed across the street. Tyler gave her a quizzical look but complied, making a left turn and cutting through a furniture warehouse lot to get back on the road. A second later, he pulled into the car dealership she’d indicated.

“Just park. Driving around might spook them.”

He didn’t say anything, just pulled the truck up to the side of the lot and shifted into park, waiting. Regan climbed out and started walking up the aisle of used cars. Kelsey would park there, instead of where the shiny new ones gleamed under bright lights. If she remembered what Regan had taught her during her driver training.

Driving around can draw the attention of those who are after you. They’ll be searching the streets, maybe checking fast food places or gas stations where you might stop for supplies or directions. You’ll blend in here.

Kelsey had been a sponge, soaking up lesson after lesson. But if Regan was having trouble planning on the run, how could she expect her daughter to remember one detail from two years ago?

But then there it was. The car she’d seen at the side of the road, parked at the end of the row between an ancient Datsun and a Saturn sedan. Regan walked faster, her heart pounding. She couldn’t see anyone through the glare on the rear window. If they’d left the car and moved on, she would have no idea where to go next.

The rear door on the passenger side opened. Regan tensed, prepared for it to be someone else, another goon playing with her mind and emerging to kill her or taunt her with her daughter’s capture. She held her breath and stopped, ready to run or fight.

Then Kelsey’s dark, beautiful head popped up over the side of the car.

“Mom!” Kelsey started running, and so did Regan, the pain in her bare feet and hip disappearing in her overwhelming relief.

Kelsey body-slammed her, her arms wrapping tight around her. Regan clutched her daughter to her with her good arm, trying to hold back the sobs. Kelsey was openly crying.

“I’m glad you’re okay, ma’am.”

Regan looked up to see Van, holding a hockey stick and looking like she’d played a full tournament, standing next to a tall, handsome boy braced for a fight.

“Thank you for helping my daughter.” The words came thickly. She released her headlock on Kelsey but didn’t take her arm away. Her daughter twisted in her embrace.

“Mom, this is Tom. Tom Johnson.”

He held out a hand. “How do you do.”

Regan laughed and let go of Kelsey to shake it. “I do pretty damned poorly at the moment. We’ve got to get out of here.” She looked back. Tyler had gotten out of the truck but remained beside it, watching. Ready.

“What happened to you, Mom?” Kelsey seemed to notice her mother’s state for the first time. Her eyes cataloged the filth on the navy hospital scrubs. The sling. The dark patch of blood on her hip over her knife wound. Her bare feet. When she looked up, she was frowning mightily. “You should be in the hospital.”

“Yep. But I’m not, and we can’t stay here. Come on.” She waited while Van pulled backpacks from the car and Tom retrieved his jacket, and led them back to Tyler’s truck, mercifully a crew cab with a back seat. It would be a tight squeeze, but they’d all fit.

“Where to?” Tyler asked once they’d all crammed in.

“The first hotel you find.”

“They’ll—”

“Trust me. I know what I’m doing.” Now. Her relief seemed to free her mind, which was firing on all cylinders again.

“The nearest hotel is the one we were in before.”

“Perfect.”

“If you say so.” He said no more, simply did as she’d asked.

“I’m cleanest,” Tom said as Tyler pulled up in front of the Red Roof Inn lobby. “I’ll go check us in.”

“No. Thank you.” Regan opened her door. “We need to use my credit card.” She started to put one foot down, wincing. “Can I borrow someone’s shoes?”

Kelsey quickly toed off her sneakers and contorted herself to pick them up and hand them over the seat back. “I don’t mind going in, Mom. You’re hurt.”

“I have to go. You can get the next one.” She grinned at her, almost euphoric at being able to see and hear her and know she was okay. They weren’t even close to being safe, but “safe” felt a lot more possible now that they were together.

The desk clerk barely looked up when Regan went in and asked for a room. She didn’t seem to recognize her from earlier, though she’d told the cops “those two” didn’t look like terrorists.

“Single?”

“Double, please.”

“How many people?”

“Two.” She filled out the slip the clerk gave her and handed over her credit card. She didn’t know Tyler’s license number, so she made something up. She probably shouldn’t give the right one, anyway. Any little bit of effort she forced their enemies to make would help.

“Drive around back. Unit’s at the end.” The clerk slid a sleeve with two key cards across the counter, added the credit card, and went back to the far end of the reception desk without another glance.

Interesting. Tyler had said the only room available was the one next to the office. The trust pendulum swung yet again.

Regan went out the front door and climbed back into the truck. “Around back.”

Tyler put the truck in gear and drove around the end of the building, stopping in front of the unit Regan pointed to.

“Wait here.” She hopped out, opened the room, dropped the key cards on the table, and returned to the truck.

“What are you doing?” Tyler asked.

“She’s being smart.” Kelsey’s eyes shone in the darkness, and Regan could see the pride in her face, despite the shadows.

“Your mother’s not such a paranoid old pain, is she?” Regan grinned. Kelsey rolled her eyes.

“What are we doin’, then?” Van piped up.

“Going to another hotel.”

“We’ll use my credit card,” Tom offered, clearly getting it. “They might not be looking for my name.”

“Thank you. We’ll pay you back.” Regan tried not to see Kelsey squeezing his hand, or the possessive arm he’d slung over her shoulders.

“It would be better to get them to the police,” Tyler murmured to Regan.

“I know. We will. Let’s just regroup first.”

They went back to the superstore and Van went inside this time. Regan was okay with what Tyler had gotten her before, except he’d forgotten underwear. Van collected packs of underwear for everyone, a new shirt for Tom—who smelled mysteriously of dog shit—and some toiletries and food. Then they drove down the highway two exits and found another hotel. This one was nicer, and Regan allowed Tyler to book a suite with Tom’s credit card. She watched them through the entryway, considering taking the truck and the kids and leaving him behind. A couple of hours ago, she would have.

Now, she didn’t want to.

They trooped into the suite a few minutes later. Van dropped onto the sofa in the center of the living room, still gripping her stick. Tom settled next to her, his movements more controlled. Tyler flipped the deadbolt and swing-arm latch across the door, then surveyed the group.

“Regan, you need a shower. Very badly. After that, I think—”

“We need some answers,” said Kelsey, eyeing him. “Like why
you’re
here, for starters.”

“We’ll talk about everything. But I think your mother needs—”

“I’ll deal with my needs, thank you.”

Tyler looked ticked at being interrupted again, but Regan was about to fall down.

“We’ll rest, then talk. We should be safe for a few hours. Right?” She stared at Tyler, challenging him. Trying not to let him know how things had changed, because not
everything
had.

“Right.”

“Okay, then. I’ll be right out.”

Tyler started to cross the room. “You’ll need help.” His eyes met hers, and something sparked between them, completely unexpected. It sprung from the awareness that had annoyed her since he asked her out, compounded by intimacy forced by their circumstances. And something else—something she hadn’t been aware of all night, but which hit her hard now that circumstances had shifted.

Tyler paused, waiting, but didn’t take his eyes off hers. Regan couldn’t suppress a shiver, but found the ability to ignore it.

“Kelsey can help me,” she finally said.

“Sure.” Kelsey preceded her mother into the large bathroom. Regan forced her gaze to break from Tyler’s, and shut the bathroom door.

Kelsey had already started the water in the shower. Regan removed the scrub pants and reached for the clip on the sling.

“What happened to you?” Kelsey asked her, removing the fabric from around her arm and then the shirt.

Kelsey moved Regan’s shoulder as little as possible as she helped her, but Regan rotated it slightly, testing her strength and pain level. She’d need both arms over the next few days. She stepped into the shower, sighing at the soothing warmth. All her muscles relaxed, tension draining away. While she soaped her hair with one hand and marveled at the dirt swirling at her feet, she briefly relayed the attack at the house and what the man had said to her before she lost consciousness. She glossed over why Alan was in her bed, but with everything that had happened, Kelsey didn’t seem to pay attention to that detail, anyway.

“Alan’s dead?”

Regan heard a thunk and peered around the curtain. Kelsey had apparently landed hard on the closed toilet. There was pain in her eyes when she looked at her mother. “He didn’t do anything.”

Except care about us.
Regan pulled her head back into the shower, unable to talk about it. It had been easier not to even think about Alan when she’d been searching for Kelsey. She didn’t want to start now, no matter how safe they might be for the moment. She didn’t have the luxury of wallowing in grief and regret. Not yet.

“What’s Tyler doing here?” Kelsey demanded again.

“He found me, and helped.” Regan left it at that for now. Tyler could tell his story later.

While Kelsey updated her mother on her own adventures, Regan let her help her dry off, redress her hip wound and the cuts on her arm and leg, and put on the button-down shirt and jeans Tyler had bought earlier—assessing Regan’s size and preferences amazingly well. They left the bathroom to doctor her beat-up feet, and Van took the next shower, declaring herself “stinky as a neglected hen house.” Regan thought Tom probably needed it more, but didn’t say anything. He’d get his turn.

“We need sleep.” Regan looked around at the group, minus Van. Tom was attentive to Kelsey but his eyes kept drifting closed. Tyler stood against a wall, and Regan was certain it was because he, too, would have trouble staying awake if he got comfortable.

“Do you think we should set a watch schedule?” Tyler asked her. She looked around for a clock. It was after six in the morning.

“We should, but we don’t have time to rotate.”

Van came out of the bathroom. “Next.”

“You go ahead,” Tom told Kelsey. “Then you three can take the king bed in there.” He aimed his chin at the larger bedroom. “Tyler and I will share the double in the other room.”

“Okay.” Kelsey capped the antibiotic ointment and gathered bandage wrappers in one fist. “Come here a minute?” she asked Tom, who nodded and followed her to the bathroom. Van disappeared into the big bedroom.

Regan had to ignore her instinctive need to keep Tom and Kelsey apart, or at least keep them from being alone. She already knew they had an intimate relationship, and now she knew a lot more. Tom loved her daughter. He’d run with her, protected her. More, he respected both her and her mother, and showed a dozen ways in the last hour that he was in this for the long haul. Regan could do no less for him. But she needed time to adjust.

To distract herself, she stood and went to Tyler. He hadn’t moved since they’d arrived.

“I’m putting all of our lives in your hands, Tyler.” She kept her voice low, her eyes angled away from his. “I still don’t know if I can trust you.” Not the truth, but admitting that would open up too many new possibilities. “At the moment, I don’t have much choice. Convince me.”

Tyler’s expression was inscrutable. “I’ll tell you what I can. You decide what to do afterward.”

“I will.” She hesitated, sensing something else going on. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing.” But his jaw flickered.

Regan grabbed his elbow, watching the flare in his eyes but not comprehending what it meant. “Tell me what’s going on. What did you do?” She tensed, expecting someone to come bursting into the suite, or worse. But Tyler didn’t move except to shake his head.

“It’s not that. Just…please just go into your room.”

Her eyes narrowed. “Why? Do you need to contact someone?”

“I should, yes, but that’s not what—” His head thudded against the wall, once. “I’m not your enemy, Regan. Parts of me want to be a lot more than ‘not your enemy,’ if you get my drift.”

Heat washed over her as if he’d burst into flames, and she released him to back away. “This is so the wrong time.”
But not the wrong thing
? a voice teased.
Shut up
, she told it. She stopped moving when she reached the opposite wall. Since they were in the suite’s short foyer, it wasn’t far.

“I don’t know how you can even think about that with all this going on,” she said. One side of Tyler’s mouth curled up, and she couldn’t resist smiling back at him. “Dammit.”

“Go sleep. We’ll deal with this later.”

“No, we won’t.” She pushed away from the wall, but stopped and rested her hand on his crossed arms again. “Thank you, Tyler.” She hesitated, trying to hold back, but couldn’t stop herself. “I owe you a helluva lot.”

Now his smile approached his old carefree grin. “Don’t be saying stuff like that unless you intend to follow through.”

Despite everything, Regan had to laugh, and it felt good. She held on to the feeling, knowing it was going to be the last one for a while.

She fell asleep before Kelsey came into the room, but woke briefly when the side of the bed dipped. Van, on her left, didn’t budge. Regan considered making Kelsey sleep in the middle, the safest position, but the idea of shifting them all around was excruciating. Plus, she had to sleep on her right side. This way she could keep her hand on her daughter and know she was safe, even in sleep.

“Tom okay?” Regan murmured.

“Yeah, and he and Tyler were on their way to bed, too.” Kelsey kept her voice to a whisper as she slid under the covers with a sigh. “Tyler said he’s setting the alarm for noon.”

“Too long,” Regan managed, but drifted off again before she heard Kelsey’s reply, if she gave one.

When she awoke again both girls were gone. She panicked, wondering why she hadn’t sensed them leaving, afraid they’d been taken. Then she heard laughter through the door, which was open a couple of inches, and relaxed.

Her body seized in protest when she tried to get out of bed. She sat on the edge, assessing the damage. Her shoulder was a dull ache, sharpening when she tried to move it, but she thought she could start using her arm. Carefully. The various cuts and bruises made themselves known, and she swore not a single muscle in her body didn’t hurt. The only thing slightly improved was her face. Her cheek no longer throbbed when she opened her mouth.

She eased down onto her feet, which felt okay themselves. She went barefoot a lot and had built calluses that had protected her from too much damage. Socks and tennis shoes should be fine.

But as soon as her weight settled on those feet, a shockwave of pain went up her body. She moaned, closing her eyes and trying to straighten her tight back.

“Here.”

Her eyes flew open. Tyler stood at the door a few feet away, holding out a little blue pill.

“I don’t need that, thanks. Erectile dysfunction is the least of my concerns at the moment.”

“Ha ha.” He came into the room and she saw he also had a tall glass of water. “It’s naproxen sodium. Aleve.”