Heart Lies & Alibis (33 page)

"Yes. I think I do. I mean they seem to fit okay. Yeah. I think they're good." He paused, looking away. I continued to wiggle about in the underwear. When he spoke again, his voice was husky with desire and he hissed through clenched teeth. "Damn, Reagan, stop shaking your ass like that. You are killing me over here." He groaned again, walking around the bed to where I was laughing.

He pulled me into his arms, pushing the towel to the ground as his hands smoothed over my ass. I leaned into him, yearning for his touch after the past few days. His lips were immediately at the curve of my neck, where the sensitive skin lay between neck and shoulder. His breath was hot and his kisses were leaving my skin tingling while creating a growing desire throughout my whole body. I pressed my bare breasts into his chest while helping his towel fall to the floor. He growled deep in his throat as he brought his lips back to mine.

Our hunger was desperate and all-consuming within moments, danger and mayhem be damned. His tongue plunged inside my wanting mouth, swirling around my own. I moaned as our bodies came together, only separated now by the sliver of material I still wore between my legs.

He guided me backwards, lifting me with little effort when my legs bumped the mattress, and tossing me easily onto the bed. I laughed before his mouth was on me again as his cock pressed against the final barrier my thong provided. We were just about to remedy that situation when something being said on the television caught our attention. We had turned it on to drown out the noise of the motel and now I was glad we did.

Declan rolled off of me and turned to look at the TV screen. I sat up next to him and we watched with growing concern. A news reporter was speaking to the camera gesturing to something behind her.

"This is the site of an afternoon shootout at the home of Reagan and the late Thaddeus McCallister. The gunfire erupted between three groups of unidentified males. At this time, seven bodies have been recovered from the home. No suspects are in custody. As we reported earlier in the newscast, Mrs. McCallister was arrested last week, charged with the murder of her husband. We have learned Mrs. McCallister was not one of the victims found inside the home. Her whereabouts are unknown at this time but a warrant issued for her arrest because it is being reported that she removed her ankle monitoring device. The device was part of her bail agreement. We have also learned that a warrant has been issued for Declan O'Shea. Mr. O'Shea is reportedly a close acquaintance of Mrs. McCallister and it is believed the two may be traveling together and are wanted for questioning. Mr. O'Shea, you may remember, was part of a story we covered recently about his heroic rescue of his elderly neighbor from a mid-morning fire. Our coverage of this breaking story is ongoing and we will bring you any and all details as they emerge. Back to you in the studio Sam."

We sat in silence for what felt like forever. We knew there would be fallout from this afternoon, there had to be of course, a major crime had occurred in my home and we had fled the scene. But seeing our photos on the news, hearing mention of all the dead men found in my house, and knowing we were now being more actively hunted by the law was a lot to handle at once. How could we explain everything that had happened today to the police? How could we prove our innocence? What the hell were we going to do?

Declan took my hand. "We have to go Reagan. Now. As much as I would love to finish this, we have to get out of Houston tonight. I thought we would be safe until morning if we hid out but with that story, the cops will be looking for us harder than ever. I mean, of course they would be. I don't know what we were thinking. No, let me rephrase that. I know we weren't thinking after everything that had happened but now we need to get ourselves together. We are fugitives and we need to start acting like it. Get dressed babe, we need to move fast."

He jumped up and pulled his clothes on. I followed as quickly as I could. We shoved the rest of the things into the backpack Declan had brought back with our new clothes, adding the first aid kit and any other supplies we could carry.

I stopped for a moment. "Where are we going to go Declan? I mean our faces are everywhere by now, I'm sure. Where can we go?"

He nodded while he hoisted the backpack onto his shoulder. He tossed me a ball cap before answering. "I have a few ideas, maybe. First we need to ditch the bike and find a car. Put that hat on, it will make it a little harder to recognize you." He put on his own hat while I twirled my hair and stuffed it under the ball cap. He stopped, smiling for a second. "You can make anything look beautiful." He reached over kissing me quickly. "Okay, let's go. Who knows how long before the stoner at the front desk realizes he has Houston's version of Bonnie and Clyde hiding out in room 109."

Chapter 19

We rode the bike back to the small shopping center Declan had been to earlier to get the clothes and things. Luckily, the parking lot was also shared by a bar and a few restaurants so it was still pretty full even at this late hour of the day. We pulled the bike into a spot at the edge of the lot. I couldn't believe I was about to commit a crime, for the first time in my adult life, by stealing a car. But I knew Declan was right when he said we had no choice. If we wanted to live long enough to clear our names we had to get out of Houston and we had to do it fast.

He slid off the bike and I followed. "I'm going to scout out something easy to hotwire and something that won't draw too much attention. Stay here in the shadows as much as you can, keep a look out for anything or anyone. You know how to whistle don't you?" He looked at me with sudden concern.

"Of course I do, you just put your lips together and blow." I channeled my best Lauren Bacall while I pursed my lips and blew a kiss at him.

"You are a devil woman, you know that? But I love you crazy girl. If you see anything, put those sexy lips of yours together and blow." He brushed my lips with his and then turned and started walking deeper into the parking lot.

I watched him depart with bated breath. Every sound had me jumping, every person looked like trouble and it felt like I had been waiting for him to return forever when only minutes had passed. I wasn't sure how much more my nerves could take from today when a car pulled up next to me and the door flung open.

"Get in Reagan. Let's get out of here before someone notices their car missing." Declan leaned down so I could see his face.

I climbed in and he accelerated out of the lot. I looked at the car, a standard, older sedan from the mid-nineties I would guess, plain and simple in every way. The driver kept it exceptionally clean though, which I appreciated. "I didn't realize you had skills that extended to the more illegal variety?"

Declan laughed. "In my neighborhood, you pick up a few things just growing up that can eventually come in handy. Stealing cars happened to be one of them thanks to guys like Malachy. I only employ my illegal talents when necessary though." It was the first mention of Malachy since we had escaped my house. I saw Declan stiffen even to use the name.

We were both exhausted and running on the last remnants of adrenaline we had left but I needed to talk about all that had happened to us the past few days. "I'm not sure this is how I imagined starting my new life after turning forty. The past few days have been memorable to say the least."

Declan nodded, as he made his way onto the freeway, headed south. "That's one word for what we've been through."

"I am so sorry for all of this Declan. Thad's murder, the Dixon Brothers, everything. I don't even know how things got so out of control." I looked out the window, replaying memories of the last few weeks. "The only thing I know for sure is I wouldn't have traded meeting and falling in love with you for anything, in spite of all this other stuff." I turned back to look at him, taking his hand in mine. I realized how much I meant those words right at that moment.

He lifted my hand to his lips, gently kissing the top of it, the gesture reminding me of the first night we met. "And I would not want to be anywhere in the world right now than here with you." His eyes met mine for a moment and I knew he was telling the truth.

We drove for a bit in silence before I spoke again. "Now that we have our illegally obtained transportation, can you let me in on where it is we are going exactly?" I had seen a sign a few miles back, listing Corpus Christi and Brownsville, and wondered if one of those towns was our destination.

"We are heading for Brownsville. Sam Hayes told me once he had a place there, a house owned by his Mom that nobody knew about because he kept it in his Mother's maiden name after her death. He told me if I ever found myself in trouble to head there because it would be a safe place to hide out until he could get me help. I would say this counts as the perfect situation to use it even if Hayes won't be the one coming to our rescue." Declan stifled a yawn while pulling his wilting body back up in the seat. I could see the exhaustion of the days leading up to now was really catching up with him.

"About how many hours away is Brownsville?" I asked as my own exhaustion drew out a long yawn.

"With this traffic, shouldn't be more than five hours or so." He tried to hide another yawn but I could see he was running on the last of his energy.

We were on the run but if he fell asleep and crashed the car we would have a whole new bushel of problems. "Love, I think we should get some rest. I don't know if we could make it another five hours awake. We are both exhausted." I saw a sign indicating a rest area was about two miles down the road. "Let's just pull into the rest stop and get a few hours' sleep. We can still be in Brownsville by mid-morning."

He furrowed his brow for a moment as he thought about my suggestion but finally nodded. "You're right Reagan. I think I have finally hit the wall and all the adrenaline is gone." He signaled and pulled off. I hoped the lot would provide us with some cover, from any cops or other complications. I knew the car we were driving may have been reported stolen by now but I hoped not.

Declan found a spot at the edge of the lot, near a group of semi-trucks which provided some decent coverage for the small sedan. He parked and turned off the car before he leaned his head back against the seat, his eyes closed. The car had a center console preventing us from being right beside one another so instead we adjusted the seats back as far as we could and held hands. Because we were so exhausted we fell asleep almost immediately in spite of the cramped conditions. All I wanted was for morning to bring a better day than night had left.

An intense morning sun pounded through the windows of the car, drawing me reluctantly out of sleep. I glanced to the side and was momentarily panicked when I found the driver's seat empty. I sat up but was instantly calmed to see Declan walking toward the car. He opened the car door and slid into the seat, smiling and looking slightly less tired. He tossed his toothbrush back into the backpack before turning to me with a smile.

"Good morning lovely lady. How are you feeling?"

I smiled. "Sore but definitely better. The sleep helped. How about you?"

"Yep sleep was good. I am not feeling bad at all now. But I am ready to get going and get off these main roads. We've been lucky so far in not seeing any cops but I don't want to press our luck." He nodded towards the restrooms. "The facilities are clean. Why don't you go get cleaned up?"

I nodded, reaching back to get the backpack before I got out of the car and walked to the restrooms at the other end of the lot.

While I was in the bathroom, I called Grace at her office. I had to let her know I was okay and I figured the burner cell would keep my location a secret.

"Good Morning, this is Dr. Winters."

"Gracie, it's me." I said

"Oh my god Reagan. I have been so worried since we saw the news. Are you okay? Are you with Declan? What the hell is going on? Where are you?" Her questions fired at me like bullets with barely a breath between them.

"Grace, slow down, please. Let me explain. I don't have long to talk. I am with Declan. We are okay. I can't tell you where we are headed but I will be safe. Things went to hell, as you can imagine after seeing the news but it is too much to explain now. I just wanted to let you know I was safe. I'll call again soon. Love you." I clicked off before she could ask any more questions.

I decided I wouldn't tell Declan about the call to Grace right away because he might worry about the consequences of it. I felt a little guilty but I felt like he had so much to deal with right now, I didn't need to add one more thing. And I needed to hear Grace's voice one last time if things went as badly as they could.

When I emerged from the restroom fifteen minutes later I felt more human. Clean teeth, a scrubbed face and a new shirt worked magic on increasing my feelings of hope for the day. Talking to Grace also made me feel better. I was smiling when I got back to the car and climbed in, stowing the bag back behind my seat.

As I straightened back in my seat, Declan leaned over pulling me in for a kiss. When he pulled back he was grinning. "Now it is officially morning." He leaned back, buckled his seatbelt and started the car.

I settled back in my seat, buckling my own seat belt, without saying anything. I watched him as he drove, my heart filling with more love than I had ever known and wondering how I could be in the middle of such a nightmare and yet still feel so lucky.

We stopped at a gas station an hour or so later, to get coffee, food and gas. I kept the hat pulled low over my face as I walked into the store. While I was paying, I avoided meeting the clerk's eyes, trying to be as unmemorable as possible in case the police came asking. It seemed to work. The young woman barely offered a greeting or looked up from the celebrity gossip magazine she was reading. I was glad she didn't want to be friendly and hoped she would quickly forget we had ever been there.