No Reason to Run (2 page)

Chapter 3

Shane dropped his
loose change in the empty cup at the register, stuck a stick of gum in his
mouth and shoved the pack in his back pocket. The taste of spearmint exploded
on his tongue. Not as good as nicotine but it would have to do.

“Thanks, sir. Have a
good night.”

The kid couldn’t be
more than twenty. He promptly buried his head in the science text in front of
him after dispensing the receipt for the purchase. Shane flicked his fingers in
a careless wave, doubting it was noticed and headed for his car. His eyes
scanned the parking lot carefully until he realized he was subconsciously
looking for the woman and child. The blinking outdoor lights revealed he was
its sole occupant. Steps silent, he made his way to the corner pump where he’d
parked.

Where would she have
disappeared? His mind chewed on the thought with as much determination as he
chewed on the gum. A quick glance at his watch showed only fifteen minutes had
passed. Harmony, Virginia didn’t offer a robust public transportation system
during regular daytime hours. At this time of night it was a lost cause making
it a safe bet that she didn’t catch the bus. The sedan service stopped at
midnight leaving late night pedestrians at loose ends.

Old instincts from
his Army Special Forces days stirred. The closer he got to his car, the more
the hair on his neck stood up. Once again, he canvassed the area but nothing
stood out to him nor did he see the woman in her black tee shirt with her kid.
When he reached for the driver’s side door handle, he heard it. A dim squeak
slightly behind him. From the corner of his eyes, Shane surveyed the deserted
lot once more saw nothing.

Clicking his remote,
he waited for the familiar chirp and got nothing. Another stubborn jab at the
button produced the same result. Shane cursed, making a mental note to get the
battery replaced. He reached for the handle of his unlocked door, thankful
crime registered at less than half of what existed in a big city or he’d be
screwed.

Shane discovered the
woman’s hiding spot before his rear hit the seat. Of all the piss poor luck. He
pulled the door closed and slid the key in the ignition, waiting.
Come on,
whaddya gonna do?
Not wanting to hesitate and warn her that he was aware of
her presence in the back of his car, Shane put the car in gear and eased off
the brake. The creak of his leather seats gave him fair warning.

He could have moved.
Could have done any number of things that would have disarmed her or left her
unconscious on his car floor. Instead, he chose to wait and see how she played
it. Desperation often forced many into tight situations and he admitted to his
curiosity. Something about the woman and her child led him to believe there had
to be more to her story than being abandoned at a gas station at two in the
morning.

The cold press of
steel met the back of his neck. “Don’t turn. Don’t stop. Just keep going.” The
soft cadence of her voice caressed his ear. A voice that vibrated with nerves.

It took everything
in Shane to battle his instinct to overtake her and remove the gun from her
shaking hand. He dared not look over his shoulder and startle her. Christ, if
the gun was loaded, she could blow his head off without even trying.

“You’ll have to tell
me where I’m going.” A reasonable tone should calm some of her nerves. He
hoped.

A loud sniffle met
his words. “Give me a second.” The gun didn’t waver. Seconds ticked into
minutes.

No one held a gun to
his head without consequence.

“Listen, you wanna
go somewhere, tell me and I can drop you off but do it now before one of us
gets hurt.”

Her sharp inhale
rasped against his neck. She sat close enough for him to feel her every breath.
Another fragrance joined the aroma of his lemon-scented car freshener. Vanilla,
his mind identified while he ran through scenarios. She smelled like fresh
baked cookies. His dick stirred but he ignored the involuntary response. Where
was her child? Somewhere in the car, he’d wager. No way she’d left that kid
anywhere. Earlier, she’d clutched the little one like her world was wrapped in
her arms.

What he wouldn’t do
for a smoke right now. The gum in his mouth had long since gone stale. Another
reason he preferred cigarettes. He needed more than two minutes of chewing some
mint-flavored candy to keep his nerves square.

He heard her scramble
around and the pressure at his neck disappeared. A quick check in the rearview
mirror showed an enticing curve of hip and a heart-shaped ass. The weapon in
her hand was deadly and dangerous, more so because of the clear inexperience of
the person wielding it. Again, he considered disarming her but chose to hold
off.

Her voice came to
him on a hush. Soothing nonsense and he found himself wishing she spoke to him.
Damn, he needed to get laid. A shift of her body revealed the kid. Girl, he
corrected when he spotted the lopsided bow in her curls. The seatbelt did
nothing to hold her small body in place. Her little frame slumped to the side,
her head almost touching her knee, a teddy bear in her tight fist, and her
rosebud lips slightly parted.

“Should she be in a
child seat?” he asked.

The woman’s head
snapped around to glare at him. “I don’t have it with us.” Face to face her
blue eyes shot fire. High cheekbones and full lips met his gaze. Finely arched
brows a shade darker than the hair on her head lowered in frustration. Her nose
was red. From crying or anger, he’d guess.

Years of training
helped him maintain his composure. Shane pressed his foot on the brake and
stopped the car before leaving the Eagle Mart.

Her eyes widened.
“What are you doing?”

“You still haven’t
told me where I’m headed.”

She chewed on her
lower lip clearly in distress. “I’m coming up front. If you make any sudden
moves, I’ll shoot.”

Shane managed to
keep from laughing outright though it was close. If she wanted to intimidate
him, she’d need to speak in a harsher tone than her sweet lips could muster.
His last unit leader claimed the title of Bad Ass Motherfucker and this lady
couldn’t come close.

He winced as her
feet scuffed against his leather seats while she climbed over and sat in the
passenger seat beside him. The scent of vanilla increased as did the prominence
of his erection. Shane adjusted in his chair and pretended to refasten his
seatbelt. No need to frighten her further by flashing his bulging dick, though
the jeans did little to hide his reaction to his sexy carjacker.

Blue eyes, blonde
hair and a rocking body guaranteed to motivate any man’s libido rested less
than two feet from him. Made it hard for a guy to resist getting aroused.
Especially one who’d gone without sex for an extended period of time. Harmony
didn’t have a large singles pool and since Shane’s move here a year ago he’d
forced himself to abstain. If his reaction to her continued, he’d correct that
oversight as soon as possible.

Shane studied her
unobtrusively. Too many quiet nights would explain his fascination with the
intriguing package this woman presented. Small delicate hands lowered the gun
to his middle as if she didn’t quite want to aim at him. “I need you to drive.
I’ll tell you where to go.” Shane considered his personal weapon beneath the
driver’s seat. He’d wait for the right moment to reach for it if necessary. For
now, he followed her direction and eased the car toward the parking lot exit.

 “Right.” His breath
eased out on an exhale. He made a left coming out of the lot and took the
roundabout toward the center of town. The route led through the more scenic
streets and gave him an opportunity to study his carjacker. She had balls of
steel covered in vanilla scented cookie dough. He’d give her that- but no more.
“You know owning a gun comes with an obligation to be responsible with it.”

Her hands trembled
but she tipped it toward the floorboards. “It’s not mine. I borrowed it
because…” She broke off whatever she’d been about to say. The lecture froze on
the tip of his tongue when tears welled on her lashes.

Shit, now probably
wasn’t a good time to talk about the do’s and don’ts of gun ownership. He knew
she’d never shoot him. Never shoot anyone, he guessed and yet she sat here
holding him at gun-point and doing something that was completely against her
nature.

He faced forward and
pushed his foot on the gas. “Fine, but I warn you, I’m not driving in circles
for long. It’s late and I’m tired.”

Out the corner of
his eye, he caught her frown. The corners of her mouth tipped down. “Of course,
I just need to think for a moment.”

Shane snorted and
turned down the street passing the post office and the hardware store. Street
lights were out reminding Shane of the early hours he’d yet to adjust to with
small town living. Lost in thought, she paid no attention to the direction they
headed. He turned the car up Overly Court aiming for his neighborhood. “How old
is your kid?”

Her hand lowered
further and his own itched to take the weapon from her. “She’s only three.” Her
voice flowed over him with its melodic notes.

Shane didn’t know
much about little kids. You fed them, played with them and put them to sleep.
His nephew turned ten this summer and already ate more than Shane’s old unit.
He couldn’t imagine the baby in his backseat eating more than a handful of
crackers. From what he glimpsed her daughter was a tiny thing. Anger uncurled
in his belly at what could have happened to them in another city in a similar
situation. The two of them had no business being out alone this time of night.
He decided to keep her talking in hopes of learning more.

“Three, huh? Tricky
age but she seems fairly quiet.” He heard horror stories of kids crying all
hours of the night and throwing fits. He’d been overseas running covert missions
when his nephew Liam was that age. His twin sister Eden sent him funny emails
regaling him with stories in hopes of luring him to the dark side of
parenthood. No way he envisioned that happening any time soon.

“Chloe’s good. Not
cranky at all. I’m fortunate in that.”

He glanced at her
from the corner of his eye and raised a brow. “You’re lucky indeed.” The gun
rested unattended in her lap, as she peered out the window tracking their
progress. A semi-automatic nine millimeter. He wondered who she’d
borrowed
the Glock from when it was clear she had no training or comfort with guns. Her
carelessly attitude with the weapon started to piss him off. 

Shane didn’t live
far and they were approaching his street. Either she didn’t consider him a
threat or she thought the weapon sufficiently cowed him. At any rate, her lack
of attention would work in his favor.

Chapter 4

Olivia managed to
hide her fear when the large man walked toward the car. It figured the biggest
man she’d ever seen in her life would be the owner. When he sat in the driver’s
seat, she froze unable to move. The bulk of his weight took up the huge seat
and explained why the chair on that side was pushed back further than the
passenger front seat. His legs appeared incredibly long from her view in the
back. Yet he fit in the car easily.

His hair color
stayed a mystery since the interior light had momentarily blinded her and
winked out the moment his door shut. She knew it was dark and that it curled in
the back. He probably hated that. Men built like him would view that as a sign
of weakness. The jingle of his keys warned he was about to start the car and
pull off.

Nerves jumping,
she’d pressed the gun to his neck and blinked back tears while she made her
demand. She fully expected him to refuse. Expected him to tell her no outright
and she would have been stranded. There wasn’t a chance in hell that she’d
shoot someone, let alone kill them.

Those thoughts
floated around her mind the whole time she’d waited. Sitting in the backseat
with Chloe safely strapped in the seatbelt had made her re-evaluate her
options. She’d been seconds away from getting out and thinking of another plan.
Another way of maintaining her invisibility and staying off Brian’s radar.

Shops faded and gave
way to tree lined streets. The sight roused her. “Hey, where are you taking
us?”

“It’s not a good
idea for a woman to travel alone at night.”

Her head jerked
around at his comment. “I suppose it’s okay for a man?”

He grunted and
Olivia raised the weapon. She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to
think. “Where are you taking me?” Fear nibbled on the edges of her conscious.
She forced an element of what she hoped sounded like control to her voice.

“My house or the
sheriff’s.”

Sheriff? She
couldn’t afford to have law enforcement involved.  Olivia studies his profile
to gauge his intent. His strong face focused on the dark winding road.

Staring out the
passenger side window, the houses grew further and further apart. They weren’t
heading toward a development or sub-division. These homes had ample land and
space giving the owners a semblance of privacy. Each house they passed boasted
old fashion brick work, arched windows and long driveways. They were really
going to his home because she was pretty certain the police station wasn’t in
the middle of suburbia.

The moon did little
to light the pitch black night. The car slowed and a beautiful two-story
colonial came into view with its two car garage. A wrought iron streetlight
cast an eerie glow on the flower-lined walkway. The black fencing on the front
lawn matched the black shutters and black garage doors. The car turned into the
driveway and the door to the garage automatically began to lift. A mailbox
sported the numbers six-six-two-four.

Olivia’s hold on the
gun tightened and she pointed it between the huge stranger and the side door to
the house. Maybe she could ask about local transportation. A bus or cab could
take her somewhere far from Brian. “Do you live alone?” The thought of
involving anyone else in her problems rattled her nerves.

Her question caused
him to frown and her heart pounded in her chest. His craggy features were scary
enough. The frown elevated him to downright terrifying. It was a good thing
Chloe still slept. This man would have her shy daughter shivering where she
stood. Like Olivia now did. Damp palms from her nerves didn’t help. She
surreptitiously wiped her free hand on her denim clad thigh.

Olivia jumped at the
mechanical whirl of the garage door lowering behind them. A small dim light in
the ceiling cast shadows around the cavernous space. This close she could see
his eyes were light colored but they could be anywhere from blue to green.
“Yes.”

Another jump. His
answer startled her.

“G-good.” Again, she
waved the gun at the connecting door to the house. “Get out.” The answer made
perfect sense. She’d borrow his car and find a way to get it back to him. “I
need your car.”

He laughed
derisively. “Seriously? You sure you wanna do this?”

Oh, God. Oh, God
.
She didn’t want to do this but she didn’t have a choice. There was no way she
could sleep outside with Chloe. Olivia didn’t even know where they were other
than the state of Virginia as the sign crossing the state read. A wet trickle
slid down her cheek. She wiped frantically at the tell-tale sign but a sniffle escaped
anyway. She heard him curse then his hand made some fancy move she barely
registered.

Her wrist burned a
second later and the gun disappeared in the waist of his jeans. She watched in
stunned amazement as he opened his car door and climbed out. “Come on. We’re
here. Might as well come in.”

He then turned his
back on her as if she was no threat at all and headed for the door she’d
pointed out. Olivia scrambled quickly. She opened the passenger door, slid out
and hit the release for the locks. “Wait. What are you doing?”

He paused, his hand
on the knob and faced her. “I’m going in. It’s almost two, I’m tired and being
held a gunpoint did nothing for my mood.”

“You can’t leave me
out here.” When did she lose control of the situation?

“Name’s Shane Mitchell.
You’re welcome to come in and we can talk like rational adults.” With those
last words, he entered the house without a backwards glance. 

Scooping a sleeping
Chloe in her arms, she kicked the front tire in frustration and followed him
into the house. Her heart banged a rapid tattoo against her chest the whole
way.

The door opened into
a designer’s dream kitchen. Stainless steel appliances, granite counters and
beautiful mahogany cabinets she wanted to run her hands over. Everything
gleamed. It seemed he kept his house as clean as his car. Ignoring her, he
placed his keys in a blue ceramic bowl sitting on the center of the island and
removed his lightweight jacket. Hidden beneath the olive colored material was a
body cut from sheer steel.

Standing directly
across from him in his fabulous kitchen revealed that he was larger than she’d
thought in the car. A large, strange man with cold hard eyes the color of ice
and dark brown hair with hints of red. And he had her gun. Olivia gripped her
baby’s body tighter, reminded of the danger she faced. If she needed to run
back out the door she’d entered, she wanted to be prepared.

“Why don’t we start
with your name?” Bulging muscles strained the arms of his white tee as he
folded them over a massive chest.

Olivia swallowed
past the lump in her throat. “Olivia.” No last name necessary.

His firm chin
hitched in her direction. “The kid yours?”

She jolted. “Of
course she’s mine. And her name’s Chloe, not kid.” Her glare had no impact on
him.

The corner of his
mouth curled in what could be humor or disdain. “No of course about it. I’ve
seen stranger things.”

Olivia bet he did.
His looks screamed stranger danger. “Well, she’s mine.”

“Good. Is there a
man in the picture? Crazy ex chasing the both of you?”

Unbelievable. Her jaw
dropped but she masked her expression quickly. His questions hit too close to
home and she’d learned the hard way not to trust any handsome face.
Thank
you Brian for teaching me more than I’d already experienced when it came to
life sucking
. “No.” Liar, a voice in her mind taunted.

He continued to
watch her and Olivia wanted to freak. The burn of his piercing gaze crushed her
momentary bravado. Already she doubted her decision to follow him in the house.
Finally he nodded. She hoped whatever conclusions he’d drawn didn’t have him
contacting the police.

“You can stay for
the night. I have extra bedrooms upstairs already made up but come morning,
we’re talking.”

Olivia straightened.
What was he thinking? “We can’t stay here.” She didn’t even know him. He could
be some crazed killer. Although, if she was being honest,
she’d
kidnapped him. Technically that made her the one in this party capable of
slicing and dicing.

Instead of giving
her statement merit, he shrugged those broad shoulders. “Suit yourself. I’m
headed to bed.”

Her eyes darted to
the keys on the counter when he turned his back but his parting words killed
her plan to grab them and run.

“I’ve armed the
security system on the house. That means the doors and windows. If you try to
leave, be prepared for my nearest neighbor Sheriff Aidan Hill to question you
when he pulls you over in my ride.”

He exited through
the doorway and disappeared down the hall. She caught a brief glimpse of
hardwood floors then jerked back when the heavy tread of his feet hit the
stairs. Olivia stood alone in his kitchen and waited. Nothing. No door slams,
no creak to detect where he ended up on the upper level.

The trembling
started without her realizing it. Small shakes which escalated until her whole
frame vibrated. Tears joined the display but she managed to bite back the sobs
trying to escape. Her face buried itself in the sweet smell of Chloe’s hair.
She didn’t know what to do or where to go. Olivia Anderson defined tough. She
wasn’t like this. Good choices, bad choices, it didn’t matter because when she
made a decision she followed through with it and didn’t allow regrets to enter
her mind.

Olivia O’Donnell was
an entirely different woman. She married a man she knew little about and based
her love for him on a few nice dates and a whirlwind courtship. Olivia
O’Donnell gave up her job to be a stay-at-home mom and supportive wife. But
that life expired. The shackles of its lackluster shine wore off in the early
months. Eagerly kicked off, and she didn’t miss the lifestyle at all.

Olivia didn’t know
who she was supposed to be anymore. She was at a loss on where to turn and
feared her daughter would pay the price for her lack of direction. Another
bubble of pain burst in her chest and this time she couldn’t choke off the
sound. Her misery became vocal and her cries filled the empty kitchen.

Tears flowed freely
down her cheeks to soak in her little girl’s hair.
Worst mother of the year
committee, here I am
. As an all too knowing teenager, Olivia had promised
herself that she would be a better parent than her own. A far sight better as a
mother. The simple promise should have been easy when one took into account how
little Ruthie Anderson had parented. Yet here Olivia stood in a stranger’s
kitchen in a strange town with no hope or plan on what she should do next.

In the midst of her
sobs, strong arms came around her middle, enfolding Olivia and Chloe in their
warm embrace. Instinct and more fear jerked her head upright as she moved to
pull back.

“Easy, princess,” a
familiar gruff voice murmured and the arms tightened their hold.