Nowhere to Run (12 page)

Heading for her car, he backed it out of the garage and turned toward the street. The engine was running smoothly and without any sign of its previous fuel problem. That was good. Seth knew Marie would never believe him if he told her there was more tinkering needed. He'd been fortunate that she'd shown as much patience as she had.

He drove east on Highway 62 toward the cutoff to his home in Heart. It would take him only a second to transmit the other phone number to Jonathan and explain the change. If he hadn't been so befuddled by his thoughts about protecting Marie, he'd have used his head and found a way to handle the phone situation differently to begin with.

His grip tightened on the car's steering wheel as he glanced in the rearview mirror. There had been no sign of any suspicious white van in or around Serenity for several days, yet he was starting to get the impression that he was being followed. If they thought it was Marie in the car instead of him, perhaps he could turn the tables and find out who they were and why they were on his trail.

Seth started to lean toward the locked glove compartment to retrieve his .38, then realized it was in his truck. He was good in a hand-to-hand fight, but he was not foolhardy—he'd spotted at least two men in the car behind him, perhaps three; that ratio drastically cut his chances of easy, painless success.

Accelerating, Seth whipped along the dirt road, splashing muddy water from potholes as he bounced through them. He was glad he didn't have Babe with him, because his speed over the rough terrain would have tossed her around no matter how hard she'd tried to keep her balance.

He deliberately sailed on by the drive to his farmhouse. The other car, a low-slung, black Caddy or Buick, slewed wide on several corners and nearly skidded off the road into one of the drainage ditches that bordered the roadbed.

Seth smiled. Every few hundred yards the road curved and he lost sight of his pursuers. Then they'd drive back into view again. They were stubborn, that was for sure, but thankfully, whoever was driving was a novice off the pavement. That was good. If he did manage to outdistance them, they would probably not be able to catch him again.

In that case, the smartest thing he could do was head straight for the motel. Once he'd escorted Marie safely out of town, he'd return to his house, e-mail Jonathan and get the confusing cell phone situation straightened out.

Seth glanced in the rearview mirror in time to see the heavier car bounce out of a pothole, smack down crooked and career into a ditch. The driver tried to correct but the massive vehicle bottomed out, coming to a halt in a spray of brown water and rocks.

Three men clambered out. One of them started kicking the front tires as if the car were responsible for its own predicament.

Seth reached for his new cell phone and used it to call the sheriff to report the accident. That car wasn't going anywhere soon, and if law enforcement hurried, maybe its occupants wouldn't be bothersome much longer, either.

In the meantime, they were blocking the easiest, quickest way back to his house—and to his computer—so he'd have to contact Jonathan later. Right now, he had to get to Marie and see that she was on her way, ASAP, while the guys in the black car were still out of commission.

M
arie had been packed and pacing for over an hour when she finally heard her car stop outside the motel room. Without remembering to be cautious, she jerked open the door.

Seth was climbing out of the car. He grinned. “Hi. Looks like you missed me.”

“What took you so long?”

“I had to make a detour,” he said, still smiling. “Sorry about all the mud.”

She peered past him and began to frown. “No kidding. I thought I was only supposed to cover the license plates. What did you do, decide to plaster the whole car and make it brown?”

“No. I took a side trip on a dirt road. Since the rain, it was pretty messy. If I'd had a chance, I'd have hosed it off for you or at least run it through one of the creeks that cross the road out by my place.”

“That's okay. As long as it's running well, I really don't care how bad it looks.”

“It's humming like new,” Seth said. “And I left the other cell phone on the front seat, hooked to the mobile charger. It's turned off. Don't turn it on unless you absolutely have to, okay?”

“Why not?”

“Because I had to give the number to one other person and I'd rather you not use it except to make the call to activate the new one you promised to buy. Remember?”

“What's all this confusion about the phones, anyway? Isn't one as good as another?”

“In most cases, yes. Just trust me on this. Please?” He reached into his pocket, took out several bills and passed them to her. “Use this so you can save your money for other things. As soon as you've bought the new phone, I want you to destroy the one I got for you.”

“That's ridiculous. It's a perfectly good phone, isn't it?”

She saw his expression harden, his eyes narrow. “Look, Marie, we don't have time to squabble. I think the men who've been following you are in town. That was how I got the mud on your car—outrunning them. So I suggest you and Patty hit the road. ASAP. Got that?”

There was no hint of the usual tenderness in Seth's gaze, nor did his demeanor leave room for argument. On the contrary, everything about his attitude had begun to make her edgy.

“All right. I'll go. We're packed. Help me put the bags in the car?”

Seth was one step ahead of her and had already started to gather her belongings while Babe ran in circles at his feet and Patty chased after the exuberant dog.

As Marie picked up her purse and followed the others out the door, she offered Seth his old cell phone. “Here. Don't forget this.”

“Thanks.” He loaded the suitcases into the trunk, slammed the lid and handed her the keys. “I'll follow you in my truck till I'm sure you're safely back on the highway.”

“Why? I thought you said you'd lost the bad guys.”

“I did. And if the sheriff gets to them before they manage to get their car out of the ditch, they won't be a problem. I'd just rather look after you for a few minutes longer.”

“All right.” She quickly transferred the booster seat from the truck to her car and saw that Patty was safely belted in.

Before getting behind the wheel, she turned to Seth. “I don't know how to thank you.”

“Just stay safe,” he said.

For a fleeting instant, Marie thought she glimpsed deeply felt sentiment in his eyes. When she paused to study him, to look beyond the external and search for hidden emotions, however, it seemed as if a shield had dropped. He was clearly, purposely shutting her out.

She took his hand. “Goodbye, Seth.”

“Goodbye. Be careful out there.”

“I will.” Oh, how she hated to leave, to pull away from even that brief touch of his warm, steady hand. But she knew he was right. She had to go. And soon.

Blinking back unshed tears, she turned, slid behind the wheel and quickly slammed the car door.

As she started to drive away she saw Seth climbing into his truck with his wonderful dog already occupying the passenger seat. She was really going to miss that man. If only…

Setting her jaw, Marie reminded herself that she had no choice. She had to leave. She had to keep running. No matter how much her heart was breaking, she had to escape. For Patty's sake, if for no other reason.

 

Three unidentifiable trucks had arrived at three separate cell towers within minutes of one another. Their coordinator, seated close by in a plain, black sedan with darkly tinted windows, was in constant radio contact.

“Have you got it pegged yet, Mac?” he asked.

“Almost, Mr. Eccles. We were getting a good, strong signal from Pilot Knob before we lost it a few minutes ago. The hills were interfering to the south and west, and I need a clear, steady signal from all three points.”

“Thousands of dollars worth of equipment and it won't handle a few little hills? What kind of tech are you?”

“A careful one. You want this triangulation to be accurate, don't you?”

“Yes, yes.” Eccles started his car as he spoke into the microphone of the headset he was wearing. “I'm going to drive through town, see what I can see. Stay on this line so you can tell me the minute you get a signal again.”

Pulling away from the curb, he cruised slowly toward the Serenity square. All but one of its side streets had been cordoned off and groups of workers were obviously setting up some kind of a street bazaar.

“Stupid civilians,” Eccles muttered to himself as he was forced to detour along side streets.

There was only one advantage that he could see—with such a big crowd milling around town and everything already disrupted, he and his men were far less likely to be noticed.

 

Marie drove northwest, heading out of town. She was doing her best to think clearly, but her mind kept arguing that there must be a better way to handle her predicament. Perhaps she ought to give the police another chance to help. After all, they were the good guys and she was on the same side of the law, wasn't she?

Her thoughts kept jumping back to Seth, as if he were the only important focus. She glanced at the cord running from her cigarette lighter to the new phone and something in her subconscious clicked.

“Oh, no!”

Patty's eyes widened. “What's the matter, Mama?”

“Seth's—Mr. Whitfield's messages. I forgot to give them to him.”

“Can we go back?” the child asked, sounding eager to do just that.

“No, honey. We can't.” Marie glanced in her rearview mirror, hoping to spot Seth's truck. The setting sun was so blinding she couldn't be sure if his green truck was part of the traffic behind her. Worse, it would soon be so dark it would be impossible to tell one vehicle from another. If she stopped and got out here, hoping Seth would soon catch up to her, she might be unnecessarily exposing herself and Patty to danger. The only sensible thing to do was to phone him and hope he could convince Clarence to let him back into the motel room to retrieve the messages she had so carefully jotted down.

She pressed the red button on the cell phone and held it until the instrument gave its familiar jingle. The batteries were charged but the screen said it was still searching for a signal.

Once again, she contemplated pulling off the road and thought better of it. Surely she'd get a signal soon. After all, the phone had worked in the past. At least she thought it had. Truthfully, she hadn't had any previous experience with this particular instrument, but since it was supposed to be identical to the other one, there was no reason why it shouldn't function the same way.

Slowing, she skirted the square, noting that the carnival booths were already being set up. Too bad she and Patty had to leave town right away. As Seth had said, Patty would probably have enjoyed it.
And if Seth was with us, so would I,
she added, chagrined to be entertaining such consistently impossible notions.

“Get over it,” she ordered herself in a near whisper.

Marie intended to make the turn from Main onto Church Street but found her way blocked by the reunion efforts and proceeded to Highway 9, instead. According to the Arkansas map she'd consulted, she could get to West Plains via that road, too, and since she wasn't quite sure how to circumvent the Serenity square, she'd simply go to plan B.

Now that she was on the move again, she found her anxiety building as it had prior to their being stranded. Every shadow held menace, every car contained her enemies.

And every light that shone into the car made her feel exposed to more danger.

After all,
she told herself,
it's only paranoia if no one is really after you.

Marie glanced momentarily at the phone and noted that it was now indicating a strong cell signal. She hit the memory button, expecting Seth's number to appear. It didn't. Nothing did. Her eyes widened and she peered at the lighted screen. She'd put his new number into the old phone but apparently Seth hadn't thought to enter his work or home numbers into this one! What a doofus. And she was just as bad for not writing those numbers down when they'd popped up on the other phone.

Well, that couldn't be helped now. What was done was done. If he wanted his stupid messages, he'd just have to figure out where they were or pay the consequences of unreturned calls. Either way, it was none of her concern.

Laying aside the phone, she switched on her headlights, gripped the wheel with both hands, accelerated onto the winding, mountain road ahead and concentrated on putting as much distance between her and the past as she could.

 

“Got him,” McCormick reported. “Did you hear me, Mr. Eccles? We've got him.”

Eccles began to grin. “I hear you. Where is he?”

“Moving,” the tech said. “According to our tracking devices, he's heading into the mountains on Highway 9. Chances are we'll lose him in about twenty miles. You'd better hurry.”

“I'm on my way,” Eccles replied, punching the coordinates he was given into his tracking system and setting a new course. “The rest of you hold your positions and keep tracking him until I tell you otherwise.”

“Don't you want backup?”

“No,” Eccles said forcefully. “I can handle this alone.”
And I don't want witnesses,
he added to himself.
When I do catch up to Seth, I want to be able to deal with him my own way. Permanently.

 

At the motel, Seth had paused only long enough to snap a short leash onto Babe's collar and fasten the other end to the seat belt anchor for safety. The dog didn't appreciate being tied in, but Seth knew how excited she could get when he was keyed up, and he figured it was smart to keep her under control. Right now, he was as nervous as he'd ever been in the past, even when directly involved in espionage, and his perceptive dog was bound to react to those feelings.

Above all, he wanted to keep Marie's car in sight, if only from a distance, for as long as possible. He hadn't cared this much about anyone or anything since he'd lost Alice. Letting Marie and Patty drive away had hurt—all the way to his heart and soul. And that ache was still there. Maybe it always would be.

He'd give anything if he could call her, talk to her one last time, but he'd left the phone turned off and told her to keep it that way, so there was no way to reach her. That was just as well. The more they talked, the harder it would be for both of them to make a clean break.

Was all this as difficult for Marie as it was for him? he wondered. Perhaps. He didn't want her to agonize over it but it would be nice to think she'd had trouble leaving because she was beginning to care for him the same way he cared for her.

Passing the Serenity square and seeing the booths being assembled reminded him of how he'd hoped to show Patty and Marie the fun to be had in a small town. Part of him wanted to believe that he might one day get the chance, while a more perverse part insisted he was deluding himself.

Puzzled, he watched Marie continue on Highway 9 instead of detouring around the square. That made sense—in a convoluted way. As long as she kept to the main highway, it would take her to either Mammoth Spring or eventually West Plains. Once she got that far, she'd be able to find another phone and ditch the one he'd given her.

The more he pondered his decision in that regard, the more it concerned him. Yes, he trusted Jonathan, but Seth knew he'd feel much better after Marie had cut all her ties with him and his problems. He'd already concluded that if he had to turn himself in to convince the authorities to help her, that was what he'd do. Eventually. Right now, however, he had to see her safely away from the pursuers in the car that had ended up in the ditch near his house. Once that was accomplished, he'd think about having Jonathan intercede so he could safely give himself up.

A sleek, dark sedan zipped past him on the narrow road, swerving to insert itself between his truck and Marie's car. Somebody was sure in a big hurry.