Snow (3 page)

A car flew by the bus stop, tossing dirty, slushy snow against Liliana’s legs. She’d be irritated if her jeans weren’t already wet from the last car. Now it was just a mild annoyance, a brief flash of cold and extra weight she’d forget about soon enough.

She stood shivering in her black winter coat, her head craned to watch the passing vehicles in case the bus was on its way. She didn’t know the schedule, didn’t know where the bus—if the damn thing ever showed up—would be going, either. She just had to get far enough away to disappear, then keep her babysitters off her tail.

Goddamn police. They’d believed her, sure, but then the friendly detective explained Polly’s body was missing, there was no physical evidence, and Jimmy’s lawyer was stonewalling them. With a sinking feeling, she’d realized going to them was probably the stupidest thing she could’ve done, and she
wouldn’t
have if she’d realized the Hartleys would have cleaned up the scene so quickly.

Then they’d squirreled her away in a hotel. For her own “protection”, they’d said.

Right. She snorted again at the thought. If they couldn’t get to The Palace in time to find a body or collect some DNA or whatever, how the hell were they supposed to “protect” her?

They couldn’t. She was on her own. So screw them, she’d disappear so far away, no one would find her again. It had been easy enough to slip out the hotel bathroom window after grabbing the money one of the men guarding her had left out for pizza. Dusk was settling, tinging the snow-filled clouds a deep gray-blue, and she had thirty bucks in her pocket. She could do plenty with that before they figured out where she went.

If the bus would ever get here.

She bounced from one foot to the other, trying to stay warm. She could’ve ducked into the bus shelter but she wanted to be out here, watching, so she wouldn’t miss her ride out of town. The way the thick, heavy snowflakes beat against the shelter’s Plexiglas didn’t leave her confident the bus driver would even see her if she remained in there.

The stretch of road she waited on was busy, thick with cars. Probably people headed home from work.

Liliana wondered, idly, if they’d replaced her at The Palace yet. Her
and
Polly, and the thought of her dead co-worker pinched at her conscience.

Not your fault the cops didn’t help. You
tried
to do the right thing for Polly. They just suck at their jobs.

Then she wondered about her apartment. She’d been allowed to collect a few things before they’d whisked her off, but now? Now three weeks had passed. Her landlord had a post-dated check for the first of this month, but she had no idea if it had been cashed or not. No ATMs, no going to the bank. No doing anything that might reveal her whereabouts. Without her regular paycheck, even if this past month’s rent had cleared, the next wouldn’t. She’d be evicted. Her possessions all sold.

She tried not to think on it. At least she was still alive. That was the important thing.

A big black SUV in her peripheral vision slowed, then came to a halt in front of the donut place not far from the bus stop. Newish paint job the way it gleamed, and slick wipers knocked all the falling slow from the windshield just as fast as it hit.

The driver’s side door opened and closed, a man in a black peacoat and brown scarf exiting and rounding the vehicle.

She wouldn’t have paid any attention to him if he hadn’t been headed right for her.

Immediately Liliana froze, her eyes growing wide and heart beating hard as she stared at him. Thick snowflakes fell, clung to his short auburn hair. The brown scarf came up to partially hide his jaw and mouth, but even somewhat disguised, she was sure she didn’t know him. Or want to. He was tall, six-two or three maybe, and moved with the assuredness of strength and purpose. His dark eyes were fixed on her and Liliana was already backing up.

Her ass bumped the bus shelter then she was turning, scrambling around the Plexiglas,
no
damn idea where the hell she was going to go but—

Steps crunched on snow and rock salt behind her, and she yelped when strong, unyielding fingers latched onto her upper arm.

“I-I didn’t say anything to anyone!” she sputtered immediately. “Tell Jimmy and his mom I didn’t
do
anything!” Though she pulled and twisted, his grip was firm as he dragged her back toward his SUV.

“Stop making a scene,” he said in a low voice, his pace swift enough that she struggled to keep up with it. “I’m here to get you to safety.”

She blinked up at him, nearly tripped on the snow at her feet. He wasn’t one of the regular officers or the plainclothes guys she’d been dealing with. He didn’t look like a cop, either. So either she’d been passed to some new babysitter, or he was full of shit and working for Jimmy.

“I can get to safety on my own, goddamn it. Let me go!”

They’d reached the SUV and she wasn’t stupid—getting into a vehicle with some strange man was
not
a good idea. She gave another tug as he reached for the door, twisting against his vise-like grip.

Then she was slammed against the vehicle abruptly, not hard enough to hurt but so quickly it left her jarred and startled. The guy crowded her space, stared down at her with cold, calculating eyes that could probably stop a person with a glare. Liliana was taller than the average woman at five-nine and this guy made her feel small, towering over her. His hand still bit into her upper arm, despite the thick layer of her jacket and the brown leather gloves he wore.

“I was hired to keep you safe,” he bit out slowly, carefully, like he was speaking to a small child. “Standing in public at a bus stop is not safe. Running away with the money you stole from the people watching you is not safe. Not being where you were
supposed
to be when I went to pick you up tonight and making me spend an hour trying to find you
is not safe
. Now get in my car, Miss White. The more you waste my time, the more you put your life in danger.”

She swallowed dryly, still staring up at him. When he jerked the SUV door fully open and directed her to sit, she did so without a word. He slammed the door shut and her shoulders tensed. Around the vehicle with quick steps again and then he was in the driver’s seat, key in the ignition. The heater blared on, stinging Liliana’s cold cheeks and bare hands, but she sat frozen still, staring at him in silence.

His gaze darting between the mirrors, he pulled onto the road. “Please put your seatbelt on.”

Who the hell
was
this guy?

Chapter Two

Mike had spent all of three minutes in her company and already he wanted to kill Liliana White himself.

Witnesses could be flighty, he knew. Prone to doing stupid things out of fear. But, generally speaking, once they were in custody and protected, they
liked
being there, or at the very least knew they were safe. They preferred it over a uniform patrolling their apartment. Even confined, it meant someone was invested in their safety.

But the more Jann talked over sushi, the more Mike realized precisely
why
there had been no negotiating the usual Seven Security high fees. This girl had taken off four times already, slipping past the meager security detail Jann’s clients had hired
and
the local police. They always caught up with her—once she barely got out of the parking lot—but she was creating more work for everyone and couldn’t seem to get it through her head that her best chance at not getting killed was to stay where they could see her.

Toward the end of their meal, when a call came in for Jann and his face grimaced with the news, Mike immediately knew she’d left again. Then he had to track her down before she got far, delaying any further plans. His boilerplate contract allowed him to charge for any number of expenses and extra hours. He suspected that clause would come into use for however long he had to keep an eye on her.

That is, if he didn’t kill her himself first.

She sat silently in the car next to him. Still hadn’t put on her seatbelt, which made him suspect she planned to bolt from the SUV the first chance she got. Either that or she was still too scared to move. She hadn’t stopped staring at him.

Guilt twinged him. Not enough that he would acknowledge he felt badly for scaring her, but enough to keep himself in check before he let irritation take a hold of him again.

“My name’s Michael O’Hara,” he spoke as he drove without looking at her. “I own a company called Seven Security. I’ve been hired to keep you safe.”

Silence ticked on between them. He smoothly maneuvered the vehicle on the slick streets, between cars and around tight corners.

“I’m taking you to a different hotel,” he continued. “We’ll spend three days there. Then we’ll move to another. This will continue while the authorities continue their investigation and prepare to file charges. As you’re a material witness, the authorities will take over my job from there.”

He felt her big eyes on him, weighted and probing. Mike ignored her stare, however, keeping his focus on the road and not the shifting woman in his peripheral vision. Her nylon jacket crinkled as she moved, and he braced in case she was reaching for the door handle—he didn’t
think
she was stupid enough to jump from a moving vehicle, but he hadn’t eliminated the possibility yet.

The SUV was getting uncomfortably warm. Just in case she bolted and he had to chase her, he opted for turning the heat down rather than removing his gloves and scarf.

“So you’re not the police,” she said at last. Her voice was smooth and rich now that she wasn’t yelling and had time to calm down.

“No, I’m not.”

“Which means you’re basically kidnapping me.” When he didn’t reply, she continued, “If Jimmy was charged and there was a trial, sure, they could keep me against my will as a witness. But you’re not the cops and there’s not gonna be a trial so you’re
kidnapping me
. I’m not stupid.”

“That’s open for debate.”

Normally he’d avoid antagonizing someone he was supposed to be protecting but that shocked her into silence again and he needed that—needed her a little off kilter. Because if she got too comfortable, she’d be trying to wiggle her way free, and that was precisely what he’d been paid to ensure she didn’t do.

“This is not the first time Mr. Hartley has allegedly killed someone,” Mike continued. “You are not the first witness. You are, however, the only one still alive. And I will keep you that way. Right now the safest place for you is right at my side, always within my sight. The more you make me chase you, the more of a fight you put up, the harder my job becomes. You don’t think you’re stupid? Shut up and let me do my job.”

Several minutes passed. In the distance, the glow of the hotel sign shone in green and yellow. He’d already booked a room—third floor, so she couldn’t jump out the window—for five days, despite the fact that they were staying three. Once he had her locked inside, he’d call his team to pick up the pre-packed overnight bag he kept in his front hall closet to deliver to the hotel as he hadn’t had time to return to Midsummer for it before retrieving Liliana. Despite the detour of having to find her at the bus stop, the evening yet might get back on track.

“I need my stuff,” she said at last. “If you’re going to kidnap me. My clothes are back at the—”

He tilted his head to indicate the backseat. “Already picked it up.”

She twisted in her seat to see the beat up duffel bag sitting there, then slumped back with a sigh.

Mike supressed a smile. Of course she’d been planning to use that as an excuse to run as soon as they stopped. She’d push a few more times, test for weak spots, but as long as he stayed ahead of her, she’d eventually relent and let him do his job. He was confident of this.

He spared a glance at her—just a brief one, taking her in. Her glossy curls were damp from the melted snow, framing her face, and she stared out the windshield. She was pretty when she wasn’t scowling at him—well, she was pretty regardless, but it was easier to see in the moment just before she remembered he was technically kidnapping her and she hated him for it. She met his eyes and the scowl returned, scrunching up her face.

He parked not far from the front door of the hotel, retrieved her bag from between the seats before climbing out, then went around the SUV to open her door and wait for her to exit.

Liliana glowered up at him, her lips trembling like she wanted to snap out a comment or two, but she held her tongue and stepped out of the SUV.

She could go ahead and complain all she wanted—if she was going to act like a child who couldn’t be trusted, he’d treat her that way.

Once she was standing next to him, he shut the car door, hefted the bag in his left hand and took her elbow with his right. She stiffened and initially resisted, but he simply pulled her along at an even clip until she started walking fast enough to keep up with him. Snow had built up in front of the hotel despite a recent shoveling, clinging to their shoes and lower pants, and when they stepped inside, the chill from outside seemed to follow.

Mike marched her up to the front desk, withdrew his wallet and ID to claim the room, and accepted the two keys to it. He pocketed them both and once again led Liliana to the elevator.

“I’m hungry,” she said stubbornly when they stepped inside. “I didn’t get dinner.”

“That’s why there’s room service. I recommend not jumping out the bathroom window this time before it arrives.”

The elevator dinged on the third floor and he dutifully led her to their room. Two double beds, a table and pair of chairs, television. Clean, serviceable. He would’ve preferred at least a four star if not five—not for personal taste, but in terms of security measures he’d have available to him—but two to three star were safest for his purposes on this job. A shitty one star would be the first place someone would look for a girl on the run. High class, expensive places would be the first place they’d look if they somehow heard she had help hiding from wealthy clients.

He left her bag sitting by the bed closest to the window—and therefore farthest from the door—then slipped his scarf, coat, and gloves off before retrieving his phone to text Benji at the office with instructions to have his overnight bag waiting for him at the hotel in the morning. Thirty seconds later, confirmation came that it would be done. Next he texted Jann to say he’d acquired Liliana and would otherwise be going dark—all contact was to go through his office as it was better if no one else knew where they were.