A Hard Man to Forget (21 page)

She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose with her
fingertips. “I don’t know what to think anymore.”

He had to resist every urge to reach across and touch her. “This
could be the answer we’ve been looking for.”

She opened her eyes, her gaze even and unblinking. After a long beat,
she nodded. “All right. Let’s go to Harrisville.”

IT WAS A FOUR HOUR DRIVE from Rockwell to Harrisville. Somehow it
seemed to Laura like it should be farther away. The two towns
practically seemed like different worlds.

She watched the trees and mountains flying by outside the window and
tried to tamp down her unease. She didn’t want to believe it
was Jason. It was horrible to think that someone she’d trusted
so deeply could be responsible for everything that had happened to
her. But at the same time, she couldn’t afford to let any
possibility pass by simply because she was afraid of what she might
learn. She didn’t want it to be him. If it was, she wanted to
know.

They were only halfway to their destination when Simon slowed the
Volvo. “I don’t drive this car enough to keep it fully
fueled. We’re going to have to stop for gas.”

Laura nodded, unsure whether to be relieved or more anxious at the
delay.

There was a tiny gas station, a local place not part of one of the
big chains, up ahead. Settled in a niche in the mountains and
surrounded by trees on all sides, the outpost held only two pumps out
front. Simon pulled up to first one and parked.

“Do you want anything?” he asked as he climbed out of the
car.

She gave the small building a skeptical glance. Somehow she doubted
it was well-stocked. “No, thanks.”

“Suit yourself. I’ll be right back.”

The gas station was so ancient that there was no way for Simon to pay
at the pump. He had to go inside to pay in advance and have the
attendant turn on the pump.

As she watched him disappear inside, Laura sank back in the seat,
unable to calm the butterflies whipping up a storm in her stomach.
She didn’t know whether Simon was right or not about Jason.
What she did know was that it felt too easy, to have all the answers
drop into their laps like that. After everything that had happened,
it couldn’t just end like that. It didn’t seem possible.

In the back of her head, she heard the pump rumble to life beside the
car.

When she turned her head, Simon was stepping out of the building,
pocketing his wallet with one hand.

The explosion of noise and motion seemed to happen all at once. The
sound of gunfire, too familiar now, erupted. She saw Simon fall back,
blown straight off of his feet. The look of surprise on his face
would be etched in her mind forever.

“Simon!” she screamed, the cry deafening in her ears. She
clawed at the door handle. She had to get to him. She had to help
him.

As if he heard her, his head snapped up. The look on his face was
ferocious in its warning.
Don’t move!
Shocked, she had
no choice but to comply.

She finally noticed what she’d missed.

No blood. There’s no blood.

She barely had time to process that information. Simon scrambled
backward in a spider crawl, hurling himself back into the safety of
the building. The windows exploded in a hailstorm of shattered glass.
Heedless of the danger to herself, Laura pressed her face to her
window, desperate for some sign that he was all right.

Then, as abruptly as it started, the gunfire ended. Over the
lingering echoes, Laura thought she caught the sound of a car engine
roaring away. She jerked her head toward the highway in time to see a
car fly by too fast for her to identify it. Silence descended over
the valley once more.

Inside the station, nothing moved.

Laura waited all of five seconds before leaping from the car. Racing
to the building, she threw open the now glass-free door and rushed
straight into Simon’s arms. It only took her a few seconds to
verify that he was unharmed, and furious.

He gripped her arms in his hands. “What are you doing? You
could have gotten yourself killed.”

“If he wanted me dead I would be. I was a sitting duck in the
car.”

“Did you see where the shots came from?”

“No. I thought I heard a car drive away though.”

Simon swore. “He was following us.”

Something passed over his expression. He opened his mouth to say
something, but before he could give voice to the thought, another
voice broke in.

“Do one of you want to tell me what the hell just happened to
my gas station?”

They both peered back at the old man who gaped over the counter at
them. Slack-jawed and wide-eyed, he didn’t look angry as much
as he seemed utterly bewildered.

Laura didn’t blame him. She’d felt the same way most of
the last three days.

She glanced up at Simon to see how he wanted to handle it.

He was already reaching for his wallet. “I am so sorry, sir.
Some friends of ours are traveling in a separate car and it looks
like they’re pulling a prank on us.”

It took all Laura had not to shake her head. From the look on his
face, it didn’t seem like the proprietor was buying it either.

“Son, I’m old but I’m not dumb. Somebody just took
some shots at you and damn near took my head off in the process. If
those are your friends, then I’d say you need some different
friends.”

“I can’t disagree with you there.” Simon slid a
stack of bills from his wallet and placed them on the counter in
front of the man. “We’re really sorry for the trouble.
We’d just really appreciate it if you could avoid calling the
police. This should take care of the damage. I’ll just fill up
the car and we’ll be out of your hair.”

The old man’s eyes rounded even further at the pile of money
Simon had set in front of him, all hundred dollar bills. Laura had no
doubt it more than covered the damage to the window.

“You must be in some real trouble if you’re willing to
pay me this much to keep me quiet,” the old man said.

“Pretty much,” Simon agreed.

For a long moment, the proprietor merely stared at him. Then he
slowly nodded. “Go on. Get out of here. You’ve got enough
trouble without me making more for you.”

“Thank you,” Laura sighed.

The old man merely grunted. He was already reaching for the money,
their presence dismissed.

Simon held tight onto her arm and pulled her out of the building. “We
should have seen it earlier,” he said low in her ear.

“What?”

“The shooting in the bedroom. The gunman must have thought I
was sleeping in the bed. After all, it is the master bedroom. Whether
or not you were there with me, he would have assumed I was there. You
would have just been collateral damage, guilty because you’d
fallen back into my bed. And the car that ran you down in
Harrisville—the driver didn’t know you would step right
in front of him, but he definitely knew I was in the street.”

She shook her head, not understanding. “What are you talking
about?”

“You’re not the target,” he said solemnly. “You
never have been.

“I am.”

“Why would he come after you?” Laura asked when they were
back on the road. The skies were rapidly growing darker as they
traveled south. They were driving straight into a storm.

“To keep me away from you? If we’re right about your
friend, he had you all to yourself these last few years. Finding out
you were with me could have pushed him over the edge.”

“And if you’re not right about Jason?”

“Same thing. For whatever reason, someone wants to keep me away
from you.” He paused. “Or else…”

“Or else what?”

“Or else this really doesn’t involve you at all.”

“What are you talking about?”

“If the shooter isn’t after you, then we don’t
really have any evidence to believe this is about you. Someone could
want me dead for completely separate reasons.”

“You’ve been in the same place for three years. If they
wanted you dead, they had all the time in the world. But they just
happened to come after you the same weekend you kidnapped a woman who
looks exactly like your dead wife?”

“It does strain belief,” he admitted. “That doesn’t
mean it’s not true. It could be a coincidence.”

“I can’t buy into one more coincidence. It has to be
connected to my appearance in your life. Nothing else makes sense.”

“None of this makes sense. But the possibility exists that
sticking with me is the only thing putting you in danger. Coombs
might be right after all. You could be safe if I dropped you off and
went back to Rockwell.”

A humorless smile touched her lips. “Still trying to push me
away, Simon?”

“For your protection.”

“Whatever the reason, you can forget it. Over the last few
days, I’ve learned more than I ever thought I would. I’m
seeing this through until I know everything.”

“Even if it means putting your life in danger?”

“I’m willing to take that risk.”

After giving her a probing glance, he nodded once and focused his
attention on the road ahead. She couldn’t tell whether he
approved of her decision or not. “You might just be.”

A light mist began to cloud the windshield. Simon flipped on the
wipers. The repetitive swish of the blades on the glass was the only
sound in the car as they drove on to Harrisville.

The closer they came, the more Laura felt her unease building. As
they approached the city limits, she motioned toward the cell phone
he’d set on the console between them. “It’s only
three o’clock. Do you want me to call and make sure he’s
in his office?”

“I doubt he is, but let’s not warn him off just in case.”

Of course Jason wouldn’t be in the office if he’d been
tracking them, taking a shot at Simon less than an hour ago. Subdued,
Laura lapsed into silence.

It had only been three days since she’d left Harrisville, yet
it seemed different somehow. The charmingly rustic and old-fashioned
buildings they passed on their way through the downtown area no
longer seemed as homey and reassuring. They were the same, yet
somehow seemed less familiar, as though they’d changed somehow.

No, she thought, the town hadn’t changed. She had.

Jason’s office was only a few blocks from the county
courthouse, a short distance from the restaurant where they’d
had lunch on Friday. Laura shook her head at the memory. That seemed
so long ago now.

“How do you want to handle this?” Laura asked as Simon
found a parking space on the street.

“I just want to see him. If he’s the same guy, that’ll
make things easy. If he’s not, we’ll go from there.”

With a nod, Laura unbuckled her seat belt and slid from the car.

The building that held Jason’s office was a converted bungalow,
so small it worked much better as a place of business than a
residence. She must have passed through its front door at least a
hundred times. Not once had she been as nervous as she was now.

Jason’s secretary Kathy looked up from her desk as they
entered. Her face creased into a smile when she saw Laura. “Why,
Laura, what brings you here? Taking the day off?”

“Something like that,” Laura hedged. “Is Jason in?”

“No. He left a message on my voice mail Friday night saying he
was going to be out of town for a few days. He didn’t say when
he would be back.”

“Why am I not surprised?” Simon murmured.

Kath gave him an odd look. Laura stepped in with a smile. “Thanks,
Kath. You’ve been a big help.”

Kath opened her mouth to say something else. Laura grabbed Simon’s
arm and pulled him back out the door, dodging the woman’s
question. “Now what?”

“Let’s try him at home. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

It turned out they were. They turned onto Jason’s street just
in time to see him pull into his driveway.

He looked up as the Volvo stopped in front of his house. Simon was
out of the car almost before the vehicle had come to a complete stop.
Laura scrambled out as fast as she could.

Startled, Jason glanced between the two of them. “Laura, what’s
going on?”

Simon stalked straight up to him, stopping mere inches from the other
man. The mixed emotions flashing across Jason’s face said he
didn’t know whether to step back or stand his ground. “Well?”
Laura said.

Simon stared at the man for a long moment. Then his shoulders eased a
fraction. “It’s not him.”

Laura released a breath, almost but not quite relieved. It wasn’t
over yet.

As though recognizing that the immediate danger had passed, Jason
lost his nervousness. His eyes narrowed on Simon, his gaze assessing.
“What exactly is this about?”

Simon glared right back, his animosity clear. Jason might not be the
mysterious Tom Johnson, but it was clear Simon had lost none of his
suspicions.

Laura stepped in between the two men. “Jason, I’m sorry.
It’s a very complicated story—"

He cut her off. “Is this who you were with this weekend?”

Anger simmered in his voice. Laura swallowed a sigh. This was going
to be just as ugly as she’d feared. “Yes.”

He shook his head in disgust. “I was afraid of that. I talked
to your shrink on Friday—"

“You what?” Laura stared at him, unable to hide her
outrage. He’d called her therapist? “Why would you do
that?”

Jason’s expression was unrepentant. “I was worried about
you. After what you said about the man you saw and your reaction to
him, I was concerned about your state of mind.” He eyed Simon
with barely concealed contempt. “I can see I had good reason.”

“That didn’t give you the right to go behind my back like
that.” Furious, Laura could barely stand to look at him. It was
all the worst because he didn’t seem to understand he’d
done anything wrong. “How many other ‘chats’ have
the two of you had?”