Chosen (2 page)

“Who were those guys?” he asked, trying to refocus.

Her smile disappeared. “No one you want to know.”

“What do they want?”

If possible, her face became even harder. “We need to get you back to the motel.”

“Don’t you want to call the police?” He had no intention of calling the police, but it sounded like the right thing to say.

“No.”

Getting information out of her was trickier than he hoped. “What are you going to do now?”

She turned to look at him, the loose strands of long brown hair dancing in the breeze around her face. She looked wild and ruthless. “Look, we can take care of ourselves.”

This turn of events had completely changed his plans. Of course, nothing about this job was what he expected. They never told him she had a kid and he’d complained bitterly when he found out. He didn’t do kids. He was explicit about that. But the group who hired him said they didn’t care about the kid. They wanted her and raised their offer. It was hard to refuse. Somewhere along the path of their self-destructive course he thought of a Plan B, which was much better than his original plan. Maybe things were turning his way. “Let me help you.”

She pulled up to a stop sign at the four-lane highway. “No, thanks, we’re good.”

“We can trust him,” a small voice in the back said.

She looked up sharply and spun around to look at the kid in the back.

Will turned, too. The boy looked like a cherub out of one of those Renaissance paintings he had studied back in his college art appreciation class. Short blond curls framed his face of pale skin with rosy cheeks. Big blue eyes with long dark eyelashes. Will thought the kid’s beauty was wasted on his gender.

“We can trust him,” the boy repeated.

She turned to look out the windshield and hung both of her arms over the steering wheel. “Are you sure?” she asked, staring straight ahead.

“Yes.”

She rested her chin on her hands and closed her eyes. He decided she must be trying to figure out how to deal with this change of events. Personally, Will thought it was going too far on the permissive parenting scale letting a preschooler make a decision like that, but hey, it worked in his favor. He sure wasn’t going to protest.

“Okay,” she finally said, sitting up. “I need to leave town. They know we’re here so we’ve got to leave as soon as we can.”

“Who exactly are
they
?” Will asked. As far as he knew, he was the only one on this job. He’d be pissed if they hired someone else as backup.

“You don’t need to know that,” she said, turning at the corner. “How do you plan on helping us?”

“I can help you leave town.”

“Why would you do that?” Her eyes narrowed as she looked behind for signs of the SUV.

Will had seen the damage. The SUV wasn’t going anywhere. Where the hell had she learned a move like that?

He gave her his rugged, bad boy smirk and shrugged. “What can I say? I’m a sucker for a damsel in distress.”

“Do better than that,” she snorted.

He liked that she wasn’t easily snowed, even if it made his job more difficult.

“Let’s just say I’m hoping to get lucky, and maybe if I’m nice enough, I will.” He gave her a slow, lazy smile as he leaned against the door, crossing his arms.

She rolled her eyes. “Don’t count on it.”

“Don’t crush a man’s hopes. Just wait and see. I might grow on you.”

Raising her eyebrows, she twisted her lips into a wry smile. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

He laughed. God, this might actually be fun. “I’m Will, by the way.”

She hesitated.

“She’s Emma and I’m Jake,” the boy in the back said.

Emma scowled in the rear view mirror at Jake’s reflection.

“We should go back to the motel get our stuff and figure out where to go from there,” Will suggested, still formulating a plan.

“You know, your involvement isn’t necessary. It’s better for you if you just go your own way.”

“So what’s
your
plan?”

“Drop you off close to the motel and head out of town.”

“What about your stuff?”

She pointed to the suitcase in the back. “That’s it.”

“Where are you headed?”

“Tell him,” Jake said.

This kid was really starting to freak him out.

Her face contorted with outrage and she whipped the car into a deserted strip mall parking lot. She jerked to a stop and turned to Will. “Excuse me, could you step out for a minute?” she choked out. “I need to talk to my son. Alone.”

He put his hand on the door handle. “You’re not going to leave me stranded here, are you?” Will was afraid to get out of the car. He knew she didn’t want him with her and if she ran off, it would be hard to track her down again. Not to mention all the money he’d lose. He still hadn’t even convinced her to let him go with her.

She flashed him a tight smile. “No, of course not. Scout’s honor.” She held her hand up with three fingers pointed up in pledge.

“Somehow I doubt you were ever a Girl Scout,” he mumbled as he got out of the car.

“I heard that.”

Will leaned down and stuck his head in the window. “I would appreciate it if you didn’t leave me stranded out here in the middle of Nowhere, Texas. What would I do if those bad guys came back and found me defenseless?” His words oozed the seductive voice he used to get what he wanted.

She looked at him for several seconds. “You expect me to fall for that bullshit? I promised I wouldn’t leave and I don’t break my promises. Now get the fuck away from the car.”

He couldn’t help but chuckle as he walked to the front of the car and leaned against the hood. There was no way in hell he’d let her out of his sight. The pocketknife he dropped on the ground and kicked into the front passenger tire was going to make sure of it.

As soon as Will walked out of earshot, Emma whipped around and glared at Jake. “What are you doing? We can’t trust this guy!”

Jake watched her with his vast blue eyes. “You have to.”

“Why? Why do we have to?”

His head leaned against the side window, watching the cars passing by. He sighed, sounding weary and despondent. “You need him. Our lives depend on him.”

“What aren’t you telling me, Jake?” The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.

His eyes pierced hers. “You know what you need to know.” He looked away again, his shoulders slumping.

Emma started to panic. He never withheld information from her. Her voice raised an octave. “What aren’t you telling me, Jake?”

“Is everything all right in there?” Will called over his shoulder.

Jake sat up, now looking like a scared five-year-old. “Mommy, you need to trust him. You need him. Please.” A tear rolled down his cheek. “
Please
.”

Her eyes filled with tears as her throat constricted in fear. “What aren’t you telling me, Jake? You have to tell me.”

Will’s head popped in the window and looked from Emma to Jake. “What’s going on in here? A touching family moment?”

Jake closed his eyes and Emma knew he wouldn’t tell her anything else. She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand. The last thing she needed was to let this asshole see any sign of weakness. “None of your business. Get in the car.”

Will hopped in and buckled up. “Let’s get back to the motel and get my stuff. Where are we headed?”

She cast a glance at Jake in the back seat. He nodded his head. “We were originally on our way to Austin when the Honda broke down. We got stuck here.”

“Austin, huh? That’s a good distance from here. Plenty of space for your friends to find you out in the open highway. What about Dallas? It’s closer and bigger. I presume you’re hoping to get lost in a big city.”

Emma hesitated and tried to stuff down the irritation creeping in. “We came from Dallas. It’s not a good idea to go back there.”

“I disagree. They might not think you’d go back there. You know, I might be of more help if I knew who these guys were and why they were after you.”

She appraised him. He was tall, his long legs stuffed under the dashboard of the Honda. He looked strong, which should have scared her, but she could take care of herself. “What makes you qualified to help us?”

“I used to be in the Marines, Special Forces. I have some skill sets that might come in handy.” He winked and she suppressed a snort.

“What do you do now?” she asked skeptically.

“Oh you know, this and that. I’m a consultant. I’m currently between jobs.” He flashed his cocky grin.

“That smile work for you much?” Living among the dregs of society made her well acquainted with guys like him. Lesson number one: Stay away from his type. “You still haven’t answered why you’re helping us.” She saw Jake’s disapproval in the mirror. “I deserve to know that much, Jake.”

Will looked at her like she had lost her mind, but quickly recovered. “I told you, you know, the whole damsel in distress thing.”

“You really expect me to believe that?”

Will cleared his throat and suppressed a laugh. “Okay, let’s just say my duty to ‘serve and protect’ is deeply ingrained.”

“I thought that was police officer’s motto. Isn’t the Marines’ motto Semper Fi?”

His eyes widened in surprise. “Yeah, but it seems more appropriate than Always Faithful.”

“How can I believe you were in the Marines? You could easily make that up.”

“I can tell you a few stories no one wants to hear before bedtime. I’ve seen a shitload of bad things brought about by a lot of ugly people. Want me to tell you a few?”

She had enough of her own nightmares. “No.”

They were almost to the motel when the car began to pull to the right. “Crap.”

“What?”

“I think we’ve got a flat tire.” Emma turned into another deserted parking lot. Will got out of the car and walked to the front tire. It made her nervous to get out without her gun, but she didn’t want Will to see it. Emma pulled it out of the side panel and stuffed it in her purse. She got out with a sigh and walked to the front of the car where she was greeted by a flat passenger tire.

“Got a spare?” Will asked, his hands stuffed in the back pockets of his jeans.

“No.” Her heart sank.

“It probably happened when you did your cool street-car move. That’s pretty hard on tires, you know.”

She threw him a look that would make lesser men run in fear then kicked the tire. “Son of a bitch! I don’t have the time or money for this.”

“Good thing I’ve got a truck we can use.”

His casualness irked her. “What about my car? What am I supposed to do? Just leave it here?” She paced the length of the Honda. Could this evening get any worse?

“No one’s going to be open at this hour to fix your flat. We could stay the night somewhere and get it fixed in the morning or we can leave tonight in my truck.”

She’d rather take the bus.

“We need to leave tonight.”

Emma and Will turned, startled by Jake’s voice.

He stood by the open back door. “They’re coming.”

Damn, this kid is freaky
. “Who’s coming?”

Emma was already pushing Jake back in the car. “How close are they?”

“Who’s coming?” Will asked again, but Emma and Jake didn’t answer.

“They’re close. We don’t have much time.” Jake’s eyes were wide with fear as he clutched his stuffed dog.

She buckled him and shut the back door. Will still stood in the parking lot, trying to figure out what was going on.

“Are you coming or not?” She leaned against the back door looking at him.

He knew she hoped he’d say no. He wasn’t going to give her the satisfaction.

“What is he talking about? How does he know they’re coming?” Will opened the car door and Emma walked around to her side and got in. “Are you planning on driving on the rim?”

“Have you got a better idea?” She turned the key.

They were only a few blocks away and they were ditching the car anyway. It seemed like a good plan. “Who’s coming?”

“Who the hell do you think? Are you always this dense?” She scanned the road, probably looking for signs of new pursuers.

This whole situation seemed ridiculous. “How does he know they’re coming?”

“He just does, okay? I don’t have time to explain this to you. Do you want to help us or not? Because if you changed your mind, I’ve got to figure out what we’re going to do.”

It took more than this to shake him up. “No, I’m still at your disposal, Princess.”

Her mouth pursed in a grimace. “We don’t have much time and I sure don’t have time for your shit. How long will it take you to be ready to go?”

Will didn’t see a problem, but he could tell she was spooked. He knew there was no way those guys in the SUV were going anywhere, but there could be others, especially since he didn’t know who they were. “A few minutes. I don’t have much to pack.”

“Okay, we’ll park in the parking lot of the bar next to the motel and wait for you.”

“No, I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to split up. Just park outside my room.”

“I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself. Just get your stuff and come meet us.” She pulled into the bar’s parking lot and drove around to the back.

The low setting sun hid behind the dilapidated motel units next door. Will reached for the door handle. He glanced back at Emma, who wrung her hands on the steering wheel, her lips pinched together. “You’re not going to leave me, are you?” It wouldn’t surprise him if she drove off and left him, flat tire and all.

Tilting her head, her mouth broke into a slow smile that didn’t quiet reach her eyes. “I wouldn’t dream of leaving you.” Her voice was sugarcoated and punctuated with a fake Texas drawl.

That was all the answer he needed. He reached over and pulled the keys out of the ignition before she realized what he was doing. Emma grabbed at his hand as he pulled the keys away, trying to pry his fingers open.

“Give those back.” Her eyes were wild and desperate and her nails dug into his palm.

He grasped both of her squirming hands in his. He was careful not to crush her with the keys as he held them in a tight grip. “Calm down, Emma. You can’t go anywhere anyway. We’re taking my truck, remember? This is just a little insurance to make sure you don’t go and do something stupid.” Will turned to Jake in the backseat. He watched the scene with only mild interest. “Jake, will you tell your mother she needs to wait for me and not run off?”