Authors: Jerrie Alexander
“I can imagine,” she agreed. “But denying the world a little boy who looked exactly like you would be unfair.”
“I don’t know about that.” His cell buzzed, and he passed it to Chris. “Read that text from Nate for me. He’s probably heading home.”
“He says there’s a black pickup that changes lanes every time we do. It also speeds up and slows down with us. We’re supposed to stay on the freeway. Nate decided to get Dalton involved. He got a quick response from the cops.”
Marcus gripped her knee and squeezed. “Text him to make sure the cops come in silent. We don’t want to scare this guy off.”
“Marcus?” She only said his name, but fear had put a tremble in her voice.
“We’ll be fine. Trust me.”
Marcus pressed the gas pedal to the floor, pushing the car’s speed just to the posted limit. The rental responded nicely, allowing him to easily move into the outside lane.
“When will the police get here?”
“Shouldn’t be long now.”
Chris jumped when his cell buzzed. “Want me to read it?”
“Yeah.”
“Nate says we should slow down. Let black truck get closer. Takedown in five.” She sucked in a breath.
“The car between us and the truck is getting tired of going this slow, he’s passing. Hang on.” Marcus slammed on the brakes just as Nate pulled beside the truck and moved into his lane, forcing the black vehicle to the shoulder. A black and white slid in behind the pickup. “Got the bastard.”
Marcus had barely uttered the words when the truck lurched forward. “He’s making a run for it.”
Marcus had nowhere to go and there wasn’t room for their car and the pickup. He swerved as far into the center lane as he could safely. The truck barely missed the rental as it rushed past. Chris ducked toward the center console. Her eyes were squeezed closed.
The truck’s oversize bumper guard clipped the edge of a bridge abutment. It spun out of control, flipped onto its side, and then rolled down the grass embankment into the traffic below. The crunch of metal and shattering of glass didn’t bode well for the driver.
“Son of a bitch.” Marcus shook his head, maneuvering the car all the way off the road onto the shoulder. Nate parked directly behind Marcus. He and Kay hurried down the embankment.
“We have to go help.” Chris reached for her seat belt.
“I’m sorry, but it’s too dangerous for you to be outside.”
“I know you’re right. But if it’s my brother...”
Her voice trailed off. She didn’t finish the sentence, and he didn’t push. “Nate will let us know something as soon as he can.”
A couple of ambulances came and left, but from where they were parked, Marcus couldn’t see who the EMTs carried to the hospital or if the passengers were even alive.
Chris fidgeted in her seat until Nate and Kay walked up the embankment with a police officer at their side.
“Now we can get out,” Marcus said, barely getting the words out before Chris had opened her door.
The officer asked for their identification and checked it against something written in his notebook.
“I referred DPD to Dalton. Figured he could vouch for us,” Nate said.
“The driver of the pickup?” Chris asked as Kay moved to stand next to her.
“He died before the firefighters could cut him out.” The officers passed Marcus’s and Chris’s driver’s licenses back to them.
“It wasn’t Charles,” Nate said.
“Do you recognize this man?” The officer handed Chris a driver’s license.
“No. I’ve never seen him before,” Chris said.
Marcus looked over her shoulder and studied the young man’s picture. “He’s just a kid.”
“Barely twenty-two,” the cop confirmed. “At this point, while we think he was following you, there’s no proof. But he sure didn’t want to be questioned. We’ll check his family and friends. See if we can find out why.”
“Was anyone else hurt?” Chris asked.
“Not seriously,” the cop said. “A man and woman were transported to the hospital, but their injuries weren’t life threatening. A few minor scrapes for the other two drivers involved.”
“So we can go?” she asked.
“Sure thing. We have names and phone numbers.” The officer slipped the dead man’s license into his notebook and walked back down to his patrol car.
“He was well informed,” Marcus said.
“I called Dalton. He talked to someone at DPD. Interesting to see how smooth things go when we have the FBI working with us. When you drive away, a patrol car will follow you to the motel.” Nate walked over and put his arm around his wife. “I’m taking Kaycie home. You two should get off the highway.”
“Talk with you soon.” Marcus held Chris’s door for her, walked around the car, and then got behind the wheel. He checked his rearview mirror and then slowly filtered the car into the still slow-moving traffic. In the distance, a black and white followed. Nobody knew for sure if the danger of being followed had been removed. How many thugs had been hired to keep tabs on Chris?
He couldn’t lose sight of the threat. Failing wasn’t an option. No way could he let her down.
****
Chris couldn’t shake the visual of the crashed black pickup. The sound of metal crunching, the noise of the sirens, and the news of the young man’s death would stay with her for a long time.
She had closed her eyes, laid her head back, and tried to keep the images at bay. Anything that might help calm fear that tried to take root and grow. She had to keep it together. Too many people were working hard to ensure her safety. She had to be strong for them.
Her cell buzzed, startling her. “Very few people have this number.” She fished the phone out of her pocket and checked the screen. “It’s Melanie, one of my Little Sisters. What am I going to tell her if she wants to take in a movie or something? It’s too dangerous to have physical contact with either of the girls.”
“Talk to her. If you have to, tell you’re going out of town but can be reached by phone.”
Chris answered, chatting with the young girl who’d been removed from her parents’ custody because of their drug use. When the call ended, Chris felt better.
“Your side of the conversation was upbeat. I’m guessing all is well.”
“It’s great news. Melanie made the school’s debate team. She’s got great foster parents. They’re supportive of her activities. All I do is offer a little praise. Sometimes a friendly ear means a great deal to a foster kid.”
“Speaking with her certainly helped your mood.”
“It did. I’m supposed to be helping them cope, but I think it’s the other way around.”
“I’d say you and the girls are lucky to have each other.”
Chris studied Marcus’s profile. In her opinion, he was stunning. The lines of his face, the determined set of his jaw, his deep-chocolate eyes that could look into your soul, gave him a look of confidence. Yet, he had no idea the effect he had on people.
She’d teased him that the world shouldn’t be denied a little Marcus. Truth was, the idea of him fathering a child with anyone but her had her stomach tumbling. It just wouldn’t be acceptable.
Realization smacked into her. She’d done exactly what she feared most. She’d fallen in love with him. Hopelessly and forever, gushy words and all, in love with him. And that just wouldn’t do. Not until she was sure how he felt about her. She’d read that in crises some people turned to each other for comfort. Even after a death in the family, sex could be an affirmation of life. Chris knew her heart, and that didn’t apply here, and Marcus was used to working in crisis mode. He cared for her. How much was the question.
“Hey. You look like you’re going to open the door and jump.” Marcus’s tone was heavy with concern. “We’re safe for now.”
Chris realized she had a death grip on the armrest and her seat belt. She made a big show of uncoiling. “Just a little aftershock. So many questions keep running through my mind.”
“For instance?”
“Is Charlie following us? What are his plans? Does he plan to torture me like he did those other women?” She’d lied to Marcus, but no way would she admit she was thinking about him.
“No. He won’t make it past me.” The finality in Marcus’s words scared her.
“I’m guessing he plans to kill you first.” She had no doubt Marcus would sacrifice himself to keep her safe. It was who he was.
“If he gets to you, I will be dead, but I don’t plan on getting killed.”
Marcus pulled up to a stop sign. Chris hadn’t realized they’d traveled so far or that they’d left the freeway. “We’re on the outskirts of town. Are we almost there?”
“Yeah. I’m double checking that nobody followed us.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes while Marcus watched the road, and then he made a U-turn and got back on the freeway. A few seconds later, he pulled into the lot of a motel and parked close to the entrance. “Not as fancy as the other night, but Kay picked a place where all the doors into the rooms are from the inside. Plus, there’s a restaurant on site.”
Chris couldn’t imagine being hungry. She waited next to her door while Marcus got out and took the suitcases from the trunk. His gaze was intense as he scanned the area. Dalton had to find Charlie. She couldn’t bear the thought of Marcus dying because of her.
“Once we’re settled, I want you to tell me what really upset you.”
She opened her mouth but had no argument. Instead, she smiled and allowed him to guide her inside. Again, he placed his body between her and the street.
Marcus checked in, making sure the room Kay had reserved was on the first floor.
“Does it matter?” Chris asked, keeping her voice low.
“Yeah.” He grinned down at her. “If I have to toss you out a window to run for safety, I’d rather do it from the ground floor.”
“Oh,” she said. “Got it.” She fell in step beside him and together they walked down the hall. He stepped inside the room, looked around, and then let her enter.
No matter what happened she’d always be grateful to Marcus. If he cornered her about their relationship, she’d look him straight in his eyes and lie. No way could she tell him how she felt. The next move had to be his.
She flipped on the light, vowing to make the most of her time with him.
Chapter 24
Chris dropped down on the couch, slid off her shoes, and looked at the manila envelope containing her adoption papers.
Marcus placed the suitcases on a stand and sat on the edge of one of the beds. “You just going to stare at the outside? Aren’t you curious?”
“Why am I reluctant to open this? There can’t be many surprises left.”
“You’ll have to look and see.”
“Sit with me?”
He joined her on the couch, reached over and lifted her feet onto his lap. Strong thumbs applied pressure to her arch, and she sighed. “You go ahead,” he said. “I’ll entertain myself.”
She dumped the contents in her lap and started reading the first document. There was more information than she’d expected. “Interesting. My mother left us at the home but hadn’t actually given us up for adoption. When the Hollands came, they intended to foster a couple of children. Apparently, they changed their minds and decided they wanted to adopt. Before that could happen, my birth mother had to legally relinquish her maternal rights to us. She made us wards of the court. She literally gave all three of us away.”
“Yet, the Hollands took only two of you.”
Chris couldn’t imagine her mom and dad leaving Charlie behind. She’d never known them to be cruel, but that single act was beyond her understanding. She read on. “Holy crap. This is important.”
“What is it?”
“Charlie’s last name was different than mine and Chelsea’s. It says so right here in the document our birth mother signed for the state. Christine Shelby, Chelsea Shelby, and Charles Bridger. Dalton is checking out men with the wrong name.”
“I can fix that.” Marcus called Dalton and gave him the news. “I’d better tell Nate, too.”
Chris read on, half-listening to Marcus’s conversations. His tone softened, and she assumed Kay had answered the phone. “Yeah. Bridger.” He spelled the name out loud. “Tell Nate when he gets out of the shower.”
Chris handed him the papers. “There’s nothing else of interest here.”
“What else did you expect to learn?” He leaned forward and rubbed her calves.
“I’ll probably never find the answer to the one question that will haunt me forever. Why split up our family? Mom and Dad were brilliant, educated, and kind. Yet, they left a little boy behind. One who’d lost his mother and then his sisters.” She blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. “In my wildest dreams, I can’t imagine how he felt when we drove away. For a nine-year-old, the pain must’ve been unbearable.” She swiped the back of her hand across her cheeks.
“I wish I could answer that for you.” Suddenly, her feet were on the floor, and Marcus was next to her. He pulled her onto his lap and cradled her in his arms. “It’s okay to cry.”