Summer Kisses (222 page)

Gorgon clamped his jaw and refused to show any weakness as he shifted and straightened on the mattress. “Have you sent men to watch her family’s home?”

“Yes. She is not there and she has not contacted them, so I imagine she has not gone to the police, yet.”

“She won’t go to the police. Katrina knows there are those we own. She is not a stupid woman.”

“I have paid someone close by her family who will have no problem letting us know if she does call them, and then we will move quickly to learn her and Luka’s whereabouts.” Yegor stared down his nose at him. “Do not worry, my son. We will get Luka back. There is not a place on this Earth we will leave untouched. I’ve offered a huge reward to find them. Someone will turn them in.”

“How much?”

“Five-hundred thousand. And matching that for Katrina’s life.”

“That is not enough. Raise the reward to a million for Luka.”

“A million dollars?”

“Ya. And another million for Katrina’s safe return to me.”

“Oh, My God,” his mom cried. “You do not want that woman back?”

Gorgon flashed a silencing glance at his mother before turning back to his Da. Gorgon knew his stare was as cold as his icy heart. “I want to cut her as she has done to me. I will not fail to take her life, but slowly.”

Yegor Novokoff straightened, squared his shoulders and dipped his head with a quick nod. “It will be done. In the meantime, you must rest and heal. Luka will need you strong when he is returned.”

If Luka is returned.
The thought of not ever seeing his son again pierced Gorgon’s heart before he could shield it. He closed his eyes. A smile tugged at his lips while he imagined Katrina’s fear when he stood before her again with the knife that would slowly and painfully end her life.

Nicole’s heartbeat throbbed in her temples while outside, a thunder storm of biblical proportion rolled in from the west, casting an eerie coat on the Sunday morning twilight.

She’d been on the run for days, and desperately missed Luka. The ache of loss in her heart was constant, demanding––overridden only by her need to survive.

On her third day working at the small truck stop in the “tiny town”, Tennessee––her eleventh day on the run––she glanced out the restaurant window and saw him.

Will had found her. How the hell he tracked her to this little town tucked between swells in the Smokey Mountains, she had no idea.

Damn. She squashed the pen and pad she held. In another two hours she’d have been done with her shift and out of there. In three, she would have been curled up in her bed in the little apartment she’d rented above the Jacobs’ garage, dreaming of Luka.

She had to get out of there before he saw her and took her into custody again. But how?

Nicole ducked below the restaurant’s kitchen window, careful to keep out of Will’s sight and then darted to the swinging door from the kitchen to the restaurant. She cracked the steel passage open enough to hear the conversation between Will and Crystal, the other waitress on duty.

Peeking at Will, contrary to her first flight response, Nicole’s stomach did a happy flip. She chided herself. There were a million good-looking guys in the world, why was she attracted to the one man she had to dodge?

“She might be using the name Becca Smith,” Will said to Crystal.

The truck-stop waitress who’d worked the establishment since the owner opened his doors, splashed coffee into the porcelain mug sitting on the counter while staring at the photograph Will presented.

Crystal snagged the picture and held three by four photo so Nicole could also see her image. How the woman knew where she stood was a mystery, but Nicole had learned over the past three days that little got by Crystal. She seemed to have 360° peripheral vision.

The snapshot, showing part of her face, was taken of her outside a theater in New York City. Gorgon had taken her to the play as a Christmas gift. The play had been magical. Gooseflesh snaked up Nicole’s arms. The thank you he expected when they’d returned home had been anything but welcome.

“This isn’t a good picture.”

“It shows most of her face. Take a good look.”

Under the high-hat lighting, Crystal repositioned the pictures several times and squinted. “Yeah. I think the same woman was in here last week.”

Will’s tired eyes flashed with new life. “When?”

Crystal handed the picture back to him. “I could be wrong.”

He tucked the photograph back into his wallet and lay his wallet on the bar. Will took a few sips of coffee while studying Crystal over the lip of the mug with eyes that now mirrored the disquieting sky beyond him. He was gauging whether the woman told him the truth.

“On Sunday night around midnight.” Crystal posted her free hand on her hip and shifted her slight weight to her other orthopedic shoe, causing the sole to make a sucking noise against the vinyl flooring. “Wait. No. It was a little after eleven, right after I came on duty. The girl turned a few heads. The way she was dressed in a little top and a ribbon of a jean skirt, I thought maybe she was working the lot, but I’ve never seen any of the lot lizards make that kind of money.”

Will’s brows pulled together. “What do you mean?”

Crystal jabbed her chin toward the hallway to the left. “She used the restroom and changed into a pair of designer jeans and leather jacket. Looked kind of expensive, and her watch was not a Timex.”

Will looked up from the jangling charm bracelet on the women’s thin wrist. “Was she alone?”

“Yeah,” Crystal answered over her shoulder while she returned the coffee pot to the burner.

The older woman caught Nicole peeking through the door’s crack and winked before turning back to Will. Grabbing a menu, Crystal dropped the vinyl-covered booklet onto the counter. “She ordered a sandwich and an iced tea and set up camp in a booth for about two hours. Do you want something else with that coffee?”

“No.” Will shook his head. “Coffee is enough. Thanks. What did she do for two hours?”

“The truck drivers are grabbing breakfast at that time before they hit the road heading up into the New York markets, so I was pretty busy, but as far as I could tell she just watched people. I was a little perturbed she took up a booth that long, but she looked like she needed to rest. I caught her dozing off once or twice. Better to doze off here than on the road.” Crystal thumbed the gold cross she wore. “I don’t need any strikes against me when I meet my maker by making someone hit the road when they shouldn’t. You know what I mean? In the end, I made out.”

“How’s that?”

“She left me a ten-dollar tip. Another reason I knew she wasn’t working the lot. Those girls don’t tip.”

“Nice of her.”

“Sure was.”

Elmer, the short order cook, turned from the grill and shot Nicole a wary look.

She placed her finger against her lips and shook her head.

He rolled his eyes and slid a couple of plates of steaming eggs and steaks under the overhead heat lamps. Then he slapped the counter bell, signaling to Crystal that an order was ready for pickup, before returning to the food sizzling on the grill.

“Did you see how she left here?” Will asked, drawing Nicole’s attention.

“Nuh. All I see looking out these windows are semis rolling by.” Crystal pointed to the large paned windows across the room behind Will where outside, gray clouds churned. “Can I get you anything else? I have orders up.”

“No. I’m good. How much for the coffee?”

“A buck fifty.”

Will fished money out of his wallet and then slid the leather billfold into his back jeans pocket. “Here’s five. Keep the change and here’s my card. If you think of anything else, I’d appreciate your giving me a call.”

“Thanks.” Crystal looked at the card and her spine straightened. “U.S. Marshal? Did she do something bad?”

Will held his mug inches from his lips. “I’m not at liberty to say, but if you’re a mother…”

“I am. Four daughters. My two oldest are in college. One’s going to be a surgical nurse and the other an accountant,” Crystal said with pride. “She got her head for figurein’ from me.”

“Then you would understand.” Will gulped a swig of coffee, sat the mug down with a thud that reminded Nicole of a judge’s gavel finalizing a sentence, and slid off the bar stool. “Call me.”

“Sure thing.”

Nicole slithered up the surface of the door and stared through the tiny diamond-shaped window. Her breath fogged the pane in quick puffs while she watched Will’s broad back disappear through the exit.

Suddenly the swinging door shoved her backward and she scrambled to keep her footing.

Anger and resentment played across Crystal’s face. “What the hell is going on, Becca? That guy is a U.S. Marshal. Jesus. I just lied to a Fed.”

She had to think fast. She crinkled her face into a state of confusion. “What? No. He’s not a Fed.”

“He gave me his card and told me to call him.” Crystal held up Will’s card.

“Let me see.” Nicole snapped the card away from the waitress and glanced at Will’s contact information before crumpling the paper into a ball in her tight fist. “He’s no goddamn cop. That bastard made these up. Anyone can make a business card nowadays. The stuff is on Walmart’s shelf.” She stuffed the paper into her apron’s pocket, hoping Crystal wouldn’t think twice about the raised seal. “He wants to gain people’s confidence so he finds me. I’m telling you he’s my husband. You’ve got to believe me, Crystal. He thinks he owns me like a dog. He’ll kill me if he finds me.” She widened her eyes and grabbed Crystal’s arm, hanging on for effect. “Isn’t impersonating an officer a felony? Maybe I could have him arrested and have his ass thrown back into jail.”

Ding. Ding. Ding.
The bell behind them pinged.

“You two still have a couple hours to go? Let’s get your asses in gear. Crystal, your order is up and getting cold. If you don’t want to buy those truckers their breakfast you better get a move on,” Elmer cried out. “And, Becca, you’ve got a couple of guys waiting at table six.”

“All right, Elmer; give us one second,” Crystal ordered him right back.

“You’ve got to believe me,” Nicole pleaded, twisting her face with anxiety.

Crystal’s gaze honed in on hers for a moment before she shoved a finger into her face. “You stay put. I’ll get your table’s order. You hear me?”

“I’m not going anywhere.” She had to get out of there and fast. If Will asked around enough, he’d find someone who’d give her up. “I need a cigarette to calm my nerves. You got any?”

“You don’t smoke.”

“I used to.” She lied. “I gave it up, but I really need to calm down. I’m freakin’.” She hopped in place while trapping her lip between her teeth.

“Okay. In my purse.” Crystal turned and picked up the steaming plates.

“Can you check out front and see if he’s gone?”

“I’ll ask Lisa at the fuel desk if she saw him leave as soon as I take table six’s order.”

The moment Crystal pushed through the swinging doors Nicole rushed to the lockers, opened Crystal’s locker, and dug through her purse. Peeking over her shoulder and ensuring Elmer was busy at the grill, Nicole grabbed Crystal’s pack of cigarettes and her car keys. Then she opened her own locker, grabbed her purse and slung it over her shoulder. “I’m going out back for a few minutes, Elmer.” Rushing by the steam table, she held up the cigarettes for him to see and jogged through the stock room to the back door.

With her hand on the push bar, she stopped. What if Will was watching the lot? She couldn’t run like a scared mouse. If he had any inkling she was there, he would expect her to run and then arrest her in mid-step.

Slouching back against the wall, between a stock shelf and the door, she folded her arms across her chest. Her heart ping-ponged against her arm. She had to calm down and think clearly. She drew a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. She had escaped both Gorgon and Will before. She could again. She would.

How had he found her? Nicole slipped Will’s card from her pocket, unrolled the wad and brushed her thumb across the seal. Was Luka with him? No. Will wouldn’t leave the boy alone in the car while he came inside. Her stomach tightened.
Where was her son?

Maybe Will had already put him into the foster care system. Maybe he was already with a new family and on his way to forgetting her. The notion that her son was safe should make her happy, but somehow the thought had the opposite effect. Nicole leaned her head against the cool cement-block wall and closed her eyes against the pain constricting her heart and threatening to test her vocal cords. She missed her baby so much.

She trapped her bottom lip between her teeth. As much as she wanted to remember every detail about Luka, she already knew, in order to keep her sanity she had to banish thoughts of him from her mind. Only in her dreams, when she was weak, did she allow herself to think about Luka. Then she’d wake sobbing and bury her wails in her pillow so she wouldn’t wake the elder couple who were her landlords.

“Are you all right?”

Nicole’s eyes popped opened. Crystal stood in front of her. She hadn’t even heard Crystal’s squeaky soles. Damn. She had to stay alert.

“Yeah. Just scared. You know…of him.” Nicole backhanded the tear that had escaped over her lashes and trailed along her cheek. Guilt edged its way to the front of her mind. The older woman had been nothing but good to her. Crystal worked too damn hard. Nicole dangled the car keys in between them. “I’m sorry. I was just going to borrow your car. I would’ve left it someplace safe and called you.”

“Ah, baby. Everything will be okay.” The older woman pulled her into a warm embrace and rubbed her back. Nicole remembered her mom doing the same thing when she came home from school with a broken heart after Tommy LeBlanc dumped her. Things had worked out then too.

Hiccupping against Crystal’s shoulder, Nicole pulled back and swiped away any remaining tears. “I don’t know how. Did he leave?”

“Yes. Lisa said she saw him pull out in a little black car and head toward the interstate. He’s probably headed to the next town. We better get back out front. The boss just walked in. We don’t want to lose our jobs, right?” Crystal squeezed her arms.