Tell Me No Spies (34 page)

“Jeez,” Dave said. “Is
there an echo in here?”

Tom shot a puzzled
frown in my direction.

“Tom is a volunteer
firefighter. He’s trained as a first responder,” I explained. “Just
answer his questions.

“No,” Dave said. “No
pain anywhere else.”

“Do you feel dizzy or
sick?” Tom persisted.

“No.”

“Any history of heart
disease? High blood pressure?”

Dave shifted
uncomfortably. “No. I’m fine. I had my Class One physical just a
few months ago. It’s just a muscle spasm.”

“You should go to the
hospital as a precaution anyway.” Tom pulled out his cell phone.
“I’ll call the ambulance.”

“No!” Dave sat up.
“I’m fine.”

Tom sat back on his
heels. “Why take a chance? You should get this checked.”

“No,” Dave repeated.
He took a deep breath, rolling his shoulders, before struggling to
his feet.

Tom rose with him,
frowning. “Aydan, what’s going on?”

“Um.” I stared at him,
my mind completely blank. “I, um… It’s a long story…” I took a deep
breath, trying to marshal my quivering wits.

Stall.

“Why are you prowling
around my woods with a shotgun?” I asked.

“Oh.” He glanced down
at the gun cradled in the crook of his arm. “I was actually riding
my side of the creek. You know there was cougar in the area a while
back, and I always carry my shotgun just in case. I saw, uh…” he
paused. “…Dave?”

“Oh, yes, sorry. Tom,
this is Dave Shore. Dave, Tom Rossburn, my neighbour.”

Dave’s face cleared as
I made the introductions. “So he’s a friend.”

“Yes.”

Dave stuck out his
hand and Tom shook it.

“Does he know…” Dave
trailed off when I gave him a fierce glare and a slight shake of my
head.

I turned quickly to
face Tom’s puzzled frown. “So you saw Dave…” I prompted.

“Uh. Yes.” Tom’s eyes
searched my face. “He was bent over holding his chest and I thought
he might be in trouble, so I came over to see if I could help. As
soon as he saw me, he yelled and told you to run, and I was afraid
you were in danger.”

He shot a dubious
glance at Hellhound’s bruises. “Then you came running out the trees
with him right behind you, and I thought…”

He paused and
finished, “Well, I wasn’t sure what was going on, and I didn’t want
to take a chance. I’ve been worried about you. You were so upset
the last time I saw you, and then you vanished…”

He trailed off and
turned to Arnie. “You’re supposed to be her friend. Has she told
you about her problems with Kane?” His eyes narrowed in
comprehension. “Did you take him on? Is that what happened to your
face?”

Arnie shot me a
cautious glance. “Yeah, I knew there was a problem,” he said.
“We’re workin’ on it.”

Tom stood up a little
straighter, his expression brightening. “Good. Finally. How can I
help?”

I assessed Tom’s
battle-ready posture with a sinking sensation. “Thanks, Tom, but
there’s nothing you can do to help at the moment. Just don’t tell
anybody you saw us, okay? And you didn’t see the car that’s parked
on the road right now, either.”

Tom frowned. “What do
you mean, don’t… Are you hiding from him?” His shoulders tensed and
he swept an outraged glare at Hellhound. “If he assaulted you, call
the police and report it! Don’t just run and hide.”

Leather creaked
dangerously as Hellhound drew himself up, his fists clenching. I
clutched his arm and spoke rapidly into the taut silence.

“Arnie would never run
away from a fight. Kane didn’t do this to him, he was fighting some
other men to protect me. We’re just lying low until we can figure
out a plan.”

Tom lifted an arm and
let it fall against his side with a slap. “How much of a plan do
you need? He’s a dirtbag, and he’s stalking you. That’s illegal.
Get a restraining order, and let the police enforce it.” His eyes
narrowed. “What other men? Protect you from what?”

I drew a breath of
relief as I spotted a way to change the subject. “My friend Nichele
got involved with a very dangerous man, and he kidnapped her. We’re
trying to find her, but this man has decided that we’re a threat,
so he’s trying to kill us all.”

Tom pushed his cowboy
hat up and ran a hand over his face, fixing me with an incredulous
stare. “For heaven’s sake, call the police!” he exclaimed. “That’s
what they’re there for. Assault and kidnapping and death threats.
I’ll call them right now.”

He pulled out his
phone, and I sprang to capture his hand. “Tom, no! He’ll kill her
if anybody calls the police. That’s why we’re sneaking around.”

He gazed at us in
frustration. “That’s insane. Call the police and explain the
situation to them. They’re professionals. It’s what they do.
They’ll deal with it. You’re just going to get yourself killed if
you try to do it by yourself.”

“Tom, I can’t,” I said
as firmly as I could. “I just need to get some boxes from my shed,
and then I’m leaving again. If you tell anybody you saw us, we’ll
be killed. Please, just go home and pretend you never saw me.”

He scowled. “You don’t
seriously expect me to turn my back and walk away when people are
trying to kill you.”

“Yes, Tom, I don’t
just expect you to do that, I need you to do it. I need people to
believe that I was never here, and for that I need you to keep on
doing what you always do. If you get involved, you’re signing my
death warrant.”

We eyed each other
tensely, and Hellhound’s quiet rasp broke the silence. “Sometimes
the bravest thing ya can do is turn an’ walk away. This’s one a’
those times.”

Tom shot a tortured
glance at Arnie before returning his gaze to my face, his fist
clenched by his side. “Aydan,” he said softly. “Please don’t ask me
to do this.”

“I’m sorry, Tom,” I
said as gently as I could. “If you do this for me, you’ll be saving
my life as surely as if you were fighting for me. Please, just go
home and pretend you never saw us.”

His face twisted. Then
he squared his shoulders and gave me his steady, sky-blue gaze. “If
that’s what you need me to do, I’ll do it. Just…” He caressed the
sweat-damp hair away from my face, looking down into my eyes. He
shot a defiant look at Hellhound, and his hand slid around the back
of my head as he leaned down to kiss me lingeringly.

“Just come back safe,”
he murmured against my lips.

Then he straightened
and glared a challenge at the other two men. “I’m holding you both
responsible for Aydan’s safety,” he snapped. “Don’t screw up. Or
you’ll answer to me.” He strode to his horse and swung easily up
into the saddle. He looked back one more time before clucking to
his horse and riding away.

I stood in the short
silence, my face burning while I avoided looking at Dave’s
open-mouthed stare and the twist of Hellhound’s lips.

Hellhound snorted. “Ya
got a serious problem there, darlin’.”

I blew out a long sigh
and massaged my aching temples. “Don’t I know it.”

“Uh, what… Am I
missing something?” Dave stammered. “I thought you and…” He trailed
off as his gaze darted from Arnie to me.

I turned to Dave,
trying to manufacture an explanation while I desperately tried to
remember who knew what about whom. “Tom doesn’t know anything
that’s going on with me. He’s my neighbour, and he’d like to be
more than that, but I can’t…” I abandoned that approach and was
casting about for something less complicated when Dave spoke up
again.

“Why did he know about
your problems with Kane?”

“He didn’t. Doesn’t.
He thinks Kane is a co-worker who’s stalking me and trying to force
me into a relationship.”

“Oh.” Dave fell
silent.

Hellhound chuckled.
“Well, darlin’, how many boyfriends does it take to keep ya outta
trouble? That makes what, four now?”

“None,” I snapped, and
he laughed.

I concentrated on
peeling a couple of loose shreds of skin off a long scratch on my
arm, trying to hide my irritation.

“Sorry,” he added
soberly. “Guess it prob’ly ain’t too funny when you’re stuck in the
middle of it. We better get goin’ before anythin’ else goes to
shit.”

“Wait a minute.” I
held out a restraining hand as he turned. “We need to rethink this.
Tom already saw us, so that part of the plan’s down the tubes. And
if our hitman’s in earshot, we might as well have just sent up a
flare. I think we’d better cut our losses.”

“We can’t just give
up,” Dave protested.

“No, I’m not talking
about giving up,” I agreed. “Let’s go back to the car and drive
into the yard. If there’s anybody there, we’re already in the car,
so we’ll have an escape route. If nobody’s there, we can get to the
shed more easily, and then we can take the boxes with us instead of
hanging around.”

I bit my tongue to
prevent myself from adding that it also got Dave safely back in the
car instead of overtaxing him in the woods.

Hellhound shot me a
smile. “Good plan, darlin’, let’s go.”

We stayed together and
moved more slowly on the way back. Dave managed to get through the
barbed wire without incident, though I could tell his back was
hurting again after his tumble. I kept my mouth shut, and Arnie and
I exchanged a glance while Dave climbed stiffly into the back
seat.

I rolled into my yard
and stopped the car well outside the range of the surveillance
cameras. We all scanned the land and buildings in silence. At last,
I shrugged. “Okay, let’s do it.”

“Hang on,” Arnie said.
He turned to face Dave. “We might hafta move fast if somebody
comes. Can ya stay in the car an’ get ready to drive just in case?
I’ll help Aydan with the boxes.”

“Sure.” Dave eased
himself out of the back seat and got slowly behind the wheel,
grimacing.

I slipped an arm
around Arnie as we walked toward the shed. “Thanks. That was smart.
And tactful.”

He shrugged. “Dunno
how smart it is to put a guy with a heart condition behind the
wheel. But at least he won’t keel over tryin’ to carry boxes.”

“Mm.” I took one last
look around before unlocking the shed. “You watch outside. I’ll dig
out the boxes, and then we can take them all to the car.”

Half an hour later, I
was caked with dust and quivering with nerves when I dropped the
last box on the ground outside the shed. I wiped my forehead with
the cleaner part of my T-shirt sleeve, cursing myself for not
accepting Hellhound’s offer of help.

“That it, darlin’?” he
inquired. “Ya really shoulda let me help ya. Ya look like ya just
ran a marathon in a dust storm.”

“I know. They were
right at the bottom of everything, but I really needed you to keep
watch. It just creeped me out to think we might get cornered in
there.”

He smiled and brushed
an errant strand of hair back from my face. “You an’ your
claustrophobia, darlin’, it’s a miracle ya ever go in a
building.”

“It’s not so much
buildings, it’s just that I can’t stand the thought of being
trapped.”

He chuckled. “I hear
ya, darlin’. Come on, let’s get these boxes loaded an’ get the hell
outta here.”

When the trunk and
back seat were loaded, Dave shot me a hopeful look. “Mind if I
drive? Need a wheel in my hands.”

I swallowed my
misgivings. “Sure. I’ll sit in the back and start going through
these boxes.”

On the highway, I
caught a glimpse of Dave’s cheerful face in the rearview
mirror.

“Better?” I asked.

“Yeah. Hate staying in
one place too long. Start to miss the open road.”

“You really love
driving that much?”

“Yeah.” He shrugged.
“Well, no… it’s not really the driving, I just feel cooped up if
I’m not on the highway.”

“Yeah, I get that,”
Hellhound agreed, and I relaxed into the seat, appreciating another
accord between the men, however temporary it might turn out to
be.

Several hours later, I
rubbed my aching eyes and slouched down in the seat.

“Nothin’?” Arnie
asked.

“Nothing.” I blew out
a long sigh. “All I found was his old pay stubs from when he worked
for the Department of Agriculture. They started the year I was
thirteen and ended the year I went to college, but I already knew
that. I’d hoped to find…” I hesitated, trying to phrase it
carefully in front of Dave.

“…maybe pay stubs from
somewhere else or something,” I finished lamely. “Sorry, guys. That
was a total waste of gas and time and nervous energy.”

“Never mind, Aydan,
you had to try,” Dave said. “What’ll we do now?”

I squinted at my watch
in the dimness of the mall parkade where we’d hidden since our
return to Calgary. “It’s supper time, I need to make some phone
calls, and I’m not planning to eat any of that potato salad that’s
been festering in the trunk since this morning. I’ll go into the
mall, get us something from the food fair, and make my calls from a
pay phone.”

“Not by yourself, ya
ain’t,” Arnie said. I didn’t get a chance to protest before he
continued with resignation, “You’re up, Dave. Don’t let her outta
your sight.”

“I won’t,” Dave
promised.

Inside the mall, I
huddled deeper into the hood of my jacket, feeling as though I had
a flashing red light attached to my head. I slouched along beside
Dave, head down, hoping to look like a sullen teenage son. Jeez,
please don’t let him decide to cuddle up to me now.

Fortunately, Dave
seemed to catch the vibe. He kept his hands in his pockets and gave
me appropriate space.

The pay phones were
conveniently located right beside the food court, and I made a
beeline directly for them. When Dave hovered, I shot him a look
from under my hood.

“Go get some food,” I
muttered. “I’ll be a few minutes here.”

He glanced worriedly
over his shoulder. “I don’t want to leave you.”