Tempted by a Dangerous Man (17 page)

“Where did he go?”

“I honestly don’t know. I can’t help you, Henry. I didn’t ask and he didn’t tell me.”

“Where is Zak?”

I paused a half second too long before saying, truthfully, “I have no idea.”

Henry leaned in. “You expect me to believe that you’re just some innocent woman in all of this? The security footage from the parking garage is corrupted. Bad things happen around you, Audrey. Give me your phone.”

“No.” It was an unexpected request. Almost as shocking as realizing that Corbin had gotten to the security footage. Had someone else do it, I realized.
 

“Shall I call my friends over?” Henry held out his hand.
 

With a sigh, I pulled it out of my pocket. “You want me to unlock it or do you plan to admire the case?”

His lips curled into a sneer. “I can do it.”

“It’s thumbprint plus a code, but…” I shrugged and held it out. My heart pounded.

“Unlock it.”

I pushed the power button and replied to Corbin’s last text. One word.
Owl
, I typed. Three letters. I hit the send button.
 

Heart pounding, I held the phone out to Henry. When he reached for it, I jerked my arm, sending the phone sailing over the side of the railing.

With all the reflected noise, I didn’t hear the splash when it landed in the fountain, but when I looked over the rail, a few people were staring in confusion toward the water. One woman looked up.

“Oops,” I said.

Henry’s eyes flashed fire. “Then we do this the hard way. I’ve already pulled your phone records anyway, so it’s just a matter of time. But since you aren’t cooperating—”

Rob hurried up, face grim. “Dad’s out of surgery. The surgeons want to talk to us.”

I had thought I couldn’t get any more frightened. I was wrong. My mouth went completely dry.

“What’s going on?” Rob asked, looking between Henry and me. “There a problem here?”

“No, man. No problem,” Henry said casually. “Your sister will be arrested. Just another day putting bad people behind bars.”

Rob grabbed my arm, pulled me away and down the corridor at a fast clip. “He’s following,” he said.
 

“I don’t have a phone anymore.” It seemed like a strange thing to pop into my mind, but as we passed the elevators, I realized why I was thinking it, what I was going to do. Apparently Corbin had gotten through to me after all. Or maybe I just wasn’t as brave as I wanted to believe. “How will I find out if Dad’s ok?”

“He’s fine. The surgery was a success.”

“I’ll be in touch.” I pressed a kiss to my brother’s cheek, then I darted for the stairs.
 

I caught a glimpse of Henry’s startled face, and the two men I had seen during our earlier discussion weren’t far behind him. The last thing I saw before bursting into the stairwell was Henry turning to get their attention.

My feet thundered down the steps. I heard the door slam open moments before I reached the parking garage.
 

I sprinted for the SUV, disabling the alarm on the fly. I jumped into the back and nearly landed on the snowshoes that Corbin hadn’t removed. I pushed a button on the keychain, and the door closed firmly but quietly after me.
 

Henry knew what my car looked like. He would be looking for that, or for me on foot. He certainly wouldn’t expect me in an expensive SUV. And if his cop friends ran the plates of every vehicle in the garage, which I doubted they would do for logistical reasons, this one wouldn’t turn up anything useful.

I knew that from experience.
 

Even knowing that I was absolutely safe, it wasn’t easy to stay in there, huddled down. It was freaking cold out, and of course I had to pee within ten minutes.

But I stayed there. How long before they would assume I’d already run out the building or had driven away?

So I waited an hour. Then I waited another hour to be sure. And another.

Finally I peeked up. The coast seemed clear. I crawled over the back row of seats, then slid behind the steering wheel.

I was on my own. I had no way to get in touch with Corbin. I wouldn’t be seeing my family anytime soon—even calling Rob would be too dangerous.
 

I pulled down the sun visor and found a twenty-dollar bill and a gas card. I dug around in the glovebox, looking for more money or even a roll of quarters. Came up empty.

Didn’t matter. Where I was going, I didn’t need much cash, and I knew a thrift store where I could pick up a wig for cheap. With a little luck, I’d even be able to get one in a natural hair color.

~~~

Four and a half weeks later, I stood in the bathroom at The Soups and Grains Kitchen, staring at the stranger in the mirror. Maybe the wig looked nice, but it was hot. It also smelled faintly musty, but it did the job.

After I collected my food, I trudged back to the SUV. A police cruiser pulled in, parked haphazardly. The officer gave the SUV a long glance before going into the mart.

I had planned to pull off to the side and eat, but I decided to move on immediately.
 

Not that I had any cause to be afraid. Not now. After all those weeks alone in Corbin’s cabin, I knew that it was safe for me to come back. Rob had told me when I called him that morning from a rest area pay phone. I had been calling him twice a week, checking in on our father.

“Are you sure?” I’d asked when he told me I was clear. I couldn’t help wondering if it was a trap.

“You know I wouldn’t say so if I hadn’t checked it out myself.”

“And you’re not being, I dunno, wiretapped or something?”
 

My brother’s laugh sounded a little uncertain. “You’re really paranoid. Look, I don’t know what happened, but there’s no warrant for you now, and you’re not even wanted for questioning. Guess the mixup got fixed.” His voice turned darker. “Though I don’t get why you didn’t just come in and talk to them about it.”

No, he didn’t know, and I would never tell him why I couldn’t sit in the sheriff’s office and answer questions. I wasn’t convinced of my ability to lie convincingly. What had happened to Zachary would stay between me and Corbin.

Still, being even more paranoid than Rob suspected, I had put on my wig and fake glasses to drive several hours to a small town called Mill Falls. There I used a computer to look myself up. It was true—I was no longer wanted by the police. There was no trace of the warrant, either… it was like the whole thing had never happened.

Stunned, I called the sheriff’s office and talked with Frances, who confirmed it. “I told them from the beginning that something was wrong with that,” she said. “You’re no criminal. It made no sense! The order must have come from on high.”

On high? More like on Heigh. As in Henry Heigh. And that it had been fixed after three and a half weeks couldn’t be a coincidence.

It meant that Corbin was back.

So I waited another week at the cabin. Whenever I heard the slightest noise, I rushed outside, wanting to catch the first possible glimpse of him. But he didn’t appear. And I was very tired of living in the woods by myself.
 

I left him a note on the kitchen table, sure that even if he hadn’t received my final text, he would eventually turn up at the cabin. I wasn’t worried that having destroyed the phone would keep us apart.
 

Because he was Corbin, and he would find me. After all, it was what he did.

I drove to my brother’s place and parked several blocks over, in a busy enough area that the SUV wouldn’t attract attention. I grabbed my clothing—all of which needed washing because going to the laundromat had been too nerve-wracking for me—and slipped out.

No one was around. Perfect.

I took the back way to Rob’s place, pulling off my wig and glasses as I went, and I buried them in with the dirty clothes.

As I turned down Rob’s street, I noticed a square car, a man’s silhouette inside. Spooked that I was the victim of an elaborate trap, I slowed as I approached.

Drawing closer, I realized it wasn’t just any man. It was Henry. Our eyes locked, and the hatred in his face stopped me cold. But he didn’t get out of the car.

Instead, he held up his hand, miming a gun with his thumb and index finger.

I froze.
 

With a creepy smile, he pretended to shoot me, then blew smoke away from the barrel. He lowered his hand, settled back and stared at me until I walked into my brother’s condo.

~ ~ ~

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