The moment they moved under the trees, she felt a chill as the branches overhead blocked the evening sun. She glanced at Nichols, who was bending over, examining the ground, zigzagging several feet to either side of the paved trail, his plain face flushed with anxiety.
Poor man.
With his luck, they’d find the photographs with shoe tracks stamped across them.
Another jogger came around the bend, his gaze flicking over Nichols as he peered at the ground. Makay hesitated at the bend, her eyes wandering over the ground and finding nothing. She wasn’t willing to go further and leave her view of the playground completely behind.
“Ah, there they are,” Nichols said, looking off to the right of the trail. “Funny, I don’t remember a breeze. But they must have blown over there.”
“Where? I don’t—” Makay’s words cut off as his hand shoved her forward. She scrambled to stay on her feet, but Nichols pushed her again, harder. She tripped over a small bush and rolled, coming up onto her knees.
Nichols loomed over her, his face contorted. “Think you’re going to shake me down, do you?” He punched her in the face, and pain burst through her skull. “No one blackmails me, and especially not for a mistake like you. Not my fault if a woman can’t keep her legs shut and decides to drop a litter.” He aimed a kick at her leg, which Makay was too dazed to dodge.
“Fine,” Makay spluttered. “Just leave me alone.”
His face was red and a vein throbbed in his throat. “Leave
you
alone? I’m not the one who made me come here in the first place.” He reached down and grabbed her hair near the scalp. “But I am the one who’s going to teach you a lesson. Isn’t that what dads are supposed to do?” He dragged her farther off the path and into the trees.
Makay fought him, trying to get away and hoping desperately that someone would come down the jogging trail.
Chapter Twenty-One
N
ichols dropped her seconds later, and Makay jumped to her feet, thinking fleetingly of the gun in her pocket. But if she took that out, she’d either have to use it or risk him taking it away from her and using it himself. She wasn’t ready to take a life. Not yet.
He swung and she dodged. He wasn’t a big man, but he had at least forty pounds on her and it had been years since she’d had to do any real fighting to protect herself. Sleeping with a roof over her head these past years had made her weak and slow. Nichols lashed out again, and she barely blocked it with her arm.
His laugh sounded as if he was enjoying himself.
He beats his wife,
Lenny had said. She should have remembered that.
His next punch connected with the side of her head and she fell again, tripping over a tree root. She kicked at him as he neared, landing a solid blow to his knee. He swore and kicked at her again and again, his booted foot coming at her like a sledge hammer. Fiery pain erupted along her right side—her leg, her torso, and her arm. Her ribs crunched, and agony clawed at her side.
I have to get away!
She tried crawling, but he came after her, his laugh growing louder.
“Who’s in control now?” he taunted. “How does it feel to know that just as I gave you life, I can take it away?”
She felt more than saw him pick up a fallen tree branch. In the next second, agony stomped the back of her head, and she collapsed to the dirt. She thought of Nate and knew that unless she wanted to leave him an orphan again, she’d have to use the gun. Nichols might have planned only to teach her a lesson, but he seemed to be enjoying himself too much to quit his assault. How many broken bones had he given his wife? Did her pain give him as much pleasure as Makay’s?
She felt for the gun, trying to ignore the white hot pain running through her arm.
Another kick to her side left her breathless, but her hand closed around the smooth metal. She’d racked it before arriving at the meeting, so it was ready to go.
Pull the trigger before he hits you again with that branch.
If she didn’t, it might be too late. Tears wet her eyes as she rolled to face him. Or was that blood?
“Stop right there!” a voice shouted. “I’ve called the police. They’re on their way!”
Makay blinked through the liquid in her eyes. Several feet away, Lenny was holding a knife in one hand and his cell phone in another. Nichols growled in his throat, shaking the heavy branch in his hands. For a moment, Makay thought he was going to attack Lenny or maybe turn and finish her off, but two male joggers appeared behind Lenny and stared threateningly at Nichols. He grunted, threw the branch at them, and took off down the trail.
Makay let her head sink back to the ground. Something dribbled from her eyes into her hairline.
Nate,
she thought, but she couldn’t move.
Lenny knelt beside her. “You okay?”
“I don’t know,” Makay whispered.
“Okay, just rest a minute.” He sighed. “How many times have I told you never to go anywhere with them?”
Makay didn’t answer, but she didn’t know if going with Nichols had made that much of a difference. The man had come with the intent already in his heart, and that bench was pretty isolated. What’s more, who could blame his anger? Pain reverberated up her arm as she shifted her weight. Well, she couldn’t fault his anger, but she could blame him for trying to kill her. What kind of a man did that?
“Should we call an ambulance?” one of the joggers said. The other was already on the phone with someone, but Makay couldn’t hear his conversation.
“I think we’ll wait a bit,” Lenny said. “See if I need to take her in.” As one of the joggers approached, Lenny eased Makay’s gun from her hand and it disappeared inside his clothes. “Can you toss me her backpack?” he said to the man. “You have some tissues in there, don’t you?” he asked Makay.
“Side pocket.”
Lenny began wiping her face. “Looks like you’re going to need stitches on your cheek.”
Probably not the only place, given the pounding from her forehead and the back of her skull. Makay smiled gratefully at the jogger, who tossed her a hand towel from his own small backpack. “For your head,” he said. “My friend called the police. They should be here soon.”
Lenny tensed, and Makay realized that when he’d told Nichols he’d called the police, it had been a bluff. “Actually, I’d better take her to the hospital right now,” Lenny said. “That head wound looks pretty bad. “Can you walk, Makay?”
Makay knew she had better be able to walk. If the police discovered why she’d been talking to Nichols, she’d be in as much trouble as he was. “Nate,” she said. “We have to get him. He’s my son,” she added for the joggers’ benefit.
With the help of Lenny and the two other men, she made it to Lenny’s car, picking up Nate on the way. He was full of questions, his bright eyes frightened, but Makay took his hand with her uninjured left and promised to tell him everything later.
“What about the police?” asked one of the joggers when she was settled in Lenny’s front passenger seat.
“Send them to the hospital,” Lenny muttered.
“Okay. We’ll wait here for them.” The jogger who had given her his towel, gingerly touched her left shoulder. “I’m really sorry this happened. I hope you’re not too badly injured.”
“She’s at least broken that arm,” said his friend.
“Thanks for your help.” Makay tried to fix their faces in her mind, but her head thrummed too much for her to notice more than blond hair, kind eyes, and lank bodies.
Lenny passed the police car as they left the parking lot. “Whew, that was close.” He pushed her backpack toward her as he picked up speed and turned the corner. “Try not to bleed all over my car, huh?”
Makay was in too much pain to answer.
“I didn’t know you carried.” Lenny shot a glance at her.
“There’s a lot you don’t know about me.” Makay wanted to thank him for saving her before she killed Nichols, but the words wouldn’t come. She glanced over the seat to the back, where Nate sat quietly clutching their duffel, his eyes luminous. “I’m okay now. Don’t worry, honey.”
Of course with no pickup money, there would be no escape or disappearing for them. Makay fought tears.
You are alive,
she reminded herself. She would be there for Nate in the morning. But the pain in her head and arm was growing worse, and darkness nibbled at the edges of her vision.
“Makay?” Lenny’s worried voice seemed to come from far away.
The next thing she knew, Lenny was hauling her inside some kind of medical clinic while Nate hovered nearby. The lady at the desk took one look at her and put them in a room immediately.
Two hours, one cast, two sets of stitches, four staples, and a dozen bandages later, Makay hobbled back to Lenny’s car. To her surprise, Lenny had paid for everything in cash. Maybe that was because he’d given them a false name, but he hadn’t left her there alone.
“What about your girlfriend?” she asked as they arrived back at the motel.
“I never much liked her anyway.” Even so, he left them once she was settled.
Nate crawled onto the queen bed with her, not even asking to turn on the television. “Did Lenny do this?” He touched her cast and then pointed at the stitches on her face.
“Oh, sweetie, no!” Makay put her arm around him, cast and all. “No, it was . . .” She’d been going to say that it had been a stranger, but she didn’t want Nate living a life afraid of everyone. “Look,” she said, forcing herself to a seated position. “Lenny was trying to scam this guy and the guy got mad. I happened to be in his way.”
Nate’s brow furrowed. “He should have got Lenny.”
“No, the man should have called the police, but he didn’t because he’s not a good guy, either. He likes to hit people. He’s a very mean man.”
“Oh.” Nate thought a moment. “Was that why Lenny was trying to scam him?”
Makay’s head pounded. What did she say to a six-year-old who was only trying to understand the world and his place in it? She wanted Nate to feel safe and to trust her, but she’d let him down today by putting both herself and him at risk. “No, Lenny was trying to scam him because he wants money. All Lenny cares about is money.”
“But he did take you to the doctor.”
“He did.” Makay still felt a little wonder about that herself. “But Lenny is not our friend, and that’s why very soon I’m going to take you so far away from Arizona that you will never have to see him again.”
“But what about Jonny? He’s my best friend. And Harrison? Are we going to see them again?”
Makay swallowed hard. Harrison would probably say that she’d gotten exactly what she deserved, and maybe he’d be right. Or had there been any softening of his heart? “Maybe. Now why don’t you turn on the TV and see if we can find some cartoons?”
Makay had downed two painkillers, and now she drifted off to sleep in a fuzzy sense of well-being. For the moment, they were safe, and that was all that mattered.
<><><>
L
enny reappeared the next morning while they were taking advantage of the motel’s free breakfast bar. He slid into the seat next to Makay. “Look, we’re even now. After what happened last night, I’m wiping the slate clean from what you owe me.”
Makay’s eyes went to where Nate was scooping more scrambled eggs onto his plate. “So I don’t have to pay you back for the other deal?” Lenny had never seemed to care about her pain and suffering before, though admittedly, this time was by far the worst she’d endured.
“No. But you still have to do the last two jobs. Then we’ll see.”
I can’t,
Makay wanted to say.
One of them knows me.
But she couldn’t bring herself to voice the words. Knowing one of the marks was the only solid thing she had on him—if she could figure out how to use the information. She drew another spoonful of hot oatmeal to her lips. “I need time to recover.”
“Of course. You’ll have a few days.”
Would it be enough time to disappear? And on what? Makay felt sick.
The trek back to Phoenix went quickly for Makay as her bruised body utilized the time to recuperate. She was grateful the prescription painkiller had been affordable, and each time it began to wear off, she downed another pill.
At a rest stop, as she waited for Nate to finish in the restroom, she finally remembered to turn on her phone. More messages from Lily and another from Janice back at her old apartment building. Lily wanted her to call, and Janice begged her to come over. “Something’s happened,” Janice said. “It’s about Sally. You’re not going to believe it.” Probably something about the funeral. Well, it would have to wait. At least with this sorry turn of events, she’d actually be able to attend the old woman’s funeral.
Makay called Lily. “Hey, it’s me.”
“Where have you been?” Lily sounded almost angry. “I’ve been up worrying all night.”
“What? Why would you be worrying about me? I saw that you called, but I had this out-of-town thing, and I needed to make sure—”
“Harrison was here looking for you.”
Makay’s stomach flip-flopped. “What did he say?” Was he trying to sabotage her relationship with Lily?
“Nothing much, except that you two had some problems. Then Brette said you’d moved in but didn’t unpack any of your boxes. Makay, are you in trouble?”
A flash of memory—a fist coming at her face—made Makay’s heartbeat quicken. “I’m fine. Look, I’m driving home now. I have to go. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Don’t you dare hang up on me! Tessa went to Nate’s school and talked to his teacher. She said Nate wasn’t coming back. I know something’s wrong. Please, Makay. You’re not in this alone. You know that, right? Whatever it is, Tessa and I are here for you.”
Lily was wrong. Makay had to face her choices alone, and she would go through ten times what she already had before she’d drag Lily and Tessa, practically the only friends she had, into her criminal life. “Thanks,” she made herself say. “That means a lot. But I’m fine. Really.”
“But Harrison—”
“He’s exaggerating. I’ll explain later.” Makay felt sad even as she told the lie. She could never tell Lily everything, but maybe if she figured out some way to leave Arizona, she could write Lily a letter and mail it on the way to wherever they ended up going.
Today was Thursday, and Lenny had promised to give her a few days before the next pickup. So maybe her path would become clear before that, even if it meant throwing herself on Harrison’s mercy and begging him not to contact the police. The idea made her heart pound more furiously. She didn’t want to beg Harrison for leniency, but she would do it for Nate if she had to.