Page 85 of Storm Warning

“How do you know? Okay, maybe I’m wrong and Cole isn’t the one behind it. That was just a working theory. Whoever sent it might not even realize that I’m not there at the moment. So we need to go back. If it’ll make you feel better, you can let John know so he can send assistance. I understand why you trust him, and I don’t blame you. I’m not asking you not to trust him, but whatever we do, let’s just be careful.”

Let’s.As if they were a team. Because they had been working together. Hawk had saved her and helped her. Part of her kind of hoped he would remain with her now even though his brother was incarcerated. Weird to admit that was true. But she might be fooling herself believing that Hawk thought of her as more than a means to an end.

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Careful?She thought she had to tell him to be careful? What did it take to truly trust another person? Did Remi even completely trust Hawk? Humans made mistakes. Big mistakes. Hawk had once trusted Cole, and now look at his brother. He shoved away the distracting thoughts. This was no time to think about everything that had gone wrong and everything thatcouldgo wrong, though Hawk was doing his best.

For fifteen miles, in and out of traffic, he watched the mirrors.

Hawk had expected they would be followed, and he wasn’t disappointed. John had said he trusted Hawk to protect her, but he would have a backup plan too, unless this was someone else following them. Someone had hired Cole, after all. Someone else besides John Marshall and the US government wanted what was in Remi’s head.

“Is someone following us?” Remi asked.

“Yes.”

“Well, can we lose them? I’m hungry and tired and I’d like to sleep in my own bed tonight.”

“You aren’t letting this lodge thing go, are you?”

“No. And after all, your friend John told me to relax and try to remember the details, and I need to be there in case there’s more to remember.”

“You said that.”

“And I thought we agreed that’s where we’re going.”

Actually, he’d never agreed to anything. “To see what’s in that box, no doubt. Maybe it’s puzzle pieces. Maybe it’s something else. Have you ever thought of that?”

“What, like a bomb? No. Aren’t you curious?”

“You’ve remembered most of what happened. You said so yourself. You also said whatever image the puzzle pieces create doesn’t matter anymore.”

“I don’t need you to remind me of what I said.”

“So, why is the box supposedly containing more of the puzzle suddenly important?”

Remi huffed, her agitation growing. “Because Jo found it in the garbage.”

He shrugged, unconvinced. “Someone thought it was junk mail.”

“Possibly.”

Hawk tried to lose his tail, but they were staying on him, four cars back. Seattleites loved their full-size SUVs or else this tail would have been a cliché straight from the movies—a big, black Suburban. The vehicle closed the distance, and Hawk shifted in his seat.

He called John, who picked up quickly. “Hawk. I didn’t think I’d hear from you so soon.”

“We have a tail. Is that you?”

“No.”

“Because you put a tracker on the vehicle so you didn’t need to tail us?”

“What? No.”

“I’ll call you back.” He ended the call.

Then maneuvered around an eighteen-wheeler and a wolf pack of cars before speeding up.

She reached for the grab handle above the door as he weaved through traffic on the slick highway. “What’s the point of any of this if we don’t make it out alive?”

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