Page 42 of Sackett
“Relax,” he said under his breath, hoping she would trust him.“He’s not going to do anything as long as we stay public.Too many potential witnesses.”
“But what about—”
“Don’t worry, sunshine.You did good spotting him and now that we’ve seen him, we won’t give him a chance to do anything.”Sackett had no doubt the man she called Mr.Smarmy was Jonah Harper, the leader of the commune.Sackett thought commune was just a polite name for a cult but that was neither here nor there.What mattered now was that they get back to Durango and figure out how he had managed to find them here.
He had little doubt the man had followed them from there, but didn’t know if he’d been on the train, as there had been more than a few cars and Sackett hadn’t visited even half, much less all of them.Or maybe the man had seen them in line for the train and had driven up here on his own.Either was possible.If he’d been on the train, then they didn’t have much to worry about until they got back but if he’d driven up here, then he could potentially attempt to take her here.
Either way, now that she’d spotted him, they would be more aware, more prepared.
“What do we do now?”she asked, her eyes wide.
“We relax.We act like we haven’t seen him, and we continue to enjoy our day.”He turned over his hand under hers and gripped hers back, hoping it looked natural to anyone watching, especially Harper.Then he scanned the saloon to see if there were any other faces from the files Krissi sent him on his flight up.“We keep an eye out, but don’t let them know that we’ve seen them, if we can manage it.Can you manage it?”He watched her, trying to read her expression, not just her response.
“I think so.”She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders before exhaling.“I’m sorry.”She kept her voice soft enough that it wouldn’t be overheard, even at the next table.“Seeing him caught me by surprise and I had a moment of panic.”She took another deep breath, and he watched as she seemed to rebuild herself from the inside out.In the space of a few seconds, she was back to the confident, happy woman he’d been walking with when they’d come in here.
“How are your feet?”he asked.They’d spent a good chunk of the last couple of hours walking and he wanted to check on her.On top of that, if they had to run for some reason, he needed to know if she’d have trouble doing so.
“They’re fine.A couple of twinges here and there as I move, but they’re better than I expected when I got my first look at them.”
“Good.”He didn’t share his concerns, that was something she didn’t need to know about.He just hoped they didn’t have to run in order to get away from this fuckwad again.
They finished eating, then strolled along the street again before walking back to the train station, making sure they went early enough that there were others headed for the same place.
Sackett didn’t doubt he could protect her from Harper, but what if the man wasn’t alone?What if he’d brought several men to make sure of his success?Sackett wasn’t willing to take the risk.At the station, he asked her to use the restroom before they boarded, so he could keep an eye on the door and not seem like a total stalker.They made it on board and were on the way back to Durango without Harper trying anything or spotting anyone else either of them recognized.
36
Selenadidn’ttakeaneasy breath until they stepped into their hotel room, and she heard the deadbolt click into place.It took several deep breaths as she forced herself to focus to ease the tension in her muscles.
“How did they find us?”she asked when she could speak without the tears of frustration escaping.
“I’m not certain, but I have an idea.Can I go through your bag?”
She looked at him with a frown.What bag was he talking about?Her suitcase?They’d never been anywhere near her suitcase.
“The one you grabbed the night we pulled you out of the compound.”
“Oh!”That made a lot more sense.She went to her side of the bed where she’d left it and lifted her briefcase onto the bed housekeeping must have made while they were out.“It’s my briefcase.I do have client files inside but here.”
She watched as he systematically emptied it, then went through each of the pockets, even checking the seams, until he pulled a slim square disk from one of the pockets.
“I take it this isn’t yours?”he asked with one lifted brow.
She looked at it for a moment before she realized what it was.“Is that a GPS tag?”
“That’s exactly what it is.”
“No.Not mine.”She scowled at the thin piece of plastic.Much of the tension and nerves of the ride back to town returning.“But that didn’t lead him to us today.It was here in the room, not in Silverton with us.”
“I think I have that figured out.”He looked up at her and seemed to be sensing her tension.“I could put all this back but I’m sure you had some kind of order to it that I won’t get right.Do you want to do it, or do you want me to?”
She looked at her now empty briefcase then at the neat piles of papers, pens and other things that he’d made while unpacking it.He hadn’t just dumped it in order to search faster, and she appreciated it.
“I’ll do it.”
He stepped back and she took his place beside the bed.
“Tell me how he found us today, or at least your theory.”She didn’t look up from where she began to put things back in the pockets where they belonged while she waited for him to talk.
