Page 13 of Joshua's Mistake
Tessa smiled. “We should wait ten minutes, backtrack a short way and then find a place to stay out of sight until dark.”
Her driving was extraordinary and the plan was textbook.
He nodded. “Where did you learn to drive like that?”
“Ohio. My brother loved hot rods. I wanted to spend time with him and his friends, so I learned to drive.”
“He must have been impressed.” It was a hint about her past and he wanted to dig for a bit more.
“I suppose he was for a while.”
“What happened?”
“Jamie wrapped his ‘64 around a telephone pole when he was twenty-two.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It was a long time ago. What I didn’t know at the time was my driving is part of my psi abilities. I can sense the space ahead of me. I know what the road will do before I get to it. Unfortunately, Jamie didn’t have the same gift.”
“It’s an amazing talent.”
She didn’t say any more and he didn’t push. They stayed on the hunting road for the requisite ten minutes and then Tessa pulled out and backtracked several miles before taking another road.
An hour later they tucked the Corvette into an abandoned barn on the outskirts of Princeton and waited in the woods nearby. Even though it felt as if they were miles from civilization the sound of cars rushing down Route 206 assured him they were within walking distance of acquirable transportation.
* * *
“I’ve gotto go and find a clean phone,” Joshua said.
He was leaving her. It took all of her will to push down the surge of panic flooding her gut.
Tessa was crouched down with her back against an old oak tree. Joshua took a similar stance facing her. He took her chin with his fingers and forced her to look up at him. “I want to check on the Flacks and send someone to help them. That’s all. I’ll be back.”
She pulled her head back and out of his grasp. “I can take care of myself, Lakeland. Stay or go, it won’t matter to me.”
He shook his head and stood up. “I’ll be right back.”
From the moment he was out of sight, pressure built up in her chest. She had training. She was a government agent. She could take care of herself. So why was she so distressed by his leaving her?
Less than thirty minutes later he skulked back through the wooded area and took up a stance ten feet way.
Tessa relaxed.
She’d expected him to ask her dozens of questions about Jamie, but somehow he knew she wouldn’t want to talk about it. The past would cloud her focus and they couldn’t afford that. There was something very intimate about sitting silently in those woods for hours.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to know everything there was to know about Joshua Lakeland, because she most definitely did. The fact was, just sitting in companionable silence had told her a great deal about him. He was introspective and kind. He could likely sense her need for privacy and he gave it to her.
As to what the plan was to get out of New Jersey she trusted him. That was probably the most shocking thing of all.
Tessa imagined with another man, she would have been embarrassed about her wanton behavior the night before. Even though it had been in a dream state, they both knew she had offered herself to him, a man she barely knew. She spent the time in the woods thinking about why she’d done it and the only answer was the obvious one. She wanted him.
Once the sun set they made their way to a small strip mall on the edge of the woods. Joshua easily started a car and they drove for five minutes before turning into a small airfield in Princeton, New Jersey.
