Page 39 of Defending You
Best stay off everybody’s radar until he figured it out.
Cici had been quiet since she’d caught sight of a luxury home and suggested they knock on the back door and ask to use a phone. “We can just tell them we were in an accident, and our phones were broken or something. We can call for an Uber to take us to Hanscom.”
“No.” He’d added a quick, “Sorry, but we can’t go to the airfield, even in a clean car. They’ll find us.”
“You don’t know that.”
“You don’t know they won’t. Are you really willing to risk both our lives?”
That had silenced her.
He didn’t trust anybody right now, certainly not strangers in big fancy homes. And besides, where would they wait until help arrived? In the fancy house? How could they trust the fancy-house people not to call the cops, and then what would happen?
An hour passed before she spoke again.
“Asher, we can’t just wander through the woods forever. Unless you’re planning to hike all the way to Maine, we need a plan. When we find another neighborhood, we should knock?—”
“We can’t.” He didn’t break stride. “No doors. No people. You’re wanted, Cici, for arson and murder, and I’m on the hook as your accessory. Let’s not forget grand theft auto. And the barn we just burned down—another arson charge. One call to the cops and we’re both in cuffs.”
“Whatever.” A few beats passed. “My feet are soaked.”
God forbid the prom queen got wet feet.
That wasn’t fair. Wet socks scraped against tender skin, and her skin wouldn’t have toughened up the way his had, thanks to all his training, then all his missions. “We’ll get you some dry shoes and socks.”
“How?”
He didn’t know, but it wasn’t an unsolvable problem. A solution would present itself, eventually.
They walked a few yards more before she said, “Let’s rent a car. There’s got to be a place nearby. I’ll pay?—”
“No credit cards. They’ll trace you in a heartbeat.”
“You can use yours. They don’t know who you are.” Her tone was sharp, challenging, like she’d caught him in a logic trap.
He ducked under a low branch and held it up for her. “I’m not so sure.” He muttered the words, mostly to himself.
“What?” Her voice pitched up. “How would they?”
They moved away from the swampy land onto firmer ground, now back in a forest thick with underbrush. “They found us on the train in Springfield, tracked the stolen sedan, and then the SUV. How? It all happened too fast. It was too…precise. Even with serious tech, they can’t be tracking you. We ditched your cell in Philadelphia. So maybe…”
He’d powered his cell phone off, but with the right kind of equipment, that wouldn’t make a difference.
Could be that the bad guys were waiting at the next road.
He hated to do it, but he had no choice. He pulled his own cell from his pocket, turned, and threw it back toward the swamp. He was rewarded with a faint splash.
“What are you doing?” Cici stared at the place where the cell phone had disappeared. “How are we going to?—?”
“They could be tracking me.”
“How?”
“I don’t know!” He hadn’t meant the exasperated tone and felt a twinge of guilt when she winced and stepped back. “Just…let me think, please.”
“Think faster, because I’m freaking out here.” She dodged a root, her purse thumping against her hip. “Maybe there’s a bus station? There’s got to be one somewhere. Of course, we can’t find it because you just tossed your phone. We’re totally…lost.”
“I’m not lost.” He wasn’t. He knew basically where they were and what direction they were walking. They’d hit civilization soon. When she said nothing, he glanced back and caught her swiping a finger beneath her eye. Was shecrying?
