No Place to Hide (17 page)

3:00 P.M.
NEW YORK CITY
WALDEN’S MORTUARY

James Walden threw the clipboard onto his desk and picked up the paper. L
OCAL
C
OUPLE
M
ISSING
. Mr. and Mrs. Bates smiled back at him from a photo he felt was several years old. She simply looked too happy and didn’t have any new or healing bruises on her face.

The cops had just left and James knew that while he’d played it cool and offered the performance of a lifetime, he could only hope they hadn’t noticed the sweat on his forehead. His armpits were soaked and he’d have to change before his next meeting. He glanced at his watch. He had an hour.

He walked to the small room where he kept several changes of clothing and toiletries. He turned on the water in the small sink and stripped off the wet shirt. The plan was going all wrong. And it had started with that stupid email. And while the email had been planned, sending it to Ian had not been. Ian’s appearance into the mix was creating a set of problems he feared would destroy everything they’d all worked so hard for. He rubbed a warm, soapy washcloth over his face and
upper body. Once finished, he rinsed, dressed, and returned to his office. He stared at the newspaper picture once again. He shook his head and wondered if it was time to bail. He had several million in an offshore account. If he wasn’t greedy, he could disappear forever. But the millions he’d leave behind . . .

“Wainwright wanted you to know he’s tying up loose ends.”

James looked up. Bo Gaines, one of Wainwright’s goons, stood there, his hulking six-foot-four frame making it look like the architects used the wrong measurements when building the doorway. “Tying up loose ends?” James asked. “What do you mean?”

“He feels like things have gotten out of control.”

“Well, he’s got that right. Red Peters is in custody.”

“Red hasn’t talked so far. He’s too scared to, but we won’t have to worry about him long. He and his family will be dead within the hour. Wainwright said your inside man is taking care of it.”

James gave a slow nod. “All right.” Fear slithered through him. Red wasn’t just a hired killer like some of the others. Red knew things and could identify James and other key players. If he decided to talk and request protective custody before he could be taken out, the whole plan would implode.

He looked at the picture in the paper once again, then back to the man about to leave. “Hey, Gaines. Are you still looking for the woman? Mrs. Bates?”

“Yeah, we’re keeping an eye out for her.” He scowled.

James rubbed his eyes. According to his security feed, as soon as her husband had left the room with James, she’d grabbed the keys from his desk and walked out the door. Curious and perturbed, James had watched the feed that covered the parking lot. Mrs. Bates had gotten into her car and simply driven away.

Where was she?

James understood why Wainwright felt like there were too many loose ends.

There were.

And yet he couldn’t help wondering when Wainwright would decide James was also a loose end who needed tying up.

Jackie stood while she watched the news. She didn’t want to sit, refused to pace, and couldn’t go for a jog.

So she stood.

Ian joined her. He settled his hands on her shoulders and leaned his forehead against the back of her head. She went completely still even while her pulse picked up speed. “Get some sleep, Ian.”

“You’re the one who needs to do that.”

True enough. “Did you see that?”

“What?” He lifted his head, but his fingers began a gentle massage. A soft sigh slipped out and she closed her eyes, trying to focus on what she was going to say.

Oh yeah. “The media is speculating on reasons for the government’s suggestion that everyone get vaccinated for smallpox. They’re making the shots available at all flu shot outlets.” She moved to the couch and he settled beside her.

“But why? Smallpox was eradicated years ago.”

“Seems like there’s been a very small and isolated outbreak here in the United States, but they’re not saying where.”

“If it’s isolated, why offer the vaccine?”

“Good question,” she muttered. “That’s the same question the media is asking and no one in the government is answering. Tobias Freeman is the director of the CDC and he just offered a statement. He said that it was just a precaution. With the fact that smallpox had reared its head once again, he wanted
to make sure that the American citizens could be proactive and get the vaccine.”

Ian frowned and shook his head. “Something’s not right about that.”

“I agree.”

Something niggled at her. Something she’d seen on the news. She tried to pull it from the depths of her brain, but it wouldn’t come to the surface. But it would. Eventually. She rubbed her arms. “I’m going to grab a shower and some sleep. I recommend you do the same. But first . . .”

“But first what?”

“We’re going to make contact with the FBI, give them that email, and figure out where to go from there.”

Ian didn’t offer the arguments she saw running through his mind. He simply nodded.

Jackie walked to the end table, picked up the handset of the phone, and dialed Ron’s number.

“Can’t they trace that?” he asked.

“No, they don’t know where we are and I’m calling his throwaway phone.”

“Oh.”

“Jackie, you guys all right?” Ron asked, his concern evident.

“We’re safe for now.” She walked to the window and stayed to the side. She peered around the edge of the curtain and gazed out into the parking lot, taking note of the cars and the people. No one in dark clothes or masks as of yet. “I need the number for Elizabeth Miller.”

“Hold on a sec, I’ll have to switch phones and make a call.”

Jackie held, tapping a foot against the carpeted floor. Her thoughts spun.

Gus rose from the floor and stepped to Ian’s side and nudged
his hand. “I’ll have to feed him and let him out. I’ll keep first watch.”

Jackie thought they might be all right, but she’d thought that at the previous hotel too. “Fine.”

Ian clipped the leash on Gus and they left the room. Jackie watched the news play while she waited on Ron. She could hear him speaking in the background, but couldn’t make out the words. Five minutes passed and she started to wonder if Ron would be able to get the number after all. Fifteen minutes into her wait, Ian and Gus returned. The dog flopped onto the floor in front of the couch and stretched out.

A blip about a local couple in their mid-forties caught her attention. They’d been reported missing by their college-aged children. The couple had disappeared from a local mortuary and their car had been found abandoned in a grocery store parking lot with blood on the passenger seat.

“It’s a shame,” she said.

“What?”

“Life. The way it works out sometimes. Most of the time.”

He lifted a brow. “Go on.”

She nodded toward the television. “That couple is missing. They walked into a mortuary to finalize the plans to bury his father. And then . . . what? They disappeared. Why?”

“I don’t know. Why?”

She shrugged. “I don’t know either, but it’s like you just never know when life is going to throw you a curve ball.”

“I think our situation clearly demonstrates that point.”

“Agreed.” She couldn’t help but think about Holly’s staggering news too. And Lucy. Dear, sweet Lucy who would have to face such a thing at her young age. “So . . .”

“So?”

“So how do you keep your faith?”

“I make sure it doesn’t get lost.”

She shot him a black look. “That doesn’t help.”

“Sure it does. I stay focused on the One who really has control in this situation. He’s allowing this to happen for a reason. I don’t know what it is, but I trust that he’s got my back.”

“Your back’s going to be in prison if we get caught.”

“Exactly. Which is why I stay prayed up—and have my catcher’s mitt on so I can field all the curve balls.” His smile faded to a frown. “Look, I don’t mean to make light of the situation. I’m scared, but that doesn’t mean God has abandoned me. Life doesn’t always work out the way you want it to, but . . .”

She frowned back at him. “Doesn’t that just prove my point?”

“What point?”

“Jackie? Are you there?” Ron asked.

She jerked. She’d almost forgotten she was still connected to him. “I’m here.”

“Here’s the number.”

Jackie memorized it. “Thanks.”

“Let me know what happens and if you need any more help.”

“Will do.”

She hung up, tapped the number into the phone, then stared at the device.

“What point?” Ian asked.

She blinked and looked up. “What?”

“You said that just proves your point. What point exactly?”

“Oh. Right.” She shrugged. “That God just gives up on some people.”

“Gives up on them? Not at all.”

She frowned. “How can you say that?”

“God never promised us perfect. Trouble is going to come.” His brows dipped. “And unfortunately some people are going
to seem to have more than their fair share. But he promised us he’d be with us in that trouble.” He cleared his throat. “‘Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.’”

“I remember my grandfather quoting that just about every day,” she whispered. “From the Twenty-third Psalm.”

“Yes.”

She nodded, then sighed. “It doesn’t feel like he’s with me.”

“You can’t rely on your feelings. Feelings can be deceptive and lead you down the wrong path. You have to rely on truth.”

“And God is truth?”

“Not just truth. Absolute truth. I don’t always understand him, but I do believe him. And I believe he’s truth. So when he says he’s with me in the midst of this mess, I believe him.”

“But he still lets bad things happen,” she whispered. Her mind flashed to her dead husband, to Holly’s cancer, to her rotten childhood, to having to say goodbye to Ian, to his sister’s death. To her baby. To being on the run from people who wanted to either put them in prison or kill them.

“Yes, he still allows bad things to happen. He gave us free will. And some people will choose evil. But . . .”

“But what?”

“He still lets good things happen too.”

She snorted. “Like what?”

He took her hands and squeezed them. “Like bringing people into our lives just when we need them most.”

Jackie tilted her head. “You’re talking about me. You really think God put me in your life?”

“I have no doubt about it.”

NEW YORK CITY FBI FIELD OFFICE

“Someone else is after them too.” Elizabeth took a sip of the strong hot coffee and gave a blissful sigh.

“Yes.” Sam set his half-empty cup on the table between them. “We’ve chased them from South Carolina to Virginia to New York. And someone keeps beating us to them.”

“How are they tracking them? The only reason we know they were here last night is because someone reported seeing them and the dog get in the vehicle.”

“They haven’t changed their appearance yet.”

“Which just means they haven’t had time.”

“His cousin is with them now.”

“Yeah, I saw her on the surveillance video.” He took another sip of the coffee and leaned forward. “Why would she go with them?”

“They probably needed someone who wasn’t immediately recognizable. Her face isn’t on the news yet. According to the report, Ian and his cousin were close as children and still keep in touch in spite of the physical distance.”

“So she probably wanted to help them. What did Holly’s father have to say?”

“Just that he told his daughter to stay away from Ian, but she was bullheaded and would most likely ignore him.”

“Sounds like some interesting family dynamics.”

They had more leads than they could possibly chase down, but the report of the dog with the couple had sent them after this one. And it had paid off. Security video had captured them leaving out the back of the hotel shortly after several black-dressed individuals were seen entering. They hadn’t attracted any immediate attention with their entrance to the hotel. However another camera had caught the attack on Ian and Jackie.