Chapter Sixteen

It began to rain as Lena sat in the parking lot staring out the windshield, wondering if she’d made a huge mistake. Twenty minutes later, Dane was still on the phone with someone from something called Task Force Phoenix, recounting every detail of his ordeal.

He didn’t leave anything out. Not even her role in the horror story. To her surprise, he didn’t embellish the tale with nasty names. He kept it simple, referring to her as the woman who’d hunted him down and hit him with a bottle. She considered that a step in the right direction. And much better than soulless bitch.

She couldn’t blame him for his choice of words. From where he was sitting, she probably seemed that way. And truth be told, she was starting to feel like she really had lost her soul. Or rather, it had been taken from her. Each day that passed, she felt another piece of her soul stripped away, leaving behind more numbness.

Last August, her world had been turned upside down and tossed around like a dingy in a storm. And now she’d landed here in this parking lot with Dane. Maybe if she’d told him the truth from the beginning, he would have been willing to help her instead of hating her.

Other than a few muffled comments, she hadn’t picked up anything from the other end of the call. What were they planning, and how would it affect her and her situation?

“Okay. We’ll meet you there. I can’t fly, I don’t have any ID. We’ll be staying at the Super Motel west of Kansas City. Can you send supplies tonight?” He nodded, and gave them the name of the hotel across the street. “Great. I’ll see you in a few days.”

He hung up and pointed to the hotel. “We’re staying there. Go get us a room with your fancy platinum card.”

She drove the few hundred feet to the other parking lot, and got out to go into the office. Dane didn’t move.

Even if he ran off, she wouldn’t give him up and put his son in more danger. But Dane didn’t know that. Letting him believe she would tell Viktor was the only way to ensure his cooperation. It also kept him from killing her.

After securing a room with two queen-size beds, she took a breath and stepped out of the motel, hoping he would still be there.

She wasn’t even surprised to find the Jeep empty.