Lily bit her lip as the sheriff jotted another note on his pad. The sound of the pen on paper scratched at her last nerve. She shifted from one foot to the other. Was he writing her biography? As he licked his thumb and flipped the page to keep writing, she wanted to scream.
She knew he was only doing his job, and boy, was she grateful that he’d arrived at their campsite as quickly as he had. However, now that the authorities knew of their whereabouts, it gave the Phantom a chance to track them down.
Finally, he clicked the pen closed and tucked the notebook away. “I think that’s it for now. I know I recorded your statement on my phone, but you’ll need to meet us at the office so we can go through things in more detail. Your friend Ethan has the address.”
“Really? Does it have to be right away?”
“I’m afraid so. Normally, we’d prefer to bring you both in separately for questioning but, unfortunately, we’re short on help right now. It’s just me and my deputy available, and we need both vehicles to keep those yahoos apart.”
He nodded his head to where his SUV and the deputy’s cruiser were parked near the BMW. She could make out the poachers’ silhouettes through the back windows, one in each vehicle.
He took out a card and handed it to her. “Just in case you need to contact me.”
“Thank you,” she said, taking it.
“I should be the one thanking you. I’m glad you caught these two. Guys like this give hunters a bad name. I’m sorry they’ve ruined your vacation. At least you know your troubles are finally over.”
She only wished. If what the poachers had confessed in the cave was true, then they’d been the least of her and Ethan’s worries.
“You were very brave. Quick thinking with the bear spray.” He tipped his hat as he backed away. “I’ll see you at the office as soon as possible, right?”
“For sure.”
With a wave to Ethan, who was packing up camp, he spun on his black boots and hopped into his SUV.
Lily watched as the two vehicles pulled away with silhouettes hunched in the backseats. She felt a wave of relief followed instantly by an onslaught of worry.
She shivered, despite having put a hoodie on over her jumper. Now that the adrenaline had worn off, her body felt like it was shutting down, desperate for sleep. But there were all those new worries to dwell on, and she couldn’t do that if she was sleeping, now could she?
The scrape of fabric drew her focus back to their cozy campsite. She glanced over in time to watch the tent collapse, revealing Ethan standing behind it. Their eyes met briefly before he returned his attention to his task. She supposed that was the first worry she needed to sort out.
The fight they’d had earlier played through her head. She recalled the hurt and doubt in his eyes. But they’d practically faced death together since then. Surely, that must have changed something. So where did that leave them? And did he even want to find out?
When she headed over to help pack up, she hesitated at the edge of their site. He glanced up from where he knelt on the ground, folding a tent pole while Molly tugged on the other end like it was a game. Lily wished she could read that courtroom look of his. Should she have prepared a defense? Or was there something else causing that heat in his eyes?
She rubbed her temples with her fingers, feeling a headache form. “I can’t wait until we’re done at the sheriff’s office, for this all to be over.”
“It’s not, though. Is it?” He clipped each word in frustration. “This won’t be over until the Phantom is behind bars.”
Giving up the game of tug-of-war, he threw a stick into the woods to distract Molly. She shot off, disappearing through the underbrush, and he quickly gathered the other poles.
“True,” she said, inching closer. “But I think we handled our own pretty well today.”
“Today was nothing.” He scowled and hit the ground with a fist. “It was only two losers with guns and a bad plan. It could have been so much worse.”
“But it wasn’t, and we’re all right. Aren’t we?” She laid a hand on his shoulder because she didn’t just mean physically. She wanted to know if things between them were okay. Did he still really believe that she’d been using him?
His shoulder sank beneath her touch. “I don’t know. It was a mistake to drag you into any of this. It’s not worth the risk.”
She snatched her hand back, but he reached up and grabbed it. When he finally looked at her, his eyes filled with pleading.
“I don’t mean us,” he said. “I mean, it’s not worth risking you. You came here on vacation, just looking for a good time.”
Molly pranced back into their little clearing again, this time carrying a much larger stick than the one she’d chased after earlier. Lily kneeled on the ground next to Ethan, and Molly took this as a sign to climb onto her lap. She hardly noticed.
“But it’s more than that now, isn’t it?” she asked. “It can be, if you let it.”
“It’s much more than that. But seeing a gun pointed at your chest today …” He ran a thumb over the back of her hand. “It hit me how real this is. God only knows how bad it’s going to get, but this is my mess, and I’m sorry I ever got you involved. It needs to end here.”
This time, when she yanked her hand away, he let her. “What are you saying? What needs to end here?”
“This vacation. Us. Before this gets any worse, you need to go back to California, maybe even to England.”
Setting Molly down on the ground, she stood up. Turning her back on him, she faced the firepit. Her book lay on top of it, smudged with soot. Step Eleven: Speak Up. She’d try. At the very least, she wasn’t giving him up without a fight.
She spun back to face him. “I was serious when I said I’m not going anywhere. You can’t take this on all by yourself.”
“And why not? This is my fault. If I’d spoken up sooner, if I’d fought harder, the wrong man wouldn’t be in jail right now, and I wouldn’t be on the Phantom’s hit list. You wouldn’t be caught up in all of this.”
“None of this is your fault,” she said. “I don’t understand why you think you need to do this alone. It’s like you’re trying to punish yourself. You don’t deserve this.”
“Don’t I?” He jumped to his feet. “For better or worse, my life is a result of my own actions, my own decisions. I see something I want, and I go for it, everyone else be damned. And look at what that’s done.” He waved a hand. “My sister can barely stand me. I ignored my ex, ruining any chance I had at starting my own family. I don’t know how to take care of my mother. My father is probably rolling in his grave as we speak.”
As though sensing his distress, Molly pawed at his shins. Giving her a pat, he picked up the larger stick she’d brought back and chucked it into the woods. He stared after her, his gaze growing distant.
“I chose this life,” he said. “I made this mess. And I’m the one who needs to clean it up. Not you. Besides, I’m not exactly a pro at relationships. You’re better off without me. I’m only going to disappoint you.”
Her heart clenched painfully. She wasn’t sure how much more it could take that day. He turned away from her, so she could only see his tense profile. Molly appeared again with an even bigger stick—bordering on a log. Ethan threw it, and it landed somewhere in the woods with a heavy thunk.
“Is that why you’re pushing me away?” Lily asked. “Because you feel you don’t deserve to be happy?” She crossed her arms. “Well, you can’t do that. I won’t let you. I’m not going anywhere, especially now with everything going on. You need someone by your side who can help you.”
His head snapped toward her and cocked to the side. “Is that why you’re doing this? Because you can’t stop helping people? Because you want to take care of everybody but yourself? Is it easier to focus on fixing my life rather than your own?”
With a gasp, she opened her mouth to deny it, but the words stuck. Probably because there was some truth to it. “Just don’t pretend like you’re not running away from something too. From happiness, from closure. From us.”
“Maybe. But I won’t be another person sucking the life out of you. Go home to your family, Lily. Worry about yourself for once.”
The finality in his voice made her flinch. Her eyes burned. She blinked rapidly, refusing to let him see a single tear fall.
She sniffed and raised her chin. “Fine. I was planning to, anyway. I already had a ticket booked from Seattle tonight. After last night, I wasn’t going to use it. But now …”
She let the unspoken question hang in the air, giving him one last chance to fix this, to send them on a different route. Anything but the collision course they were on.
At the mention of the ticket, his face fell slack, and his expression filled with hurt. Then his jaw tightened. “Good. I’ll finish packing up camp, and then we can stop by the sheriff’s office before getting you to the airport.”
He turned back to his tent, bending down to fold it, but then he stopped and looked around. Bringing his fingers to his mouth, he whistled sharply. “Molly?”
“I’ll go get her.” Lily needed some air anyway. Well … air that wasn’t near Ethan.
Heading in the direction he’d thrown the “stick,” she wandered into the woods. Straining her ears, she listened for rustling or grunting because Molly was probably bringing back an even larger stick this time. Instead, she heard a sort of tinkle, like someone was jingling change in their hand, followed by a deep voice muffled by the trees. And it wasn’t Ethan’s.
She twisted toward the sound, but she couldn’t make out the words. It had come from their campsite. Could the sheriff or deputy have returned? Or was it someone else? Her limbs stiffened with dread.
Slowly, she crept back. Her body felt heavier, as though she were walking underwater. Then she heard Ethan’s voice. His exact words were unclear, but the distress behind them was palpable. He was in trouble.
Something snapped inside her, and she was free of the paralyzing fear. She raced through the forest, dodging trees, evading branches. As she got closer, she slowed and ducked to remain out of sight. Hiding behind a wide tree trunk, she peered through a bush next to their campsite.
Two men—one kind of wiry and tense like a coil spring, the other broad-shouldered and thick—stood next to the dismantled tent, speaking with Ethan. No. Not speaking. Interrogating.
Their backs were to her, but by the way Ethan held his hands half raised in the air, she knew at least one of them was holding a gun.
“I swear,” Ethan said. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. The Phantom is behind bars, remember?”
“I think we all know that’s not true. Let’s stop beating around the bush. Give us what we came here for.”
“I don’t have it.”
The big guy shifted, flexing the veiny muscles beneath his tight-fitting shirt. “I guess we’ll be going then.”
“Great,” Ethan said. “It was nice to meet you. Have a great day.”
“Nice try,” the big guy said. “You’re coming with us. You wanted to know who the Phantom is so badly? Well, now you’re about to find out.”
A soft grunt escaped Lily, and she covered her mouth with a hand. It felt as surreal as a dream. A nightmare. A couple of ignorant poachers had been one thing. But the Phantom?
She pressed her lips together, hoping Ethan would keep that silver tongue in his mouth so he didn’t piss off the bad guys. But she knew she didn’t have to worry. He was clever.
“We’d better get going then,” he said conversationally. “Traffic can be hell this time of day.”
Okay, so more cocky than clever.
“Just one more thing,” Coil said. “Where’s the girl?”
Her body went rigid, ready to run without her permission. But she wouldn’t. For one, she wouldn’t get very far. More importantly, how could she help Ethan then? She only had to wait for the right moment, for them to make a mistake, to drop their guard.
“Who? Lily?” Ethan shrugged like he couldn’t care less. “She’s long gone. I already dropped her off at the airport. She’s got a red-eye flight back home. If you don’t believe me, I’m sure the Phantom has enough connections to check for himself.”
As his steady gaze held theirs, his voice didn’t waver. Not even an eyelash fluttered. Lawyer magic.
Thankfully, he’d already put her suitcase in the car’s boot, so it wasn’t immediately obvious he was lying. The men exchanged a look before the Arnold Schwarzenegger wannabe took out his cell. As he dialed, he strode toward the BMW, too far away to hear.
Lily thought of her own phone tucked in her back pocket, but it was dead. It wasn’t like she’d had an outlet to charge it the night before, and she’d been a tad too distracted to remember to shut it off.
Coil and Ethan remained silent. They stared each other down as though there was a wordless conversation going on between them. Ethan didn’t look nearly as worried about the gun as he should. He tilted his head, almost daring the thug to do something.
But maybe the Phantom had given them orders not to hurt Ethan because, for thugs, they were a lot less punchy than Lily had expected. Or she could have seen one too many mobster movies.
However, as the minutes went by and Ethan’s stare didn’t waver, she realized it wasn’t a measuring contest. He was determined not to let his eyes wander, to drift to where he was surely desperate to search: the woods where she’d disappeared. That was why he’d casually suggested they leave, in case she or Molly came back.
Just where is Molly, anyway?
Arnie came back then, tucking his phone away. “He’s telling the truth. There’s a flight to Heathrow with a seat booked for Lily Baker. A middle seat. Who does that?”
As he said her last name, it felt like ice had formed in her veins. Of course, they’d know about the woman Ethan was traveling with. She wondered how much they knew.
“Do we track her down?” Coil asked.
“Boss says no. Too obvious in an airport. Besides, we’ll get everything we need out of this guy. We’ve got people in England if there are any loose ends.”
Loose ends?
Legs growing weak, she sank to her knees as she remembered Ethan’s story about why he hadn’t been by his father’s side at the end. He’d stayed away to protect his family. If she returned home, would she put her family in jeopardy?
“Let’s get him tied up,” Coil said to Arnie. “We’ll throw him in the van, and you can drive him back.”
“Where do you think you’re going?” Arnie asked.
“Someone has to drive the BMW. And you got to drive that Ferrari last time, remember?”
“Bad news, guys,” Ethan said. “I don’t have the keys. You can search me.” As though in anticipation, he pulled out his jacket pockets. “I had an incident involving two poachers this morning. There was a scuffle, and I must’ve lost the keys in the fight.” He nodded toward the main parking lot. “That’s their truck right over there. The sheriff and his deputy already picked them up.”
Coil narrowed his eyes, as though unsure whether to believe him. “Been making friends all over the place, have you?”
“What can I say? I live up to my reputation.”
Coil glanced at his friend. “Can you hot-wire?”
“I’m a bit out of practice. Haven’t done it since I was eleven.”
Ethan raised his hand like a kid in class. “You should probably know there’s a tow truck on the way. So, unless you feel like kidnapping the driver as well, we might have a witness here any minute.”
He shifted from foot to foot. He was losing the magic. His desperation to get out of there was peeking through. Lily wondered if they’d grow suspicious.
Coil waved the gun toward a dark van at the other end of the lot. “All right. Let’s go. We’ll have to get the car from the impound later.”
Lily’s body tensed, preparing for that opportunity she’d been anticipating, that moment when they’d drop their guard or Ethan gave her some kind of signal.
Any minute now.
She hoped, waited, and watched. Then she watched as the Phantom’s men used the tent rope to bind Ethan’s hands behind his back. She watched as they marched him toward their van, tied his ankles together, and threw him in the back. Then, finally, she watched as they hopped in and started to drive away.
Her breath left her lungs in a sob. Her eyes filled with tears, but she dug her nails into the tree bark in front of her until it hurt. She needed to focus. Crying wouldn’t help anyone.
She wanted to run after them, waving her arms in the air and begging them to stop. But what was she going to do when they did? They had a gun, and she didn’t. She didn’t even have her bear spray anymore. However, once they drove away, Ethan would be lost forever. She had to follow them.
She jumped to her feet. Ethan had said he’d lost the keys, but she knew that wasn’t true. He’d opened the car’s boot to pack their things. And they clearly weren’t on him.
Then she recalled that jingle she’d heard when she was searching for Molly. It hadn’t been a handful of change. It was the keys hitting the ground. When he’d seen the van drive up, he must have chucked them into the woods. He’d done it for her, she realized. Somehow, she didn’t think he’d meant for her to follow but to get herself to safety.
He was clever, so he would have thrown them in the direction she’d disappeared into the trees. Frantically, she searched the forest floor, sweeping away bushes and kicking aside dead pine needles.
Something rustled behind her.
She already felt dizzy from the adrenaline and lack of breakfast, so when she whipped toward the sound, her head kept spinning. Her next step caught on a rotting log, and she fell back.
Her butt hit the forest floor, and she scrambled away. The bush in front of her shook violently. Instead of feeling frightened, she found herself annoyed and impatient. She didn’t have time for a silly bear. She had a crime boss to find.
Her hand wrapped around a stick, and she held it high. A second later, the wild beast emerged. It was Molly, carrying a small tree.
With her mouth full, the puppy snorted and danced in place, so proud to show Ethan what she’d found this time.
“There you are,” Lily breathed. “That’s what was taking you so long?”
Scrambling to her feet, she scooped the dog up. And that’s when color among the brown pine needles and dark soil grabbed her eye.
A blue and white circle glinted in the dappled light filtering through the canopy. The BMW’s symbol: the keys.
Snatching them up, she raced out of the woods with Molly in her arms. On her way to the car, she leaped over their half-packed belongings and dismantled tent, abandoning it all.
As she tossed Molly onto the passenger seat, the dog shook slightly. Are you sure I’m supposed to be sitting on this?
Lily hopped behind the wheel. With unsteady hands, she tried to ram the key into the ignition. She made several scratches on the plastic column before she took a breath and forced herself to focus.
“Come on, Lil. You can do this. It’s exactly the same as back home. Just … on the opposite side of the road.”
Slipping the key home, she started the engine, threw it into gear, and stepped on it. Gravel shot out behind the car as she fishtailed across the parking lot. She whipped onto the main road in the direction the van had gone, instinctively driving on the wrong side. She jerked the car into the correct lane.
“Stay right. Stay right,” she told herself.
As she gunned it, her head snapped back, and Molly slid against the backrest. She could understand why Ethan was so in love with it; the car had power. And she needed that horsepower to catch up because she couldn’t lose him. No matter what.